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Improve your Wireless Network thread! (Wireless Tech Heads wanted)

OverHeat

« generous god »
Threi in the OP you said that "All of the next-gen systems and PSP support WPA2"

Like I wrote earlier The 360 wireless adapter do not support WPA2 could you edit the OP?
 

Threi

notag
OverHeat said:
Threi in the OP you said that "All of the next-gen systems and PSP support WPA2"

Like I wrote earlier The 360 wireless adapter do not support WPA2 could you edit the OP?
Ok sorry about that :lol

what does 360 support? WPA(1)?
 

DarienA

The black man everyone at Activision can agree on
For the record I'd like to point out that turning off your SSID can sometimes cause legit devices to have trouble connecting to your network.
 

Threi

notag
DarienA said:
For the record I'd like to point out that turning off your SSID can sometimes cause legit devices to have trouble connecting to your network.
Gotcha.

@ Kitty Muffins i have no idea if that certain brand is good, but i am looking for a wireless repeater so i would love some impressions from other people :D
 
Threi said:
Download them from the website of your router manufacturer, select your model number (and proper revision), and download and update it.

Great thread idea! Now I'm not the most tech literate person around so maybe someone can help a bit.

I own a belkin G wireless router- model F5D7230-4 6000. I have firmware 8.01.21 and I'm trying to upgrade like suggested to version 9. Yet each time I try it tells me that it fails due to internet traffic and try again when the system is idle. I assumed this meant no other programs or windows running yet it occurs. Anyone know what I'm not doing?

Also I originally bought this years ago for gaming on my DS wifi, it works fine for my Wii and PSP. I just got a PS3 and I notice the signal strength is always around the higher 60s-70s range. Any thoughts on how to improve this?
 

Shins

Banned
To add to known router problems, I know from personal experience (and later verified from some searching online) that the 360 doesn't play nice with the Actiontec router that come standard for Verizon FIOS if you're attempting to use a wireless connection.

Regardless of what I tried, the 360 wouldn't connect to the network. It appears that Actiontec admits that there's an incompatibility, but Microsoft doesn't. I'll see if I can find more detailed information when I get home.

And much thanks to the OP; I've been having trouble connecting to the PSN store lately, and this topic inspired me to recheck my router settings. Seems everything I'd changed to get things running smoothly when I bought the PS3 had defaulted back to the generic settings. Reconfigured my ports and turned UPnP back on, and now everything is working great!
 

Threi

notag
Urban Scholar said:
Great thread idea! Now I'm not the most tech literate person around so maybe someone can help a bit.

I own a belkin G wireless router- model F5D7230-4 6000. I have firmware 8.01.21 and I'm trying to upgrade like suggested to version 9. Yet each time I try it tells me that it fails due to internet traffic and try again when the system is idle. I assumed this meant no other programs or windows running yet it occurs. Anyone know what I'm not doing?

Also I originally bought this years ago for gaming on my DS wifi, it works fine for my Wii and PSP. I just got a PS3 and I notice the signal strength is always around the higher 60s-70s range. Any thoughts on how to improve this?
are other computers connected using the internet at the time you are upgrading it?
 
I use an app called CoconutWIFI on OSX that lets me see which wireless channels my neighbours are using for their networks. I sometimes get interference and check out what they're using, then switch over to another. I'm sure there are lots of apps like this for Windows.

I didn't look through the thread in full, so I'm not sure if something like this has been posted already :D
 

bumpkin

Member
Nice OP, Threi. I don't know if anyone has added anything in this vein, but I found that setting a specific IP pool for DHCP and then giving my consoles static IPs outside of that range has gotten rid of conflicts I was having; my PS3 liked to kick my laptop off the router occasionally. That way, I can still leave my IP dynamic on my notebook, iPhone or whatever, and never have to worry about something getting bumped.
 

Threi

notag
Pancakes R Us said:
I use an app called CoconutWIFI on OSX that lets me see which wireless channels my neighbours are using for their networks. I sometimes get interference and check out what they're using, then switch over to another. I'm sure there are lots of apps like this for Windows.

I didn't look through the thread in full, so I'm not sure if something like this has been posted already :D

Yeah i used something like that a long time ago on windows. I will add it :D

bumpkins said:
Nice OP, Threi. I don't know if anyone has added anything in this vein, but I found that setting a specific IP pool for DHCP and then giving my consoles static IPs outside of that range has gotten rid of conflicts I was having; my PS3 liked to kick my laptop off the router occasionally. That way, I can still leave my IP dynamic on my notebook, iPhone or whatever, and never have to worry about something getting bumped.

