The Home Networking Megathread - Yes the OP is out of date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 The Home Networking Megathread - Yes the OP is out of date

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future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

Just a small update. Still running my WNDR3700v2 on the stock firmware.

Still rock-solid. Can't complain coming from a slowly dying 3com AP. I haven't even needed to think about the Netgear in a month which is a huge plus in my book.

# ¿ Nov 29, 2011 05:00

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# ¿ Apr 18, 2024 03:44

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

Vaginal Engineer posted:

This sentence doesn't make any sense to me. Could you please explain what you mean?

I had a Thompson ADSL router/modem at one point. You can turn off most of the router functions in the UI, but it doesn't actually turn everything off. You need to actually go into the console to do anything, but disabling router functions tends to also disable modem functions as well. The one I had was a piece of poo poo though, and maybe they fixed it later on and Mr Man's just confused.

# ¿ Dec 4, 2011 18:56

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

Boxman posted:

I have no idea if this is the right thread, but here goes.

I'm probably gonna get AT&T u-verse sometime soon, and I'd really like to avoid paying $100 for the crappy wireless router/modem that they want me to buy. I know very little about the service from a technical perspective; would a dsl modem get the job done? And if a dsl modem will work, is there a commonly recommended one? Alternatively, is the a decent source to avoid going through them?

EDIT: I just realized this was a question that was asked and dodged in the OP. still, hopefully someone can help.

Nope. You have to use their gateway. I'm not sure if you can buy them elsewhere either.

# ¿ Dec 5, 2011 06:28

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

Mr Man posted:

Thanks, Sorry I didn't explain it further.

The Thompson router/modem had a custom firmware on there from the ISP, which locked out most functions. Turning off everything that I could and getting it placed in a 'bridged' mode from the ISP still gave us serious performance issues.

Perhaps it was the router, or the ISPs firmware restrictiveness but i seriously have bad experiences with routers that have been from Thompson

That's about how mine was, so I assume they're just not very good.

# ¿ Dec 5, 2011 21:54

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

CampingCarl posted:

Well my dad went out and got a Netgear WNDR3400 because thats what the kid at Best Buy told him he had, whatever. But the specs seem OK and a quick check of the reviews seems decent. There isn't a dd-wrt for the v2 yet, oh well.

Any reason to tell him to return it before I go over and set it up for him?

I have a WNDR3700 set up as an AP (no DHCP/DNS-forwarding-only), and it's been stable and rock-solid for the past few months with up to 15 wireless clients (6 since I moved last week). Not sure how the 3400 compares, but right now from what I understand the better Netgear units in general do not require modified firmware. It should be fine for residential use.

I used to have one of the old whitebox Netgear routers and it was awful, but the WNDR series seems very decent.

# ¿ Dec 21, 2011 03:58

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

Tedronai66 posted:

Bumping this. Also, WNDR3700 router is an option in there (same price as the e4200 refurb).

Get the WNDR3700. Love my V2 and it's been rock-solid since I bought it. All of the Linksys equipment I've worked with has been gimped or prone to overheating in some way that left a bad taste in my mouth.

# ¿ Jan 24, 2012 06:27

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

Are there any current thread-recommended 2.4ghz/5ghz N dual-band adapters?

I'd strongly prefer PCI-E/internal, but I'm not adverse to USB parts. I don't care so much about speed, but the 2.4ghz band is very crowded at my new place. Bunch of assholes on overlapping channels as well - one dickhead I'm pretty sure actually has two routers, using 2+6 and 5+9 :psyduck:

. Because of this, I'd like to move my desktop over to my WNDR3700's 5ghz network if possible.

There's not really an efficient way (that I could determine) to isolate dual-band adapters on Newegg, other than checking each one listed for 5ghz capability, but I was hoping there are a few models that have been recommended frequently around here.

