The Home Networking Megathread - Yes the OP is out of date

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > The Home Networking Megathread - Yes the OP is out of date

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

CuddleChunks posted:

Because you value your time and money? Because you want to have a proper wireless router rather than a halfass access point? Because you're running all windows and won't notice any apple-specific features? Because they're poo poo. Because a wireless router that will work well with all of your gear is half the cost or more?

How many reasons do you need?

I have an airport express and I'm seconding this. Its horrible as a router. I bought it for the airtunes and tried using it as an access point, but the signal was pretty weak. I just use it for my outdoor audio gear now, works great for that. But dear god don't get one to use as a router or access point.

# ¿ Oct 19, 2011 01:31

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 01:37

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

Jimlad posted:

Does that come in an ADSL modem variety? I'm totally confused since are those all just routers or cable modems or ADSL modems or what? If I just get a router, does that mean I need to get a modem as well?

you need a separate modem. Those all in one things are pieces of poo poo and crash if you even think of doing more than check your email.

# ¿ Oct 30, 2011 20:21

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

Jimlad posted:

My modem is a crappy Netgear modem/router that I want to use only as an ADSL modem. It connects to my nice new Asus router's WAN port, which connects all the other devices on my LAN.

I don't know what duplicate settings I'm supposed to set up on my PC?

I'm turning off NAT on the modem because Devian666 suggested that I should. I know that something might be up with the modem because I have a game that connects fine on my phone's wireless hotspot but won't connect through the modem, so I'm hoping that if I avoid using the modem as much as possible, there's a better chance things will work more reliably.

I only got the router yesterday, but wireless performance on all my connected devices has improved by miles, and I'm not noticing any more issues with needing to reboot the router at random. At this point I want to make sure I have all the settings as they "should" be so that everything just works without me having to worry about it.

what is your ISP and what is the modem model?

# ¿ Nov 3, 2011 22:48

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

Jimlad posted:

Orange, using a Netgear N150 (DGN1000). My router is an Asus RT-N16 which I've flashed with Tomato USB.

I tried doing this; turns out the Netgear has a secret "put into modem mode" option, which I enabled. I assume it's normal that I can no longer access the modem's settings through the router? Now I can't seem to access the internet though, so I assume there are some settings on my Asus that I need to change to get it to work? Is there a simple way of confirming whether the modem is actually working as intended?

I'm hoping putting the Netgear in Modem mode counts as "bridge mode". I tried setting up my Asus router but Orange says I need to use PPPoA, and there don't look to be any settings for that in Tomato. Does this mean it's impossible to use PPPoA on the router and I'm basically stuffed?

try pppoe and see if it works

# ¿ Nov 4, 2011 02:48

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

Jimlad posted:

I set the Netgear back to modem/router mode and connected my computer to it directly, and set it up with PPPoE. When I did that, I couldn't connect to anything on the internet. I then put it back to PPPoA and it connected just fine. So I guess that means PPPoA only.

You want to put it on modem only mode, connect it to the tomato router from the modem's lan port to the wan port on the router, and set pppoe on the tomato router.

# ¿ Nov 4, 2011 03:22

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

Jimlad posted:

ok, I gave that a go. The modem said it was connected, Tomato on the router said it was connected, but nothing worked; I couldn't access anything on the internet and couldn't get to the modem's setup page without wiring to it directly.

you shouldn't need the modems setup page. Once you put it in modem mode that's it, all the setup is from the asus.

# ¿ Nov 4, 2011 04:05

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

Jimlad posted:

When I set the Netgear to "modem mode", this is what the Asus Tomato page says:

Connection Type PPPoE
IP Address 95.149.105.71
Subnet Mask 255.255.255.255
Gateway 217.32.99.122

The Asus/Tomato router is set up on 192.168.1.1.

The IP address above is in a similar format to what the Netgear establishes when I can connect to the internet in modem+router mode.

Maybe its the dns? Try going to http://74.125.226.148 after it gets an ip.

