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George
August 1st, 2018, 08:45 AM
It's time to evaluate our options with home internet service. We've had DSL for many years and are still renting a wi-fi router from the phone company, which has always struck me as a bad deal. I'd rather pay $XXX up front to purchase than rent something for $X per month indefinitely.

I'd rather not pester you guys with a hundred questions if I can educate myself. I know I can start googling, but I thought maybe some of you tech pros or serious hobbyists could point me in a useful direction.

Can anyone suggest a website or two where I could read and learn about the latest in home internet service options and wi-fi routers? I would much rather get information from independent sources that aren't trying to sell me the products and services on their site.

Topics of interest to me:

Cable vs. DSL vs. something else?

One physical connection point in the house (what we have currently) vs. plug in anywhere (such as with cable internet, which we've had previously, where we could plug into any cable jack in the house).

Outlet network boxes (if that's the right term for those boxes you plug network cables into in your power outlets) vs. other options such as "better" wi-fi or options I may not know about.

Modern wi-fi routers that let you choose and change your own passwords, set up a guest network, and whatever else I don't know about. Recently a couple visitors to our home seemed shocked when I went upstairs to copy the password from the manufacturer's label on the router to give to them so they could use our wi-fi. "You don't have a guest network?! You can’t change the password?!" :eek:

Thanks.

Tom Servo
August 1st, 2018, 09:48 AM
I used to use dslreports.com. Not sure if they're still the go-to, but I also haven't heard of them turning evil.

AFAIK, the two real options for high speed are cable and fiber. Fiber's pretty limited (FiOS only made it to certain parts of West LA and it hasn't expanded in nearly a decade) but is easily the fastest. Cable's still pretty quick (I usually get 120-130mbps). DSL looks like it might have gotten better than when I had it, but I still see the maximum being 120mbps, and that's only if you're within 2,000 feet of the switch. I struggled to get above 3mbps when I had it at about a mile from the switch.

I honestly have no idea if I can plug my cable modem into any cable outlet, I haven't tried, so no idea there.

For Wi-Fi, if you can afford it it seems like the newer Mesh Networks are the way to go. You have one main router and then repeaters that all run on the same SSID, so it seamlessly transitions between them as you move through the house. I really want to get that, but haven't been able to justify it when my non mesh repeater works well enough (it has a different SSID, so sometimes devices don't want to switch over as we move and just lose a reliable connection and you have to manually intervene). If you don't have coverage worries, then a decent router isn't too expensive. I'm using this one, which runs for about $85 and has been working great for me for a while now: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Z0V2NQ8/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Also, you may be able to change your password on the rented router, you probably just need to look up the manual for that model online, and it's either running the default admin password (in which case you *definitely* want to change it, even if your ISP balks) or you can find out how to reset it to the default and then setup your own. It's still likely cheaper in the long run to buy your own, I've had mine for a little over two years now, so if they're charging more than $4 a month this one would have paid for itself by now. Fair warning, though, it does light up like a Christmas tree so hopefully you can find somewhere to put it out of the line of sight.

balki
August 1st, 2018, 10:20 AM
(such as with cable internet, which we've had previously...
what happened there? Why'd you switch back to DSL?

Setting up Wi-Fi passwords should be easy; just type in the IP address in a browser and go through the options at pop up.

Kchrpm
August 1st, 2018, 12:03 PM
I like the network management app that you can use with Google OnHub and WiFi routers, but there isn't a desktop version so it requires a smartphone or tablet to set up.

George
August 1st, 2018, 12:06 PM
Thanks Tom. Thanks for the router recommendation.


Why'd you switch back to DSL?

Cost savings, at the time. This was back when our kids were very young. We only had one computer in the house, no smart phones or Netflix or Roku back then, and DSL was maybe half the cost of cable, or less. I don't remember the details now, but it made sense at the time.


Setting up Wi-Fi passwords should be easy; just type in the IP address in a browser and go through the options at pop up.

