[binand]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

Isnt Full HD on a 50+ inch television a different ball game altogether (pixel density vs laptop screens)? Or am I missing something here?

Don't know about that. I watch on my 45" Full HD Samsung TV with a Chromecast device. It is 1080p but yours could be better and would require a faster Internet connection. Netflix recommends 5 Mbps for 1080p and 25 Mbps for 4K - but they don't have 4K in India I think.

https://help.netflix.com/en/node/306

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by binand

Don't know about that. I watch on my 45" Full HD Samsung TV with a Chromecast device. It is 1080p but yours could be better and would require a faster Internet connection. Netflix recommends 5 Mbps for 1080p and 25 Mbps for 4K - but they don't have 4K in India I think.

https://help.netflix.com/en/node/306

Okay.

My TV connects to the WiFi device directly using an inbuilt chip. No chromecast in the mix.

What internet router in specific would you recommend (if any)?

[binand]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

What internet router in specific would you recommend (if any)?

Don't think you can go wrong with TP-Link. The exact model, you need to figure out based on how many devices, what they are capable of and so on. It is possible that your TV has an RJ45 port, if yes consider hardwiring it to your router and checking it that way first.

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

What internet router in specific would you recommend (if any)?

Originally Posted by binand

Don't think you can go wrong with TP-Link.

I used to recommend TP-Link too but recently I had a need to block adult content at home. Have a 12 year old son. Found that my Netgear supports out of the box parental controls and device management and control (for all devices at home) that make it very easy to protect children from unwarranted exposure to adult content. You can also control level of protection by each device on the network. So if you have a similar need, you can consider Netgear as well, else like binand said, you cant go wrong with TP-Link.
Am sure you can do the same level of protection on TP-Link and other routers, but it is kind of seamless on Netgear.

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by diyguy

I used to recommend TP-Link too but recently I had a need to block adult content at home. Have a 12 year old son.

Thank you. We are all adults at home

Could you please tell me which tp link router i should get? Humongous catalogue online.

[binand]

Originally Posted by diyguy

Found that my Netgear supports out of the box parental controls and device management and control (for all devices at home) that make it very easy to protect children from unwarranted exposure to adult content.

Speaking only generally here, but I think doing this at the router level is not necessary or sufficient. Pretty much all browsers, OSes, portals and Antivirus software have some form of parental control or other. These are often more effective than the simple blacklist/whitelist systems that are found in the routers.

At my home we have Google's (https://www.google.com/safetycenter/families/start/) solutions implemented.

Originally Posted by Red Liner

Could you please tell me which tp link router i should get? Humongous catalogue online.

That you need to decide. How many devices, how many WAN links, wired & wireless requirements, range requirements, bandwidth requirements, VPN requirements, price constraints etc. all play roles here.

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

Could you please tell me which tp link router i should get? Humongous catalogue online.

here are three routers I purchased recently for some software product testing at work. The TP Link is being used at a location where there could be 10 to 20 people concurrently using it on a full time work day basis.

[shipnil]

Originally Posted by R2D2

Who is your ISP? Do you have a fixed or dynamic IP?

The ISP is Spectranet. I have a dynamic IP. But what I know is, when I register a new CPE with the Spectranet, it assigns an IP that remains constant till I register a different CPE. Doesn't matter if I switch off the router, it stays same.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by shipnil

The ISP is Spectranet. I have a dynamic IP. But what I know is, when I register a new CPE with the Spectranet, it assigns an IP that remains constant till I register a different CPE. Doesn't matter if I switch off the router, it stays same.

Your reply above indicates you may have replaced your router/CPE. If yes, the IP is probably based on your router's MAC address. Please check with your ISP. They will be able to tell you the exact steps required for configuration

[Thad E Ginathom]

I had some recent problems registering a device with my Netgear D6300 using the WPS button. Waited an age, nothing happens. My network password is looooooooong and hell to type, especially on a small mobile device.

Yesterday it was a Sony camera* (Wow, cameras are networked these days! I won't say I didn't know, but this is my first hands on) that failed. Had a hunch: changed the channel from auto to think-of-a-number (12) and it worked immediately.

Clever stuff: wireless connection to mobile provides basic remote controland can even save pics from the camera on the phone; wifi uploading of photos to the compu.... Oh wait! What was that about Windows? Oh, of course, it needs Windows/Mac software

But there is some Linux software. But here it gets techie. Found myself reading some Python for the first time yesterday. I have not made it work yet.

