Groups | Search | Server Info | Login | Register

Groups > comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.networking > #156

Re: Hot Linksys RE4000W's front lights are blinking. Can't seem to fix. Need new extenders?

Cross-posted to 4 groups.

Show all headers | View raw

On Tue, 18 Jul 2017 02:24:21 -0500, Char Jackson <none@none.invalid>
wrote:

>On Mon, 17 Jul 2017 18:45:38 -0500, ANTant@zimage.com (Ant) wrote:
>
>>In alt.comp.networking.routers Char Jackson <none@none.invalid> wrote:
>>> On Sun, 16 Jul 2017 20:46:24 -0500, ANTant@zimage.com (Ant) wrote:
>>
>>> >In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.networking Char Jackson <none@none.invalid> wrote:
>>> >
>>> >> >This new wifi range extender seems a lot better than Linksys'. Even 
>>> >> >online ratings and comments show more positives. I also forgot to 
>>> >> >mention that my Debian/Linux box's arpwatchd show lots of IP address 
>>> >> >fights with these Linksys wifi range extenders. With Netgear's, none! :)
>>> >
>>> >> I'm guessing the IP conflicts on the Linksys units were a simple
>>> >> misconfiguration issue. It's possible that both Linksys units were being
>>> >> used with their default IP addresses, which would show up as conflicts
>>> >> but wouldn't/shouldn't have affected performance* because range
>>> >> extenders operate at OSI Layer 2 and IP addresses live at Layer 3, so
>>> >> IPs are only used for admin access.
>>> >
>>> >I doubt it. I did notice the issue got worse and over as the time went 
>>> >on. It even tried to take 192.168.1.1 IP address own by the router. No 
>>> >disconnections though.
>>
>>> I think it's a safe guess to say that the LAN uses the 192.168.1.0/24
>>> subnet, (right?), otherwise you wouldn't care if the RE's use
>>> 192.168.1.1, and the conflict you mentioned above is exactly what I
>>> suspected. You could have fixed that by logging into each RE and giving
>>> it a unique IP address. I'm still not sure why you didn't do that, or if
>>> you tried, where and how it failed. 
>>
>>Yes, all IP addresses use 192.168.1.x. Netgear R6300 v1 uses 
>>192.168.1.1. What is weird that when Linksys REs were working, they kept 
>>changing their own IP addresses with Netgear R6300 router's DHCP. I am 
>>assuming they are getting disconnected and reconnected due to signal 
>>issues. The Nighhawk wifi range extender doesn't do this.
>
>Many people configure their router to hand out the same IP every time to
>devices that are recognized. I would definitely recommend that for
>things like range extenders.

Yes.

For historical reasons, I drive two Ethernet-attached printers (laser
and photo) through a wireless extender - I already had it and had no
spare ports on the router (desktop, two RAID boxes and Vonage)

I initially had difficulties until I set a static IP address  using
address reservation at the router.

In  fact, I've found that everything generally runs better with static
IP addresses, eg the Win7 wizard configures network-attached printers
by IP address, not by ID, so after a power outage they come back up
with whatever IP address Windows decides and they need to be detached
and reconfigured so it picks up the new address - on each of three
computers.

My RAID boxes have the same problem.

So I gave everything fixed IP addresses, except visiting wireless
laptops. I even have a second desktop in another room, connected via
an N900 adapter so it can access the RAID boxes at an acceptable
speed, and this also has a static IP address.