# ¿ Nov 5, 2011 05:17

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

lonters run around posted:

What's a nice non-wireless router capable of running DD-WRT that would work for a small company, with like under 10 people using it simultanously? All the ones listed in the OP are wireless. I'm asking because I suppose with a non-wireless one we would get a better router for a lower price.

you suppose wrong. I hardly ever see consumer grade routers without wifi. Just buy a good one and turn off wireless.

# ¿ Nov 9, 2011 18:25

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

thiazi posted:

OK, that makes sense.

Next question: I have a wired PC that has a number of shared folders I'd like to access from my various g and n devices. If I am running my n devices on a n-only 5GHz network and g devices on a mixed b/g/n on 2.4 GHz on the same dual-band router that the wired PC is attached to, will devices on both bands be able to see these shares? Or will the shares only be available on one network or the other? (I'm afraid the latter is correct)

They will show on both. They aren't separate networks in the sense of everything can only access that single network. Even if you use multiple routers, as long as you turn off dhcp on the extra ones and connect via the lan ports. all wireless devices and all wired will see each other. The SSID being different wouldn't change this. It just separates them to make efficient use of the wireless spectrum, since the slowest device on each will slow the rest down.

# ¿ Nov 13, 2011 05:37

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

aperion posted:

I have an 8 year old modem, a Motorola Surfboard basically this thing:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16825122011

It doesn't have the wireless capabilities, but otherwise that's it. I know that for any piece of hardware, 8 years is a long time to be running constantly, but it hasn't given us any significant issues in all this time. Is it time to change it out for something newer?

I'm not sure what information would be necessary to help make a determination, but I'll provide whatever is needed.

Unless your isp has upgraded to DOCSIS 3.0 -AND- you upgrade to a plan that needs it, as long as that modem is fine, theres no reason to replace it. what isp do you have?

# ¿ Nov 14, 2011 03:20

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

MikeC posted:

My sister is going to get a new ADSL connection after getting gouged by her cable company for a long time. The service provider that she has chosen requires here to purchase a modem from them or get one herself. The provider is going to nail her for 99.99 CDN for a D-Link 514 which from what I can gether is an old shitbox that sucks.

The routers posted in the OP all seem to be routers only unlike the DI-514 which is a modem with a built in networking capabilities. Or I could just be stupid wrong becuase I don't know much about networking? It seems the case since in the modem subsection its stated that the poster has not much info there.

Are there any goon quick picks for a solid, reliable modem with built in wireless router functionality if the ones in the OP won't do it?

She will be using it mainly to connect to her iMac and her her boyfriend has a PS3 which he games on. Would perfer a solid product that can let her torrent in peace while her boyfriend games simultaneously if needed.

as posted a few times before, you don't want an all in one, they're pieces of poo poo. Double so because you mentioned torrents. An all in one will crash just at the thought of torrents. Get a separate modem and router.

# ¿ Dec 18, 2011 02:50

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

JDRockefeller posted:

I've been having an issue with my home network for awhile:

When browsing/playing online on my wired PC, about every three and a half hours the connection will drop for about half a minute to a full minute then come back. I believe it happens to every computer on the network, wired or wireless cause I recall it happening on my laptop too. I'm gonna do more testing to confirm this.

Here is my network setup:

Feel free to tear into how I set things up or what devices I use as I'm ignorant on what brands are most reliable. Mostly everything was added as the need came up. The Modem was bought from my new ISP (been with them Six months), since its one of the ones on their list of approved Modems. The Phone Adapater was sent to us from our new voip phone provider (been with them Three months). The D-link router (DIR-628 RangeBooster N Dual Band Router) I got maybe a year or two ago I think.