Thanks balki. I'll give that a try, even though I figure it's time to replace our old router with something else.

George
August 1st, 2018, 12:11 PM
it requires a smartphone or tablet to set up

Not a problem now, and somewhat expected since a college buddy recently visited and told me he can instantly turn off the wi-fi in his house from his smart phone if his kids don't do their chores or whatever.

Also, I saw a meme somewhere that showed an unhappy child. The text something like "Want today's wi-fi password? Finish your homework and do all your chores". :lol:

21Kid
August 6th, 2018, 07:39 PM
Not a problem now, and somewhat expected since a college buddy recently visited and told me he can instantly turn off the wi-fi in his house from his smart phone if his kids don't do their chores or whatever.

Also, I saw a meme somewhere that showed an unhappy child. The text something like "Want today's wi-fi password? Finish your homework and do all your chores". :lol:

That's exactly what I use Google wifi for. You can set up schedules and instantly pause it if you want. It's pretty great.

Freude am Fahren
August 15th, 2018, 06:50 PM
I've been having problems with my router ever since I had the power go out one time last year. It must have slightly fried something in it, who knows. It's also like 8-10 years old.

I have all sorts of speed and/or connection issues, and every time the power goes out, it doesn't like to come back from space.

Finally after getting disconnected from a work meeting this morning, I decided to get a new router. Went with Netgear again, as I have forever pretty much. Everything is working so much better/faster now.

Who knew my ISP had 100Mb/s...

George
September 10th, 2018, 01:54 PM
Setting up Wi-Fi passwords should be easy; just type in the IP address in a browser and go through the options at pop up.

I never got around to doing this until this weekend when we got an email and a browser notification from our ISP that someone had downloaded copyrighted material on our network. It was three torrents of a video game, apparently – the notification says Forza on all three downloads.

From the dates and times of the infractions provided by the ISP, I know it wasn't anyone in our house. I immediately suspected our son, but he was in school when two of the three downloads occurred.

A lady in tech support at our ISP gave me router's IP address over the phone and lo and behold, there is a web page with all kinds of controls. Neat! I immediately changed the password from the original password printed on the side of our router and debated changing the name of the network, but held off on that for now.

However, something doesn’t seem right here. Of course, I realize anything is possible, but do people actually spend time finding other people’s networks to hack into to download a game? Really?

And if it was some dude in a white van parked out front (repeatedly?) or a neighbor, how could they have figured very long sequence of numbers and letters that was our password? I’ve heard of programs that automatically throw random combinations of characters against password entry fields until they find one that works, but how much of that is from TV and the movies vs. actual reality?

Just curious. Hopefully the password change will protect us for a while, and I suppose I can change it as often as I like, now that I know how.

Alan P
September 10th, 2018, 02:45 PM
I never got around to doing this until this weekend when we got an email and a browser notification from our ISP that someone had downloaded copyrighted material on our network. It was three torrents of a video game, apparently – the notification says Forza on all three downloads.

From the dates and times of the infractions provided by the ISP, I know it wasn't anyone in our house. I immediately suspected our son, but he was in school when two of the three downloads occurred.

A lady in tech support at our ISP gave me router's IP address over the phone and lo and behold, there is a web page with all kinds of controls. Neat! I immediately changed the password from the original password printed on the side of our router and debated changing the name of the network, but held off on that for now.

However, something doesn’t seem right here. Of course, I realize anything is possible, but do people actually spend time finding other people’s networks to hack into to download a game? Really?

And if it was some dude in a white van parked out front (repeatedly?) or a neighbor, how could they have figured very long sequence of numbers and letters that was our password? I’ve heard of programs that automatically throw random combinations of characters against password entry fields until they find one that works, but how much of that is from TV and the movies vs. actual reality?

Just curious. Hopefully the password change will protect us for a while, and I suppose I can change it as often as I like, now that I know how.

