The Home Networking Megathread - Yes the OP is out of date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 The Home Networking Megathread - Yes the OP is out of date

Oddhair: Mar 21, 2004

I've been using an old Dell tower (PIII) as a m0n0wall box for many years, but it was always a bit power-hungry for what it did. Worked wonderfully for 200+ days of uptime, even. I finally got a used Soekris net 4801-60 (233MHz, 128MB RAM embedded box) and am also running m0n0wall on it. Occasionally it just falls over, the error light comes on, and my connection dies. My house is a bit warm during the summer months, and since it's been cooling off it hasn't happened in a while.

What else can I use the Soekris box for if I want to move away from it? If I only wanted it to provide wireless, which distro should I use? DD-WRT requires a license since the embedded box is considered semi-pro. I suppose I could make it a VPN device, maybe just a wireless AP.

Current setup:

code:

Cable Modem -> m0n0wall -> LAN -> lovely Belkin wireless used as AP/switch 
                        -> DMZ -> Xbox 360, since m0n0 doesn't support UPnP

I don't really want to go back to a full computer for routing, but I'd like to use this for something.

# ¿ Oct 11, 2011 19:49

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# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 23:02

Oddhair: Mar 21, 2004

I recently got a Unifi Edge Router X and a UAP-AC-Lite to replace an old Dlink wireless router that started falling over multiple times a day once my internet went past ~70 Mb. It's by far my favorite home router ever.

I'm wondering what else I can do with this combo? (And I'm terribly sorry for how open ended that is.)

I mean, it's screaming fast on wired at 176Mb/s and wireless is a solid 100Mb on my roomie's iPhone 6 phablet-sized model as well as on a USB3 AC adapter I got for my laptop. I have never once needed to let anyone on my guest SSID so I skipped setting one up. WiFi is on its own /24 subnet (and I don't yet know how I could get it bridged to the router either.) Even though we have several iPhones and other Apple devices, all of them at both ends of Airplay are on WiFi so Airplay is also working just great. PS4 works great, the one PC gaming roomie has no complaints, I just feel like I should at least have something more than the two NAT rules and the single SSID.

I have a small home lab that just stays off most of the time, but given that I have a home connection and a single dynamic IP I'd likely be setting that up with a VPN. I honestly can't even think of something else to do except the VPN, so I can turn the WiFi lights on and off while outside the house and mess with the roomies.

I understand that the answer to this is essentially "what do you want to do?" but I got nothing. If there's a way to make the WiFi closer to the internet speed that would be great, I think it's just going to be faster with MIMO or wider channels, haven't even had a chance to look into it.

# ¿ Sep 2, 2016 21:58

Oddhair: Mar 21, 2004

Antillie posted:

The Lite supports 2x2 MIMO. So if your wifi client things only have 1x1 wifi adapters in them then upgrading those to 2x2 MIMO adapters will yield a significant performance improvement. Generally, this only an option for laptop and desktop PCs.

If you don't want the wifi on its own subnet then when you setup the ERX use the WAN+2LAN2 wizard and check the box for "Only use one LAN". But if you are happy with how everything is working at the moment there is no real reason to change things.

I suppose you could setup a guest wifi network. There are a couple of different ways you can do it (the AP built in method which is easier to setup vs the separate VLAN method which is more customizable/extensible) but it sounds like you don't really need a guest wifi network.

Same for VPN access. Its nice if you need it but for most people its probably not worth the hassle.

Thanks for your input.

I may add guest just so people can give it out, but likely they won't, or nobody will ask, or something. MIMO seems like it's just something automatic. All our phones have it, but I didn't try my phone, just the laptop with a USB adapter that definitely supports it, as well as one of their iPhones. Both of us were like 6' from the AP, though, which may be a bit tight and lower throughput, as well both were using Ookla's browser-based tests.

# ¿ Sep 6, 2016 17:00

Oddhair: Mar 21, 2004

well why not posted:

I'm writing in this thread so I (hopefully) remember and so that anyone who reads it might find it handy:

LCD monitors can block wifi in a pretty meaningful way. If you have a desk with a big LCD, a macbook and a router, try to keep the macbook on the side closest the router, so the LCD isn't between the two.

Might be basic knowledge for some, but it hosed with my head for a bit. Other solution is to always use cables, but that's sadly less & less viable.

That reminds me, this is barely network related but don't discount the possibility of cross interference between 2.4 GHz devices. I had a Class 1 USB Bluetooth adapter in the front of my PS4 so I can use my Bluetooth headset instead of the spindly little thing that comes with the PS4. It worked okay for a few weeks, but then I started having trouble with the wireless controllers. One the Square button simply wouldn't register even though it is brand new. Both of them would repeat input, so I'd be running around in circles in Battlefield for 3-5 seconds. I moved the AP further from the PS4 as they were only ~2.5' apart (and the PS4 is wired in anyway) but no dice. Removed the USB adapter and all the controller problems magically went away.

# ¿ Sep 30, 2016 19:31

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