[R2D2]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

We have the ancient Airtel 450BXI2. I was looking to get a router to replace this unit since coverage in my study (~12-14m and two brick walls away) is spotty. Which model would one recommend for my usage? Thanks in advance.

I am afraid none of these options will resolve your problem. From the floor diagram and the dimensions given therein your router is approx. 30 feet away from the desk that too with brick walls, furniture etc. in the way. No router that I know off will work satisfactorily in those circumstances. And I am talking from experience having used high end routers to resolve a problem that remained unresolved till I took the decision to go in for a wired + Wi-Fi network.

I would suggest one of 2 things:

a) Get your house wired with Ethernet CAT5E or CAT6 cable. Refer to my earlier post to get an idea of what I have done in my home.

b) Use a series of repeaters to broadcast the Wi-Fi signal around your home. Remember, repeaters/bridges will essentially halve your Wi-Fi bandwidth. If you intend to use this network only for light work such as browsing the net or transferring small files this should suffice. But if the intended use is media streaming, large file transfers then look at having a wired network as a 'backbone' with a series of APs or repeaters in each room is the way to go.

[mayankk]

Can you try a cheap high gain antenna, or even a DIY coke can parabolic reflector?

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Which model would one recommend for my usage

One thing to try if feasible, could be to move your router to where your TV is and keep it at a higher level. Mine is above my TV unit at a height of about 8ft. By doing this it will be closer to your room and little more centrally positioned in your house, the opening to your dining area and eventually your study will be little unhindered.

[TheTeacher]

If at all possible, shift your desk near the doorway of your study so there is line of sight (you will lose some privacy). At least to that small extent, there will be less hindrance for the signal. This, combined with diyguy's suggestion to move the AP above the TV just may do the trick and make it bearable. The distance is still on the higher side, though :(

[Night Rider]

Dear Members,

I'm using Reliance net connect ZTE AC2737 (CDMA) dongle for internet. I've ordered TP Link MR 3420 Wi-Fi router to share the internet connection with my lap top and iPad but I'm confused as to how to set up the router. Do I connect the dongle to the router and connect the router to the lap top (using RJ45) for the initial set up or do I connect the dongle to the lap top and start the internet and then connect the router to the lap top using RJ 45.

Please guide...

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by Night Rider

Dear Members,

I'm using Reliance net connect ZTE AC2737 (CDMA) dongle for internet. I've ordered TP Link MR 3420 Wi-Fi router to share the internet connection with my lap top and iPad but I'm confused as to how to set up the router. Do I connect the dongle to the router and connect the router to the lap top (using RJ45) for the initial set up or do I connect the dongle to the lap top and start the internet and then connect the router to the lap top using RJ 45.

Please guide...

You'll need to connect the dongle to the USB port on the router's left side. Then proceed to connect your to the Ethernet port of the router. Make sure you can connect to the router's admin page. The default IP is 192.1.0.1.

For details take a look at Ch 3 in the instructions that came with the router.

[hserus]

If the router uses that as a default page it shows its designers don't even understand rfc1918 and I would recommend against buying it

Are you sure it isn't 192.168.1.1? If so I'd take back that remark

[R2D2]

My bad, typo - it is 192.168.0.1

Sometimes my Logitech kb tends to miss a few characters. Time for a replacement.

[R2D2]

Found this guide that will help in securing your WiFi router:

http://routersecurity.org/checklist.php

Please take router security seriously, drive-by hackers are not unknown

[Night Rider]

Originally Posted by R2D2

My bad, typo - it is 192.168.0.1

Sometimes my Logitech kb tends to miss a few characters. Time for a replacement.

I followed your instructions by connecting the dongle to the router and then connecting the router to my laptop (running on windows 8.1) through the Ethernet cable but when I type http://192.168.0.1/ the admin page does not load up...Pls help

[clevermax]

I've been using TP-LINK WDR3600 dual band router. Recently I flashed DD-WRT in it, and it took the router to a whole new level. At the price of a lower-medium spec router, I am getting a list of cool features now.

