Saving configuration file question

[canuckle]

Good morning!

First, what a wonderful find this forum is. Merlin, people like you (and other frequent posters on here) are a godsend for those like me who are 'somewhat' technically savvy but not experts.

I have done some searching in this forum first, but can't seem to find the answers, my apologies if these questions have been answered already and please feel free to direct me there.

My 3 questions for today are:

1. When I use the save setting button on the router's administration page, it takes me to what looks like another page that is gibberish. Am I supposed to copy this to a file of some sort, or is that abnormal behaviour?

2. If I upgrade to the .178 firmware via the Asus website, will it require adjustments to the router after the upgrade? In other words, will it retain the current settings, passwords, ssid's, etc?

3. Can I update to .178 directly from .112?

My current firmware is .112 (out of the box yesterday), using in a 3 story house. I purchased for better coverage and QoS control. Connected devices include:

iMac
MacBook Pro
iPhone 5
iPhone 4S
iPad 1
iPad 3
PC
PC Laptop
HP OfficeJetPro 8500A
D-Link DAP 1513 Wireless Media Bridge
>>connected to Media Bridge - Apple TV 2, Panasonic BR Player, DVR
Various visitors devices occasionally

Connection is cable, 5M up and 100 M down.

Probably a lot of unnecessary info there regarding my questions, but more is usually better, sorry if it's too long.

Much thanks,

Mike

 

[RMerlin]

1) If it displays the content inline, then something is wrong with your browser since it should let you save a file that contains your settings. Try a different browser.

2) 3) Actually, 178 is quite old, the latest is 220. You can directly upgrade from 112 to 220, however you will have to reconfigure everything since Asus fixed a bug related to settings storage with build 220.

 

[canuckle]

Wow, that was fast, thank you!

Does .220 still have some issues though? I thought I gathered that from the reading I've done so far.

Thanks again sir

EDIT: updated to .178, was able to save the config file no issues, must have been something with Safari and the .112 version. Would still be interested to know if the .220 still has issues. For my use, I expect .178 will likely be fine?

 

[RMerlin]

Wow, that was fast, thank you!

Does .220 still have some issues though? I thought I gathered that from the reading I've done so far.

Thanks again sir

EDIT: updated to .178, was able to save the config file no issues, must have been something with Safari and the .112 version. Would still be interested to know if the .220 still has issues. For my use, I expect .178 will likely be fine?

Asus's build 220 still has some issues, but overall it's still a much better firmware than build 178. For starter build 220 adds AiCloud, which allows easy remote access to your media files, both from home and outside your home. Build 220 also doubles the amount of space used for storing settings, so it prevents you from accidentally filling it up with port forward or QoS rules, causing the router to then lose all its settings. This change is the reason why build 220 requires you to reconfigure everything.

 

[canuckle]

Good enough, thank you again for your very prompt responses

 

[canuckle]

One more quick question if I could please?

I would like to use Apple's 'Back to my Mac' feature, but it appears I need to turn off NAT, if I do this on the N66U does that affect any other activities? ie. streaming video/music, Netflix, iCloud, iTunes Match, etc?

Thanks,

Mike

 

[RMerlin]

Don't turn off NAT, it will completely kill your router's ability to route Internet traffic to your computers.

I doubt Apple recommends that. From what Wikipedia says, that feature works perfectly fine with UPNP mapping (assuming Apple actually followed the standard properly - who knows with them).

 

[canuckle]

Ok what about on the modem? Possible to turn it off there? Seems like the Mac believes there are 2 devices involved...sorry this is a little over my head

 

[RMerlin]

Ok what about on the modem? Possible to turn it off there? Seems like the Mac believes there are 2 devices involved...sorry this is a little over my head

NAT is what allows your computers to share the same Internet connection. You can't turn that off without losing Internet access sharing. However, you have to ensure that you have only one single device doing NAT. Usually you'll want your router to do the NAT, and have it disabled in your modem if it's a modem-router combo. In fact you'll want your modem whenever possible to be in "bridged" mode. Unfortunately many ISPs provide modem-router with a castrated (if not flat out sabotaged) firmware where you can't do that. In those cases it becomes quite tricky to have any form of port forwarding to work properly. It's often best to fork out 50$ on a more regular modem assuming it's plain ADSL/ADSL2, and be done with it. When I was on ADSL, my ISP's modem spent a total of 5 minutes on my desk, and spent the next year at the bottom of a closet.

