Announcement My home network is quite messed up ** UPDATE all fixed now ***

Markfw

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I have not figured out what went wrong, but I only have 5 of 18 computers on line. All my stats will me messed up until I can figure this out.
 

Markfw

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Not sure but I think some kind of animal is under the house (how can that happen, no basement vents, its plenum heating) And chewed through the cable linking the sides of the house, and that short blew some of the ports on the router. I spent hours on it. Only got the bedroom working where the router is, and a 75 foot cable to one other PC ( that I am typing on)
 
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VirtualLarry

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Sorry to hear that, Mark.

I keep a stock of USB wifi dongles around for just such an occasion.


These are verified to work on newest Linux Mint distros.
 
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Markfw

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Sorry to hear that, Mark.

I keep a stock of USB wifi dongles around for just such an occasion.
!) xfinity wifi sucks...
2) Most USB wifi adapters don't seems to work on linux.

So.... I have ordered a new router to replace the xfinity one and the frontier one that appears busted.
and I have 2 wifi adapters that say they work on linix (2 to a customer ??? This could be a problem if they work.)

I also ordered 150 feet of cat 6 (a 100 and a 50 to the 2 switch positions), but I hate to have wires all over the house.
 

VirtualLarry

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If you need a (standard AC wifi 5 router), I've got an Asus RT-AC86U BNIB that you can have for $200 shipped.


Make that $162 I guess.

Will send that and 9 of the Comfast "blue" AC wifi + BT dongles for $300 shipped.
 
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Icecold

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If you have Coax running through the house Moca adapters work well and could be a short term solution. They're somewhat expensive though. Ethernet over powerline is fairly reliable too in my experience, but the speed is way slower than Moca adapters with coax.
 
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Markfw

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If you have Coax running through the house Moca adapters work well and could be a short term solution. They're somewhat expensive though. Ethernet over powerline is fairly reliable too in my experience, but the speed is way slower than Moca adapters with coax.
Moca adapters ??? The "coax" I have running is 25 year old cat 5 (maybe cat 4??) if thats what you were referring to, but its under the house, and I think thats where the problem is, as it came on suddenly. I need 192 subnet, as I have had problems with the 10 subnet working with F@H and BOINCtasks.

I got this router, as it says its 192 subnet, and its a free returns on Amazon if not. So, I have a new router coming, and some (supposedly) linux compatible USB adapters: (Linux 2.6.18-4.4.3)
Here https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002SZEOLG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So, the cable was only $35 total, and I nope to not have to use it long term.
 

Icecold

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Moca adapters convert coax (normally for cable/antenna tv, it's the thick black cable with the center pin and then it screws in around the outside) into network/ethernet. I was saying if your main cat 5 run is bad, in the mean time rather than have a cat5 cable strung along your floor if the house is wired for coax for antenna/cable tv you can use that cable tv wiring with a moca adapter as a short term solution.

They look like the attached image, and it uses the existing TV wiring to convert it to network communication. It works better than most people would expect, I get several hundred megabit through it. Since it's regular ethernet at that point, you can attach a switch and add as many computers as needed. It's how I have network ran from my basement to upstairs since haven't gotten around to running cat5 there yet, and it works great. It's much faster and more reliable than most wireless would be.
 

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Markfw

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Moca adapters convert coax (normally for cable/antenna tv, it's the thick black cable with the center pin and then it screws in around the outside) into network/ethernet. I was saying if your main cat 5 run is bad, in the mean time rather than have a cat5 cable strung along your floor if the house is wired for coax for antenna/cable tv you can use that cable tv wiring with a moca adapter as a short term solution.

They look like the attached image, and it uses the existing TV wiring to convert it to network communication. It works better than most people would expect, I get several hundred megabit through it.
The problem is that I only have 2 places where cable is at the wall, and neither are close to where the switches are. I have 5 switches in the house, currently all are dead due to wiring, and none close to cable. I had the living room on a cable across the floor anyway, so I guess this is good with a total house "rewire". And good wifi is a must. I had to use 110 power adapters for the TTY phone, as the wifi was that weak (the xfinity) so this new router should fix that also.
 

Markfw

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Do you know how hard it is to see 15 computers doing nothing, because they can't get onto the internet ? I an't stand it ! And Amazon has a 2 item limit on the only usb WIFI adapter I found that supports linux. If anybody has any ideas, please let me know.