Edit: Seriously look at this poo poo:

future ghost fucked around with this message at 07:13 on Feb 3, 2012

# ¿ Feb 3, 2012 07:06

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

Henrik Zetterberg posted:

Any 8-port gigabit switch recommendations? I have a 2-3 year old Linksys EG008W, and according to Amazon, this is the updated model of the same thing:
http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-SE2800-8-Port-Gigabit-Ethernet/dp/B004TLIVBG/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

I bought a GS105 when I was still using UVERSE and it's been reliable for me:

(8-port version)
http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-ProSafe-Gigabit-Ethernet-Desktop/dp/B00006RVPW/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1328557060&sr=1-1

For the most part, unless you have specific requirements though, a cheap basic Trendnet switch would probably work.

future ghost fucked around with this message at 20:42 on Feb 6, 2012

# ¿ Feb 6, 2012 20:40

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

I think this got lost on the last page, but I need a (preferably-internal) adapter that supports 5ghz. I've seen plenty of decently-reviewed USB adapters, but they seem to be mainly 2.4ghz models. I need something stable to pair with my Netgear router as the 2.4ghz band is super-crowded here. Doesn't matter if the adapter is dual-band or 5ghz-only.

# ¿ Feb 9, 2012 05:31

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

Postal posted:

Two questions:

First, I would like to build a custom router that, on the surface, works much like my Linksys running DD-WRT. In addition to the normal operation of the router, I'd like it be able to run some network monitoring/security tools. First, I would like to run Snort on all the traffic passing through. From there, I wouldn't mind being able to run some VMs for a few small servers and Squid.

My "normal" operating requirements are:
- Wireless N with WPA2 AES
- NAT with DHCP
- Works with DDNS
- Port forwarding

I would like to build this into a "gateway" box. I'd also like for it to be low-powered, if possible. Any suggestions or lessons-learned would be appreciated.

Also, has anyone used the firewall on a DD-WRT installation to copy/forward all traffic to an external box?

Something like Untangle, ClarkConnect, pfsense, or smoothwall (what I use) would do what you want. You can buy PCI/PCI-E wireless cards, although it might be cheaper to convert a router (disable DNS/DHCP/firewall or otherwise set it to forward that traffic) for that side of it though. Most of the router-OS installations come with snort, NAT, etc. and I've found port-forwarding is generally easier on a custom box than most consumer routers. Make sure whatever option you go with has some form of SQUID-like web cache, as this will just make your life easier, particularly if you don't have a speedy connection.

I use a stripped-down undervolted northwood setup to make switching out parts easier/cheaper, but you can run an ITX-sized atom/AMD E-series box as well depending on your requirements.

Another option is to look into a microtik setup (check the SH/SC thread). Either way it'd be a good learning experience, and having the extra monitoring/logging/filtering options can be helpful.

future ghost fucked around with this message at 01:18 on Apr 7, 2012

# ¿ Apr 7, 2012 01:12

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

Postal posted:

Do you just have twin NICs or do you go all out to recreate a "normal" home router (one Internet-facing NIC and four internals)?

I'm pretty familiar with Shuttle barebones, but do you have better solutions for lower power (<250W). Where do you find the smaller stuff?

I just use twin NIC's with one going to a GS105 switch.

Check newegg for ITX platforms or ask around in the parts-picking thread. Some of the guys there have built some nice SFF boxes recently. I'd advise staying away from shuttle as it's preferable to have a box you can switch parts in/out of easily.

# ¿ Apr 7, 2012 01:39

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

I finally got around to installing a 5ghz N card in my desktop after someone pointed out this badboy in the parts-picking thread. I used the latest atheros drivers instead of TP-Link's software. The signal isn't fantastic for 5ghz (signal's passing through 2 walls and the back of a PC though, so what are ya gonna do?) via inssider2, but the signal that Windows7 sees has consistently been 5 bars. It probably helps that the 5ghz band is completely empty here.

The speed has registered as a sustained 300mbps (limited by the Netgear WNDR3700 router) and I haven't had any problems with disconnections or connectivity issues since I installed the card. I'll probably grab some new antennas to boost the signal, but it doesn't seem to be necessary at the moment. I've had some negative experiences with USB adapters in the past, so I'll take a lower absolute signal over having to deal with those.

As an additional bonus, thanks to the increased bandwidth, I've determined that Comcast has boosted my business account's downstream by 2X for free. I had no idea as the old G card didn't have enough speed to ID it and I hadn't thought to check the wired fileserver/HTPC.

Given that 5ghz adapters (and 5ghz PCI-E cards) are almost non-existent at this point, you could do way worse than this TP-Link card if 5ghz is a requirement and you have a router/AP that supports it.

