Suggested replacement for WRT54G?

[speedlever]

just hope this limited scratch doesnt just end up with you still itchy and wanting to scratch it again before long

I keep thinking about this and my inner OCD-ness wants to spend the money. But my wallet reins me in. For now.

I actually sorta found my old notes on the setup for the WRT54G in AP mode. Nothing special. Simply turned off DHCP (which I already knew) and set it at 192.168.1.2... which I don't recall why I did now. The N66U and the WRT54G are connected from LAN port to LAN port with a cat 5e cable.

Regardless, I experimented with a common SSID for both the N66U and the WRT54G and in the end, decided to name each AP with a different SSID so I could manually select the one I wanted to be connected to. I found that even at far reaches of the house, I would still stay connected to a very weak 2.4GHz signal from the N66U while I had a much stronger and better throughput signal from the WRT54G in closer proximity.

Will any of that setup need to change with the incoming AC56U? Right now I'm assuming I'll configure the AC56U to replace the N66U, and once properly setup and operating, will move the N66U in place of the WRT54G, turn off DHCP, and set the IP at 192.168.1.2 as I did on the old Linksys.

I'm just smart enough to be dangerous on this subject.

Question: does QoS come into play on the N66U in this scenario? Or only on the router doing DHCP? This is another new area I'm just now looking at.

 

[L&LD]

Will any of that setup need to change with the incoming AC56U? Right now I'm assuming I'll configure the AC56U to replace the N66U, and once properly setup and operating, will move the N66U in place of the WRT54G, turn off DHCP, and set the IP at 192.168.1.2 as I did on the old Linksys.

Question: does QoS come into play on the N66U in this scenario? Or only on the router doing DHCP? This is another new area I'm just now looking at.

That is how I would approach your 'new' network.

I don't think QoS will work when the RT-N66U is in AP mode. Even if it was, the QoS (Adaptive) that the RT-AC56U has is much, much better.

 

[speedlever]

Thanks. I just turned on QoS yesterday on the N66U. Looks like it will get switched off tomorrow when the new gear arrives.

There is so much to know in the world of wifi networking/routers, etc. I wish I could learn it all. I'd like to take a wifi/router genius and walk through the pages in the router setup and have items explained to me, one by one! (and then hope I could remember 10% of it).

 

[pete y testing]

WRT54G in AP mode. Nothing special. Simply turned off DHCP (which I already knew) and set it at 192.168.1.2

well you would also need to connect to a lan port of the wrt54g and not its wan port or you would still have dual nat

the details of how to do it correctly are below

How To Convert a Wireless Router into an Access Point
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/basi...onvert-a-wireless-router-into-an-access-point

I don't think QoS will work when the RT-N66U is in AP mode

correct as all router functions are bypassed when the above is done correctly

I'd like to take a wifi/router genius and walk through the pages in the router setup and have items explained to me, one by one! (and then hope I could remember 10% of it).

the only way to really learn and understand is experiment and read its how most of us get to where we are

 

[speedlever]

well you would also need to connect to a lan port of the wrt54g and not its wan port or you would still have dual nat

the details of how to do it correctly are below

How To Convert a Wireless Router into an Access Point
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/basi...onvert-a-wireless-router-into-an-access-point


correct as all router functions are bypassed when the above is done correctly


the only way to really learn and understand is experiment and read its how most of us get to where we are

Thanks pete. Yeah, I have it connected LAN to LAN. However, I do have an option in the WRT54G (Tomato firmware 1.28.1816) to use the WAN port as a LAN port. I'd forgotten about that.

What I fail to remember is why I chose 192.168.1.2 for the WRT54G's IP address. I'm sure I had a reason at the time. The N66U is set at stock 192.168.1.1. I do have some static IPs assigned, but mostly because I can. There's no real reason they can't all come from the DHCP pool. For things like my wireless printer, I prefer to have on a static IP, but again, not really necessary.

BTW, is there any reason to bump up the N66U firmware from 376.44 to the current 380.58? I've been very happy with the older Merlin firmware. But I d/l it for the N66U just in case. I don't see any links to older firmware (pre-380.xx). I'm pretty sure they were there a couple of years ago when I first got the N66U as I have several older versions in my files.

 

[speedlever]

Thanks for that link too. Perhaps I used that a couple of years ago when I set this up the first time. I find that I did exactly steps 1-6 in that tutorial.

I do remember having a discussion here about a single SSID for all vs individual SSIDs for each radio. There were good points made for both sides. In the end, I chose the individual SSID names so I could manually chose the radio I wanted to use.

