Replacing my Router: An Adventure !

[BoredSysAdmin]

Copy that. I may start off with the Cox modem/router combo depending on what time the SB6190 gets delivered. The router recommendation in this thread is going to get put on a wish list for down the road. I don't know ... maybe the used one? Nah ...

@rojo has some good ideas

 

[slipperybidness]

@BoredSysAdmin

Could you please elaborate a bit on this detail, any technical reasoning (i.e. why is this better)?

set channel width to smallest 20Mhz - yes - this option will reduce max performance, but will likely to significantly improve wifi strength and stability, which in result will make wifi work better.

I'm assuming that this is just a setting field on the Tomato Firmware?

All of your other advice etc, I am aware of and have done. My guidance was provided by my bro-in-law that is an IT guy. All of his advice lined up exactly with yours, except he never made any mention on the channel width.

So, you have me very curious on that one.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

@BoredSysAdmin

Could you please elaborate a bit on this detail, any technical reasoning (i.e. why is this better)?

set channel width to smallest 20Mhz - yes - this option will reduce max performance, but will likely to significantly improve wifi strength and stability, which in result will make wifi work better.

I'm assuming that this is just a setting field on the Tomato Firmware?

All of your other advice etc, I am aware of and have done. My guidance was provided by my bro-in-law that is an IT guy. All of his advice lined up exactly with yours, except he never made any mention on the channel width.

So, you have me very curious on that one.

It's very well described here:
https://learntomato.com/wifi-frequency-wifi-channel-width-wireless-spectrum/

Basically if you live on the farm - go crazy with highest 80Mhz settings, but in more typical urban or suburban modern housing you'd likely need to go with smaller channel width to reduce interference with your neighbors wifi networks.

As for where the setting itself, yes - Tomato should have it as well as both OpenWRT and it's fork AsusWRT (as well as Merlin's version). I'm pretty sure that DD-WRT has this option as well, since DD-WRT is most feature rich out of all the firmwares

Most important is how would you know if you need to mess with it? Measure!
Use tools described in article above or one I've mentioned earlier in this thread.

 

[Alex2507]

The install of 300mbps is done. The speed test showed 330, 130, 65 and finally 130 again on the 4th test. I guess it is a crapshoot after all. I'm gonna see if I stream video any better. This is the router/modem that Cox set me up with. The SB6190 hasn't arrived yet.

 

[TLS Guy]

The install of 300mbps is done. The speed test showed 330, 130, 65 and finally 130 again on the 4th test. I guess it is a crapshoot after all. I'm gonna see if I stream video any better. This is the router/modem that Cox set me up with. The SB6190 hasn't arrived yet.

That is what happens when you go on the Gigazone and the cabling is not right. It continues to throttle back to a crawl. It does not matter how much speed you have. If you are on the Gigazone you need Cat 5e or Cat 6 from the provider box right up to your router. No way round it. I found that out. Luckily I put my cables in conduit, so the hassle was relatively minor. Going to Cat 6 solved the problem right away. I think the main problem is cable impedance miss match causing packet loss. The Gigazone is technically a lot different from the NET we are used to.

 

[Alex2507]

That is what happens when you go on the Gigazone and the cabling is not right. It continues to throttle back to a crawl. It does not matter how much speed you have. If you are on the Gigazone you need Cat 5e or Cat 6 from the provider box right up to your router. No way round it. I found that out. Luckily I put my cables in conduit, so the hassle was relatively minor. Going to Cat 6 solved the problem right away. I think the main problem is cable impedance miss match causing packet loss. The Gigazone is technically a lot different from the NET we are used to.

In this case I have an RG6 Quad going straight into an Arris TG2472G from which about 12' of cat 5e go to a laptop. I'd have to read up on Gigazone to be able to continue that conversation.

Here's me trying to link an awesome speed test result.

http://www.speedtest.net/result/6289518092.png

<a href="http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/6289518092"><img src="http://www.speedtest.net/result/6289518092.png" /></a>



I had to get the thing into photobucket .... I know there's an easier way.

Anyways, once the SB6190 gets here I will be disconnecting the Cox provided Arris and eventually downgrading the service to the 100mbps plan. There is no conceivable reason for me to have faster internet speeds than BSA.

I gotta go pound nails again. This is crazy. Later.

 

[panteragstk]

This thread brings back memories. I loved Tomato and DDWRT. Both are fantastic FWs. It just sucks that my old router didn't have the processing power to actually get me the 300mbps I was paying for. Stock firmware worked fine (well, merlin), but I kept having wifi dropouts in the worst spot in my house.

Now that I've moved and have ATT Gigapower I'm glad I went with a linux PC based router (Sophos) so if any of you find that your consumer routers don't work and happen to have an unused PC sitting around I would see if it can work for you. It's free software for up to 50 IP address.

That coupled with my Ubiquiti AP I can't be happier.

VPN ON


VPN OFF

 

[TLS Guy]

All I know is as bandwidths increase, complexity goes up with it. This leaves us with another high level technology to think through and engineer properly. As I said before, no wonder LP sales are up!

 

[Bucknekked]

This thread brings back memories.

VPN OFF

Dang, those are some impressive throughput numbers. 2ms ping times are a gamers dream.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

All I know is as bandwidths increase, complexity goes up with it. This leaves us with another high level technology to think through and engineer properly. As I said before, no wonder LP sales are up!

