The Home Networking Megathread - Yes the OP is out of date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 The Home Networking Megathread - Yes the OP is out of date

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Henrik Zetterberg: Dec 7, 2007

Not sure if this is the right thread, but it may be.

I'm looking to do a lot of rewiring of the CAT5 in my house. Basically, ATT did a bunch of funky poo poo when they installed my U-Verse and I want to unfuck it.

Does anyone have any suggestions on a decent network cable crimping kit? I'm a whiz at stripping wires, so one of these is purely optional. I'd like a 110 punchdown tool as well. I was looking at this:
http://www.amazon.com/Paladin-Tools-70007-Complete-Network/dp/B0018BL0PO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1328245719&sr=8-3

Suggestions on a network cable tester would also be welcome because I'll most likely gently caress something up. I actually ordered this one last week:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00006HYWD/ref=oh_o00_s00_i01_details
But I decided I didn't need it, so I returned it. Only to decide 24 hours later that I want to rewire everything and that it would be nice to have, so I may just order the same thing again. Whoops.

Henrik Zetterberg fucked around with this message at 07:09 on Feb 3, 2012

# ? Feb 3, 2012 07:06

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# ? May 14, 2024 17:10

wcagizmo: Oct 28, 2008; HEH, HEH, HEH.

I'm trying to set-up a home network that needs some sort of wireless adapter / reviewer / access point that can be used to power multiple connections (i.e. a switch). Can I get some advice on what products I need?

I have a created a very high-tech image of what exactly I am looking for:

# ? Feb 3, 2012 17:54

Bamodus: Aug 4, 2009

wcagizmo posted:

I'm trying to set-up a home network that needs some sort of wireless adapter / reviewer / access point that can be used to power multiple connections (i.e. a switch). Can I get some advice on what products I need?

It sounds like a client bridge would be just what you're looking for. You could buy a router that is compatible with ddwrt, flash the firmware, and follow this guide for setting up client bridge mode.

http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Client_Bridged

Basically, this router will connect wirelessly with your existing network, and you can hook up whatever devices you like to it via ethernet. I have a similar setup and the router I'm using for it is a Linksys E2000 that I got for about $30 (got it refurbished from Newegg a couple of months ago). I'm fairly sure this can be setup in other third-party firmwares like Tomato as well.

*edit* You could also get a USB wireless adapter for the desktop and create a bridge in Windows so that the PC can just share its wireless connection over ethernet to the XBox.

Bamodus fucked around with this message at 18:46 on Feb 3, 2012

# ? Feb 3, 2012 18:39

elite_garbage_man: Apr 3, 2010; I THINK THAT "PRIMA DONNA" IS "PRE-MADONNA". I MAY BE ILLITERATE.

wcagizmo posted:

I'm trying to set-up a home network that needs some sort of wireless adapter / reviewer / access point that can be used to power multiple connections (i.e. a switch). Can I get some advice on what products I need?

I have a created a very high-tech image of what exactly I am looking for:

You need to get a wireless bridge device (or a flashed router acting as a bridge) to act as a 24/7 link to your wireless router, then connect it via ethernet to a switch just like that diagram you have. It's pretty straight forward to setup.

# ? Feb 3, 2012 19:07

Fangs404: Dec 20, 2004; I time bomb.

Got a friend that's trying to solve a problem for his (small) office environment. Right now, they have 3 different wireless APs in their office. They have 1 main router that connects to the main switch, and then the 3 wireless APs connect to that switch. 2 of the APs are Linksys WRT160Nv2 and the other is a D-Link DAP-1522. What he wants to do is consolidate the APs to have 1 AP and then 2 or 3 repeaters so that you can be on the same network all over the office. None of the wireless APs they currently use offer repeater mode (none of them support DD-WRT or Tomato either).

What I imagine he could do is pick up 3 new AP/repeater devices, set up one to be the AP and the others to repeat that signal. Is this the best way to do it? What devices should he be looking at?

# ? Feb 3, 2012 20:34

Drevoak: Jan 30, 2007

Devian666 posted:

Make sure the 3700 wireless speed is set for auto. It's possible the WGR614 might be out of range. See if you can move it a bit closer and get it to connect.

