The Router Recommendations Thread (Consumer)

I just received the one I bought on ebay and it was from a seller in South Africa, not Germany, as I originally indicated. He sent me some Chinese brand (Tenda) that looks nothing like the WDR4900 so I'm seeing about sending it back. What's the best gigabit router for use with a VPN service that I can purchase from the U.S.? I don't want to deal with international sellers. I don't care all that much about wireless as my whole house is hardwired for gigabit ethernet.

i just bought an asus ac66u i like it but your gonna want something like a ubiquiti edge router or Mikrotik Routerboard
 
I'm using a 10 year old G router that is giving me issues at this point. I'm trying to decide which ASUS router should I get? We stream video as our primary TV source and often use Plex media server and/or XBMC.

ASUS RT-AC68R($140 refurb)

Or

ASUS RT-AC66R ($80 refurb)

I've read reviews and although it seems as though the 68 is an improvement it's almost double the cost, would it really be worth it for me?

Thanks all
 
I just received the one I bought on ebay and it was from a seller in South Africa, not Germany, as I originally indicated. He sent me some Chinese brand (Tenda) that looks nothing like the WDR4900 so I'm seeing about sending it back. What's the best gigabit router for use with a VPN service that I can purchase from the U.S.? I don't want to deal with international sellers. I don't care all that much about wireless as my whole house is hardwired for gigabit ethernet.

Oh, sorry to hear that :/

http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-Wirel...8&qid=1404103369&sr=8-1&keywords=archer+c7+v2

Might be an option, I don't know however how well the 5Ghz part works since the driver is relatively fresh.
//Danne
 
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Thanks, but I definitely don't have a need for 802.11ac wireless. I went ahead and ordered a Mikrotik RB951G-2HND router through Amazon. I found a lot of tutorials on setting it up and using it on YouTube.
 
Because it's a nice feature to get "for free" which you might want in the end? :)
//Danne
 
I have every room in my house wired for gigabit ethernet so wireless isn't even on my radar. I still have the crappy Actiontek router supplied by Verizon that I have connected to my pfSense router to supply a wireless connection if I need it. As for being "free", the wireless routers you've been pointing me to have been more expensive than the Mikrotik router I finally decided on. The "free" features would have cost me more and gone unused. I just want a solid gigabit router for a hardwired network.

In any case, I do want to thank you for your replies and recommendations as I know they were well intentioned.
 
Not that I am supporting anyone, but generally wireless seems to be more and more prevalent in todays society. For instance, I have most of my house wired up for GB connection, but those pesky cell phones, netbooks, tablets, etc use wireless too. You may not have them in your home, but generally people do have some wireless devices. When I redid my network infrastructure in the home, I realized how many wired and wireless connections I have, and it was shocking. I have my DHCP set to 42 leases and I use them all. Thats a family of three BTW.
 
I do have a wireless router, but it's used only on occasion with a single laptop. I also have a wireless phone booster as my house tends to get a rather weak signal from the local towers. I got tired of having to go outside every time I wanted to use my cell phone. Now I can use it anywhere in the house with no problems, including down in the basement.

I stream a lot of ripped Blu-Rays (no compression with HD audio intact) and other HD content from my server and I'd prefer a hardwired connection vs. wireless because it's just solid. I never have to worry about whether the video will freeze up or have other problems. I'm sure wireless works fine for a lot of people, but I'll take hard wiring over wireless any day.
 
Hi - I just tracked down my slow Internets issues to my router, of all things. I was getting 1Mbps down via my router, and 28Mbps down when connected directly to my cable modem. Ouch!! Time for a new router.

My setup is this:

Motorola SB6121 -> router -> Lenovo Yoga Pro 2, Google Chromecast, Motorola Moto X, Samsung Galaxy S5.

I don't typically connect anything via ethernet to the router but I am possibly interested in finding some network attached storage - so gigabit ethernet *could* be useful, but not required. Essentially - what I would want is something that can be accessed as a lettered drive in Windows. My big concern is security - how concerned should I be about having a hard drive on the network? Is it possible to give it an extra password (ie not only would you have to have access to my network, either via eithernet or via the password protected wifi, but you'd also have to have another password for the hard drive).

I probably won't be connecting a printer to the router, but if it was a cheap feature to add I'd be interested.

Can anybody suggest a router? I am just now starting to research this so I must admit I'm not sure in which direction I should be looking. I've had good luck with Linksys in the past (the device that is failing me is not a Linksys). So maybe a dual band Linksys router?

edit: looks like both phones can talk AC, but my chromecast and yoga 2 pro are both limited to N. Looks like there is a fairly easy (and cheap) upgrade you can do to switch the yoga 2 pro to AC though. So I definitely want a router capable of 802.11AC.

second edit: Linksys E2500 seems like a decent choice. ~$80 new and ~$35 refurbished. No Gigabit ethernet, and no USB, but it seems like it has the minimum. Would be interested in what else is out there but that one seems to get good reviews and have the basics...
 