At first I thought the issue was the fault of my isp cause I remember this kind of thing happening before for awhile then going away without any intervention from me. But whenever this disconnect happens, the VoIP phone we have still works and the cable link and internet lights on the modem stay solid. I've also tested all the ethernet cables and they're all working properly. This lead me to believe it was the router overheating or crashing as I couldn't access it while it happened (page would say measuring network connection). So, I went out and purchased a new router (Linksys E3200). After hooking up the new router. Everything seemed fine, but then it still did the disconnect, so now I'm stumped as to why this is happening.

Anyone have any suggestions as to what could be happening here if its not the router? Is there something I should specificly test?

Edit/Added notes:

-The Modem, Adapter, and Router (stands vertically) all are lying on wooden flooring. I notice the adapter runs fairly warm constantly while the old d-link router now that I check it, doesn't seem to run noticably warm at all. They all run all the time.

-Testing overnight, I have confirmed for sure that the disconnect happens every 3 hours and 20 min roughly on all computers in the house with the D-Link router.

So you have the phone adapter in between the router and modem? if so, put the phone adapter behind the router, the built in routing on ATAs are horrible.

# ¿ Jan 7, 2012 18:14

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

Any chance theres coax cable in the office and outside it somewhere that is hooked to the same splitter? If so, you could try moca, which is usually more reliable than powerline adapters.

# ¿ Jan 20, 2012 02:06

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

jeeves posted:

How exactly would these work in a non-residential area, like my aforementioned hellish restaurant? Would all of the power breakers and such stop these from working? Also, would the building's already existing and lovely power (which goes out like every two or three days) constantly cause these to crash?

If the wiring is crappy, powerline networking isn't going to work well. Your best bets are either to see if theres coax you can use with a moca adapter, or run a network cable at least to the outside of the office.

# ¿ Jan 20, 2012 08:02

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

Ninja Rope posted:

Where does the network of powerline adapters end? At the pole? At the nearest transformer?

Can you share a coax cable between MOCA and digital TV/cable internet, or does it need to be a dedicated MOCA-only segment?

It can be shared, its how verizon wires their fios installations. As long as they all meet at the same splitter it works.

# ¿ Jan 20, 2012 08:25

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

DarkAvenger211 posted:

Alrighty. Well I attempted to set up bridge mode on this drat thing. I did a google search through and some people tech supposedly said to just plug in the router and hard reset the modem and it SHOULD set it to bridged mode. But to be honest I'm skeptical of that.

Someone else said to configure the IP network and disable the DHCP server. I did that and then I couldn't connect to the modem or the internet after that. I had to hard reset the modem again. What does disabling the DHCP server even do?

So now I'm sitting here wondering if it's even in bridged mode. How can I tell?

the model of the modem is Speedstream 6520

Who is your isp?

# ¿ Jan 31, 2012 07:57

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

DarkAvenger211 posted:

Bell Aliant. I live in New Brunswick Canada if that helps.

So far just having the router plugged in without the wireless running on the modem seems to keep us from getting the ping spikes. But That may have only been a coincidence for that day. I'll try it out some more tonight

You most likely need to set up a pppoe connection in your router. Reset the router (hold the reset button down for a while, until the lights react), then hook the wan port of the router to the lan port of the all in one. Go to the web interface of the router and on the connections page, choose pppoe. Enter your user and password for your isp.

# ¿ Jan 31, 2012 17:56

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

Swastikaman posted:

Are there any routers that don't drop connections randomly or overheat for less than $100.00? I'm having trouble finding one.

The wndr3700 is down to $99 now.

# ¿ Feb 1, 2012 00:54

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

Devian666 posted:

You can set up wireless repeating mode. It all becomes the same wireless network except the wireless bandwidth is halfed for the fastest device. So you'd be around 27 mbit/s.

I think they were saying they want to set it up, but just want to know how they should do it. If so, you can use the same ssid, etc, and just change the channel. Obviously make sure the 2nd router isnt running a dhcp server.

# ¿ Feb 2, 2012 03:52

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

Drevoak posted:

I'm kind of confused here. My main router is the WNDR3700, cant I just connect the WGR614 with ethernet to the WNDR3700 and have them both broadcast the same wifi? Or in order to do wireless repeat it has to be they communicate wireless to each other?