That is how i have my config right now actually :p
 

rc213

Member
bumpkin said:
Nice OP, Threi. I don't know if anyone has added anything in this vein, but I found that setting a specific IP pool for DHCP and then giving my consoles static IPs outside of that range has gotten rid of conflicts I was having; my PS3 liked to kick my laptop off the router occasionally. That way, I can still leave my IP dynamic on my notebook, iPhone or whatever, and never have to worry about something getting bumped.

+1

I have a WRT54GS running v4.71.1, Hyperwrt 2.1b1 + Thibor15c

DHCP 10.10.0.100-10.10.0.105
Static 10.10.0.1-10.10.0.10
 

Threi

notag
I really don't get why people have such problems with the WBR-2310. It has been flawless for me since the day i got it (over a year ago). They might have some screwy settings, or the router just works good with DSL routers with PPPoE, i just don't know. I have intentionally screwed with settings to try to induce connection dropping, but it has never happened.


I guess im just one of the lucky ones :D
 

Jtrizzy

Member
I just moved into a new house and can't get my PS3 online. The cable modem was connected to my roomates pc with USB and an ethernet cable. I plugged the ethernet directly into the back of my PS3 from the modem, and still can't get on. The PC is still online just using the USB, which I didn't even know was possible.

So I was thinking I needed to get a router, is this the case or can I just leave the pc plugged in via usb and use the ethernet cord on the ps3?

Also I don't understand why it isn't working right now. Usually when I've plugged the ps3 in directly from the modem everything works automatically.

Help me gaf! Do I still need to buy a router? Why isn't this working as is? I am dying to play some COD4 online.
 

Schrade

Member
Jtrizzy said:
I just moved into a new house and can't get my PS3 online. The cable modem was connected to my roomates pc with USB and an ethernet cable. I plugged the ethernet directly into the back of my PS3 from the modem, and still can't get on. The PC is still online just using the USB, which I didn't even know was possible.

So I was thinking I needed to get a router, is this the case or can I just leave the pc plugged in via usb and use the ethernet cord on the ps3?

Also I don't understand why it isn't working right now. Usually when I've plugged the ps3 in directly from the modem everything works automatically.

Help me gaf! Do I still need to buy a router? Why isn't this working as is? I am dying to play some COD4 online.
Most cable companies only allow one machine per cable modem. You'd have to pull the power out of the cable modem for several minutes then turn it back on while it's hooked up to the PS3 and the cable modem will "attach" itself to the PS3's Mac Address. You'll have to do the same thing when you switch it back to the PC. You can only have one of them hooked up at once, btw.

If you want them both hooked up, get a router.

Double check with your cable company though.. some might still allow multiple systems per cable modem.
 
Threi said:
Gotcha.

@ Kitty Muffins i have no idea if that certain brand is good, but i am looking for a wireless repeater so i would love some impressions from other people :D


I ordered it so I will let you know if its works with a PS3.
 

EekTheKat

Member
Picking the right wireless channel made a huge difference in my wireless network's stability. If you guys are experiencing wireless dropouts or poor reception you might want to try + play around with the channels setting somewhat.

What I did was use netstumbler, found a channel my neighbor's weren't using and found a channel where most of my gear gets 99%-100% reception.

YMMV on this one actually, netstumbler's a pretty cool app but I can't take responsibility if it has any side effects (legal/illegal) and so forth - since this app is more or less an old wardriving tool.


http://www.netstumbler.com/downloads

Here's an alternative : Vista variety that works on x64

http://www.techidiots.net/project-pages/vistumbler
 

Threi

notag
EekTheKat said:
Picking the right wireless channel made a huge difference in my wireless network's stability. If you guys are experiencing wireless dropouts or poor reception you might want to try + play around with the channels setting somewhat.

What I did was use netstumbler, found a channel my neighbor's weren't using and found a channel where most of my gear gets 99%-100% reception.

YMMV on this one actually, netstumbler's a pretty cool app but I can't take responsibility if it has any side effects (legal/illegal) and so forth - since this app is more or less an old wardriving tool.


http://www.netstumbler.com/downloads

Here's an alternative : Vista variety that works on x64

http://www.techidiots.net/project-pages/vistumbler
there it is. That was the program i used a while ago :D
 
There was a thread created yesterday about someone looking for an alternative to buying the ridiculously expensive Xbox 360 wireless adapter. He mentioned that he had a PC nearby and some people suggested he use his PC as a wireless bridge.