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Grab the WD MyNet N750 from Amazon a few links up, you can use the OpenWRT trunk firmwares linked below and you're all set except the printer part but you can compile your own firmware if you need it badly. It's a great router at the price (below 50$).
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1823659

If you want AC I'd have a look at the TP-Link Archer C7 v2 but I'm not sure how mature the ath10k driver is yet. 2.4Ghz will work fine so its not like its completely useless if the driver is a bit buggy right now.
//Danne
 
Grab the WD MyNet N750 from Amazon a few links up, you can use the OpenWRT trunk firmwares linked below and you're all set except the printer part but you can compile your own firmware if you need it badly. It's a great router at the price (below 50$).
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1823659

If you want AC I'd have a look at the TP-Link Archer C7 v2 but I'm not sure how mature the ath10k driver is yet. 2.4Ghz will work fine so its not like its completely useless if the driver is a bit buggy right now.
//Danne
So this is strange - does WD even make routers anymore? I don't see them listed anywhere on WD's website. That seems sketchy, no?

Also - is it possible to do access control if you connect a USB storage device to the router? ie only allow specific devices access to the storage, or perhaps only allow access after a password is given (somehow).
 
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No, they're EOL but still a great buy.
You can both use the firewall and/or use Samba auth for access control
//Danne
 
No, they're EOL but still a great buy.
You can both use the firewall and/or use Samba auth for access control
//Danne

OK I picked one up and installed the OpenWRT package you linked to - but... what now? I can log in to the web based configuration tool (LuCi I think)... but honestly, all of this is over my head. For now I just want a router with WPA2, connected to a cable modem (with firewall enabled).

I played around with the wifi settings and now I can connect to the router via wifi and everything seems OKish... but it seems like there is a problem with the WAN - it says that both WAN and WAN6 are disconnected, even though I have my cable modem connected. Any idea what could cause this?

Edit: I have a suspicion that my router is an open box return (it wasn't marked as such, but ebay dealers can be sketchy) - I wonder if it's busted...

also, would it be possible to switch back to the original WD firmware? It would be useful for testing the hardware.
 
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Let's see here...

If check if you've plugged in WAN in Internet (yellow port), do note that it will show disconnected until it gets a DHCP lease which may take a while unless you properly released your previous lease.
Also, if you go to Network --> Switch port #5 should have a link as its the WAN-port.

You can use the emergency recovery to go back to WDs firmware
http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9618/

As for the HDD... (destructive!) - Modules etc are already included
http://randominfo.pyret.net/index.php?controller=post&action=view&id_post=4
You can refer to the original documentation at http://wiki.openwrt.org/ on how to setup Samba using LuCI

//Danne
 
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Let's see here...

If check if you've plugged in WAN in Internet (yellow port), do note that it will show disconnected until it gets a DHCP lease which may take a while unless you properly released your previous lease.
Also, if you go to Network --> Switch port #5 should have a link as its the WAN-port.

You can use the emergency recovery to go back to WDs firmware
http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9618/

As for the HDD... (destructive!) - Modules etc are already included
http://randominfo.pyret.net/index.php?controller=post&action=view&id_post=4
You can refer to the original documentation at http://wiki.openwrt.org/ on how to setup Samba using LuCI

//Danne
How do I properly release my previous DHCP lease? And how long could it take to get a DHCP lease if I did not release it properly?

edit: Here is the switch status:
CPU: 1000baseT full-duplex tagged/tagged
Port [1-4]: no link untagged/off
Port 5: 1000baseT full-duplex off/untagged (and this changed to no link when I unplugged the cable modem)
port 6: no link off/off

So maybe the WAN port is functional? Is there a setting I could have messed up somewhere?

Not trying to get the hard drive working just yet - that seems like a weekend project :)
 
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Usually you need to go into your old router and select DHCP release, if you had a computer connected you need to perform the same operation which is ipconfig /release in Windows (as an example).
You can also see the lease time (somewhere between 30min-24h usually).

At some ISPs you also need to reset the modem / power cycle it.

If you look at Status -> System Log it'll show you what its trying to do...

//Danne
 
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One thing I'd want to point out is using outside firmwares such as openwrt, dd-wrt, etc is they are not optimized to make use of hardware acceleration. In order to be universally compatible and not have bloated kernels they are using processor and memory to emulate some hardware acceleration capabilities of the router. If you are having a problem with your router speed and are running 3rd party firmware, may want to reevaluate your use.
 