The problem is you're saying wireless repeater, which is not what you want. You just want to use the wgr614 as an access point. Wireless repeater is when you have a router connect wirelessly and then rebroadcast the signal, usually it works pretty crappy.

Doing this is simple, start with having the wndr3700 set up as you want, then plug the wgr614 into your computer alone, don't attach it to the network yet.

Find on the settings where you can set the local ip (the one it would get if it was the main router, ie 192.168.1.1, not its wan ip). Set it to something in the same range as the wndr3700 that won't get handed out via dhcp, ie is the wndr3700 is 192.168.1.1, make the wgr614 192.168.1.201.

Now go to the wireless settings. Set the SSID to the same one as the wndr3700, and the security the same as well. Make sure the channel isn't the same.

Lastly, find the settings for the dhcp server and disable it in the wgr614. Plug the wgr614 to the wndr3700 via the lan ports on bother routers, ignoring the wan. It will now let you roam between each automatically.

# ¿ Feb 3, 2012 22:43

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

Fangs404 posted:

A slight amendment to this question. So he wants to make sure the AP is capable of handling lots of connections. The office currently has 40 employees. Laptops and cell phones will be connected to the wireless, so it needs to be able to handle decent throughput. What AP and repeaters would you guys recommend for a setup like this?

If he wants to have it stable, he needs to have them wired.

# ¿ Feb 4, 2012 07:05

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

ultimateforce posted:

Sorry to keep my question going in this thread but I have no budget because I don't care how much it costs I just want it to work correctly. I am about to just buy another E4200 and just run it in bridge mode inside the building and hope for maximum packet throwin' and catchin'.

Edit: I should have said this earlier, the two buildings are only about 60 feet apart and my laptop gets 90% signal in here. I think I could get away with no stinky ground cables if I did it right.

Instead of using a E4200 why not just get two ubiquiti bullets and aim them at each other?

# ¿ Feb 26, 2012 15:55

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

wizard sticks posted:

Hey everyone, have a networking question Re: apple tv and an airport express/switch:

I have an ATV2, an airport express, and a Linksys SD208 switch and I am trying to hard-wire the ATV into the switch so I can stream 720p over the network. Current setup is this:

Modem -> Switch Port#1 -> Switch Port #2 goes to Airport Express which is on wifi -> Switch Port #3 is hardwired to the ATV.

The Airport Express is broadcasting a network that my laptop is on. I have filesharing turned on but the ATV won't find my laptop. If I set up the ATV on Wifi (and not wired into the switch) it finds my laptop and iTunes accounts. Is this because I'm using a switch and not a router? Is there any way to make the switch act as a router-type connection so I can have it on the same network as my laptop?

Unless you have an all in one modem, you need a router. The airport express only has a single network jack so if you run it as a router, only the wifi clients will be on the same lan, anything else on the switch is getting its own public ip. Get a router instead of a switch.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2012 22:20

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

nickhimself posted:

I've had a Netgear WNDR3400v2 for about 2 weeks now. The speeds are great, wireless works without any problems, setup was easy.

There's one issue that irks me because it's so minor but it's a new occurrence so I feel like it shouldn't be happening.

When I power on my desktop, which is connected directly to the modem via cable, it takes a good minute - minute and a half for LAN to recognize the network and grant me internet access.

Here are some things that might help troubleshoot this:
I have an SSD as my main drive, so windows powers up pretty quickly.
I've checked the Wired AutoConfig service; it's set to Automatic, not delayed start or manual.
Running Windows 7 x64

Is this just a symptom of having an SSD or is something screwed up here?

Do you mean its wired to the router, or are you using a switch on the modem? Have you tried a different computer or nic?