This article seems to contain the instructions to do just that (the site is a bit of a mess and the instructions are unnecessarily spread out across a few pages but I hope it helps someone out. I haven't tried it myself.):
http://www.instructables.com/id/Use-your-laptop-as-an-XboxXbox-360-wireless-adap/


Another alternative was to convert a wireless router into a wireless bridge using custom firmware. This article gives the instructions for that process:

http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2007/10/02/how-to-cheap-wireless-for-your-xbox-360/
 
Question regarding Port Forwarding:

Do I have to manually assign an ip address for the wii under wii console settings and then use that address to port forward or can I just use detect automatically and then type that assigned ip address under the port forwarding option in my router?
 
Gully State said:
Question regarding Port Forwarding:

Do I have to manually assign an ip address for the wii under wii console settings and then use that address to port forward or can I just use detect automatically and then type that assigned ip address under the port forwarding option in my router?


You'll want to reserve an IP address for your Wii. Different routers will handle this differently. My router lets me assign an IP address to a MAC address and I can set the device to use DHCP and it will always be assigned that address. With other routers, you may have to reserve an address for the Wii and assign the IP address manually in the Wii console settings.

One thing is for sure, you will need to assign a fixed local IP address for the Wii one way or another because you cannot guarantee that the Wii will be assigned the same IP address otherwise.
 
In terms of assigning wireless channels, Nintendo has said to set your channels to 1 or 11. I just downloaded coconutWiFi and I've noticed the networks around me are using 1,11 and 6. Is there anything wrong with using the other channels? Do other non computing devices use the other frequencies? I'm thinking about switching to 2 right now.
 
Gully - I've never had any issues with other channels. I used to have my Airport set to choose the channel automatically, but then switched to 11 since I read Nintendo's recommendation. But a good while back, a few more neighbours started getting wireless routers and I was getting interference with my surfing. Since then, I've been on a number of different channels and I haven't had issues with WFC.
 

Jtrizzy

Member
Ok so I finally got this shit up and running. I have my PS3 hard wired to my wrt54g, and am downloading the firmware update. The problem is, it's taking forever. I'm at 15% after about 20 minutes. I put the ps3 in the dmz (while the fw update was dling) don't know if that is the problem. Should I still forward the ports? Is that why it's so slow?

God this shit took me forever, I had to hook the router up to this old ass gateway with fucked up internet security software. At least I'm making progress. Any help would be apreciated.
 

Jtrizzy

Member
Ok I'm only to 43% on fw update now. This is way too slow right? IIRC the firmware updates never took this long. I guess I'll just wait and try to play COD when it finishes, whenever that may be.

Or is there a good way to test the speeds? Should I try something from the psn to get a feel for whether or not I've got this set up correctly?
 

Threi

notag
well whether or not putting the console in DMZ while it was still using the internet was the problem, you can't really do anything about it until the firmware finishes downloading :)

so i suggest grabbing some chips and doing something else. :lol
 

Jtrizzy

Member
Well the COD 4 patch went quickly, but that's really small. Any suggestions on how to get a feel as to whether I'm getting optimal speeds?
 

RaidenZR

Member
Can someone kindly help me figure out how I can open up ports n OS X Leopard for my Airport Base Station? I've spent an afternoon looking...
 

Threi

notag
Jtrizzy said:
Well the COD 4 patch went quickly, but that's really small. Any suggestions on how to get a feel as to whether I'm getting optimal speeds?
I think the ps3 has a browser, try running browsing to speedtest.net and running a test (if the ps3's browser can support the flash)

RaidenZR said:
Can someone kindly help me figure out how I can open up ports n OS X Leopard for my Airport Base Station? I've spent an afternoon looking...
try this. I know it's not the exact model but it might be similar to that.
 

M3wThr33

Banned
I still can't get PS3 remote play to work.

I tried UPnP, Forwarding Port 9293, allowing responding to ping, leaving the PS3 on Remote Play mode (As opposed to WOL mode) and DMZing it.

Still no luck, I believe.

WRT54GL with Tomato 1.17.
 
I have a WRT54GS with various devices (PS3, Laptops, Desktops etc) and I can access the internet fine and do all of the normal stuff etc on all of them but I cant get anything to 'see' each other. I have tried to share a drive and printer on the main desktop but nothing shows up on the other laptop.

I can ping the main desktop and I do get a result but basically nothing is communicating or 'seeing' each other, so I can't stream anything, share drives or printers.

I have opened up all firewalls, ports everything else I can think of and I'm using custom DD-WRT firmware.

At one point everything was working and then I upgraded the laptop to vista ultimate and now I get this.

Any help would be appreciated.
 

Jtrizzy

Member
Well I just played a round of COD 4 and it was good, although it lagged a couple of times. I had 3 out of 4 for connection strength bars, so that is about right.

Putting it in the dmz while the update was going was probably the reason for it's slowness.

Here's a totally unrelated question, but maybe someone reading this can help. I posted it in the new gen thread but haven't gotten any responses.

