Routers & Other Networking Stuff

ToeMissile

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I remember looking for this at some point and reading that it wasn’t a thing due to restrictions on iOS. This may have changed because for a minute I was using Android and I think the app WiFi Analyzer did this for me. Nice graph with overlapping channels, bandwidth, showed SSID, Encryption type. All on one window. Then after moving to iPhone there was nothing that worked natively within the phone/OS. Been probably 4 years since I looked though.
Hmm, that does sound like a random shitty thing iOS would have going :confused:
Network analyzer is what I had on my Pixel, will load it up on my Samsung tablet.............. and no channel overlap.
 
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Xexx

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I remember looking for this at some point and reading that it wasn’t a thing due to restrictions on iOS. This may have changed because for a minute I was using Android and I think the app WiFi Analyzer did this for me. Nice graph with overlapping channels, bandwidth, showed SSID, Encryption type. All on one window. Then after moving to iPhone there was nothing that worked natively within the phone/OS. Been probably 4 years since I looked though.
What he wants to do you cant do on IOS - You legit need android, when i did field work we had both phones and iOS back then atleast did not have that capability.
 
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The_Black_Log Foler

Stock Pals Senior Vice President
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What he wants to do you cant do on IOS - You legit need android, when i did field work we had both phones and iOS back then atleast did not have that capability.
Yep and it sucks - I switched to iPhone 6 months ago but kept my semi broken android just for this.
 

Lanx

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Yep and it sucks - I switched to iPhone 6 months ago but kept my semi broken android just for this.
iphon6 is almost 8 years old and you just switched to it?

i have iphone6 in my bugout bag in case.
 
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Brahma

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Snagged two of these for 70 bucks each. Setup was easy. Software on phone is easy. UI on PC is easy. Did I mention using this was easy?

The mesh setup literally took 30 seconds. My daughters PC is physically plugged into the upstairs router. That connection between the two is 5Ghz My PC is plugged in off the main router. Everyone else is hanging off the closest router. 25 devices hanging off the system.

Anyone have any long term use with Asus routers?
 

Lanx

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Snagged two of these for 70 bucks each. Setup was easy. Software on phone is easy. UI on PC is easy. Did I mention using this was easy?

The mesh setup literally took 30 seconds. My daughters PC is physically plugged into the upstairs router. That connection between the two is 5Ghz My PC is plugged in off the main router. Everyone else is hanging off the closest router. 25 devices hanging off the system.

Anyone have any long term use with Asus routers?
i have asus ax3000 and i mesh it with ax1800 since i moved here (6months)

mesh was easy to setup w/ app

i also have around 30 devices

i needed the extra router once alexa told me a device was dropping and i loose connection to streaming once i travel to the edge of my property to mow.

i would have needed it anyway since i have 2floors

what ever can use the ethernet port is wired to do so, it's not pretty i have wires dropped on the ceiling and i just have to find time to make another central network area and run cabling
 
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Brahma

Obi-Bro Kenobi-X
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Snagged two of these for 70 bucks each. Setup was easy. Software on phone is easy. UI on PC is easy. Did I mention using this was easy?

The mesh setup literally took 30 seconds. My daughters PC is physically plugged into the upstairs router. That connection between the two is 5Ghz My PC is plugged in off the main router. Everyone else is hanging off the closest router. 25 devices hanging off the system.

Anyone have any long term use with Asus routers?

I had to return these. They can't handle the amount of devices I had connected. Every few days a firesticks would drop off the network. Also I noticed a lot more buffering for those on the 2.4Ghz.

My old VP gave me a couple Orbi RBK and RBR routers and 3 sats. Works flawlessly. Using the RBR40 since it came with the two sats.
 

The_Black_Log Foler

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Tholan

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Just got a new home and I'm considering wiring my different rooms (mainly, the computer room and the main TV) with optical fiber. Has anyone ever tried this ?
 

Kiki

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No reason to unless you are going farther than 300 feet or you want 10g from your desktop to your home server. You just buying lazers and switches/cards for no reason.
 

Hekotat

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Anyone have any experience with LTE modems? Moving to a rural area and it is my only option for interwebs.
 
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Burns

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Just got a new home and I'm considering wiring my different rooms (mainly, the computer room and the main TV) with optical fiber. Has anyone ever tried this ?
Was just about to run a fiber line out to an outbuilding and after looking at the costs, decided wireless microwave point to point was cheaper. I had to price in an outside rated cable and the conduit though.

The cheapest I could find for a run (before I realized I needed cable that can get wet, even in conduit) was:
164 ft of single mode from Monoprice for $23
2 x TP-Link MC220L | Gigabit SFP to RJ45 Fiber Media Converter for $20 each
2 x SMF Transceiver Module (GLC-LH-SM-20) for $8 each

I read a decent amount of people that said the converters are a trash way to run fiber and that you should buy a new router or switch that can handle fiber. I didn't look into that as I was not going to buy an expensive switch for a single run out to a barn.


If you think you have 10+ gigabit (10,000Mbps) service in your future it might be worth it, but it will extra costs for no current benefit. If you have access to the walls before the drywall goes up, it might be better to just put some conduit in, to make running any future cable much easier, if that ever happens, in 20 years.

Anyone have any experience with LTE modems? Moving to a rural area and it is my only option for interwebs.
Put your phone on tether, and see if you can run what you want to run? Connection should be the same, just the caps will probably need to change, if you go that route.

The best connection options for rural life is going to be:
  1. Starlink (probably)
  2. fixed wireless
  3. LTE (maybe)
  4. geosync sats (Hughesnet) that are 36k miles away
 
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Tholan

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Was just about to run a fiber line out to an outbuilding and after looking at the costs, decided wireless microwave point to point was cheaper. I had to figure in an outside rated cable and the conduit though.