Usually you need to go into your old router and select DHCP release, if you had a computer connected you need to perform the same operation which is ipconfig /release in Windows (as an example).
You can also see the lease time (somewhere between 30min-24h usually).

At some ISPs you also need to reset the modem / power cycle it.

If you look at Status -> System Log it'll show you what its trying to do...

//Danne

Hi Danne - I've tried power cycling the modem a couple times. Last night I tried to leave the router connected all night to the modem - no dice. I had not released DHCP ahead of that though.

This morning, I tried to release the DHCP from my old router, and reconnect the new router. It continued to say no connection on WAN (I gave it maybe 10 minutes to change status). However, I had a similar problem when I switched back to my old router - it didn't work (get an IP from the cable modem) till I found the renew dhcp button. Is there a similar renew dhcp button somewhere within openwrt?

Also - could I have messed anything up when I was changing bridge connection options? I played around with those for a bit trying to get things to work yesterday.

Thanks!

See below for system log: (I'm pretty sure the internal clock is off...)

Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 8.550000] ehci-platform: EHCI generic platform driver
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 8.560000] ehci-platform ehci-platform: EHCI Host Controller
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 8.560000] ehci-platform ehci-platform: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 1
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 8.570000] ehci-platform ehci-platform: irq 3, io mem 0x1b000000
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 8.600000] ehci-platform ehci-platform: USB 2.0 started, EHCI 1.00
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 8.600000] hub 1-0:1.0: USB hub found
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 8.610000] hub 1-0:1.0: 1 port detected
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 8.610000] ohci_hcd: USB 1.1 'Open' Host Controller (OHCI) Driver
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 8.620000] usbcore: registered new interface driver usb-storage
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 9.030000] usb 1-1: new high-speed USB device number 2 using ehci-platform
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 9.230000] hub 1-1:1.0: USB hub found
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 9.230000] hub 1-1:1.0: 4 ports detected
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 10.460000] eth0: link up (1000Mbps/Full duplex)
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.notice kernel: [ 12.820000] jffs2: notice: (377) jffs2_build_xattr_subsystem: complete building xattr subsystem, 1 of xdatum (0 unchecked, 0 orphan) and 25 of xref (0 dead, 3 orphan) found.
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.notice kernel: [ 12.880000] jffs2: notice: (374) jffs2_build_xattr_subsystem: complete building xattr subsystem, 1 of xdatum (0 unchecked, 0 orphan) and 25 of xref (0 dead, 3 orphan) found.
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 12.920000] eth0: link down
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 16.860000] NET: Registered protocol family 10
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 16.890000] RPC: Registered named UNIX socket transport module.
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 16.890000] RPC: Registered udp transport module.
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 16.900000] RPC: Registered tcp transport module.
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 16.900000] RPC: Registered tcp NFSv4.1 backchannel transport module.
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 16.950000] tun: Universal TUN/TAP device driver, 1.6
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 16.950000] tun: (C) 1999-2004 Max Krasnyansky <[email protected]>
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.000000] Installing knfsd (copyright (C) 1996 [email protected]).
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.020000] nf_conntrack version 0.5.0 (1978 buckets, 7912 max)
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.250000] ip6_tables: (C) 2000-2006 Netfilter Core Team
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.280000] hidraw: raw HID events driver (C) Jiri Kosina
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.290000] u32 classifier
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.300000] input device check on
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.300000] Actions configured
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.310000] Mirror/redirect action on
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.330000] Loading modules backported from Linux version master-2014-05-22-0-gf2032ea
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.340000] Backport generated by backports.git backports-20140320-37-g5c33da0
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.360000] ip_tables: (C) 2000-2006 Netfilter Core Team
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.410000] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbhid
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.420000] usbhid: USB HID core driver
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.480000] xt_time: kernel timezone is -0000