 

[pete y testing]

What I fail to remember is why I chose 192.168.1.2 for the WRT54G's IP address. I'm sure I had a reason at the time. The N66U is set at stock 192.168.1.1. I do have some static IPs assigned, but mostly because I can.

you best to set the lan ip address if the wan bypassed router to an address outside of the range of the primary routers dhcp pool

 

[speedlever]

That makes sense. Keeps it in the same subnet but outside the DHCP pool.

 

[speedlever]

I had a few minutes to play with the AC56U this weekend. I flashed Merlin's 380.58 firmware and then factory reset, then started manually inputting the configuration. I finished copying my N66U configuration last night and made a few additional adjustments based on:
(NOOB) Definition of "minimal and manual configuration" but haven't put the AC56U into service yet.

I find that in comparision to the N66U, the radio temps are lower:
N66U/AC56U
2.4 - 57/48*C
5.0 - 57/50*C

The N66U (still running 376.44) doesn't report CPU temps. But the AC56U running 380.58 reports the CPU at 72*C.

That's is likely well within the design specs, but I may investigate a USB fan to strap on the back and power from the built-in USB ports.

Once the AC56U is fully operational, I'll flash the N66U with the 380.58 and reconfigure it to replace the WRT54G.

 

[L&LD]

If the cpu is designed for 120C operation, putting a USB fan on when it is 72C is a good way to stuff it full of dust for no reason.

I would only consider it if you see any throttling, freezing or other issues that may be heat related.

Will look forward to your performance comparisons.

 

[speedlever]

Good point. OK, I'll let it the fan idea go for now.

Is there a thread here that provides guidance on testing/tuning the network for best performance and guidelines for performance comparisons?

Here's my basic network layout:

Fiber to the house ---> ISP modem--- cat 5e---> AC56U

AC56U -- cat5e/cat6 --> Main PC (desktop) and to N66U (about 52 feet away on the same floor, 3 walls away with large openings in the walls)

N66U --cat5e --> gigabit switch--cat5e/cat6---> PS4, XBox1, FireTV, HDTV

then various wireless clients from iPhone 5, iPhone 6s, Galaxy S4, multiple laptops and iPads, Kindles, Honeywell thermostat, laser printer, etc. There's a mix of 2.4GHz devices and dual band devices which includes an HDTV that runs on wifi since I don't have an ethernet cable run to that room. Yet.

The router/AP and both HDTVs are all on the same floor as is the laser printer and thermostat. But the laptops, phones, tablets, etc. roam throughout the 2 story house.

 

[speedlever]

I now have the AC56U set up as primary and moved the N66U to the AP spot in place of the old WRT54G. I started out with a common SSID, but my daughter quickly nixed that idea telling me she wants to know what she's connected to!

So now I have individual SSIDs for each radio. I'm noticing that when in the far side of the house, nearest the AP with a relatively strong 2.4 and 5 GHz (-60dB) signal (in the room below), every so often, my Android wants to switch to the much weaker 2.4GHz signal (-85dB) from the AC56U in the far side of the house. The AC56U 5GHz signal doesn't even show in that place.

Any thoughts?

 

[L&LD]

I agree with your daughter!

With a handheld, you can't be sure of what is going on. Depending how (and who) is holding it and how it is aligned vs. the router's antennae.

You should try moving both, but individually, routers a few inches or feet if possible to the left/right and/or back/front to see if it makes a difference in reach and coverage for you (it will).

Another issue is that being above the RT-N66U router, you are in the middle of the 'donut hole' of the coverage the antennae provide. You may want to play with angling the antennae in different (not always intuitive) ways to see if it helps.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omnidirectional_antenna

 

[speedlever]

Good point about being directly (more or less) above the AP. But how about the SS difference? Wouldn't the donut hole be reflected in the signal strength? But yeah, I probably should angle those antennae to give some vertical coverage too. One strength/weakness of the AC56U is no external antennae! I dunno if that's good or bad! But hey, as long as it work and I get good coverage, I'm happy.

How on earth can the client choose to switch to a -90dB signal from a -60dB signal? Would it somehow set a preference if I logged onto the AC56U signals before I logged onto the N66U AP signals?

 

[L&LD]

How on earth can the client choose to switch to a -90dB signal from a -60dB signal? Would it somehow set a preference if I logged onto the AC54U signals before I logged onto the N66U AP signals?

I think it has to do with the constantly evolving radio patterns around a device that is held by a much larger antennae.

 

[speedlever]

I guess so. But I wasn't seeing this behavior with the prior setup using the N66U and the WRT54G as the AP. I'll be in the middle of reading something online on my phone and see a msg pop up that my phone has connected to the far inferior signal than the one it was just connected to. Strange.