[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

It's funny how you said there is life up there wrt wifi signals goes to show how indispensable it is these days

Lol, yes. Of course, I meant wifi-signal life (although only 2.4Ghz) but, in this corvid year, Life would have been very different without the internet. I suppose we would have had TV and reread our libraries. Perhaps more than once.

I'm very happy with the AsusWRT user interface. It is not dumbed down, and it certainly isn't for-techies-only, although there are some pages were it would be best not to tinker without specialist knowledge. It has great traffic monitoring, if you really want to know what everyone in the house is doing!

There is some stuff that does not work without a public-address WAN port. That would mean doing the DSL initiation and login on the Asus, just passing-though the Airtel modem. ISTR that I might have done something like that once (a dim brain cell cell mutters, "modem... bridge mode..."). I don't need (or even want) any of that stuff, but it would be a technical challenge.

Anyway, I do not have access to the Airtel modem. Either I lost the password, or it got reset by Airtel at sometime. I'd hate to press its reset button, because I do not know the DSL setup parameters.

Not an issue: I don't need DDNS, or remote admin, etc. In fact I'd rather just deny inward connections. Not an issue, just a maybe-some-time challenge.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

I'd say just buy a 3-pack mesh router like this:

https://www.amazon.in/TP-Link-AC1200...ag=httech09-21

Just a note the E4 model is 100Mbps maximum LAN speed so JIO fiber will be capped to 100Mbps.

The M4 model is 1Gbps LAN and less than 2K more.

[null]

Looking for suggestions for a new small-office WIFI router supporting up to 20 users (30 devices max?). The office is a wire free office (i.e., no LAN cabling) with laptops having single band 2.4ghz WIFI. Work mostly will be for document editing & sharing across the network (with a desktop server hosting the files).

Traffic will be predominantly in the LAN. And obviously, looking for a least cost option.

[poloman]

With Wifi routers working extended hours due to WFH, some of us may be facing hang issues frequently. Most of the router models have very poor thermal design and this leads to issues like auto restart, hang etc particularly if you have kept the router in a poorly ventilated area. This also can affect the life of the router.

I have been facing the issue of system hang once in two days or so. The router surfaces were too hot even to touch. So got one of the laptop cooling pads from amazon.

https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B08...?ie=UTF8&psc=1


The results has been excellent with the router surfaces getting cooled down significantly.
You don't need a fan with high CFM, even a low rpm USB fan which can recirculate the air will help. You can also have a DIY set up using cheap CPU fans. Since this pad itself was so cheap, I did not bother to try that out.

Also make it a point to shutdown the router in the night.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Our router gets 24-hour use! It only gets turned off when we go out for more than an hour or so.

As I have mentioned, our new router shows up the old one to have been rubbish, which I thought (and hoped, spending the money to replace it!) would be the case. The old one used to run at warm-plus. One of the nice things about the new one is that the case is pretty cool to touch. I can just feel warm air coming out of the top ventilation. Must be well designed.

It is good advice to keep all electronics, from wifi to hifi, as cool as possible. Do not keep in enclosed spaces; do allow air flow all around. And, with the hifi stack, increase the space between components. Hint: the manufacturers don't want you to do that. They don't want you getting years more use out of your kit!

[poloman]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Our router gets 24-hour use! It only gets turned off when we go out for more than an hour or so.

As I have mentioned, our new router shows up the old one to have been rubbish, which I thought (and hoped, spending the money to replace it!) would be the case. The old one used to run at warm-plus. One of the nice things about the new one is that the case is pretty cool to touch. I can just feel warm air coming out of the top ventilation. Must be well designed.

It is good advice to keep all electronics, from wifi to hifi, as cool as possible. Do not keep in enclosed spaces;

I think you got a pretty high end model, so obviously it will have an internal fan. Most models south of 5K will be having only passive cooling with vents.


I think wifi routers are the most overworked electronic devices now a days. Most other devices will have some sort of power management or sleep states or won't run 24x7. Also many keep the routers in inherently hot places like kitchen for better coverage. This will adversely affect your device for sure.

The simplest thing one can do is keep the device min 1 inch lifted from the surface, Most routers will have power dissipated from bottom. So a better air flow at the bottom cool down the device significantly.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by poloman

I think you got a pretty high end model, so obviously it will have an internal fan. Most models south of 5K will be having only passive cooling with vents.

About 13k, Amazon price, so yes, a lot more than a 5k router that would probably have done the job, but more like mid-range. I was wondering, after feeling that draught, if it had a fan... <googles> Apparently not.