Given that even a very good Wi-Fi Router will be unlikely to broadcast more than a couple of hundred yards in any given direction, it'll be someone local, most likely a direct neighbour. And they've likely got the password from someone in the house, possibly one of the kids. Does that IP address show what security has been set? It should be WPA2-PSK as a minimum. Most Routers would also show what devices are connected so you can tally up your home devices and see if there is someone you don't know on the network.

George
September 10th, 2018, 02:53 PM
Thanks Alan. I'll have to check the security type when I get home. It does show what devices are connected and how (wi-fi vs. directly plugged in) and I recognized all except one, and I assume the one I didn't recognize that showed directly plugged in was the router itself.

Hmm, I wonder if there are any historical reports available. I have the dates and times of the downloads. I wonder if I could go back and see how many devices were hooked up at those times.

Not a big deal, as I assume the password change will protect us for a while, but it's a new and interesting situation to me.

XHawkeye
September 13th, 2018, 09:49 AM
Have an acquaintance who plays bass guitar at night and moonlights as an IT nerd during the day. A while back he was talking about a buddy who'd moved into a new apartment and after 60 minutes had he'd hacked into 4 of the 7 wifi's with a strong signal. Because most people don't change the default and Frontier/ATT/Spectrum don't change the format of their passwords one came limit the range of passwords the cracking software needs to guess with once you know the provider.

dodint
September 13th, 2018, 07:10 PM
Dictionary attacks are effective given they exploit laziness and/or ignorance.

Alan P
September 14th, 2018, 03:39 PM
Thankfully our ISP passwords are randomised ten characters, nothing simple and never repeated across more than one Router.

mk
September 15th, 2018, 03:34 AM
Two functionalities,
remote management and WAN side connections.

In case a router has them both allowed.
It's password protected yes, but some models have security holes.

Then router is attacking router.
And in best scenario, mining bitcoins.

BTW,
wireless router of sorts.
WDS(no WAN) made a wireless client getting address from host router when wired one got it locally.

George
September 16th, 2018, 06:58 AM
Does that IP address show what security has been set? It should be WPA2-PSK as a minimum

Ours is WPA-WPA2-Personal, set as the default, apparently.

Other choices are WPA-Personal, WPA2-Personal, WEP, and Security Off.


Because most people don't change the default and Frontier/ATT/Spectrum don't change the format of their passwords one came limit the range of passwords the cracking software needs to guess with once you know the provider.

The name of our ISP is part of the name of the network! It's their name followed by some numbers. I never changed it, but I will today. Now to think of a name...


Dictionary attacks are effective given they exploit laziness and/or ignorance.

I have been guilty on both counts. Thanks to all for taking the time to teach me what I should have learned a long time ago.

mk
September 17th, 2018, 04:37 AM
WPA2-Personal
AES

Name of your network is nothing, it's length is everything.

It's mostly same with your password but that's irrelevant if there's a security hole.
Keep it's firmware up to date.
I'd consider OpenWrt.

dodint
September 17th, 2018, 08:43 AM
I have been guilty on both counts. Thanks to all for taking the time to teach me what I should have learned a long time ago.

Hah, that wasn't a dig at you, George. Sometimes you don't know what you don't know.

I just use my dog's name as my password, what could go wrong...

stephenb
September 19th, 2018, 08:16 AM
George - if you really want to lock access down you can probably setup MAC address filtering. This should stop any devices apart from those you specify connecting to your wireless. I suspect your ISP will have some help articles on this. You can also stop broadcasting the SSID which will make your network less visible to casual passers by.

Tom Servo
September 23rd, 2018, 08:45 AM
Have an acquaintance who plays bass guitar at night and moonlights as an IT nerd during the day.

Literally checked your location to make sure you weren't talking about my friend Rick and that we had a mutual friend.