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.560000] cfg80211: Calling CRDA to update world regulatory domain
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.560000] cfg80211: World regulatory domain updated:
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.570000] cfg80211: DFS Master region: unset
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.570000] cfg80211: (start_freq - end_freq @ bandwidth), (max_antenna_gain, max_eirp), (dfs_cac_time)
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.580000] cfg80211: (2402000 KHz - 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (N/A, 2000 mBm), (N/A)
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.590000] cfg80211: (2457000 KHz - 2482000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (N/A, 2000 mBm), (N/A)
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.600000] cfg80211: (2474000 KHz - 2494000 KHz @ 20000 KHz), (N/A, 2000 mBm), (N/A)
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.610000] cfg80211: (5170000 KHz - 5250000 KHz @ 80000 KHz), (N/A, 2000 mBm), (N/A)
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.620000] cfg80211: (5735000 KHz - 5835000 KHz @ 80000 KHz), (N/A, 2000 mBm), (N/A)
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.620000] cfg80211: (57240000 KHz - 63720000 KHz @ 2160000 KHz), (N/A, 0 mBm), (N/A)
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.660000] PPP generic driver version 2.4.2
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.680000] NET: Registered protocol family 24
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.debug kernel: [ 17.730000] ath: EEPROM regdomain: 0x0
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.debug kernel: [ 17.730000] ath: EEPROM indicates default country code should be used
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.debug kernel: [ 17.730000] ath: doing EEPROM country->regdmn map search
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.debug kernel: [ 17.730000] ath: country maps to regdmn code: 0x3a
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.debug kernel: [ 17.730000] ath: Country alpha2 being used: US
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.debug kernel: [ 17.730000] ath: Regpair used: 0x3a
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.debug kernel: [ 17.750000] ieee80211 phy0: Selected rate control algorithm 'minstrel_ht'
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.760000] cfg80211: Calling CRDA for country: US
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.760000] cfg80211: Regulatory domain changed to country: US
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.770000] cfg80211: DFS Master region: FCC
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.780000] cfg80211: (start_freq - end_freq @ bandwidth), (max_antenna_gain, max_eirp), (dfs_cac_time)
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.780000] cfg80211: (2402000 KHz - 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (N/A, 3000 mBm), (N/A)
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.790000] cfg80211: (5170000 KHz - 5250000 KHz @ 80000 KHz), (N/A, 1700 mBm), (N/A)
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.800000] cfg80211: (5250000 KHz - 5330000 KHz @ 80000 KHz), (N/A, 2300 mBm), (0 s)
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.810000] cfg80211: (5735000 KHz - 5835000 KHz @ 80000 KHz), (N/A, 3000 mBm), (N/A)
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.820000] cfg80211: (57240000 KHz - 63720000 KHz @ 2160000 KHz), (N/A, 4000 mBm), (N/A)
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.830000] ieee80211 phy0: Atheros AR9340 Rev:0 mem=0xb8100000, irq=47
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.warn kernel: [ 17.830000] PCI: Enabling device 0000:00:00.0 (0000 -> 0002)
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.debug kernel: [ 17.840000] ath: EEPROM regdomain: 0x0
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.debug kernel: [ 17.840000] ath: EEPROM indicates default country code should be used
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.debug kernel: [ 17.840000] ath: doing EEPROM country->regdmn map search
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.debug kernel: [ 17.840000] ath: country maps to regdmn code: 0x3a
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.debug kernel: [ 17.840000] ath: Country alpha2 being used: US
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.debug kernel: [ 17.840000] ath: Regpair used: 0x3a
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.debug kernel: [ 17.870000] ieee80211 phy1: Selected rate control algorithm 'minstrel_ht'
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 17.870000] ieee80211 phy1: Atheros AR9300 Rev:3 mem=0xb0000000, irq=40
Sat Jun 7 08:37:48 2014 user.emerg procd: Error: Failed to connect to ubus
Sat Jun 7 08:37:51 2014 user.emerg procd: this file has been obseleted. please call "/sbin/block mount" directly
Sat Jun 7 08:37:52 2014 user.err block: /dev/mtdblock7 is already mounted
Sat Jun 7 08:37:52 2014 user.emerg procd: block: /dev/mtdblock7 is already mounted
Sat Jun 7 08:37:53 2014 authpriv.info dropbear[1087]: Not backgrounding
Sat Jun 7 08:37:54 2014 user.info insmod: module is already loaded - xt_comment
Sat Jun 7 08:37:54 2014 kern.emerg already loaded - xt_comment
Sat Jun 7 08:37:55 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 27.680000] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