It's just a techie challenge though. The USB works fine.

In fact, I recall someone saying, "You developed wifi for the camera for people who are too lazy to plug in a cable?" Yeah. But it would be neat if it worked.



*a6000. And maybe they developed wifi for cameras so we can talk about them on wifi threads!

[Thad E Ginathom]

Now it is my turn to have a problem!

Today, the Airtel guys installed the vfiber thing for me, with a speed of 24mb/sec. The [horrible, cheap-looking] device is a Beetel 777VR1.

After some toing and froing, the connection was up and running.

I have a Netgear D6300 modem/router, which is a superior router (5Ghz channel as well as 2.4 for a start) and intend to go on using this.

As I have done in the past, when using two devices like this, I am following the simple one-network (192.168.1.0) model. I've always found this to be indeed simple, but not so much today.

Airtel 777VR1: 192.168.1.100; wireless disabled; dhcp disabled.
Netgear: 192.168.1.1 wireless enabled, dhcp enabled.

Only the Netgear is connected to the 777. My Linux machine is connected to the Netgear.

Said Linux machine seems to working just fine. I'm fond of the word static, and it does not need to find out anything from anywhere:

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.1.4
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.1.100
dns-nameservers 8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4

And I assume that this is why it is happily connecting to the outside world.

Assuming that nothing has changed from its point of view, I try my phone. Aaaarghhh... Nothing.

Not quite nothing. It connects to the Netgear and gets an IP address, but has "no internet"

I assume that this is because it has no routing information.

I don't seem to be able to add a gateway to Netgear's dished-out DHCP. I don't seem to be able to add a "default" route to 0.0.0.0 to Netgear's static routes.

I suppose I should change the 777's address to 10.something, turn its dhcp on, and connect it to the WAN port of the Netgear. But I wanted to go the simple way :(

[binand]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I suppose I should change the 777's address to 10.something, turn its dhcp on, and connect it to the WAN port of the Netgear. But I wanted to go the simple way :(

This is the simplest way (but serve DHCP from the Netgear). Other option is to serve DHCP from the 777 and use the Netgear in bridge mode, but that is sub-optimal in my opinion.

Device (192.168.1.0/24) --> Netgear (LAN: 192.168.1.1/24 WAN: 192.168.2.2/24) --> 777 (192.168.2.1/24) --> Big bad Internet.

[Thad E Ginathom]

True, that is an option.

One of the reasons that I want to go on using the Netgear transparently, as they say, to wifi users is the configuration that is on the Netgear such as reserved IPs.

Maybe not much of that actually matters. Maybe all of that is just me being a bit OCD. But it is what I wanted.

I actually hate the Netgear. I find it cumbersome and slow to configure, and reluctant in a Microsoftian way (you do it our way or else) to do stuff my way. I have a feeling that home routers have moved that way in an attempt to be foolproof. Well, I can be a fool... but I'd rather have the right to be one.

For now, it is just me in the house for a week or so, with just my phone. The Netgear is off, and I re-enabled the Airtel thingie for everything. It'll do for now. Though I dread my wife returning with phone and tablet, to her laptop!

I don't remember mentally unused stuff for long. When I did this every day, no problem. Now I feel like I have to relearn it all for every device every time.

[Thad E Ginathom]

<A couple of days later>

I dragged out a TRENDnet wireless router from the back of a cupboard. It has no modem, and very easily connects to one on a fixed-IP basis via its WAN port.

It is dual channel and now the customers are satisfied with their wifi. At least, the only customer here who has a 5Ghz mobile device is... Me!

[R2D2]

Does anybody use a VPN service here? If yes, which one(s)? I am not referring to the VPN used for remote connections to your office network but personal VPNs which anonymize and encrypt web connectivity at home.

I am planning to configure VPN connectivity on my firewall/router to help secure all my home connections including some IoT and security devices I plan to install in the future.

Was wondering if there was a suggested VPN service. I have tried Hotspot Shield and PureVPN. HS cannot be configured on a router and one needs to use their client software to connect. PureVPN is better i.e. router configurable but is based in HK, China. Any feedback on other providers like NordVPN, IP Vanish, Torguard or Express VPN?

On the topic of security - anybody using a Yubikey for OTPs?