Freude am Fahren
February 11th, 2019, 02:47 PM
So in my new home, my PC goes upstairs, but I wanted the Wifi on the middle story. (It's one of those Garage/Living/Bed three level townhomes) That way I figured I could get good wifi everywhere. After struggling with speeds upstairs, I went through a bunch of possible solutions. I have 150mbps cable, usually sits up around 180 though. However, my main PC was only seeing about 8mbps, and was kinda spotty.

First I moved the router to a more central, but less convenient part of my living room. This helped get my up to about 20mbps.

Next, upgraded my old network card. Got one with BT, so it wouldn't be a complete waste if it didn't help (which is nice, the BT on the mobo I have from '09 was useless), but also more importantly a remote antenna. Unfortunately the wires are only a couple feet long, so I can't do much, but get it out of the corner away from all the other wires. That helped a little. Went up to about 30-35mbps. But I was still only seeing about 20% of the speeds I should see. I also noticed at this point issues with my chromecast in my bedroom (basically directly above the router). 30mbps should be enough to stream 1080p without much problem. So it's more than just pure speed.

Next I tried to setup my router as a repeater, since the Xfinity modem has built in wifi. I planned on putting that upstairs. That was a disaster. Couldn't get it to work, and I had to factory reset the router.

Finally I thought I'd try to make separate 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks. I know 2.4 is better for going through walls and such, but can get crowded, and 5GHz may have a lower signal, but actually better speed. Boom. 180mbps. Turns out that new network card was actually helpful, I just had to force it to 5GHz. I wonder if there is a way to force it without making separate SSIDs

Freude am Fahren
February 15th, 2019, 08:36 AM
Well, in the end, I just made separate SSID's and everything goes on the 5GHz, except my printer and Chromecast.

Solution: I don't really use the chromecast anymore, since my TVs are smart now, and I also have Roku Sticks, and I was able to move everything back over the corner with my desk (and printer) and put the printer on the 5GHz network via ethernet cable.

FaultyMario
February 17th, 2019, 03:36 PM
What would one need to program a home connection so that it opens at certain times of the day? could I have network within my network used for that traffic, and restrict its access to mobile devices?

Long story short, we live really close to a busy bus stop and we think it'd be nice if people could text while they wait for their ride home.

Alan P
February 18th, 2019, 03:11 PM
What would one need to program a home connection so that it opens at certain times of the day? could I have network within my network used for that traffic, and restrict its access to mobile devices?

Long story short, we live really close to a busy bus stop and we think it'd be nice if people could text while they wait for their ride home.
Sounds like you need a Router that offers an option for Guest Wi-Fi Network. It'll allow access to the internet but that's it. Nothing internal within your own network or access to your own devices. Although I'm a little confused by 'text' and the requirement for internet? Do you mean SMS? in the Uk that's completely via the mobile network and doesn't use any data unless it's WhatsApp or some other messaging app/service?

Yw-slayer
February 18th, 2019, 05:16 PM
I would not want to offer the general public any Internet access. They might not use it as they may suspect you are phishing for their data. They may also browse all sorts of unsavoury stuff. I think you can restrict it, but why even risk it?

FaultyMario
February 18th, 2019, 05:28 PM
Sounds like you need a Router that offers an option for Guest Wi-Fi Network. It'll allow access to the internet but that's it. Nothing internal within your own network or access to your own devices. Although I'm a little confused by 'text' and the requirement for internet? Do you mean SMS? in the Uk that's completely via the mobile network and doesn't use any data unless it's WhatsApp or some other messaging app/service?

I mean mobile messaging apps. You know, stuff that won't drain bandwidth and ruin it for everybody.

FaultyMario
February 18th, 2019, 05:40 PM
why even risk it?

Yeah, why not?

Dicknose
February 18th, 2019, 08:01 PM
George - if you really want to lock access down you can probably setup MAC address filtering. This should stop any devices apart from those you specify connecting to your wireless. I suspect your ISP will have some help articles on this. You can also stop broadcasting the SSID which will make your network less visible to casual passers by.