# ¿ May 11, 2012 01:54

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

Josh Lyman posted:

I just put together a desktop, and the WNDR3700 is located one floor up and a living room across. I bought a TP-Link PCI 802.11n adapter because it was $20 at Microcenter. Trouble is, I'm only getting 3 bars in Windows 7, and OpenWRT says the signal strength is -60dB. Is there anything I can do to boost signal strength? Is there another adapter I should try?

You could get larger antennas since the adapter's stock antennas are removable.

A couple of these should do it, and you can position them away from the case. Alternatively, some USB adapters have external wired antennas which might end up being cheaper.

# ¿ May 16, 2012 05:44

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

Golbez posted:

Mediacom. And the funny thing is, it's not just torrents: It's HTTP/FTP downloads that kill it too. I managed to bork it by just downloading the latest Fedora ISO. If I had Netflix running on another computer it would die even more reliably.

Also discovered that my [i]phone service[i] also dies when this happens. I'm really, really angry at the first idiot who said it was by design.

That's not acceptable if it disables your phone service (it's bullshit anyway really - but what if it goes down when there's a fire or something?). They need to send a tech out or provide you with a replacement unit.

# ¿ May 26, 2012 21:24

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

Jinnigan posted:

Hey guys, do you have any recommendation on buying a wireless adapter for desktops? I'm on an 802.11n network but other than that I don't have any major needs. My router is on the first floor and I'm on the third. I could do a PCIe card, or a USB one would work too. What do y'all suggest?

If you wanted to go with PCIe (I don't like USB adapters much as I've had some die on me in the past), I've used both of these with no complaints:

2.4ghz N:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166047

5ghz/2.4ghz N:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833704133

Both of these can use aftermarket antennas. Given the distance involved you'd probably have the best results with the Rosewill model & a uni-directional antenna, although the TP-Link card will give you faster speed if your router supports it. I'm using the latest atheros chipset drivers for both of the cards instead of the manufacturers' drivers (AR9380 for the TP-Link card and AR9285 for the Rosewill card).

e: Wish I had known this existed when I bought my cards. The Intel option is the way to go really if you're going with PCI-E.
VVV

future ghost fucked around with this message at 19:54 on May 27, 2012

# ¿ May 27, 2012 00:13

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

EscapeHere posted:

Question: does anybody know of a device I can get that will connect to my landlord's AP, create its own separate WiFi network with a different name and password, and be able to route traffic accordingly? That way we can connect all our devices to our own WiFi network and have it only send internet traffic through to his.

DD-WRT can do this. I used to have my Buffalo G54 set up to run a wireless bridge to the landlord's network at my old place. You can set your own SSID and security. I think you have to use the upstream DHCP server, although it's been awhile so I may be mis-remembering that. It'll reduce the available bandwidth, but it'll do what you want, assuming it will work with a secured network (check on the DD-WRT wiki first).

# ¿ Jun 16, 2012 05:15

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

n0n0 posted:

My newly-built PC has an 802.11n PCI card. The problem is that it's really low to the floor and it gets horrible signal strength down there. On top of the desk, the signal is much stronger.

So, I'd like to get an extension cord/antenna that would sit on top of my desk while the computer itself remains below.

I'm having a hard time finding free-standing antennas with long cords.

Any suggestions?

2.4ghz or 5ghz? If it's 2.4ghz there's tons of options on Amazon. D-link makes some decent ones although they can get a bit pricy. If you just have a single antenna, grab one of these, point it at the AP, and never worry about signal again.

If it's a 5ghz card, uh, let me know what you find as I haven't found a decent antenna yet.

# ¿ Jun 23, 2012 06:45

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

n0n0 posted:

It's 2.4ghz... and that's a little more money than I wanted to spend. I was thinking like less than 20 bucks. Sheesh.