# ¿ Mar 17, 2012 19:02

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

President Ark posted:

So I'm moving into the 3rd floor of a building with the router in the basement. There is another cable hookup in the same room but according to verizon there is absolutely no way, nu-uh, to use that to get internet into that room because of the router already there. Are they telling the truth or just being dumb, and if that is correct is there any way to get internet from the basement up to the third floor without running a big drat ethernet cable through the house? I work for a company that has a work-at-home thing but I need a direct internet connection, they don't like you using wifi.

is it fios or dsl?

# ¿ Mar 30, 2012 04:51

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

Gyshall posted:

I just moved into a new apartment which has FIOS. I'm pretty happy with it, coming from Comcast. The only major gripe I have is that I have to use the poo poo Actiontech router Verizon gives you. I've had to reboot the thing more than once, if I'm torrenting/useneting/streaming media and try to do other crap like VPN/SSH into my work computer - the thing just takes a crap.

My parents gave me an old Motorola NIM100 unit a while back that I have been holding onto for a while - at their old house, I used it to bypass the Actiontech router on their FIOS connection. They had an ONT box that had CAT5 run straight to the router, which was nice, because I could use any router I wanted (DD-WRT, etc.)

I'd love to be able to do the same thing at my apartment. The problem being that I don't have direct access to the ONT box in the building. My current setup looks like:
code:
                        Coaxial => DVR boxes
Coaxial => Splitter => 
                        Coaxial => Actiontech => Cat5 to PS3/switches/computers/etc.
Is it possible to utilize the NIM100 to ditch the Actiontech in favor of a Linksys running DD-WRT? Or am I screwed?

Weird that you don't have access to the ONT, I guess you have a shared one in your building? My sister's is in one of her closet's in her apartment.

Anyways, see this for the various work arounds for hooking it up: http://www.dslreports.com/faq/16077

The NIM won't give you a connection for the internet, its for the local network for the cable boxes.

# ¿ Mar 31, 2012 05:05

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

VulgarandStupid posted:

With the DHCP off on the second router, it will get an IP assigned to it automatically by the first router. Just check out it's attached/connected devices table for it's IP.

If its hooked up properly, it wont. The proper way to do this is to set a different ip for the web interface on the second router thats in the same dhcp range as the first and hook them up via lan ports. Using the wan port on the second router would make it double nat.

# ¿ Apr 6, 2012 10:32

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

friendly gentleman posted:

I posted in this thread while back about slow WiFi speeds on my 2nd floor because I was forced in to putting the modem/router on the first floor (only ethernet port). Well that problem was tolerable-ly alleviated by replacing my router with the Asus N-16 - but now I've decided that it's still not good enough. I want the speeds my downstairs roommates get.

Does anyone have a an opinion on power line adapters? particuarlly the ZyXEL PLA407 HomePlug AV 200 Mbps Powerline Wall-Plug Adapter? The reviews are surprisingly fantastic. My plan is to plug one in downstairs and feed Ethernet directly from the N-16. Then plug one in up in my room and set up an old Cisco, tomato-running router as an AP to broadcast WiFi to my room. Am I doing this right?

Thanks for making my decisions.

Results with these will vary based on how old the wiring is in your house. if its a newer build it will probably work alright, but old houses usually have very messy and old wiring.

# ¿ Apr 6, 2012 19:50

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

I'm finally getting around to running a wire outside for an outdoor access point. I haven't decided where to mount it or which to get yet. Which poe outdoor access point should I get? I've looked at the Ubiquiti products as well as one I saw on newegg (engenius?). I want it to cover my deck and preferably my whole front and back yard, which zillow says is 13,939 square feet. I'd also like to keep the cost as low as possible, while at the same time not buying something that'll crap out on me quickly.

I made a quick crappy drawing of my yard with dimensions in sketchup, the house is 3 story tall building.

Only registered members can see post attachments!

# ¿ Apr 8, 2012 19:45

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

bunky posted:

So I just upgraded my cable modem to a Linksys DPC3008-CC, but I'm still using my old WRT54G router. Is there any reason that these items wouldn't work well together? I'm getting connection dropouts every 5-10 minutes, wired and wireless.