I have a computer stereo system, which is nice, but I want to use it for with my Denon reciever and ps3 since I have it hooked up with optical cables. I have the two speakers hooked up as you would do with any speakers, but the subwoofer has a pc input and connections to the speakers. I'm trying to figure out a way to hook my sub up to the reciever. Any suggestions? The speakers have the plug that goes into the back of the sub, so I guess the sub acts as an amp when it's used on a pc?

edit: some people are responding now in the new gen thread, but if you have any advice maybe you could head up there. Thanks.
 

Threi

notag
liquid_gears said:
I have a WRT54GS with various devices (PS3, Laptops, Desktops etc) and I can access the internet fine and do all of the normal stuff etc on all of them but I cant get anything to 'see' each other. I have tried to share a drive and printer on the main desktop but nothing shows up on the other laptop.

I can ping the main desktop and I do get a result but basically nothing is communicating or 'seeing' each other, so I can't stream anything, share drives or printers.

I have opened up all firewalls, ports everything else I can think of and I'm using custom DD-WRT firmware.

At one point everything was working and then I upgraded the laptop to vista ultimate and now I get this.

Any help would be appreciated.
Have you tried running the "Network Setup Wizard" (assuming you are winXP) on all your devices (excluding PS3 of course)? That is how i got all my devices to see each other.
 

Firestorm

Member
Something that was linked to maybe help with connecting to others with your Wii was to manually set the DNS addresses to 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220 which are from OpenDNS.

http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=928518&topic=41995110

Go into your Wii's settings and go to Internet. Find the connection you are using and change the settings on the DNS page by selecting No -> advanced settings.

Put in the following DNS:
208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220

Save, test and check for updates. You should notice a difference.
 
Firestorm said:
Something that was linked to maybe help with connecting to others with your Wii was to manually set the DNS addresses to 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220 which are from OpenDNS.

http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=928518&topic=41995110


Seconding this. It actually sped up the connection process for with anyone matches in SSBB a good amount, and helped with the overall lag a little bit. :D

Stupid question though: would having your Wii and your router using different DNS's cause any problems? I set both to use it just in case :p
 

Holepunch

Member
Well, I'm getting error code 97003 out of nowhere during On-line Brawl. It completely freezes the system anything short of a hard reset. Which means I've still got some tweaking to do.

So two things. I'm wondering about the ports for the Wii, namely do I open separate ports for each one of those port ranges listed, try to include them all in one, or make a couple of them. I also have 6 ports opened for other things, will opening all 8 ports be harmful to me?

Second, it seems no one is trying the ludicrous solutions, so that's me to bring it up.:D Anyone check out the Windsurfer Free Antenna? It's business card and tinfoil that sits upon your router antenna and focuses the wave in one direction.

Here's the finished product here.

And here's the template

So if anyone else is willing to try this contraption and tell us the results, go for it. So far I've made one and didn't notice a noticeable difference, but I never actually pinged the Wii or checked it's connection strength. I've also heard it kills signal in the opposite direction of that antenna, so if you don't want to sacrifice any signal strength, don't bother. So...good luck with it.
 
I am going to Best Buy soon to get a new router, my old Linksys WRT54GX2 which was perfect for all my gaming systems died on me a few months ago, I have been using an old wireless B router and I cant take it anymore, everything is too damn slow.

I am looking for G (or N if its cheap, under $100), it does not have to be superfast, just something that can run games and downloads fine. I guess they dont make the same model I had anymore cause I would just get that again. The most important thing is that it needs good range, my modem is far from my game systems. i would like for it to be a linksys as that is what I am comfortable with.

So any recommendations, or any warnings. Last thing I want is something that won't work right with all three systems.
 

LCGeek

formerly sane
MiamiWesker said:
I am going to Best Buy soon to get a new router, my old Linksys WRT54GX2 which was perfect for all my gaming systems died on me a few months ago, I have been using an old wireless B router and I cant take it anymore, everything is too damn slow.

I am looking for G (or N if its cheap), it does not have to be superfast, just something that can run games and downloads fine. I guess they dont make the same model I had anymore cause I would just get that again. The most important thing is that it needs good range, my modem is far from my game systems. i would like for it to be a linksys as that is what I am comfortable with.

So any recommendations, or any warnings. Last thing I want is something that won't work right with all three systems.

I switched to Dlink Gaming Lounge after my netgear Rt314 broke and I also need something wireless. plenty of options and configuartion takes a bit of time but every online console with exception of dc I tested on and it works greast especially when you need a consistent connection. With it you can limit how others on the network impact each other with the prioritizing. So glad I have about 130KB for my upload kills the 40 and usually less most gamers get stuck with.
 
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