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?

# ? Feb 3, 2012 21:28

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

Devian666: Aug 20, 2008; Take some advice Chris.; Fun Shoe

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?

When you used the terminology of wireless repeater that's what I thought you wanted to do. Which is repeat the wireless signal to the weak location. You can instead just run a cable and set the wireless up where you position the 614.

If there is reception of both devices then you want to separate the channels as much as possible with the largest difference between channel numbers.

# ? Feb 3, 2012 23:32

Prefect Six: Mar 27, 2009

Picked up a WNDR3700 off amazon and got V3

so I guess I'm hosed for DD-WRT or any other third party firmware.

e: would it be worth going to a local best buy to try to find a v2 and returning this to amazon?

Prefect Six fucked around with this message at 02:00 on Feb 4, 2012

# ? Feb 4, 2012 01:43

SlayVus: Jul 10, 2009; Grimey Drawer

2So I need a little help with my network.

I have a WRT160v3 as the house's router. I have my main computer connected to the router through a USB WiFi adapter. What I would like to do is share my WiFi connection on my computer to it's LAN connection. Connected to the LAN is a D-Link DIR-655 router. The cat 5 is plugged into the WAN port of the DIR-655 and LAN port on the PC.

How can I get internet on the WiFi of the DIR-655.

# ? Feb 4, 2012 01:57

Vaginal Engineer: Jan 23, 2007

Prefect Six posted:

Picked up a WNDR3700 off amazon and got V3 so I guess I'm hosed for DD-WRT or any other third party firmware.

e: would it be worth going to a local best buy to try to find a v2 and returning this to amazon?

The stock firmware on the 3700 is pretty good actually. I'd only flash it if there are some things you want to be able to change, but can't normally. This will probably not be an issue, though.

# ? Feb 4, 2012 02:06

Fangs404: Dec 20, 2004; I time bomb.

Fangs404 posted:

Got a friend that's trying to solve a problem for his (small) office environment. Right now, they have 3 different wireless APs in their office. They have 1 main router that connects to the main switch, and then the 3 wireless APs connect to that switch. 2 of the APs are Linksys WRT160Nv2 and the other is a D-Link DAP-1522. What he wants to do is consolidate the APs to have 1 AP and then 2 or 3 repeaters so that you can be on the same network all over the office. None of the wireless APs they currently use offer repeater mode (none of them support DD-WRT or Tomato either).

What I imagine he could do is pick up 3 new AP/repeater devices, set up one to be the AP and the others to repeat that signal. Is this the best way to do it? What devices should he be looking at?

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?

# ? Feb 4, 2012 02:47

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

Fangs404: Dec 20, 2004; I time bomb.

fagalicious posted:

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

Every employee has wired access, but lots of employees have multiple devices (the work-supplied desktop, a laptop, and a phone, for example). The wireless is for the "extra" devices.

# ? Feb 4, 2012 08:53

Jonny 290: May 5, 2005; [ASK] me about OS/2 Warp

I think he's saying that all of the APs need to be cabled back to a central switch. Do not use repeaters. For every repeater you have in the chain, your throughput is halved.

# ? Feb 4, 2012 12:08

Fangs404: Dec 20, 2004; I time bomb.

Jonny 290 posted:

I think he's saying that all of the APs need to be cabled back to a central switch. Do not use repeaters. For every repeater you have in the chain, your throughput is halved.

Oh, gotcha! Ok, so the best way would be to keep the setup he currently has but make all the APs have the same SSID/encryption/password but be on different channels. Is that correct?

# ? Feb 4, 2012 19:33

CuddleChunks: Sep 18, 2004

Henrik Zetterberg posted:

Does anyone have any suggestions on a decent network cable crimping kit? I'm a whiz at stripping wires, so one of these is purely optional. I'd like a 110 punchdown tool as well. I was looking at this:
http://www.amazon.com/Paladin-Tools-70007-Complete-Network/dp/B0018BL0PO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1328245719&sr=8-3

That's a nice little kit. I've used the crimpall series and one that looks like that only with orange handles (it's a rj45 and rj11 crimper). It should do just fine for a home job.