HELP !!!!
 

Ken g6

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Ethernet over powerline is fairly reliable too in my experience, but the speed is way slower than Moca adapters with coax.
I have this:


I get 250mpbs, between one circuit and a different circuit (same breaker panel) very close to said breaker panel.

Prior to that, I used this:


Performance was...not great. It worked, but I couldn't stream videos to be compressed by Handbrake with any reasonable performance.

Edit: Either way you go, your Linux computer just sees a standard Ethernet connection.

Oddly, I'm now using that device as my wifi base-station. I got tired of $100 routers dying. That plus a cheap switch is working wonderfully. :)
 

Markfw

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I have this:


I get 250mpbs, between one circuit and a different circuit (same breaker panel) very close to said breaker panel.

Prior to that, I used this:


Performance was...not great. It worked, but I couldn't stream videos to be compressed by Handbrake with any reasonable performance.

Edit: Either way you go, your Linux computer just sees a standard Ethernet connection.

Oddly, I'm now using that device as my wifi base-station. I got tired of $100 routers dying. That plus a cheap switch is working wonderfully. :)
Not enough power outlets. At least the one set I have for the phone says "must be plugged into the wall." All those are taken by the computers, and more.

But thanks all for the suggestions. All my stuff comes Friday. Maybe a good wifi router will allow all my boxes to see that connection. The xfinity wifi sucks, and the frontier one is not much better. NO antennas on either router. I have this one coming:
 

Ken g6

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From China will take way longer than my Amazon units that also are linux compatible.
40px-Light_bulb_icon_light.svg.png
You can connect one computer over WiFi, and connect other computers to it.

I found this guide, although I don't guarantee it will work. Linux networking is tricky.

 

Rudy Toody

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If you changed anything before this began happening, I would check all cables to make sure the ones from the internet are plugged into the input port on each router. Router output ports' cables should go to computers. sub-routers, and/or printers... etx.
 

Markfw

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If you changed anything before this began happening, I would check all cables to make sure the ones from the internet are plugged into the input port on each router. Router output ports' cables should go to computers. sub-routers, and/or printers... etx.
I have not touched anything in years... The one router does to 3 switches, and each of those go to more switches. Its a very complicated network, and I think the shorting of the cables under the house messed up the router and the main switches. Right now its all working except 2 ports on the router, and the main swiches on the other end of those 2 ports (the wires under the house).

Anyway, with a new wifo router coming, and a few wifi adapters that work on linux, I should be up partially by the weekend. I have 6 working now, 12 to go.
 

voodoo5_6k

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[...]I need 192 subnet, as I have had problems with the 10 subnet working with F@H and BOINCtasks.

I got this router, as it says its 192 subnet, and its a free returns on Amazon if not. [...]
Sorry if this is a dumb question, but can't these consumer routers be configured as you want, nowadays? A long time ago, before I went crazy with the home network, I had several of the Fritz!Box routers from my ISP, and you could use the default LAN configuration of 192.168.178.xxx, or do something else. Currently, I use a Supermicro E200-9A (16GB RAM, 256GB Intel SSD) with pfSense as the router/firewall, together with a Zyxel VMG3006-D70A bridge modem (until finally we get FTTH this year), and clustered HPE Access Points for Wi-Fi. Anyhow, I use the 10.0.0.0/8 at home on the LAN side (plus multiple VLAN), no issues.

The problem is that I only have 2 places where cable is at the wall, and neither are close to where the switches are. I have 5 switches in the house, currently all are dead due to wiring, and none close to cable. I had the living room on a cable across the floor anyway, so I guess this is good with a total house "rewire". And good wifi is a must. I had to use 110 power adapters for the TTY phone, as the wifi was that weak (the xfinity) so this new router should fix that also.
One way to fix this, preliminary, could be to use Wi-Fi Access Points (with LAN ports) that can act as a WiFi "bridge". Configure them to connect to the router, and then connect one of them to each switch you can't or don't want to reach via "emergency-wiring", and you'll have a Wi-Fi uplink, all your switches will be back online (however, slower, due to to WiFi being, well, inferior to decent LAN). This way you keep your LAN as-is, just the uplink of each switch is Wi-Fi, temporarily. You effectively bypass the damaged wiring until you can fix it, but no changes are required for any of the clients. That's how I would do it.
 