Agreed. Most consumer routers are junk and no where these would be ready to utilize full 1g speeds.
Whole home wifi is still a relatively big problem, only recently mesh network products start to surface, but largely getting good wifi in densely populated areas is not a trivial issue.

 

[Pogre]

So I looked at their map and none of the colors match up with my area...

I am mildly colorblind. Am I missing something? The GZ is roughly my area. Looks like the closest color is future?

 

[rojo]

So I looked at their map and none of the colors match up with my area...

View attachment 20912

I am mildly colorblind. Am I missing something? The GZ is roughly my area. Looks like the closest color is future?

The darker blob is green -- active. The GZ marker is about a block away from active. Maybe. Hard to tell. It could be the green of state parks or undeveloped wilderness. The hue isn't exactly the same as the map legend.

In any case, that map has no purple blobs indicating future.

 

[Cos]

How much bandwidth do you even need? I have 100Mb connection through my provider that is enough to run 3+ 4k Streams and still have bandwidth to spare. I my EVIL Linksys EA5300 I have had 0 issues with connectivity and max out the bandwidth of my provider. Part of the reason I went with this router is the extra ports.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

So I looked at their map and none of the colors match up with my area...

View attachment 20912

I am mildly colorblind. Am I missing something? The GZ is roughly my area. Looks like the closest color is future?

Unfortunately Gigazone internet service is provided only by a Minnesota only company. On the screenshot you posted there are no colors which would indicate any possible availability (dark green on the side is likely just local park)

I checked on few sources, I can't be 100% sure, but it seems that your best option for high speed internet lies with your local cable provider - Cocks Cox

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

How much bandwidth do you even need? I have 100Mb connection through my provider that is enough to run 3+ 4k Streams and still have bandwidth to spare. I my EVIL Linksys EA5300 I have had 0 issues with connectivity and max out the bandwidth of my provider. Part of the reason I went with this router is the extra ports.

I agree. 100mbps was really enough for me. I went to 200 only since the price difference was only $5 more

 

[Pogre]

Unfortunately Gigazone internet service is provided only my tiny Minnesota only company. On the screenshot you posted there are no colors which would indicate any possible availability (dark green on the side is likely just local park)

I checked on few sources, I can't be 100% sure, but it seems that your best option for high speed internet lies with your local cable provider - Cocks Cox

Lol.

That's who I have. I do get some pretty decent speeds.

That was from a couple weeks ago.

 

[panteragstk]

How much bandwidth do you even need? I have 100Mb connection through my provider that is enough to run 3+ 4k Streams and still have bandwidth to spare. I my EVIL Linksys EA5300 I have had 0 issues with connectivity and max out the bandwidth of my provider. Part of the reason I went with this router is the extra ports.

I work from home and have to have fast reliable internet and since I have DTV and ATT phone service my discounted internet is only $73 after all taxes. My alternative would be TWC which I had when i was in DFW and their service is super reliable, but a lot more expensive for 1/3 the speed.

 

[panteragstk]

Agreed. Most consumer routers are junk and no where these would be ready to utilize full 1g speeds.
Whole home wifi is still a relatively big problem, only recently mesh network products start to surface, but largely getting good wifi in densely populated areas is not a trivial issue.

I haven't looked recently, but who is making decent mesh products that aren't crazy expensive?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I haven't looked recently, but who is making decent mesh products that aren't crazy expensive?

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/201...e-wifi-to-other-mesh-networking-heavyweights/
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/201...ubiquiti-labs-amplifi-home-wi-fi-mesh-system/

https://bgr.com/2017/02/14/best-mesh-wifi-system-2017-mesh-network-router/

 

[TLS Guy]

Unfortunately Gigazone internet service is provided only by a Minnesota only company. On the screenshot you posted there are no colors which would indicate any possible availability (dark green on the side is likely just local park)

I checked on few sources, I can't be 100% sure, but it seems that your best option for high speed internet lies with your local cable provider - Cocks Cox

Yes, and it is provided by a rural coop in a rural sparsely populated region of Minnesota. It is Paul Bunyan communications out of Bemidji MN

Bemidji is 30 miles North by North West of here.

They were the first provider in the nation to have all their customers connected by fiber.

Cable layer awaiting parts outside my shop.

Cable layer back at work after I replaced the fuel pump and fuel lines. This photo shows my cable quick release and attach I designed and fashioned while I was waiting for parts. This sped the job up enormously.

That was five and a half years ago.

Once the fiber project was complete they started building the Gigazone. We came on stream around February.

With standard fiber I could get a max of 50 Mbps. That is not enough when the grandchildren are here. I needed 100 Mbps, but that was not on offer. So I went on the Gigazone which gave me 250 Mbps up and down. Since sorting out my cabling it has delivered those speeds consistently. Cost is $72 per month.

This is the Paul Bunyan Gigazone. You can play with the interactive features. All but the East end of Benedict Lake is in the zone. The provider at the East end is Arvig who do not have a Gigazone.

I have run out of good things to say about this little coop. It is reliable. The only outage we had was when a dumb contractor cut the cable with a back hoe. Their engineers are helpful and knowledgeable.