# ? Feb 5, 2012 09:40

CuddleChunks: Sep 18, 2004

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?

Call a company and have them give you a quote for installation and management of this gear. Let them deal with this level of bullshit.

If for some reason you're stuck making recommendations then take a look at the Ubiquiti Unifi series of access points. It lets you set up several pods that talk back to a central controller. You'll need to dedicate a computer to this task and run ethernet to each of the pods to power them and let them communicate but that's the slick way to do this. You can then setup a nice looking wifi network that should handle a large number of users and can be expanded by adding more AP's as you need.

Doing this on the cheap for a business that size is pretty ill-advised and will mostly lead to heartache.

# ? Feb 5, 2012 09:45

Gism0: Mar 20, 2003; huuuh?

CuddleChunks posted:

...
It lets you set up several pods that talk back to a central controller. You'll need to dedicate a computer to this task and run ethernet to each of the pods to power them and let them communicate but that's the slick way to do this.

You just need the controller pc on to configure the APs, you can turn it off and the system will still work. You do need the controller pc on to use the hotspot feature though.

# ? Feb 5, 2012 10:54

Giblet: Jun 19, 2003; Smooth like whiskey

I am in need of a USB wireless adapter that I can use to make my HTPC into a wireless access point.

I am at school and routers are blocked on the network. With 3 computers, ps3, wii, phone, tablet, ect. I have to constantly re-register devices since they cap the number of connected devices to 3. I would like to just bypass all of that an just register my desktop and HTPC and run everything else off a wireless card connected to my HTPC. There are no available expansion slots so I need something either USB 2.0 or 3.0.

# ? Feb 5, 2012 20:45

Meltdown321: Jun 5, 2004; A Great Supporter of Mounty Bob

Could anyone tell me what the so-called new "Sky Wireless N Router" is from Sky broadband in the UK?
Am I all right sticking with it or should I plan to upgrade to something else?

Searching the topic in Google gets me lots of spurious nonsense and vague hints about Sagem Path F@ST2304N.

I actually purchased this, as I am currently with Virgin Media (a cable service provider), however, i have had enough of their "fair use" policy and Sky are offering me a better deal. The router i purchased has not yet arrived, i was planning on returning it when it does.

Anyone got any advice?

Thanks.

# ? Feb 5, 2012 23:26

Dogen: May 5, 2002; Bury my body down by the highwayside, so that my old evil spirit can get a Greyhound bus and ride

I'm having a bizarre network problem that I can't pin down.

My network is basically like

code:

                      Internet at large
                             |
                 Time Warner (via Korcett)
                             |
                   Ethernet jack in my apartment
                             |
                      Time Capsule Gen 2
  (wireless)  /              |            \           \
     Airport Express   Apt Extreme      Switch 1     Switch 2
             |               |             |           |
          Stereo        Office stuff     Living rm    Bedroom

So these Korcett characters are basically middlemen who maintain in-unit broadband connections for multifamily dwellings (apartments, dorms). The bandwidth for us is coming through Time Warner biz, but Korcett manages the connection and the equipment in the building (I am fairly sure). If you just plug straight into a jack on the wall, you have to go through a portal page on the web as one would on public wifi or something. You can also log in to your account and add MAC addresses for things that don't have web browsers so they can access the internet.

The much preferable option, which I have taken, is to have them set up your router with a public IP, which you do by giving them your router's WAN MAC address. I did this, and it worked great for 2 weeks. Now my connection is dropping out every 5-10 minutes. I've tried: reverting the router to factory settings and then manually re-entering everything, using the IP the router is assigned by DHCP as a manually entered address for the router, reverting the firmware (this conveniently coincided with a firmware update), and probably a bunch of other poo poo I am not remembering right now. edit: Ok, I reverted all my devices to the previous firmware and reverted them all at the same time, SAME drat PROBLEM.

The weird thing is, hitting 'Renew DHCP Lease' in airport utility fixes it, for 5-10 minutes. If I do nothing, it stays off. Basically when it's off I have total local connectivity, but packets don't seem to get to the first step past the local address for my router.