Sat Jun 7 08:37:55 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 27.700000] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0.1: link is not ready
Sat Jun 7 08:37:55 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 27.700000] device eth0.1 entered promiscuous mode
Sat Jun 7 08:37:55 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 27.710000] device eth0 entered promiscuous mode
Sat Jun 7 08:37:55 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 27.710000] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): br-lan: link is not ready
Sat Jun 7 08:37:55 2014 daemon.notice netifd: Interface 'lan' is enabled
Sat Jun 7 08:37:55 2014 daemon.notice netifd: Interface 'lan' is setting up now
Sat Jun 7 08:37:55 2014 daemon.notice netifd: Interface 'lan' is now up
Sat Jun 7 08:37:55 2014 daemon.notice netifd: Interface 'loopback' is enabled
Sat Jun 7 08:37:55 2014 daemon.warn odhcpd[1048]: Failed to send to ff02::1%br-lan (Cannot assign requested address)
Sat Jun 7 08:37:55 2014 daemon.notice netifd: Network device 'lo' link is up
Sat Jun 7 08:37:55 2014 daemon.notice netifd: Interface 'loopback' has link connectivity
Sat Jun 7 08:37:55 2014 daemon.notice netifd: Interface 'loopback' is setting up now
Sat Jun 7 08:37:55 2014 daemon.notice netifd: Interface 'loopback' is now up
Sat Jun 7 08:37:55 2014 daemon.warn odhcpd[1048]: Failed to send to ff02::1%br-lan (Cannot assign requested address)
Sat Jun 7 08:37:57 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 28.810000] eth0: link up (1000Mbps/Full duplex)
Sat Jun 7 08:37:57 2014 daemon.notice netifd: Network device 'eth0' link is up
Sat Jun 7 08:37:57 2014 daemon.notice netifd: VLAN 'eth0.1' link is up
Sat Jun 7 08:37:57 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 28.850000] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): eth0: link becomes ready
Sat Jun 7 08:37:57 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 28.850000] br-lan: port 1(eth0.1) entered forwarding state
Sat Jun 7 08:37:57 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 28.860000] br-lan: port 1(eth0.1) entered forwarding state
Sat Jun 7 08:37:57 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 28.860000] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): eth0.1: link becomes ready
Sat Jun 7 08:37:57 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 29.000000] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): br-lan: link becomes ready
Sat Jun 7 08:37:57 2014 daemon.notice netifd: Bridge 'br-lan' link is up
Sat Jun 7 08:37:57 2014 daemon.notice netifd: Interface 'lan' has link connectivity
Sat Jun 7 08:37:57 2014 user.notice firewall: Reloading firewall due to ifup of lan (br-lan)
Sat Jun 7 08:37:58 2014 user.emerg procd: exportfs: /etc/exports [1]: Neither 'subtree_check' or 'no_subtree_check' specified for export "*:/mnt".
Sat Jun 7 08:37:58 2014 user.emerg procd: Assuming default behaviour ('no_subtree_check').
Sat Jun 7 08:37:58 2014 user.emerg procd: NOTE: this default has changed since nfs-utils version 1.0.x
Sat Jun 7 08:37:58 2014 user.emerg procd:
Sat Jun 7 08:37:58 2014 user.emerg procd: exportfs: /mnt does not support NFS export
Sat Jun 7 08:37:58 2014 user.emerg procd: rpc.nfsd: Setting version failed: errno 22 (Invalid argument)
Sat Jun 7 08:37:59 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 30.860000] br-lan: port 1(eth0.1) entered forwarding state
Sat Jun 7 08:37:59 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 30.970000] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
Sat Jun 7 08:37:59 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 30.980000] device wlan0 entered promiscuous mode
Sat Jun 7 08:37:59 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 31.100000] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan1: link is not ready
Sat Jun 7 08:37:59 2014 kern.warn kernel: [ 31.170000] svc: failed to register lockdv1 RPC service (errno 124).
Sat Jun 7 08:37:59 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 31.190000] device wlan1 entered promiscuous mode
Sat Jun 7 08:37:59 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 31.190000] br-lan: port 3(wlan1) entered forwarding state
Sat Jun 7 08:37:59 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 31.200000] br-lan: port 3(wlan1) entered forwarding state
Sat Jun 7 08:38:00 2014 daemon.notice rpc.statd[1469]: Version 1.2.9 starting
Sat Jun 7 08:38:00 2014 daemon.warn rpc.statd[1469]: Flags: No-Daemon
Sat Jun 7 08:38:00 2014 daemon.notice rpc.statd[1469]: Initializing NSM state
Sat Jun 7 08:38:00 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 31.980000] br-lan: port 3(wlan1) entered disabled state
Sat Jun 7 08:38:00 2014 daemon.warn rpc.statd[1469]: Running as root. chown /var/lib/nfs to choose different user
Sat Jun 7 08:38:00 2014 daemon.notice rpc.mountd[1470]: Version 1.2.9 starting
Sat Jun 7 08:38:01 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 33.160000] br-lan: port 2(wlan0) entered forwarding state
Sat Jun 7 08:38:01 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 33.170000] br-lan: port 2(wlan0) entered forwarding state
Sat Jun 7 08:38:01 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 33.170000] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
Sat Jun 7 08:38:01 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 33.330000] br-lan: port 3(wlan1) entered forwarding state