It's an "upright" design. I think this helps encourage airflow.

[poloman]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

About 13k, Amazon price, so yes, a lot more than a 5k router that would probably have done the job, but more like mid-range. I was wondering, after feeling that draught, if it had a fan... <googles> Apparently not.

It's an "upright" design. I think this helps encourage airflow.

Upright designs have better thermal management. Still if the ambient temp is high and the router is kept in a non ventilated area you can run in to issues in long run. One guy has done elaborate testing with your model it seems.
https://www.skooterblog.com/en/2019/...8u-aliexpress/

If you use one band mostly, try shutting down the other one. This can also help save some power.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Thanks. Router is in our hall, sitting right opposite the AC. I think it's comfortable

If you use one band mostly, try shutting down the other one.

Might experiment with that.

[nbhar24]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Thanks. Router is in our hall, sitting right opposite the AC. I think it's comfortable
Might experiment with that.

I have been exploring wi-fi in and out for 15years. Will be happy to troubleshoot.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by nbhar24

I have been exploring wi-fi in and out for 15years. Will be happy to troubleshoot.

Very kind, thank you. My new 2-router Asus AiMesh setup seems to be working just fine.

The only problem I have is a wired one: I installed a cable from room to room, socket to socket. It is not giving consistent connectivity and good bandwidth. It's pretty easy to diagnose: I got someone to do the ends for me, and I think their punch down is not good. I don't have the tool and now it's lockdown again.

They are good people for computers, and have done all my fixing for last several years. Cabling is not their prime skill. I guess I might be able to do it better!

As an ex IT manager myself, I always got someone in for building cabling. They would test it all thoroughly, and, whereas occasional bought flyleads would go in the bin, their work never failed.

They were a great two-man company who did everything from suited network design and configuration to jeans-and-t-shirt hands-dirty cable pulling. I'm spoilt

[haisaikat]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Cabling is not their prime skill.

Most regular guy would do a straight punching of cables, and would not follow the 568B standard of arranging wires the odd way which is the biggest mistake they make. Since in a LAN cable difference color wires have different number of turns within the same overall length of the cable hence their resistance differs. So if not done right, over distance problem starts happening. I am guessing it is what may have happended for you.

[nbhar24]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

The only problem I have is a wired one: I installed a cable from room to room, socket to socket. It is not giving consistent connectivity and good bandwidth.

Problem might be with the type of cable (material), or punching connectors.

I assume Asus routers normally have Gigabit Ethernet ports and any mismatch may tear down the bandwidth.


Didn't knew that I was interacting with site Administrator...
Just saw the system mail ..You have received a new private message at Team-BHP from Administrator

[nbhar24]

Originally Posted by poloman

I have been facing the issue of system hang once in two days or so. The router surfaces were too hot even to touch.

Also make it a point to shutdown the router in the night.

Router hang normally occurs due to outdated firmware and sometimes also depends on type of traffic flowing through it. Though thermal factor does impacts the productivity, but rarely induce a hang.

Try updating your router firmware to latest available version and verify the system configuration.

Switching it off is not solution, since these devices are made to operate without fail or interruption.

[bhp_maniac]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

The only problem I have is a wired one: I installed a cable from room to room, socket to socket. It is not giving consistent connectivity and good bandwidth. It's pretty easy to diagnose: I got someone to do the ends for me, and I think their punch down is not good. I don't have the tool and now it's lockdown again.

Most probably a punch-down issue or a broken wire end. A couple of years back when I moved to a wired approach for my home, I bought a crimping tool and did it all myself in 568B standard. Had to do a bit of troubleshooting for one of the cablings, in the end, it was a broken wire in the wall socket.

On the topic of thermal issues on routers due to the 24/7 running of WiFi, it's mostly related to firmware quality and might not be thermal. I have a DD-WRT router (8-year-old TP-LINK WDR 3600) which is running 24/7 and everything is groovy. I have seen uptime of more than 60 days on it without any hang or reboot. Off late, I have introduced a weekly restart to clear out the RAM, etc. Regarding the load, it has around 20-25 devices connected to it through WiFI on three different SSID's (the main SSID, guest SSID, and one dedicated SSID for IoT devices). Also, it has all of its LAN ports connected to a family PC, a WD Mycloud, a PS4, and a Chromecast. With 3 or 4 devices streaming HD content simultaneously from Netflix or the likes and me and my wife working from home, it hasn't missed a beat till now. Also, there is a QoS set up on it which is working pretty decently on the 50 Mbps WAN connection. So yes, these things even with passive cooling are designed to run for extended hours