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Markfw

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Sorry if this is a dumb question, but can't these consumer routers be configured as you want, nowadays? A long time ago, before I went crazy with the home network, I had several of the Fritz!Box routers from my ISP, and you could use the default LAN configuration of 192.168.178.xxx, or do something else. Currently, I use a Supermicro E200-9A (16GB RAM, 256GB Intel SSD) with pfSense as the router/firewall, together with a Zyxel VMG3006-D70A bridge modem (until finally we get FTTH this year), and clustered HPE Access Points for Wi-Fi. Anyhow, I use the 10.0.0.0/8 at home on the LAN side (plus multiple VLAN), no issues.


One way to fix this, preliminary, could be to use Wi-Fi Access Points (with LAN ports) that can act as a WiFi "bridge". Configure them to connect to the router, and then connect one of them to each switch you can't or don't want to reach via "emergency-wiring", and you'll have a Wi-Fi uplink, all your switches will be back online (however, slower, due to to WiFi being, well, inferior to decent LAN). This way you keep your LAN as-is, just the uplink of each switch is Wi-Fi, temporarily. You effectively bypass the damaged wiring until you can fix it, but no changes are required for any of the clients. That's how I would do it.
Do you have an example of that ? "wifi access ports" I will try searching for it.

Edit: like this?

I would need 4 of them, but I like this the best. $180 total would be less than all the adapters.

Oh, and on the subnet, the last router I bought was 10 something subnet, like xfinity. I have problems with BOINCtasks and F@H client using the 10 subnet.
 
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voodoo5_6k

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I don't know about this specific model (I'll have to read the manual), but here's an example: TL-WA901ND | 450Mbps Wireless N Access Point | TP-Link (tp-link.com)

Most of the times they call it Wi-Fi client mode or bridge. This one only has fast ethernet ports, so it ain't fast, but cheap (USD35 on Amazon). I had a different consumer AP back then (AVM 1750E) which could do that too, with a Gigabit port, but I don't know whether they can be bought in the US. Also, enterprise equipment can do that (e.g my HPE AP could), but given this is an emergency and short-term solution until everything's fixed, it doesn't make sense to shell out a lot of bucks for Cisco or HPE whatever APs that can do WDS.
 
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Markfw

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I don't know about this specific model (I'll have to read the manual), but here's an example: TL-WA901ND | 450Mbps Wireless N Access Point | TP-Link (tp-link.com)

Most of the times they call it Wi-Fi client mode or bridge. This one only has fast ethernet ports, so it ain't fast, but cheap (USD35 on Amazon). I had a different consumer AP back then (AVM 1750E) which could do that too, with a Gigabit port, but I don't know whether they can be bought in the US. Also, enterprise equipment can do that (e.g my HPE AP could), but given this is an emergency and short-term solution until everything's fixed, it doesn't make sense to shell out a lot of bucks for Cisco or HPE whatever APs that can do WDS.
The one I linked has 4 ports. Except for the computer room, I have 3 computers that are all in 3 other rooms, so its perfect for those 3. I can use the one dining room extra for the computer room, so 4 of the ones I linked will work.
 

voodoo5_6k

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According to this, the WAC104 can't do client mode: WAC104 Client Mode - NETGEAR Communities

I assume, you have each PC connected to a switch, correct? I would just add one client mode capable AP to each switch, serving as a wireless uplink to the router. That way, there is no change for any client (assuming you have them all in the same subnet, because most consumer devices aren't that good with VLAN if they can do it at all), and no change to the network (except for replacing the uplink). For that strategy, a single LAN port on each AP is sufficient.
 

Markfw

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According to this, the WAC104 can't do client mode: WAC104 Client Mode - NETGEAR Communities

I assume, you have each PC connected to a switch, correct? I would just add one client mode capable AP to each switch, serving as a wireless uplink to the router. That way, there is no change for any client (assuming you have them all in the same subnet, because most consumer devices aren't that good with VLAN if they can do it at all), and no change to the network (except for replacing the uplink). For that strategy, a single LAN port on each AP is sufficient.
Well, in the ad at Amazon, it says "connect laptops, computers, etc" so if it does not work that way I may return it.