Sat Jun 7 08:38:01 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 33.330000] br-lan: port 3(wlan1) entered forwarding state
Sat Jun 7 08:38:01 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 33.340000] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan1: link becomes ready
Sat Jun 7 08:38:01 2014 daemon.notice netifd: Network device 'wlan0' link is up
Sat Jun 7 08:38:02 2014 daemon.notice netifd: Network device 'wlan1' link is up
Sat Jun 7 08:38:03 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 35.170000] br-lan: port 2(wlan0) entered forwarding state
Sat Jun 7 08:38:03 2014 kern.info kernel: [ 35.330000] br-lan: port 3(wlan1) entered forwarding state
Sat Jun 7 08:38:03 2014 daemon.info avahi-daemon[1544]: Found user 'nobody' (UID 65534) and group 'nogroup' (GID 65534).
Sat Jun 7 08:38:03 2014 daemon.info avahi-daemon[1544]: Successfully dropped root privileges.
Sat Jun 7 08:38:03 2014 daemon.info avahi-daemon[1544]: avahi-daemon 0.6.31 starting up.
Sat Jun 7 08:38:03 2014 daemon.warn avahi-daemon[1544]: WARNING: No NSS support for mDNS detected, consider installing nss-mdns!
Sat Jun 7 08:38:03 2014 daemon.info avahi-daemon[1544]: Loading service file /etc/avahi/services/http.service.
Sat Jun 7 08:38:03 2014 daemon.info avahi-daemon[1544]: Loading service file /etc/avahi/services/ssh.service.
Sat Jun 7 08:38:03 2014 daemon.info avahi-daemon[1544]: Joining mDNS multicast group on interface br-lan.IPv4 with address 192.168.1.1.
Sat Jun 7 08:38:03 2014 daemon.info avahi-daemon[1544]: New relevant interface br-lan.IPv4 for mDNS.
Sat Jun 7 08:38:03 2014 daemon.info avahi-daemon[1544]: Network interface enumeration completed.
Sat Jun 7 08:38:03 2014 daemon.info avahi-daemon[1544]: Registering new address record for fe80::290:a9ff:fead:8496 on wlan0.*.
Sat Jun 7 08:38:03 2014 daemon.info avahi-daemon[1544]: Registering new address record for fe80::290:a9ff:fead:8498 on wlan1.*.
Sat Jun 7 08:38:03 2014 daemon.info avahi-daemon[1544]: Registering new address record for fd13:4d7e:42db::1 on br-lan.*.
Sat Jun 7 08:38:03 2014 daemon.info avahi-daemon[1544]: Registering new address record for 192.168.1.1 on br-lan.IPv4.
Sat Jun 7 08:38:03 2014 daemon.info avahi-daemon[1544]: Registering new address record for fe80::290:a9ff:fead:8496 on eth0.*.
Sat Jun 7 08:38:03 2014 daemon.info avahi-daemon[1544]: Server startup complete. Host name is OpenWrt.local. Local service cookie is 1830286778.
Sat Jun 7 08:38:03 2014 daemon.info avahi-daemon[1544]: Registering HINFO record with values 'MIPS'/'LINUX'.
Sat Jun 7 08:38:04 2014 daemon.info rsyncd[1560]: rsyncd version 3.1.0 starting, listening on port 873
Sat Jun 7 08:38:05 2014 user.emerg procd: - init complete -
Sat Jun 7 08:38:05 2014 daemon.info dnsmasq[1600]: started, version 2.71 cachesize 150
Sat Jun 7 08:38:05 2014 daemon.info dnsmasq[1600]: compile time options: IPv6 GNU-getopt no-DBus no-i18n no-IDN DHCP no-DHCPv6 no-Lua TFTP no-conntrack no-ipset no-auth no-DNSSEC
Sat Jun 7 08:38:05 2014 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[1600]: DHCP, IP range 192.168.1.100 -- 192.168.1.249, lease time 12h
Sat Jun 7 08:38:05 2014 daemon.info dnsmasq[1600]: using local addresses only for domain lan
Sat Jun 7 08:38:05 2014 daemon.warn dnsmasq[1600]: no servers found in /tmp/resolv.conf.auto, will retry
Sat Jun 7 08:38:05 2014 daemon.info dnsmasq[1600]: read /etc/hosts - 1 addresses
Sat Jun 7 08:38:05 2014 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[1600]: read /etc/ethers - 0 addresses
Sat Jun 7 08:38:06 2014 user.notice upnp daemon: external interface not found, not starting
Sat Jun 7 08:51:16 2014 daemon.info hostapd: wlan0: STA c4:85:08:d1:5c:db IEEE 802.11: authenticated
Sat Jun 7 08:51:16 2014 daemon.info hostapd: wlan0: STA c4:85:08:d1:5c:db IEEE 802.11: associated (aid 1)
Sat Jun 7 08:51:16 2014 daemon.info hostapd: wlan0: STA c4:85:08:d1:5c:db WPA: pairwise key handshake completed (RSN)
Sat Jun 7 08:51:16 2014 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[1600]: DHCPREQUEST(br-lan) 192.168.1.237 c4:85:08:d1:5c:db
Sat Jun 7 08:51:16 2014 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[1600]: DHCPACK(br-lan) 192.168.1.237 c4:85:08:d1:5c:db MH-Personal
Sat Jun 7 08:51:18 2014 daemon.info hostapd: wlan0: STA c4:85:08:d1:5c:db IEEE 802.11: authenticated
Sat Jun 7 08:51:18 2014 daemon.info hostapd: wlan0: STA c4:85:08:d1:5c:db IEEE 802.11: associated (aid 1)
Sat Jun 7 08:51:18 2014 daemon.info hostapd: wlan0: STA c4:85:08:d1:5c:db WPA: pairwise key handshake completed (RSN)
Sat Jun 7 08:51:19 2014 daemon.info dnsmasq[1600]: read /etc/hosts - 1 addresses
Sat Jun 7 08:51:19 2014 daemon.info dnsmasq[1600]: read /tmp/hosts/dhcp - 0 addresses
Sat Jun 7 08:51:19 2014 daemon.info dnsmasq[1600]: read /tmp/hosts/odhcpd - 1 addresses
Sat Jun 7 08:51:19 2014 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[1600]: read /etc/ethers - 0 addresses
Sat Jun 7 08:51:20 2014 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[1600]: DHCPREQUEST(br-lan) 192.168.1.237 c4:85:08:d1:5c:db
Sat Jun 7 08:51:20 2014 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[1600]: DHCPACK(br-lan) 192.168.1.237 c4:85:08:d1:5c:db MH-Personal
Sat Jun 7 08:51:20 2014 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[1600]: DHCPREQUEST(br-lan) 192.168.1.237 c4:85:08:d1:5c:db
Sat Jun 7 08:51:20 2014 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[1600]: DHCPACK(br-lan) 192.168.1.237 c4:85:08:d1:5c:db MH-Personal
 