>For the Linksys units, when a DHCP server is available they simply
>request an address via DHCP. When they lose contact with the DHCP
>server, they default back to 192.168.1.1. Since you already have a
>device on the network with that IP address, there's a conflict. You
>could always change the LAN IP address of the router to something else
>to avoid the conflict, such as 192.168.1.254. Still, the two REs might
>sometimes conflict with each other, but if they're losing contact with
>the router that often then something's wrong. Try moving them to a
>different location, possibly closer to the router or in such a way that
>they don't have to travel through so many walls or floors.
>
>>> >> Regarding performance, since they're range extenders, performance is
>>> >> expected to be pretty bad, but if it's what the folks are used to
>>> >> they'll never know.
>>> >
>>> >> It sort of bothers me that you were never able to access the Linksys
>>> >> units to reset or configure them, even after I provided step by step
>>> >> directions, but all's well that ends well. Now that you've removed them
>>> >> from service, maybe you'll take a minute or two and log into them to see
>>> >> what their problem was, just out of curiosity.
>>> >
>>> >I think I finally resetted them with their holes and their lights 
>>> >finally stopped flashing.
>>
>>> I thought you had done a reset to defaults, maybe even more than one,
>>> earlier in this process. What was different about your reset procedure
>>> this time?
>>
>>Not earlier before yesterday (Sunday) with one RE. It kept getting stuck 
>>with blinking lights in a loop and never connecting (not even showing 
>>its default SSID). After I powered them off for many hours and retrying, 
>>then they could be resetted and show me their default SSIDs. Now, I just 
>>need to be able to connect to them. I will deal with them later. :/
>>
>>
>>> >I can see their SSIDs, but MacBook Pro refuses 
>>> >to connect to it. Same for their network cables.
>>
>>> What does that mean? What IP address did you assign to your Mac? How did
>>> you connect the cables? Did ping work? I thought you were going to
>>> disable WiFi while you connect to the Linksys units with Ethernet cables
>>> (thru a switch)?
>>
>>Nothing worked. I don't have a switch. I just connect from MBP to a RE 
>>directly.
>
>While Linksys shows a laptop being connected directly to a range
>extender via Ethernet cable,
>(http://www.linksys.com/us/support-article?articleNum=140923), I have
>serious doubts that that will work because the RE ports are only Fast
>Ethernet, so they don't know how to handle MDI/MDIX. You need Gigabit
>ports for that, so the solution is to either use an Ethernet _crossover_
>cable, or connect a switch in between the laptop and the RE. You do have
>a switch; it's incorporated into the Netgear R6300 router. You have 4
>switch ports there, plus a WAN port that you'd ignore for this step.

Back to comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.networking | Previous | Next — Previous in thread | Next in thread | Find similar

Thread

Hot Linksys RE4000W's front lights are blinking. Can't seem to fix. Need new extenders? Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> - 2017-07-14 21:05 -0700
  Re: Hot Linksys RE4000W's front lights are blinking. Can't seem to fix. Need new extenders? Char Jackson <none@none.invalid> - 2017-07-15 01:06 -0500
    Re: Hot Linksys RE4000W's front lights are blinking. Can't seem to fix. Need new extenders? Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> - 2017-07-15 07:07 -0700
      Re: Hot Linksys RE4000W's front lights are blinking. Can't seem to fix. Need new extenders? Char Jackson <none@none.invalid> - 2017-07-15 11:03 -0500
        Re: Hot Linksys RE4000W's front lights are blinking. Can't seem to fix. Need new extenders? Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> - 2017-07-15 10:22 -0700
          Re: Hot Linksys RE4000W's front lights are blinking. Can't seem to fix. Need new extenders? Char Jackson <none@none.invalid> - 2017-07-15 13:35 -0500
  Re: Hot Linksys RE4000W's front lights are blinking. Can't seem to fix. Need new extenders? Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> - 2017-07-16 10:28 -0700
    Re: Hot Linksys RE4000W's front lights are blinking. Can't seem to fix. Need new extenders? Char Jackson <none@none.invalid> - 2017-07-16 12:48 -0500
      Re: Hot Linksys RE4000W's front lights are blinking. Can't seem to fix. Need new extenders? ANTant@zimage.com (Ant) - 2017-07-16 16:32 -0500
        Re: Hot Linksys RE4000W's front lights are blinking. Can't seem to fix. Need new extenders? Char Jackson <none@none.invalid> - 2017-07-16 18:37 -0500
          Re: Hot Linksys RE4000W's front lights are blinking. Can't seem to fix. Need new extenders? ANTant@zimage.com (Ant) - 2017-07-16 20:46 -0500
            Re: Hot Linksys RE4000W's front lights are blinking. Can't seem to fix. Need new extenders? Char Jackson <none@none.invalid> - 2017-07-16 23:11 -0500
              Re: Hot Linksys RE4000W's front lights are blinking. Can't seem to fix. Need new extenders? ANTant@zimage.com (Ant) - 2017-07-17 18:45 -0500
                Re: Hot Linksys RE4000W's front lights are blinking. Can't seem to fix. Need new extenders? Char Jackson <none@none.invalid> - 2017-07-18 02:24 -0500
                Re: Hot Linksys RE4000W's front lights are blinking. Can't seem to fix. Need new extenders? Christopher A. Lee <c.lee@fairpoint.net> - 2017-07-18 11:30 -0500
    Re: Hot Linksys RE4000W's front lights are blinking. Can't seem to fix. Need new extenders? Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> - 2017-07-22 15:08 -0700

csiph-web