Troubles with network performance/configuration

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Noiseless

55 posts

Master Geek

#70618 27-Oct-2010 16:51

Here we go, I know my way around computers no problem but when it comes to networking a brick wall could probably do a better job than me. So I come to you with 5 questions I would love to have answered!

So currently we have a THOMSON ST5x6v6 (Free with telecom) and a linksys WRT54G (Wireless).

1) Every night at anywhere between 1am and 3am our internet drops out for 2-3mins. If I had to guess I'd say something bout our monitored alarm but as I said I know nothing about networking.
2) If theres a power cut or someone switches off the power I need to turn everything off then turn it all on in a particular order and thats if it doesn't reset the WRT54G.
3) Tomato!? I've heard alot about the fireware is it really worth it?
4) I play alot of games, more recently COD4 MW2. It's always notifies me of a strict NAT?
5) Should I just upgrade to a wireless modem, will it save me the hassle?

THANKS GUYS/GIRLS!RT54GWRT54G

richms

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#396398 27-Oct-2010 17:32

That will be the alarm dialing out, you need to get a proper installation done. Talk to your alarm vendor as they will often do it at the same time as a service for a lot less than telecom/chorus charge ($200 for chorus to come out and do it)

If you are running the adsl router into the wireless routers WAN interface, there can be problems with it getting an IP from the ADSL. Best to disable wireless router's DHCP server and plug its lan port into the adsl router.

That may mean that your uPNP server on the adsl router becomes available for the game to use, I have never worked with COD4 because I dont game, but if it cant do uPNP you will have to foward wahtever ports it needs on your ADSL router.

Richard rich.ms

Noiseless

55 posts

Master Geek

#396496 27-Oct-2010 20:40

richms:If you are running the adsl router into the wireless routers WAN interface, there can be problems with it getting an IP from the ADSL. Best to disable wireless router's DHCP server and plug its lan port into the adsl router.

I've been told about this and tried to get it working that way but can't seem to? Are there any tutorials?

I'm not that good with networking as I said before

Sorry and thanks

richms

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#396550 27-Oct-2010 21:48

First you need to know the IP range that your ADSL device uses, so connect a single PC to it and get it all online and working, find the network connection in the control panel and open the connection and go to the support tab (its a pain in the butt to find in newer windows) then go to details or support depending on the windows.

There will be a Default gateway and Subnet mask in there, that tells you the range of addresses that your adsl modem is using.

Disconnect from the adsl modem and then connect to the lan of your wireless router,

Repeat the process to get its gateway ip address.

Open a browser and type in the address of the default gateway of the wireless router. put the http:// because sometimes windows will try to network or whatever

eg http://192.168.1.1 or http://192.168.0.1 etc.

Passwords are either on the bottom of the router, or it will be admin and admin or admin and password or something equally stupid as a default, Google should tell you what it is.

Then in its web interface give it an IP address that is in the range of your ADSL - so if the adsl is 192.168.0.1 then give the wireless router 192.168.0.2, or .10 or .254 whatever. It cant be the same as the adsl, it cant end in .0 or .255, it shouldnt overlap with what the computers get assigned, usually ending in .254 is quite safe since assignments will probably never get tthere.

restart it, check that you can access the router on its new IP address.

Then in the web interface find the DHCP configuration, which will be somewhere advanced, turn it off.

Restart the router.

Check that your computer now does a limited connectivity thing to show that it is not getting an IP address in the system tray. That way you know that its really off.

Now connect the LAN port on the wireless to the network of the ADSL device, and shortly the PC should get an IP assigned to it (unplug and replug it to provoke it sooner). You should now have internet access. Check that you can still see the web interface of the wireless router on its IP address.

Richard rich.ms

Noiseless

55 posts

Master Geek

#396573 27-Oct-2010 22:16

Thanks! will give it a go tomorow.

With my current setup though would you recomend getting a wireless modem or would you be happy with how it is?

Do you have any recomendations for a decent but not too expensive option? Cheers

richms

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#396592 27-Oct-2010 22:44

I prefer seperate, since that means you can locate the wireless one where you need good signal, away from the adsl one which will be located at your dedicated ADSL outlet.

They really are 2 totally seperate tasks so there is no compelling reason to have them all in one, and infact heavy use of wireless to lan traffic can make internet traffic suffer on the all in one routers, like if you are copying lots of movies over from a laptop someone elses gaming would start to lag and stutter, even if on wired.