If its only the same devices - MAC filtering is pretty secure.
If your route does it - a second level of access via password maybe with restrictions on what it can do.

MAC level is a pain if you are a business and have lots of new/different devices coming each day. Home - shouldnt be a big deal to manage.

Yw-slayer
February 19th, 2019, 06:26 AM
As in, don't even risk giving people free internet access. Be an asshole. They can pay for their own data.

FaultyMario
February 19th, 2019, 07:15 AM
Be an asshole.

We have far, far too many of those right now. Wifey's classmates horror stories is what prompted my interest.

The Mexico City transit authorities are making renovations -like moving turnstiles- to certain metro stations so that pedestrians can use the corridors as safe passageways when they move around town. I mean, if something can be done to help fellow human beings feel safer, why not do it?

Yw-slayer
February 19th, 2019, 08:11 AM
Because some asshole might use your Guest network to torrentz pedo stuff? Just a thought.

mk
February 21st, 2019, 09:11 AM
I'm a bit paranoid so I wouldn't do it but if I did I'd use three router setup.

WAN <-> router <-> DMZ
Private LAN <-> router <-> DMZ
Public LAN <-> router <-> DMZ

Compared to current
WAN <-> router <-> Private LAN

Yw-slayer
February 22nd, 2019, 05:12 AM
I still can’t see how this gets around some asshole using the guest network to torrent pedo stuff. Your pipe, your downloads. You can argue about Ip addresses etc. but why even take the chance?

mk
February 22nd, 2019, 06:51 AM
I understood that access is very restricted.

Quite possible that mobile messaging is actually something totally different than what I had in mind.

Yw-slayer
February 22nd, 2019, 07:19 AM
It might work if there's a watertight way to only let people use, say, WhatsApp. But again, why risk it?

mk
February 23rd, 2019, 02:31 AM
Being a HC community man?

Yw-slayer
February 23rd, 2019, 04:07 AM
Still not worth the risk, and I doubt those guys will care. Anyway, data is or should be cheap.

Cam
February 24th, 2019, 05:21 AM
I'm with YW on this one. Do not let random people use your internet access. It's that simple.

mk
February 26th, 2019, 12:10 PM
I never thought that internet access is shared.

TheBenior
February 26th, 2019, 02:25 PM
My cousin doesn't bother securing his household wifi.

However, if somebody was using their wifi, the strange car/person at the end of the farm's driveway would raise concerns. ;)

George
April 11th, 2019, 03:05 PM
Does anyone have recent experience with internet from a cable TV provider?

If so, my question is has the technology changed in the last few years, or do you still get TV & cable signal over the same physical cable coming to the house?

I'm evaluating cable vs. DSL for internet service at home. Sadly those two seem to be our only options, and I'm not particularly fond of either provider. Anyway, we used to have cable TV and cable internet. I could plug the cable modem into any of a few cable TV jacks in our house and get internet that way. So, I figured we could just call Comcast (TV & cable provider) and ask them to start sending us an internet signal and add it to our monthly bill, if that's what we decide to do.

Well, I just called Comcast and got a lady who sounded like she was halfway around the world and very difficult to understand. She said they would have to run a new cable to the house for internet, in addition to the cable that's currently coming to the house for TV. That's not how it used to be, and that would likely be a deal-breaker if so. I'm on hold with them again now to see if I can get a different person to ask and thought I'd ask here while I wait.

Thanks.

Edited to add: I'm finding conflicting results on Google. I thought this would be a simple yes/no question.

Edited again: Sounds like the answer is maybe, or it depends, or perhaps.

Comcast, of course, is of little help: "The salesman technician can determine that when does the installation. Which day works better for you?" :smh:

Tom Servo
April 11th, 2019, 04:18 PM
My personal experience has always been that the same line coming into your house has both the internet and cable TV signal. It's certainly the case here, I just have a splitter for the incoming coax line and send one of them to the cable modem, the other to the Tivo. Well, technically there's another splitter to head off to the bedroom Tivo, but that's another story. I've never actually seen a situation where there's a separate line for the two, especially now that most cable companies have gone entirely digital, so it's just another bunch of data running over the same wire.