Have you disabled DHCP for WAN? This is enabled by default but as far as I can tell udhcpc isn't even started.

Network --> Interfaces --> WAN (Edit) --> Protocol: DHCP client

You can also try to reset the router by typing firstboot (SSH) which will reset it to firmware defaults.
//Danne
 
Have you disabled DHCP for WAN? This is enabled by default but as far as I can tell udhcpc isn't even started.

Network --> Interfaces --> WAN (Edit) --> Protocol: DHCP client

You can also try to reset the router by typing firstboot (SSH) which will reset it to firmware defaults.
//Danne

OK so first of all - DHCP was set like you mentioned, so that doesn't seem to have been the problem. However, resetting the router fixed... a lot of my problems. But now I have another that isn't making a lot of sense. I have two computers - a Samsung NP540U3C and a Lenovo Yoga 2 pro. I've been using the samsung for most tests since it has Ethernet, while the Lenovo does not. The Samsung can connect to the wifi network (with Ethernet cable disconnected), but the Lenovo cannot. Even with encryption turned off, it still cannot connect to it. The Lenovo has never had trouble connecting to a network before.

Good news is that the Samsung can browse the Internets through the WD router.

Any ideas as to what is going on here? This is driving me crazy! Also, should I set up the N interface to have the same SSID and WPA2 key as the bg interface? I'm assuming yes?

edit: the error when the Lenovo tries to connect is something very generic like "cannot connect to network". Both computers run Windows 8.
 
Grab new drivers for the Yoga?

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Se...-N+7260&ProdId=3713&LineId=1784&FamilyId=1783

As for wifi, both radios do 11n, 2.4Ghz radio0 and 5Ghz radio1. I would recommend you not use the same SSID as this will cause devices to jump between networks randomly. Just add both and prefer the one with best signal. If both are equal 5Ghz will most likely perform better.

Encryption should always be WPA2-PSK and you don't need to change chiper settings from auto.

Perhaps you need to clear your network profiles? http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/20085-wireless-network-profile-delete-windows-8-a.html ("OPTION THREE")

That said, you can disable the services mentioned at the last segment of the configuration section which will speed up the router somewhat.
http://randominfo.pyret.net/index.php?controller=page&action=view&id_page=3

//Danne
 
Last edited:
Grab new drivers for the Yoga?

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Se...-N+7260&ProdId=3713&LineId=1784&FamilyId=1783

As for wifi, both radios do 11n, 2.4Ghz radio0 and 5Ghz radio1. I would recommend you not use the same SSID as this will cause devices to jump between networks randomly. Just add both and prefer the one with best signal. If both are equal 5Ghz will most likely perform better.

Encryption should always be WPA2-PSK and you don't need to change chiper settings from auto.

Perhaps you need to clear your network profiles? http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/20085-wireless-network-profile-delete-windows-8-a.html ("OPTION THREE")

That said, you can disable the services mentioned at the last segment of the configuration section which will speed up the router somewhat.
http://randominfo.pyret.net/index.php?controller=page&action=view&id_page=3

//Danne

Hi Danne! Good news - new drivers for the Yoga got it online as well. So far I've tested both laptops and both cell phones on it and they're all happy. Speedtest.net shows me pulling ~29Mbps down when previously I was pulling 1Mbps down. So I think it's working better...