Anyone have any ideas? I called Korcett once already and they were pretty clueless.

edit: As I suspected, it seems like a config issue on their end. Someone else (totally different MAC) is getting my ip after about 5-10 mins. How the hell that happens, I don't know enough about networking to know. Now I have to wait for a senior engineer to look at it and sort it out. I kinda miss the reliability of my old uverse connection, but at least this internet is free with my apartment... though I guess you get what you pay for :sigh:

Dogen fucked around with this message at 21:21 on Feb 6, 2012

# ? Feb 6, 2012 18:59

Henrik Zetterberg: Dec 7, 2007

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

Seems to be just fine.

# ? Feb 6, 2012 20:21

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

The MUMPSorceress: Jan 6, 2012; ^SHTPSTS; Gary’s Answer

What's a decent cable modem if I'm going to be on Charter in the Madison, WI area?

# ? Feb 7, 2012 01:56

Keyser_Soze: May 5, 2009; Pillbug

So, on the advice in the OP of this thread I upgraded to an ASUS RT-N16 last week and have had it up since Friday night. I have had various Netgear routers in the past and still use one as an access point downstairs for my dish box/Appletv but had been just using the lan and wifi on the 2Wire 3600HGV that was part of my Uverse install last summer.

I was wondering - that since the new ASUS Firmware Version:3.0.0.3.94 apparently has a fairly decent traffic monitor and charts/tables now - if I should even bother flashing Tomato on it (and most likely loving something up leading me to smash my new RT-N16 into bits) or just live with the ASUS software? Will Tomato still make the RT-N16 faster?

I did find that trying to use the USB port as a print server only worked for printing on my Canon MP530 all in one and had to just use the USB cable back to my main tower pc. Otherwise, the unit has been great and was really easy to get set up.

# ? Feb 7, 2012 19:17

Devian666: Aug 20, 2008; Take some advice Chris.; Fun Shoe

The primary question when it comes down to whether or not to flash the router is: does it work without crashing or other problems occurring?

ASUS firmware isn't known for being stable.

# ? Feb 8, 2012 01:44

Alpha Q. Up: May 14, 2003; Lemmy IS God!!!

Repost from the short questions thread:

I recently got some new wireless devices and I need a new wireless router. I've been using the same wired router for years so I am completely clueless about them. It will be used for my home network (PC and PS3 only), my Iphone/Ipad and the occasional friend that drops by with a laptop. So basically it needs to be cheap, function well for my home wired use, and provide basic wireless functionality.

What can you guys recommend for me? Based on the OP and the advice I got from the short questions thread I think I want something that is dual band and that's it really? Something like this wireless router is what I have in mind right now. Is that overkill? Any other recommendations? Thanks

# ? Feb 8, 2012 12:05

Tapedump: Aug 31, 2007; College Slice

^Looking forward to the next several years, is not being capable of gigabit (1000Mbps) wired connections a problem?

Also, are there a lot of wireless networks in your immediate area (live in a dorm/apartment/condo)? That's where the 5Ghz spectrum shines.

# ? Feb 9, 2012 03:19

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

Keyser_Soze: May 5, 2009; Pillbug

Devian666 posted:

The primary question when it comes down to whether or not to flash the router is: does it work without crashing or other problems occurring?

ASUS firmware isn't known for being stable.

The ASUS RT-N16 has only been up for 6 days so no problems yet.

# ? Feb 9, 2012 05:37

Devian666: Aug 20, 2008; Take some advice Chris.; Fun Shoe

If it works then there's no issue. If you start having issues with it then you know what you need to do.

# ? Feb 9, 2012 15:28

Alpha Q. Up: May 14, 2003; Lemmy IS God!!!

Tapedump posted:

^Looking forward to the next several years, is not being capable of gigabit (1000Mbps) wired connections a problem?

Also, are there a lot of wireless networks in your immediate area (live in a dorm/apartment/condo)? That's where the 5Ghz spectrum shines.

I don't really know if the lack of gigabit connections will be a problem? Will that be a thing in the future? I'd rather spend the money now than have to upgrade in a couple years, but if that stuff is more than 5 years away it doesn't matter.

And yes I live in an apartment complex where there's a bunch of other wireless networks. The router i linked is 5Ghz capable right?