Richard rich.ms

Noiseless

55 posts

Master Geek

#397060 28-Oct-2010 22:14

Hahahaha Well they actually currently sit ontop of each other so the distance thing is no issue and I'm the only one using wireless as other then my families computer, which is next to the router + modem, I have the only other computer/internet needing device.

Ok so you say keep them separate and set them up with the modem running to the routers lan port rather than internet port?

richms

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#397098 28-Oct-2010 23:28

If you run it to the lan ports, the PCs on the lan are able to directly communicate with the adsl router to request port fowards thru UPNP and similar. That makes live messenger work properly, and some other apps like bittorrent not need you to mess around with port forwards.

If you have 2 routers, there is nothing in the specs to allow the second router to request ports from the first. They could make it do that, but have chosen not to for some reason that is only understood by the non designers that make the stuff, who like to annoy users of gear.

Anyway, with them cascaded, your computer will request a port forwarded, the router will do it, but since nothing is coming thru the other router, it doesnt matter.

If the coverage is ok from where the gear is, then consider an all in one. you can then deploy your existing wirelss router on the other side of the house to help out with coverage there if needed.

Richard rich.ms

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Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

michaelmurfy

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#397114 29-Oct-2010 00:17

I would really recommend installing Tomato on the WRT54G - If it's the series 1-4 devices or the WRT54GL it would be well worth it.

I will go over the steps of getting the perfect setup with this along with your current hardware. It's really quite easy and once it's done you will love the outcome, the fancy graphs etc. Since I will possibly kill your internet for a bit it's best to grab the Tomato Firmware from [Here] for your WRT54G router. Grab [7zip] while you are at it and install it.

The best way to do it with this Telecom Modem would be to disable it's DHCP Server in the settings, normally this is under Toolbox --> DHCP, turn this off. Take note of it's IP address range. I will demonstrate with my dlink modem.

As you can see from mine, the modem's IP address is 192.168.1.1, you don't want the Linksys to be on this same IP class, you should change it to 192.168.2.1 & disable the DHCP server (Take a look around on the interface, since I don't have this modem I really don't know where to go)

Next thing, you want to create the Linksys in a DMZ Zone, this should be under the Tools Section of the modem too, if you have set your modem with the IP address of 192.168.2.1 set the DMZ zone to 192.168.2.2.

Just save everything and reboot your modem, you will possibly lose internet at this stage, don't panic, it will be fixed soon.

Unzip that file I made you download earlier using 7zip, you will see a list of files there. The one you want is WRT54G_WRT54GL.bin

hook up to Ethernet and then go into your Linksys WebUI - and get to the Firmware Upgrade place. Select this file and hit update. This will wipe your setting on that router so be warned!

After you have done that, you will be redirected to a screen like what's showen below, you might have to renew your IP address, the easiest way would be to unplug your ethernet cable for 10secs and plug it back in.

From here, head to Basic --> Network.

In the Wan / Internet section, enter 192.168.2.2 as the IP address (the one you set as your DMZ host on your modem), subnet 255.255.255.0, gateway will be 192.168.2.1 (or your modems address) and just leave the MTU as the default.

Lower down, you can pretty much leave these settings as the default, but if you are on Telecom it's best to enter the DNS servers here, these are 202.27.158.40 & 202.27.156.72

When you go down further again setup your wireless network settings, make sure you use WPA2/AES as your security since WPA/PSK is on the verge of getting cracked (if it hasn't already) - Use a nice strong password for this too.
Hit Save & Apply, give the router a bit to apply these settings.

On the left hand side click "Port Forwarding" then "UPNP" and make sure this is enabled.

Hit "Save" and everything should be working again. Connect to your Wireless Network and you should be cruising. Your Xbox should show no more connectivity issues and since you are now using Tomato you will have access to nice graphs etc. Have a play around with the Linksys since now you have turned your $120 router into a $600 router with a simple upgrade.

If you are having any problems with your internet after this, make sure the modem is plugged into the WRT by Ethernet straight into the WAN port of the WRT, you can also take a quick glance of the settings on the homepage of the WRT in Tomato to verify that the settings did indeed save.

Hopefully this helps, if you have any more questions feel free to ask, but I would say that your alarm is causing the dropouts with your connection. Make sure this is on a splitter of some sort.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
Referral Links: Quic Broadband (use R122101E7CV7Q for free setup)

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