Yeah, it's a bit overkill. Check out something like one of these instead:
http://www.amazon.com/Booster-OMNI-Directional-High-Gain-Screw-On-magnetic/dp/B0039ORBLK/ref=pd_cp_e_1

http://www.amazon.com/Zonet-Zwa1007...=2.4ghz+antenna

# ¿ Jun 23, 2012 07:02

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

I run mixed-HT on my WNDR3700's 2.4ghz band. The only 2.4ghz N device (my housemate's PC) is limited to ~150mbit, so the occasional speed drop from the -G phones doesn't really affect anything for the most part. The 5ghz network runs mixed by default, but the 5ghz N devices all run at 300mbit so the speeds never drop down on that band. I use 5ghz with the PCI-E card on my desktop as it gets better speeds and pings even with the reduced signal strength vs. G-mode (probably due to all the 2.4ghz interference in my apartment complex).

fallenturtle posted:

Edit: So if I do want to take advantage of the 5Ghz frequency, is there any advantage disadvantage of going simul-dualband vs two separate access points?

You'd have to pay more for 2 APs/routers, although the added cost of a dualband router might offset that, so maybe not. It's possible that 2 routers running 1 radio each may last longer, but with the quality of most commodity routers that's a shot in the dark at best.

# ¿ Jun 27, 2012 23:42

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

UndyingShadow posted:

Yes, it does.

Edit: That is to say, it allows you to configure 2.4ghz and 5 ghz networks active at the same time. I run separate SSIDs for the different frequencies, but they connect to the same network. I haven't tried it with the same SSID because I don't like it.

Is that what you mean by "simultaneous dual band?"

That's what he was referring to, yep. I don't think there's really any point to using the same SSID as you're talking about different frequencies. It'd just end up being annoying if you're using a dual-band adapter as you'd have issues connecting to a specific band depending on the OS.

# ¿ Jul 5, 2012 23:52

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

MycroftXXX posted:

So I'm kicking around this thread a bit and have a quick question. Sorry if this has been answered before but there is kind of a lot of information to sift though.

I was looking at the Netgear WNR3500L v2 in the OP and it looked like a pretty good option for me (I guess ). Would this router be alright out of the box or would it be necessary to put tomato on it. I live in an apartment complex and I think I currently have some problems with interference, would better off spending a little more money and getting a dual band router?

Thanks. I am a bit of a muggle with this networking wizardry.

I bought a dual-band 3700 and I like it very much. The 5ghz signal is great for our crowded apartment building, and I've just been using the stock firmware. I have a smoothwall box running so the 3700's just been acting as an AP though, so I can't really comment on the Netgear's routing functions.

# ¿ Aug 28, 2012 03:06

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

Powerful Two-Hander posted:

Can anyone recommend a PC wireless card that isnt a total piece of poo poo? I've got a Cisco/Linksys WMP600N and it's hopeless - gets worse reception than an adroid phone in the same location in the house, drops connection randomly for a few seconds and somehow manages to cause stuttering on the rest of the machine when it's in use (seriously, I get mouse input stuttering on a core i5, that shouldn't happen).

I'm fairly sure it's not a router issuer as a) reception is better on a phone at the same range and b) the router isn't even that far away though there are some (non-brick) walls in the way. I've tried replacing the crummy Cisco drivers with the RALink ones which seems to have worked for some people but I think that the core problem is that this is an old chipset.

Intel Centrino for desktops is very nice assuming you have a spare PCI-E 1x slot, and it uses dual-band if you update your router/AP at some point.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106135

# ¿ Dec 2, 2012 21:46

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

DrDork posted:

Are there any current mid- to high-end routers that actually have a functional QoS system, or do I really have to flash to DDWRT or Tomato to get that? I've currently got a Netgear WNDR3700 and its QoS options are a complete lie. As far as I can tell they do absolutely nothing, as my torrent computer still clobbers the internet connection, even when set to lowest priority by both port and MAC address.

As Devian666 said you'd probably have to look into an external box to handle routing for improved QoS (I use a separate smoothwall box for this).

In addition, set the number of total connections, connections per torrent, and upload limits in the torrent client to significantly lower numbers depending on your connection speed. Running too many overall connections and saturating your upload bandwidth will drag your connection/router down quickly.

# ¿ Dec 17, 2012 02:11

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

I'm still running a 3700 v2 connected to my smoothwall box as an AP, and I like it for the dual-band and reliability. No idea if the routing functions are as flawless (although you won't need them anyways) but I can't complain about the speed or range on it. It has gigabit ports, not really useful for wireless throughput as mentioned, but it does allow it to be used as a gigabit switch if needed.