Did you make sure the coax connection is as tight as possible?

# ¿ Apr 11, 2012 23:57

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

moron posted:

I'd like to set up a VPN connection to a US VPN service, so that I can watch US Netflix from the UK on my Apple TV (UK Netflix is terrible). Of course, my router is an Airport Extreme, which isn't much help.

However, I do have an old Buffalo router flashed with DD-WRT which I used to use until the wireless died on it. If I disable DHCP and all the other stuff on it that I don't need, could I put this router in-between the Apple TV and the rest of my network, and use the VPN functionality on it to connect the Apple TV to the US VPN service?

It should work, but I think you might need to leave dhcp on in this case and use the wan port. The reason you don't do this for a second access point if because it'll be double nated, but in this case you just want to use it as a vpn device so double nat is fine. Just change the ip range the dhcp gives out to be different from the main router (if the main router is 192.168.1.X, use 192.168.2.X, etc).

# ¿ Apr 14, 2012 11:54

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

Jan posted:

Another question about extending WiFi range, but with a slightly different setup.

I have a plain Linksys router that has routing turned off and is essentially just a wireless access point. The actual routing is done through a NAT gateway setup on a HTPC/home server. There already is some CAT-5 cabling running to where the new WAP would be.

With that in mind, am I correct to conclude that I can simply get another router, set it up with the same SSID, WPA key and channel, and hook it up to the Ethernet network with no added setup necessary?

You want a different channel, otherwise, yes.

# ¿ Apr 21, 2012 04:32

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

stubblyhead posted:

I flashed my router to dd-wrt a little while back, and it's working perfectly for the most part. I'm having trouble getting port forwarding set up, though. I have sshd set up on my desktop that I use for sweet sweet tunneling at work, but my connection always times out when I try to connect using my public IP address. I can always connect using the private IP when I'm at home, so it's not a server issue. Here's the rule I have set up:

I've tried setting this up on both the Port Forwarding and the Port Range Forwarding tabs with the same results. What am I doing wrong here?

when you connect to the public address, are you pinging from your local computer or a computer on a remote network (like at work)? I'm guessing remote but if its on your lan, it might be a loop-back issue..

If its not that, is your router hooked to a modem or a modem all in one? If its an all in one, is it getting a public ip or a private ip, which would suggest double nat?

# ¿ Jun 10, 2012 06:57

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

Revol posted:

I recently just upgraded the house router to an E2500. It lives in my room, since I'm King Nerd of the house. My mom, however, has a printer that she keeps in her bedroom, since it's too big to keep with her iMac in the family room. Previously, we had a used Airport Express as a print server, but it seems to have died.

I'm surprised how hard it is to find a wireless print server. I thought it would have been a little easier to find a dedicated printer WiFi adapter. We don't want to get a new Airport Express, since she's paying $100 for a majority of features that she simply won't be using.

Can I use a wireless router (with a USB port of course) as simply a printer server on a pre-existing wireless network? I can either buy a printer server on Newegg for $60, or a WiFi router I found at Radio Shack for about the same price. And if this is possible, do I need to make sure it's a 802.11n router to be compatible with the E2500? Or can I slum it and get this ASUS 802.11b/g router and print server for $43 on Newegg?

Also, this talk about QOS on the first page is interesting, because P2P can routinely choke the rest of the line. The way I understand it, I can use QOS to tell the network to give priority to everything other than torrent and USENET? So if, say, I'm downloading something, the family's web browsing won't be affected?

And which custom firmware is best for E2500?

Since shes using an iMac, you'll want to make sure that the solution you go with is compatible as well. Also just so you know, a refurbed airport express from apple.com is $69, though its not the brand new model.