Regarding USB - is it possible for the router to talk to an NTFS partitioned hard drive? Or will I have to repartition? What about FAT32? Ideally I'd like to have the USB drives connected to it be in a Windows friendly format... Also - how do I get to a command line interface? I'm guessing I have to use putty or similar to log in?

Thanks again for your help - things are working a whole lot better now :)
 
Nice! That's quite the improvement!

Due to the limited processing power, memory and utilities NTFS isn't recommended as it's like asking for problems. Only supported file systems are ext3/4 as they work best and have low overhead. There are utilities on Windows to read such filesystems and you can also use a VM. You can read more about this on the OpenWRT Wiki.

CLI is accessed by SSH, just log in as root with your passwd and you're good to go.
//Danne
 
Alright guys, just switched from CenturyLink to Comcast... cLink unfortunately only offered 1.5Mbps speeds in my area so it was my only option really. I had an Actiontek PK5000 modem / router for y last home and I am pretty sure I need I buy a new modem now... Looking for suggestions I have the 50Mbps connection from comcast. Thanks guys!
 
http://mydeviceinfo.comcast.net/

Straight from the horse's ass. Make sure it's DOCSIS 3. 4 channel bonding will get you up to their 150 Mbps speed. 8 Channel bonding is twice that, if they have that service.

My modem SB6121, bonds 4 channels on DL and 3 uploading on their 50/10 plan.
 
The Motorola SB6121 (4 channel bonding for $70ish) and SB6141 (8 channel bonding for $90ish) are well known and solid choices. The Zoom 5341J, another well known and solid choice, competes by offering 8 channel bonding for the same price as the SB6121.

8 channel bonding is only useful if you have more than 150 Mbps download speeds. Maybe you're lucky enough to have Google Fiber?
 
I'm a total networking newb, and am looking to get my own cable modem (why rent when you can buy). My provider (WOW) maxes out at 50 Mbps down, so I don't need 8 channel bonding (from evil's post). However, the two modems he lists are comparable in rating and price. Are the two listed below considered the best for consumers (for the price)? Or are there any others I should consider? I'm hoping to keep costs down - just had to replace my roof.

Motorola SB6121
Zoom 5341J

Thanks.
 
Honestly, you should probably call your cable company to ensure that these two are on their compat list. My company, (midcontinent), does not support the newer 6141 for some reason.
 
Already done that. This is what they said:

"All cable modems that are either Docsis 2.0 or Docsis 3.0 work with our network. Docsis 2.0 can only do up to our 15 Mbps download speed while Docsis 3.0 can do all our speeds up to 50 Mbps."
 
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It's still very early technology so I'd rather say go for a good 11n router and upgrade later on when at least you have decent gen2 hardware available.
//Danne
 
Not sure on the xbone or ps4, but I agree with Danne above, get a good N router and don't worry about the AC if you aren't planning on using it very much. I got mine because the wireless was just so much better than what I was using in the past. Also upgrading from B to N is quite a step up in throughput, performance, etc.
 
I have WOW! internet and I'm getting ready to buy ARRIS / Motorola SurfBoard SB6141 DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem. I need advice on a budget router. My internet speed is only 15Mbps so I don't want to spend extra on speed I won't be using anyways. I would like the router to have some signal strength so I can use my chromecast on the basement TV.
 
I have WOW! internet and I'm getting ready to buy ARRIS / Motorola SurfBoard SB6141 DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem. I need advice on a budget router. My internet speed is only 15Mbps so I don't want to spend extra on speed I won't be using anyways. I would like the router to have some signal strength so I can use my chromecast on the basement TV.

your connection at the modem might be only 15Mbps but to get that reliably you should not skimp on your network hardware.

I would say either a netgear ac 1900 or a asus ac68 would be good ac routers do n too they just have ac for when you get up to it.
 
I would recommend the Netgear WNR3500L if you want a budget router. It doesn't do AC, but neither do most network clients at the moment. While I have the ASUS RTAC68U, and it is an excellent unit, it's also going for $180-215 (Newegg had it on special for $179.99 last week).

The Netgear WNR3500L adds gigabit ports to the onboard switch (as well as sporting a gigabit WAN interface), it has very capable 802.11n wireless and, best of all, it's $48 from Amazon right now. This is the router that I have my parents on (and they also have 15Mbps/1Mbps internet) and their internal network works great - two wireless printers, a laptop, iPad, iPhone, a wireless desktop, and several wired clients.

I highly recommend that one as a budget solution, especially if you aren't doing huge file transfers between wireless clients over 802.11ac.
 
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