# ¿ Dec 20, 2012 02:55

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

So after around 14 months, the 2.4ghz band on my 3700v2 finally died. :toot:

Fortunately, the 5ghz band still works fine, and I have a backup 3Com AP for 2.4ghz stuff, so I don't have to rush out and buy a new one just yet. Thinking that it might be better to look into a mikrotik setup instead, given that I just need a reliable AP to attach to my smoothwall box.

Just posting to confirm that yes, it appears that 2.4ghz band reliability over time may actually be a thing with that particular model.

# ¿ Jan 6, 2013 02:13

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

Progression Please posted:

Trying to set up QOS on my router to prioritize Dota 2 over people dl'ing or streaming. I set the UDP range to the specific dota port (27015), and set priority to highest. I have no other QOS entries, will this singular dota2 entry be sufficient to prioritize Dota or will I have to go configure all the other traffic users like torrent etc. to low? I have no idea what I am doing.

It might do it, but you'll probably want to lower the priority of background traffic (ie torrents) to be safe.

# ¿ Jan 6, 2013 07:14

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

Vinlaen posted:

Are those the numbers I should enter into the QoS wizard or should I go slightly lower? (although, I hate the idea of entering a LOWER amount and forcing my connection to go slower just so I can perform QoS, but what can you do?)

I set a 10% overhead on my smoothwall's QoS settings and it works fine for sharing the connection and running murmur/SSHd servers. Set it as close to 25/3 as you can, as you can later lower it if necessary. For any torrenting, restrict the number of client in/out connections and upload maximum to conservative numbers, and QoS should help your browsing.

# ¿ Feb 12, 2013 21:28

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

FISHMANPET posted:

I've got a WRT54GL that I love and a 1 Megabit connection so it does just fine. But I'm pretty much fed up with G, so I'm looking for a plain and simple N access point. Anything recommended?

Even though my WNDR3700 v2's 2.4ghz network died after ~1.5 years, I'm probably going to replace it with a newer revision because it was (until the 2.4ghz issue) flawless. Right now the 5ghz network still works fine, so I haven't bothered swapping it out yet. Go for either a Netgear or Asus model in the $60+ range depending on required features.

# ¿ Feb 15, 2013 05:44

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

Fil5000 posted:

Hey all. Read through the OP but I'm afraid I've still got some questions.

I've just switched my broadband over to Sky and gone from a 20mb cable connection to a 40mb fibre connection. I'm getting around 40mb out if I plug directly into the supplied wireless router from Sky, but wireless wise I'm getting around 20mb everywhere in the house, no matter how near or far I am from the router. I've tried switching channels and futzed with inSSIDer to see if I can find the best place but all the channel changing makes it worse as near as I can work out (it's going to channel 11 if left on auto and that seems to be best).

The supplied router only works on the 2.4ghz range so I'm wondering if getting a dual band one is going to make anything better. I don't have any of the necessary tools or cable to wire the house up, so I'm mostly at this point looking at whether I should do that or buy a better router.

Get a better router (check the OP - although I like Netgear's lineup) then set your Sky router's DHCP server/wireless off, or whatever the DMZ+ configuration is for that model. Give the new router a static IP then use it for DHCP/wireless. If you want step-by-step info, I can walk you through it on mumble or jabber once you've purchased the router (Agincourt on WoL). All-in-one ISP-provided routers generally aren't the best to run everything off rather than compartmentalizing connections/routing on separate units. You may also need newer wireless adapters depending on what speed tiers they support.

future ghost fucked around with this message at 23:43 on Mar 12, 2013

# ¿ Mar 12, 2013 23:41

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

Lowness 72 posted:

I'm curious as to why buffalo isn't mentioned in the OP. Are they still banned from selling in the US? My buffalo at home has been rock solid for 4 years now

Most of their current stuff isn't really better than competitors' offerings in the same pricerange. I used an older Buffalo router with DD-WRT for a few years though and it worked fine. Their stock firmware hasn't improved lately however.

Secx posted:

I'd like to know how much traffic each physical port is using (in real-time).

Are there consumer grade switches/routers that can do this?

Optionally: same thing, but for wifi. I'd like to know how much bandwidth each connected device is using.

You can get real-time information per-IP with smoothwall/pfsense, but for off-the-shelf products you'd want to look for something with Tomato/DD-WRT capability. I'm not sure if you can get per-port information, but you should be able to see realtime client bandwidth.