# ¿ Jun 17, 2012 04:29

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

jkyuusai posted:

Huh? I was wondering the same thing, but apparently I'm missing something? Why couldn't he leave DHCP on but just set a static assignment for the problem laptop? Is that not doable under regular Netgear firmware?

On my network, I have DHCP on but have a lot of devices static'd just for the reason Frozen mentioned, though I am running Tomato.

I believe he is doing a static assignment with dhcp, but problem is that when it goes to renew the ip lease it doesn't allow it to renew.

# ¿ Jul 22, 2012 20:09

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

Totally TWISTED posted:

I'm pricing a network setup for a friend. They will be living in Nashville, TN and hooking into Comcast.

It's been years since I've upgraded what I have. Would this modem and router setup be good for them?

Linksys E2500 (from OP)
Motorola Surfboard SB5101 (what I have - DOCSIS 2.0, any reason to go DOCSIS 3.0?)

Estimated devices connected:
- Desktop computer (Mac)
- iPad*
- Cellphone*
- TV w/Roku or Boxee or some media device of that sort*
- Whatever poo poo a roommate of theirs may end up having

*wireless or could be wireless

If you're buying a modem now, I'd go for docsis 3.0.

# ¿ Sep 5, 2012 05:10

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

The Leck posted:

I recently moved into a new apartment, and I suddenly have wireless networking questions now that everything isn't immediately adjacent!

I have:
a fancy new cable modem with built-in wireless
an older 802.11g wireless router running Tomato
a desktop PC far away from the cable modem that I would like to keep connected to the internet
a PS3 far away from the PC, but near the cable modem that I would like to stream to from the PC

As it stands, I have the Tomato router acting as a bridge for the desktop, but this is slow and unreliable, so I have had a couple of thoughts:

1) Buy a newer 802.11n router to replace the Tomato
2) Buy TWO 802.11n routers to replace the Tomato and relieve the cable modem of its routing duties
3) Buy an 802.11n router to relieve the modem, but keep the Tomato as is.

1 and 2 should lead to the fastest speeds, but is there anything else I need to consider? Is it time to just suck it up and buy two WNR3500Ls to bathe in the signal?

e: From a post a few pages back, I've seen some good reviews of this USB wireless adapter - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002WBX9C6/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00 Maybe another good way to go?

The wireless on built in modems is usually crap as is. If you buy an N router to use as a bridge and the modem's wireless is g, its still going to be slow because it doesn't do N. Each end has to support 802.11N to get any benefit, and for streaming you really want 802.11N.

# ¿ Oct 24, 2012 04:07

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 01:37

fagalicious: Jan 15, 2004; WHAT FAG

The Gadfly posted:

By the way, for anyone this might help, here's how I finally got the Airport Extreme to stop dropping ports. So through a little research, I found that the SB5101 Motorola cable modem is incapable of NAT and the only reason it uses DHCP is to basically forward the public IP to the router. With this info, and the fact that the router can see the public IP, I knew that the Apple router had to be the problem.

I tried tons of different configurations to get the router to stop dropping ports, but nothing worked. So I ended up having to effectively put my computer in DMZ by setting my computer's local IP as the NAT's default host. This basically forces all unaddressed incoming requests to be forwarded to my computer, regardless of which ports they travel in through. Please note that this is a loving horrible solution in a security sense, but I guess I don't have any other options to get this working with this specific router.

Edit: Forgot to say, thanks for the replies Ninja Rope!

Just chiming in on the DHCP on the modem thing. Its been a while since I've had cable, but I remember seeing that on the surfboard I had, while getting a public ip. When the internet would go down and the modem couldn't pull an ip, it would give me a private ip (I think it was somewhere in the 10.* ip ranges). I believe the dhcp is because some isps allow you to get multiple ips (or used to), and just hook up a switch so you get a public ip on each computer. So it gives you a private one via the built in dhcp server so the local network will still work while your internet connection is down.

# ¿ Dec 3, 2012 02:44

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > The Home Networking Megathread - Yes the OP is out of date