I wonder if they're being imprecise with the language and mean that it's possible the drop line from the pole to your house is an older one that would need to be upgraded - not so much that you'd have a second line coming into the house, but that the existing line would need to change out. In that case, I'd imagine there's some kind of outside connection where the drop line meets the inside wiring and they can likely just do that without anyone even being home.

My guess is that's what they're trying to say, and saying they need to send a tech out to check the existing drop line to make sure it's new enough and undamaged. My last place had a drop line that was old and had a ton of nicks in the insulation from the rats that would run across it, so whenever it rained the TV and internet dropped out. That said, they kept telling me it needed to be replaced and that I didn't even need to be home to wrangle it, and then they missed every single appointment they ever set up to actually do that.

George
April 12th, 2019, 04:45 AM
Great info. Thanks for taking the time, Tom. Much appreciated.

Rare White Ape
April 13th, 2019, 02:31 PM
I got the internet upgraded to nbn at the unit that I rent earlier this week.

The retard that did the install said that he can’t pull the coax through to the existing phone outlet.

So now I have a modem in my bedroom.

Joy.

Rare White Ape
April 17th, 2019, 02:22 AM
So despite dumb modem placement issues, I'm living the tech high-life. The new PC is not going to be subjected to the same abuse my old laptop received, which means no *cough* bittorrent programs or dodgy shit. But that doesn't mean I'm giving up bittorrents. With two PCs available its easy.

I've set myself up with a 32GB USB stick, which I've plugged into the router, and on the laptop I've set my torrent program to save new files to that USB stick.

All I have to do is access it from the new PC over the network and I'm good to go :up:

It even works as a media server so that I can just straight-up watch any movies directly from my TV, in full 4K HDR glory.

Take that, Disney.

CudaMan
October 1st, 2022, 03:28 PM
*Bump*

That's a neat feature having a central USB stick storage on the router. How does the TV know how to access that?

-

I'm updating my internet as well, going from a 75mbps plan to 300 (and saving $ in the process). I've noticed the internet has felt a little choked lately with the slow evolution of increased demands, mostly simultaneous Zoom WFH and HD music streaming in the house (phone keeps dropping connection now too, guess it's last on the QoS list I haven't checked in forever). And sometimes TV/YouTube goes low res for a minute for no apparent reason.

So one thing I found out I need to do for my new faster internet is change my DOCSIS 3.0 modem to a 3.1 modem. Easy enough. I was thinking I might need a new router too but I'm not sure whether I'll need it. My existing router is a dual-band ASUS RT-AC66U (https://www.asus.com/us/Networking-IoT-Servers/WiFi-Routers/ASUS-WiFi-Routers/RTAC66U/) (802.11ac) with separate 2.4 GHz and 5GHz networks. Is an ax router (aka WiFi 6) going to be that much better for my use case? I currently feel like I have enough range, just, for my 1500sq-ft home with centrally located router.

As I learn about router tech, looks like my existing router already has beamforming. Is MU-MIMO and OFDMA (or whatever) going to make a perceptible difference if I don't have 3+ devices streaming HD content at once?

I did read a WPA-3 router needs to be set to WPA-2 for older devices to work, so I don't see any need for WPA-3 while I have those older devices still.

WiFi 6 purports to help battery life on smartphones - by how much in practical use?

Tom Servo
October 1st, 2022, 04:19 PM
With the caveat that I have no idea what I'm talking about:

I've always gotten the impression that WiFi routers are significantly faster than the connection at the wall. Even if one device was completely saturating the cable connection, it wouldn't even come close to maxing out most routers.

Unless you're having reception issues for WiFi or there's some feature you want on a newer one, I probably wouldn't bother upgrading.