Bad Munki posted:

On a marginally related note:

I'd like to know what urls are actually being visited on my wifi network. I live in a fairly low-population neighborhood and I'm a total hippy so I leave my network wide open and unencrypted. I'd just like to know if my neighbors are using it and if so, what they're using it for. Is there an easy way to go about this? Currently running on an old linksys wrt54g, if that is useful here.

Be a hippy if you want, but secure your router. It's all fun and games until you get hit with a DMCA notice, or the police wake you with a no-knock because someone did something incredibly illegal using your connection.

# ¿ Mar 15, 2013 17:40

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

titaniumone posted:

I have a mini-ITX system running pfSense, and a Cisco switch. My roommate has an Airport Extreme plugged in to serve solely as a wireless AP. He's moving out, so I'm going to need something to replace his Airport when he takes it with him.

Can someone recommend a good home wireless AP? I don't need or want any routing or switching capabilities. Single port, powerful antenna, wireless N, and simultaneous dual band if possible. (I have no Apple products and we've had a few stupid issues with the Airport so I'm not interested in buying one myself).

I use a Netgear WNDR3700 as a basic AP in a similar setup. Works fine for me, and I haven't bothered putting DD-WRT or anything on it.

I'm on my second one though, since the 2.4ghz band on the first one (V2 revision) died around the 15-month mark. The 5ghz band on that one is still reliable so I've been using it as an extender.

# ¿ Apr 2, 2013 20:02

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

Vintersorg posted:

Any recommendations for a wireless USB stick for use on my PC? I moved into an apartment and the cable line is going to be across the room and id rather not be running cables all over the drat place. If it comes down to that I can but would rather avoid it. I didn't see anything in the OP.

Just about any USB adapter should work. Parts with atheros chipsets are compatible with just about whatever. Just get one that supports the same speeds your router will put out and you should be fine.

Alternatively, for around the same price, get one of these Intel cards if you have a spare PCI-E slot:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106135 .

Goon Matchmaker posted:

My speed is always stable at 3.3 MB/s once it settles down from the speed boost or whatever Comcast calls it.

3.3MB/s is roughly what you would max out at with a 27mbit pipe, so there's no need to buy a SB6141 unless you anticipate getting a higher-tier connection sometime soon.

Three-Phase posted:

Boy, my iPad really likes to talk to my router all the time (probably because of push email settings). I've also seen a couple of instances where there's an access rejected from my iPad's MAC address.

I'm thinking that's much more likely due to a communication glitch rather than someone spoofing the MAC address for whatever reason and trying to brute force my WPA2-PSK password. If it happened when my iPad was away from the router, then I'd be more suspicious.

Honestly, you might want to consider ditching wireless completely if it's just going to make you :tinfoil:

.
Enable wireless isolation for your ipad, etc. and put everything else on a direct ethernet connection. Otherwise just use strong passwords and stop :spergin:

about it. No one's going to go through the effort of breaking into your network unless you're a celebrity or government official or something, in which case you probably shouldn't use wireless at all.

future ghost fucked around with this message at 16:13 on Apr 9, 2013

# ¿ Apr 9, 2013 15:58

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

Thanatosian posted:

The network is off of one of Comcast's higher-end residential plans, running a Cisco-Linksys E3000 Wireless-N router with Tomato installed; not sure what the modem is, but I think it's a Motorola combo unit (I intend to shut off the wi-fi for that once I get the router up and running).

I'm running a pretty decent desktop with Windows 7 64-bit and available PCI slots, if that matters.

If you have available PCI-Express slots, get an Intel Centrino for desktops card. Otherwise get a dual-band USB adapter of some kind that supports 300mbit connections or higher.

# ¿ Apr 16, 2013 16:28

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

Experto Crede posted:

Valid points, yeah. What about DSL? Is the recommended setup for an internal one or an external going into one of the Ethernet ports?

EDIT: This looks like a viable board for the routing hardware, especially if coupled with a mini PCI-E gigabit Ethernet board. Anything glaring that'd make it unusable?

I run a smoothwall box with 2 ethernet cards. As said above, just get a switch instead of multiple-port network cards.