# ? Feb 9, 2012 23:42

TheBandOffice: Nov 4, 2009

I figured that this would be the best place to ask this in.

On my desktop, I have two network connections: wireless and wired. Is there any way I can know which connection an application is using and be able to change it? The only reason I have a wireless connection is because I need to use it to connect my phone over the network as a remote, but running things through it (to the internet) makes it slow down/die.

Any ideas?

For reference, I'm on Windows 7 x64

Alpha Q. Up posted:

I don't really know if the lack of gigabit connections will be a problem? Will that be a thing in the future? I'd rather spend the money now than have to upgrade in a couple years, but if that stuff is more than 5 years away it doesn't matter.

And yes I live in an apartment complex where there's a bunch of other wireless networks. The router i linked is 5Ghz capable right?

Yes, the router you linked is simultaneous dual-band, so it will work on both the 2.4 and 5 ghz bands at the same time. That's a good thing.

Getting onto the bit about Gigabit part, I would say go ahead and get a router that supports it. Especially since the next model up of the router you're looking at is only $20 more right now, is gigabit, and has DLNA which is something you might want with a PS3 to make streaming more awesome.

TheBandOffice fucked around with this message at 01:54 on Feb 10, 2012

# ? Feb 10, 2012 01:44

Tapedump: Aug 31, 2007; College Slice

Alpha Q. Up posted:

Will that be a thing in the future? I'd rather spend the money now than have to upgrade in a couple years, but if that stuff is more than 5 years away it doesn't matter.

It's been here for a while and is really cool. Not all devices you own will have gig-e themselves, but that won't last long.

# ? Feb 10, 2012 08:04

Golbez: Oct 9, 2002; 1 2 3!
If you want to take a shot at me get in line, line
1 2 3!
Baby, I've had all my shots and I'm fine

For a while, I've been getting disconnected when downloading too much too fast. I can hit 1.5MB down for a few seconds, but if it's sustained for more than a minute, I lose connection for about 30 seconds. I was thinking it was my ISP and only happening when my torrents were set too fast, but now it's happening for normal downloads, which makes me think it's my router. It's a WRT54GL flashed with dd-wrt, v24-sp2. I tried restarting it but no change. Is my router hosed, or does anyone know some way to find out what exactly the problem could be? I'm wired in; I haven't had a chance to ask my girlfriend if her connection drops out at the same time.

# ? Feb 12, 2012 03:45

elite_garbage_man: Apr 3, 2010; I THINK THAT "PRIMA DONNA" IS "PRE-MADONNA". I MAY BE ILLITERATE.

Try connecting your computer directly to the modem.

# ? Feb 12, 2012 04:22

Ninja Rope: Oct 22, 2005; Wee.

Golbez posted:

For a while, I've been getting disconnected when downloading too much too fast. I can hit 1.5MB down for a few seconds, but if it's sustained for more than a minute, I lose connection for about 30 seconds. I was thinking it was my ISP and only happening when my torrents were set too fast, but now it's happening for normal downloads, which makes me think it's my router. It's a WRT54GL flashed with dd-wrt, v24-sp2. I tried restarting it but no change. Is my router hosed, or does anyone know some way to find out what exactly the problem could be? I'm wired in; I haven't had a chance to ask my girlfriend if her connection drops out at the same time.

I get the same thing. I'm on comcast in the bay area and I just assumed it's them being lovely or my old dlink cable modem being lovely. I've meant to replace the modem but I haven't had time.

# ? Feb 12, 2012 06:28

Alpha Q. Up: May 14, 2003; Lemmy IS God!!!

Thanks a bunch for the advice guys. Between this and the parts picking thread this forum has saved me so much time, effort and money it's awesome

I think I've got a handle on what to get now, but if anyone has specific recommendations lemme know!

# ? Feb 12, 2012 06:33

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# ? May 14, 2024 17:10

Fcdts26: Mar 18, 2009

We picked up a new microwave last weekend and I just figured out that this thing is destroying my wireless network when its on. Does this sound normal? I'm running a single band n/g network. If we microwave something for over 4 or 5 minutes my laptop will disconnect from the network. I've never had this problem before. thanks

# ? Feb 12, 2012 06:38

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

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