Alternately, get the new cable modem, run speedtest on a few devices and see if any of them can max out your expected throughput (it's always possible a device is just slow, so I'd check a few of the newest ones). If they can, then your router is at least as fast as your cable modem.

Rare White Ape
October 1st, 2022, 06:46 PM
*Bump*

That's a neat feature having a central USB stick storage on the router. How does the TV know how to access that?


Serious bump!

To answer your question, it behaves the same way as any network media server. If you’ve ever browsed a PC for music or video using a game console you’ll have seen it before.

On the TV side there’s a media playback feature that can access shared files and folders. On the modem you just set it as a media server and it will share it on the network. The TV can also look at shared folders from a PC.

It was one of the few smart TV features I ever used, mainly because it was faster than copying 4K videos from my very slow and aged laptop to a device that was able to play 4K videos on my TV. In the end I gave up on it because it was fiddly to use and the stream across the network for uncompressed video files was patchy. When I ended up in hospital I bought a Disney subscription (take that Mick’s wallet!) and never looked back.

CudaMan
October 3rd, 2022, 10:56 AM
I agree, single-device throughput probably isn't going to be a concern with my existing router. I think to clarify, my question revolves around handling multiple devices doing things at once - one endless Zoom meeting on WiFi, maybe one device streaming something on WiFi, and a wired PC doing some online gaming (packet priority!) at the same time. Stuff like that.

Tom Servo
October 3rd, 2022, 11:39 AM
Probably still not that much of an issue. I've got the Google/Nest Mesh Wifi and it's got a bit of telemetry you can watch on it. When either me or my wife are on Zoom, it's usually using about 2-3mbps/sec. Streaming 4k video is only like 5-6mbps/sec, so you likely can do all those things at the same time without even getting close to saturating the connection and having to think about shaping.

21Kid
October 5th, 2022, 08:11 AM
I use Google Wifi also. They just sent an ad out that they're releasing a wifi6E version soon. So maybe I'll upgrade it in a few years. :lol:

Google Wifi is fantastic for anyone that has kids, FYI. You can use the Google Home app to pause wifi on certain devices. I have a separate routine for each of my kids so their wifi turns off at bedtime, shower time, etc... And if they forget to do their chores or homework, or get in trouble for something, ;) I can just "pause" wifi to their devices until they shape up. :lol:

Cam
September 5th, 2023, 11:03 AM
I know this is a simple thing in the end, but I'm kind of proud of myself for figuring this out.

Our new apartment has at least one outlet in every room with both coaxial cable and ethernet ports. They are also numbered. My guess was the apartments have LAN built-in. Xfinity/Comcast has an exclusive deal with the property management to supply Internet. We signed up at the closest Xfinity store and brought the equipment home. We plugged the modem into the coax outlet in my race room/studio (bedroom.) It did not work. Attached it in the living room and it worked. Talked to the reps in the property management office. I was told that Comcast only wired one of the coax outlets to work. Umm... Oookaaay.

I wanted a wired connection to my racing PC. Alas, I could not figure out how to use the built-in LAN. I know there is probably something simple I am missing. Just connecting everything with ethernet cables did not work. Maybe I need a patch cable? I am ignorant of networking. I was bitching about that when my wife told me that there is a panel box in the closet. I had a look and it is obviously the hub for all the ethernet cables, but also filled with numbered coaxial cables. Only one cable is connected to a cable labelled "H." The working coax outlet is "7" and the bedroom outlet is "4." Sure enough, H is connected to 7. I simply disconnected 7 and plugged in 4. Voila, the coax outlet in the bedroom now works and my PC has a wired connection to the modem. :)

Ultimately, I don't need the LAN anymore, but what if I wanted to host a LAN party? ;)

Kchrpm
September 5th, 2023, 12:28 PM
Hey! Nicely done, and great job Lori with the assist!

FaultyMario
September 5th, 2023, 02:29 PM
75% of that goal was the passer's work. Definitely. ;)