With DSL you would generally have the ISP modem connected to the Red/WAN port on your router, and then the Green/LAN port would connect over to a switch. Set the ISP modem in bridged mode and disable DHCP/firewalling on it. Give the router a static IP and have it handle DHCP and DNS instead. You can point the DNS address on the router to the ISP modem if you want to use the ISP DNS servers (this is important for U-Verse in particular). Internal DSL cards probably exist, but if you already have a DSL modem on hand, just use that instead. If it's a multiple-port model, use a LAN ethernet port on the modem and not the WAN port.

Make sure to check the supported cards for whatever router OS you're planning to use. Realtek cards are widely supported, but at least with Smoothwall, Intel cards are recommended for higher throughput requirements. The board you've linked should work fine assuming you're getting ~50mbit or less down. Generally with router OS' you want somewhat older hardware for better support, although sticking with Intel parts always helps.

You should probably take a look at the Microtik thread as well if you're interested in an all-in-one box with wifi included.

future ghost fucked around with this message at 20:10 on Apr 22, 2013

# ¿ Apr 22, 2013 20:06

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

SamDabbers posted:

Or you can pick up a Mikrotik RB951G-2HnD and get the low-power all-in-one goodness you seek in the hardware, with more Linux-based networking features than you'll ever use.

If I didn't already have my router box setup, I'd probably go with this solution personally. Smoothwall/ipcop/pfsense were fun learning tools for networking paired with a Cisco AP (until I retired it), but the smoothwall router's stable enough that I can't be bothered to try something new right now. Also I've become pretty reliant on some of the addon features like Guardian and the built-in squid proxy. Most of the useful features that it can do are available with Mikrotik though, so you'd get the same benefits in a smaller and more power-efficient package.

# ¿ Apr 22, 2013 23:48

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

Antioch posted:

Score, thanks. Off to the store I go!

Set the AP to a static IP address outside of your main router's IP range. It'll make locating it in the web interface easier later on.

# ¿ Apr 25, 2013 23:57

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

Isko posted:

So my old router has randomly stopped working practically everyday lately so I think it's time to get a new one. I was looking at a ASUS RT-N16 but I'm a little worried about it possibly heating up too much because I live in a hot area and I think that may be a problem with my current router. Are any of the routers less susceptible to heat than others? I read in the OP that routers tend to have bad heat management. I never cared about all the technical stuff in the past, I never even updated my firmware, but I'm looking for something that I can do some fiddling with and get the most out of a router. Any suggestions? I read through the OP but it was a bit overwhelming. Is the ASUS RT-N16 going to be all right? I'm fine with anything around $100.

How hot is hot? You may want to look into Mikrotik equipment.

# ¿ Apr 30, 2013 06:23

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

snickles posted:

Slightly different situation but I think this may be my problem. I got a new arris modem/router/phone which seems to be interfering with my ability to port forward. Port forwarding from the arris to my router and from the router to the target machine doesn't work, not does using the arris' DMZ function. I suspect I need to try switching the arris to bridge mode - would this fix the issue I'm having or am I missing something?

For DSL modems, generally setting them to bridge mode (and setting your router to do DSL login) is the way to go.

# ¿ May 11, 2013 18:12

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

snickles posted:

It's a cable modem. Same thing?

Usually with cable modems, setting the router on the DMZ works fine. If you're having issues with DMZ then try bridge mode (didn't know cable modems came with that) and see if the forwards work properly from your router.

# ¿ May 11, 2013 18:25

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# ¿ Apr 18, 2024 03:44

future ghost: Dec 5, 2005; Gun Saliva

Bad Munki posted:

Right, but then I'd also have to manually assign the IP on the computer in question. This way, it still gets its IP via DHCP, it just always gets the same one.

You're still missing the point. Change your DHCP pool ending address to .199 so that your manually-assigned .200 address for "Surtr" is outside of the DHCP address pool. This will ensure that it won't receive a random IP address in the pool when the DHCP lease expires or when you reboot the PC. Leave Surtr set to get its IP address via DHCP.

Assigned addresses need to be outside of the DHCP address pool for this reason.

edit: Agreed, but since their router doesn't seem to be doing that consistently it's better to change one setting and then never have to worry about it again.
VVV

future ghost fucked around with this message at 19:14 on May 18, 2013

# ¿ May 18, 2013 17:22

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

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