The cheapest I could find for a run (before I realized I needed cable that can get wet, even in conduit) was:
164 ft of single mode from Monoprice for $23
2 x TP-Link MC220L | Gigabit SFP to RJ45 Fiber Media Converter for $20 each
2 x SMF Transceiver Module (GLC-LH-SM-20) for $8 each

I read a decent amount of people that said the converters are a trash way to run fiber and that you should buy a new router or switch that can handle fiber. I didn't look into that as I was not going to buy an expensive switch for a single run out to a barn.


If you think you have 10+ gigabit (10,000Mbps) service in your future it might be worth it, but it will extra costs for no current benefit. If you have access to the walls before the drywall goes up, it might be better to just put some conduit in, to make running any future cable much easier, if that ever happens, in 20 years.
I'm supposed to receive 10gbits but I'm more around 2-3 gigs usually. Anyway my main gaming computer is far away from the router and I'm using wifi so it kinda suck.

No drywalls in switerzland, we build stuff out of red bricks inside houses, so when you drill in it you get red dust for 2 years everywhere.
 

Hekotat

FoH nuclear response team
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Was just about to run a fiber line out to an outbuilding and after looking at the costs, decided wireless microwave point to point was cheaper. I had to price in an outside rated cable and the conduit though.

The cheapest I could find for a run (before I realized I needed cable that can get wet, even in conduit) was:
164 ft of single mode from Monoprice for $23
2 x TP-Link MC220L | Gigabit SFP to RJ45 Fiber Media Converter for $20 each
2 x SMF Transceiver Module (GLC-LH-SM-20) for $8 each

I read a decent amount of people that said the converters are a trash way to run fiber and that you should buy a new router or switch that can handle fiber. I didn't look into that as I was not going to buy an expensive switch for a single run out to a barn.


If you think you have 10+ gigabit (10,000Mbps) service in your future it might be worth it, but it will extra costs for no current benefit. If you have access to the walls before the drywall goes up, it might be better to just put some conduit in, to make running any future cable much easier, if that ever happens, in 20 years.


Put your phone on tether, and see if you can run what you want to run? Connection should be the same, just the caps will probably need to change, if you go that route.

The best connection options for rural life is going to be:
  1. Starlink (probably)
  2. fixed wireless
  3. LTE (maybe)
  4. geosync sats (Hughesnet) that are 36k miles away

I'm looking at T-Mobile 5G since they don't throttle (I think) and their 5G is so damn close to being in the neighborhood. I was looking at this option for an LTE modem
Starlink is not in the area yet.
Fuck Satellite due to packet loss and throttling.
LTE seems to be the best bet and the speeds are good enough as long as they don't throttle.

The reviews for that modem seem to be good and the only better option is 600 bucks from what I found. The biggest hurdle is getting someone at T Mobile who knows what the fuck is going on. I've talked to them 5 times now and their reps can't answer basic questions so I'm forced to go into a store location to try and get answers.
 

Burns

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I'm supposed to receive 10gbits but I'm more around 2-3 gigs usually. Anyway my main gaming computer is far away from the router and I'm using wifi so it kinda suck.

No drywalls in switerzland, we build stuff out of red bricks inside houses, so when you drill in it you get red dust for 2 years everywhere.
Well, if you are at 10 gigabit already, it may be worth the price. You can get a fiber PCI network card and a fiber switch and be ready for getting anything over 10 Gbit. I would guess that you would eventually need to eliminate all cat 6a+ in the system, which means a router that can take fiber in, and fiber out.

It was difficult finding good info on just what needs to be done for fiber, so I would still recommend a bunch of research before buying anything. As far as I can tell, single mode fiber works fine and is now cheaper than multi mode. Also read some recommendations for running an extra set of lines, in case the first breaks, as fiber is more fragile.

Alternatively, it looks like they are getting more and more out of RJ45. The next standard, cat 8 gets up to 40 Gbps. Still, fiber will probably take any speed the future will foreseeably hold.
2022-03-18 10.01.48 www.cablesandkits.com 345cfa406cfb.png

 

Burns

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I'm looking at T-Mobile 5G since they don't throttle (I think) and their 5G is so damn close to being in the neighborhood. I was looking at this option for an LTE modem
Starlink is not in the area yet.
Fuck Satellite due to packet loss and throttling.
LTE seems to be the best bet and the speeds are good enough as long as they don't throttle.

The reviews for that modem seem to be good and the only better option is 600 bucks from what I found. The biggest hurdle is getting someone at T Mobile who knows what the fuck is going on. I've talked to them 5 times now and their reps can't answer basic questions so I'm forced to go into a store location to try and get answers.
Oh, opinions on LTE modems, individually. I would also be interested in that, if anyone here has any experience. It could be a backup or stopgap for sitting in the Starlink wait list, now that Elon has sent all production to Ukraine.

I wouldn't have thought many people, if any, here are using one, as it's probably a pretty niche market, since wireless can also be pretty shitty in the rural areas. In our area, T-Mobile's map says they have coverage, but they don't. The AT&T network is the only option (4G), and I doubt they will have 5th gen stuff here for a decade.
 

Lanx

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I'm supposed to receive 10gbits but I'm more around 2-3 gigs usually. Anyway my main gaming computer is far away from the router and I'm using wifi so it kinda suck.

No drywalls in switerzland, we build stuff out of red bricks inside houses, so when you drill in it you get red dust for 2 years everywhere.
aren't you supposed to have a helper spritz water and hold a vacuum when you do brick anyway?
 

Tholan

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aren't you supposed to have a helper spritz water and hold a vacuum when you do brick anyway?
Water I doubt it, but vacuum isn't a bad idea. The dust is super fine and would probably end killing your cleaner if you do this regulary, as ash would !