Re: Help needed with home network configuration
On Thu 15 Mar 2018 at 23:26:38 (-0400), rhkramer@gmail.com wrote:
> On Thursday, March 15, 2018 09:42:25 PM David Wright wrote:
> > On Thu 15 Mar 2018 at 10:18:20 (-0700), Don Armstrong wrote:
> > > On Wed, 14 Mar 2018, David Wright wrote:
> > > > When you reprogram routers with dd-wrt, does that allow it to do, say,
> > > > wired bridging even though the manufacturer's formware doesn't allow
> > > > for that?
> > >
> > > openwrt and dd-wrt both allow wired bridging[1] (or pseudo-bridging by
> > > routing if your wireless hardware doesn't support that).
> > >
> > >
> > > 1: I suppose there might be some network hardware which doesn't support
> > > actual bridging of wired interfaces, but I've yet to see such an
> > > example.
> >
> > I think the router I've been using for the last few years is one.
> > Although the User Manual from May 2013¹ has a brief section on
> > bridging, the June 2014² revision is missing that part. Both have
> > a "Wireless Repeating" link on the figure for Advanced Wireless
> > Settings, but the link is not present in the actual configuration
> > screen on the device.
> >
> > In any case, the May 2013 manual says that to use it as a repeater,
> > even wired, you have to set security to WEP or None. That's no use.
> >
> > I wandered into BestBuy and couldn't find much about bridging on
> > any of their router boxes. (Obviously I'm eschewing so-called
> > WiFi Wireless Repeaters.) What I'm trying to ascertain is that
> > all the wired bridging functionality is performed by the software
> > and not any special hardware in the device.
> >
> > Required topology:
> >
> >
> > ╲│╱ ╲│╱ ╲│╱
> > ┌───────┐ ┌───────┐ ┌───────┐
> > │W L╞ CAT5 │W L╞═PC │ ROKUs │
> > [Modem]══╡A A╞═════════════╡A A╞ │ etc │
> > │N N╞ │N N╞ └───────┘
> > │ ╞═PC │ ╞═PC
> > └───────┘ └───────┘
> >
> >
> > ¹ WNDR3400v3_UM_10May2013.pdf
> > ² WNDR3400v3_UM_19June2014.pdf
>
> I haven't paid attention to this thread from the beginning, but looking at the
> sketch, I'm wondering what the purpose of the 2nd router is? Why not instead
> of a router put a switch there, and then (assuming you need another WiFi
> access point at that position), plug the 2 PCs and a wireless access point
> (not sure of the right name) into the switch.
The diagram shows the hypothetical relationship of the two routers.
Both should be transmitting WiFi with the same SSID so that a laptop
can wander between them transparently. The Rokus don't wander while
in use, but they should be able to be placed arbitrarily within range
of either router.
The left PC would probably be used mainly for playing files and
internet into hifi. The right PCs might be a docked laptop, a
server, and perhaps a wired Roku. But everything should behave as
if it was in one network on one router.
> (That, in essence. is how my local LAN is setup except I have a router with
> two switches and two wireless access points, each plugged into one of the
> switches (different parts of the house).
But that means you have five/six pieces of equipment to connect up.
I can see advantages in my separate modem and router (for one thing,
the modem is currently on the left above and the my router is in the
position of the one at the right) but buying two switches and two WAPs
seems a bit extreme. I'm servicing a house, not a small businesss.
Cheers,
David.
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