1) PPTP VPN Connectivity to home network from anywhere
2) OpenVPN connectivity to home network from anywhere (Browse any site from office )
3) QoS - Mac id specific, so I get all bandwidth when needed, not wife
4) SSH to router from anywhere
5) Transmission client can be run on router itself
6) Scheduled jobs (Crontab) for anything. I use it to turn off wifi at night, auto restart of router per week etc.
7) Better control over WiFi antennas, Tx & Rx parameters
8) Better performance of WiFi
9) Bandwidth & usage monitor with graphs
10) Access polices

DD-WRT firwire has good support for Qualcomm chipset based routers. If you are an advanced user, it will be fun exploring custom firmwares like dd-wrt, Open-wrt etc.

[hserus]

Of course if you brick your router when flashing a third party firmware (happens even to experienced users, and the possibility of retrieving your router by a factory reset is complex - several pages of instructions) you don't have any guarantee etc.

So please assume the router is a throwaway piece - if it works, and it mostly will work fine, then great. If not, well, not much of a loss.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by Night Rider

I followed your instructions by connecting the dongle to the router and then connecting the router to my laptop (running on windows 8.1) through the Ethernet cable but when I type http://192.168.0.1/" target the admin page does not load up...Pls help

The router needs a minute or two to boot up. Once switched on just wait for a while. Then make sure your PC has an IP address, I assume you don't have a static IP configured. Go to the admin command prompt (Windows key + X followed by A), type in "ipconfig /release" and press enter. Then "ipconfig /renew", press enter. Make sure you omit the " marks. Open your browser and type in 192.168.0.1 press enter. This should work.

Originally Posted by clevermax

I've been using TP-LINK WDR3600 dual band router.

Agreed. DD-WRT, Tomato/Shibby or Asus Merlin are great 3rd party AKA developer firmware. However they're only for people familiar with networking concepts and Linux. Plus sometimes the firmware can tend to affect router functionality or be buggy. That said, I'd encourage people with some tech knowledge to experiment. I am in the process of loading one of these, probably Asus Merlin, on my Linksys EA6900. The OEM firmware leaves much to be desired. This router will be used as an AP. It's a tricky process, which involves modifying the stock CFE. Other routers/APs are running stock as of now, but my Asus router the RT-AC3200 (which has good/great OEM firmware) will get a Asus Merlin 'upgrade'.

Originally Posted by hserus

Of course if you brick your router when flashing a third party firmware (happens even to experienced users, and the possibility of retrieving your router by a factory reset is complex - several pages of instructions) you don't have any guarantee etc. So please assume the router is a throwaway piece - if it works, and it mostly will work fine, then great. If not, well, not much of a loss.

Agreed. That's why I suggest only people with clear networking concepts and familiarity with Linux attempt it. One of my gateways/routers got bricked while go thru a stock OEM firmware upgrade but that's because the power failed. Recovery was impossible and I had to junk it. Linksys was of no help at all.

PS - Want to add this point, if you ever attempt a firmware upgrade, OEM or not, make sure your router's power adapter is connected to a UPS. Power failures during the upgrade will brick the unit as I found out. Some units can be recovered from a failure but many cannot.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by R2D2

Found this guide that will help in securing your WiFi router:

Thank you for that. As a result of reading it, I turned off the WPS PIN facility. I think I will still be able to use the push button, which is relatively secure, requiring physical access --- and a vast heap easier than entering 64 characters on a phone keyboard! Don't know why they are talking a mere fourteen characters for passwords!

[hserus]

Originally Posted by R2D2

Agreed. That's why I suggest only people with clear networking concepts and familiarity with Linux attempt it. One of my gateways/routers got bricked while go thru a stock OEM firmware upgrade but that's because the power failed. Recovery was impossible and I had to junk it. Linksys was of no help at all.

For the cheaper routers, I guess so. I have a netgear R6220 and early on when I bought it, I needed to do an ASAP firmware upgrade as a new firmware with security fixes had been released.

The router happily bricked itself during this firmware upgrade - even without any power outage.

I called Netgear, and after walking me through a bunch of factory reset procedures I'd already tried, they agreed to RMA it, gave me a brand new router. Only problem (sort of) was that I had to drive about 20 km away to their service center to pick up the replacement piece and deposit my bricked router.