 

[canuckle]

Ha ha I bet it did

I will have to contact ISP for more info, I run a cable modem (100 down) but everything works fine except this.

 

[canuckle]

EDIT...

so...although Shaw was supposed to have NOT activated the wireless section of the Cisco modem, it was activated. Apparently this is also where all of the firewall, NAT, etc resides. Turned it off on their end, couple of reboots, tested all devices, all working as before. ALSO, Back to my Mac is not being cranky and giving me the 'set up router for better performance' message when I try to activate it. Will have to try it outside the some network, but all seems good.

Thanks all! I have some questions regarding the deeper settings on the router, but I'll start a new thread for that. THANKS FOR THE HELP!




OK, so perhaps Merlin can answer this one since he's a fellow canadian

Talked to Shaw (my isp) today, and their comments were:

rather than put modem in bridge mode, the NAT conflict issue between modem and router can be alleviated by the following-

‘NAT’ is under Security but not called NAT in their modem UI:
Uncheck SPI Firewall Prevention
All others become unchecked automatically

UnCheck the box for 'Block WAN Requests'

& in the Tab, Apps & Gaming, DMZ Enable, put in router ip address to ensure full bandwidth.

Merlin, is any of this making sense?

 

[RMerlin]

OK, so perhaps Merlin can answer this one since he's a fellow canadian

Talked to Shaw (my isp) today, and their comments were:

Thankfully I don't have to deal with Shaw I'm with Teksavvy, who are reselling Videotron's cable service here in Quebec. I believe they also sell services back West.

rather than put modem in bridge mode, the NAT conflict issue between modem and router can be alleviated by the following-

‘NAT’ is under Security but not called NAT in their modem UI:
Uncheck SPI Firewall Prevention
All others become unchecked automatically

UnCheck the box for 'Block WAN Requests'

& in the Tab, Apps & Gaming, DMZ Enable, put in router ip address to ensure full bandwidth.

Merlin, is any of this making sense?

The problem with their suggested method is it won't allow your RT-N66U to properly support DDNS, and AiCloud won't work properly either (as the two are tied) since the WAN DHCP will be handled by the modem (unless those other options that automatically get unchecked will actually pass the puck to the router for WAN DHCP duties).

 

[canuckle]

Seems like it's only assigning an address to the router itself, and no other functions acting as a router, ONLY a modem. Now, that doesn't mean as much to me as it likely will to you, but they swear that there are NO routing functions being handled by the Cisco device now. Not even an interface to log into.

Can you explain in layman's terms what DDNS would affect? I'm pretty good with the basics (DNS, DHCP, IP Addressing, Static vs Dynamic, etc) but my knowledge falls off pretty quickly once you get past the basics for home setup. I don't do any VPN, port opening/forwarding for gaming, or the more sexy stuff you guys are good at

Also not sure what I might use AiCloud for, but I'm sure I can search the forums for that answer.

 

[RMerlin]

Seems like it's only assigning an address to the router itself, and no other functions acting as a router, ONLY a modem. Now, that doesn't mean as much to me as it likely will to you, but they swear that there are NO routing functions being handled by the Cisco device now. Not even an interface to log into.

Can you explain in layman's terms what DDNS would affect? I'm pretty good with the basics (DNS, DHCP, IP Addressing, Static vs Dynamic, etc) but my knowledge falls off pretty quickly once you get past the basics for home setup. I don't do any VPN, port opening/forwarding for gaming, or the more sexy stuff you guys are good at

Also not sure what I might use AiCloud for, but I'm sure I can search the forums for that answer.

DDNS = Dynamic DNS. It allows your router to be remotely accessible through a static name (for example, mikerouter.dyndns.org) even if you have a dynamic IP. The RT-N66U has a built-in DDNS update client.

AiCloud is nice if you want to access files from your home network while you're not at home. Granted, not everyone uses that, but personally I do. A friend and I were able to watch a Simpsons episode that was located on my PC at home. Connected my Xoom tablet over AiCloud, and streamed the episode to his TV using an HDMI cable. Neat stuff

Go to your RT-N66U and see what it shows for WAN IP. If it's your real public IP then everything will be fine. If however it's an IP coming from your modem (10.x.x.x, 192.168.x.x, etc...) then DDNS and AiCloud won't work properly.