Questions tagged [router]
A router is a device that forwards data packets across multiple networks. Questions tagged with router can cover router hardware, software, and network configuration.
9,516
questions
226
votes
1answer
490k views
What is port forwarding and what is it used for?
There are a lot of questions on 'port forwarding', but there doesn't seem to be one that clearly states what it is and what it's used for. So:
What is port forwarding?
What is it used for, and why ...
173
votes
13answers
93k views
How to find a router at an unknown location in a house?
I want to install a WLAN repeater in my father’s holiday house which he rents out to other people.
My father is a digital neanderthal and doesn’t know where his router is, therefore I cannot ...
158
votes
9answers
25k views
Is it really possible for most enthusiasts to crack people's Wi-Fi networks?
Can most enthusiastic users (even if they are not professionals) use well-known techniques to break through the average home router's security?
Some basic security options are:
strong network ...
138
votes
11answers
33k views
SSID with very similar name, is this an attempt of hacking?
I noticed that another SSID pops up in my WiFi with the same name as mine (quite personal so could've only been intentionally copied) but a couple of the letters are capitalized. Their version has no ...
79
votes
2answers
42k views
How does Router know where to forward packet
If several computers with local addresses (192.168.0.#) are connected to a router and each computer opens a web browser and requests a page over HTTP, when these TCP:80 packets are sent out, the ...
75
votes
3answers
878k views
Does moving my router from 20MHz to 40 MHz increase my wireless speed?
I found out that my wireless access point supports dual band (LinkSys E3000), so I went to its settings and changed it from operating on 20MHz to 40MHz.
Does this mean I get a faster WiFi connection ...
74
votes
4answers
137k views
What does “On-link” mean on the result of “route print” command?
I'm using Windows 7. When I type "route print" under command prompt, I get a IPv4 Route Table with several "On-link" values under the Gateway column. For example, like this one:
IPv4 Route Table
=====...
66
votes
9answers
6k views
“Turn off router for 10 seconds” - Quantifiable? [duplicate]
Is there any quantifiable evidence to support power cycling routers for 10 seconds or any arbitrary amount of time, instead of just unplugging and plugging back in?
This is related to troubleshooting ...
60
votes
2answers
13k views
If my Wi-Fi speed is 64 Mbit/s why do I get nowhere near it?
I was transferring a file from one computer to another. When my two computers were far from the router I was getting 1 megabyte per second, but when I had my laptop next to the router I was ...
55
votes
2answers
95k views
What is the difference between ARP binding and DHCP address reservation?
In my TL-WR1043ND I have these functionalities and both of them pair an IP address to a MAC address. What is the difference?
I read that ARP is for security reasons, others say it is for Wake-on-LAN. ...
51
votes
6answers
10k views
Why is a router needed?
I‘ve been trying to figure out why a router is needed. I know a router can be used for DHCP and some other things, but I’m just thinking of networking with static IPs. So the following:
Is it ...
50
votes
7answers
50k views
OpenWrt vs DDWrt
I have a TP-Link Wr1043ND router and I want to install one of these two firmwares:
OpenWRT
DD-WRT
I read that I can install custom packages and do much more than I can with the original firmware.
...
49
votes
9answers
9k views
Why are subnet-masks relevant for the individual computer on the network?
I understand how subnet-masks are used to divide a network into sub-networks, but, why does every computer in the network need to know the subnet-mask and not just the router?
I could understand it, ...
49
votes
3answers
487k views
What is the difference between 2.4G and 5G wireless?
I just got a new "dual band" wireless router. The sales rep didn't really understand the difference between the "2.4G" and "5G" (as stated in the marketing material) wireless networks that the router ...
45
votes
2answers
14k views
Why would the Wi-Fi connection on my smartphone perform better than the same connection on my laptop?
The download speeds while connected on Wi-Fi to the same router—an ADSL2+ Wireless N300 Modem Router—seems to be significantly faster on my phone than on my laptop. This problem doesn’t occur all the ...
44
votes
4answers
11k views
How does a router obtain its IP address?
So let's assume I connect a secondary router to my first. An Ethernet cable from one of the LAN ports to the secondary router's WAN.
Now, how does my secondary router actual obtain its IP address? ...
44
votes
5answers
5k views
Tablet and Wi-Fi AP can't agree on a channel. Which device is violating the 802.11n standard?
Yesterday I received a Fire 7 (9th Gen) Tablet. According to the official datasheet, it supports dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi. To my surprise, the SSID of my 5GHz Wi-Fi router didn't show up. After talking ...
43
votes
2answers
21k views
What's the maximum actual bit rate of an 802.11g connection?
Using a wired connection, I get a 38 Mbit/s download speed. When I switch to wireless one (Linksys WRT54GL router with Tomato firmware), the speed drops to 23 Mbit/s even if the distance between the ...
42
votes
7answers
7k views
Why is the range of a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot shorter than that of a router?
There is something I would like to understand.
A Wi-Fi router has a range of 30-40 meters (100-130 feet).
A mobile hotspot (access point) generated by a smartphone has a range of +- 10 meters (30 ...
42
votes
2answers
33k views
Does All LAN Traffic Travel Through A Router
I have a very simple question: if I have a router (DHCP enabled - leasing IP addresses between 192.168.0.2 and 192.168.0.254) with a switch plugged in, and I plug two computers into the switch, will ...
41
votes
3answers
22k views
How does my router resolve a URL like http://router.asus.com/ to its IP address?
Typically I connect to my router by its IP address of 192.168.1.1. However, I am also able to connect to it at the URL router.asus.com. My computer does not have a connection to the Internet. How ...
39
votes
4answers
8k views
How should I connect 7 devices to a switch module with four ethernet interfaces? Is there a preferred topology?
I have a router/switch with four switch ports on the back, to which I need to connect seven devices.
Is there a reason to prefer one or other of the below topologies, or would a completely different ...
39
votes
5answers
4k views
What keeps you from changing your public IP address and wreaking havok?
An interesting question was asked of me and I did not know what to answer. So I'll ask here.
Let's say I subscribed to an ISP and I'm using cable internet access. The ISP gives me a public IP address ...
37
votes
6answers
29k views
Can you plug the computer directly into the wall to access the Internet? [closed]
My system is essentially:
Wall -> Ethernet -> router -> Wi-Fi -> computer
But I'd like to simplify it for this purpose and just do:
Wall -> Ethernet -> router -> Ethernet -> ...
37
votes
7answers
188k views
Why does just splitting an Ethernet cable not work?
I thought the Ethernet is logically a one-line communication bus (for argument's sake, I am excluding hubs). All machines attached on the bus hears the same signals and the machines themselves try to ...
35
votes
2answers
115k views
How to route only specific subnet (source ip) to a particular interface?
How to route only specific subnet (source ip) to a particular interface?
OS: Linux
I know I can do easily by destination IP by using something like
route add 1.2.3.4/24 dev eth4
but I do not ...
34
votes
5answers
4k views
What stops an internet router from sniffing my traffic?
Packets travel through internetworks, and take many routes through internet routers.
On each route that forwards traffic to another until reaching the ultimate destination, what stops them from ...
34
votes
6answers
7k views
I have a domain, static IP address and many devices I'd like to access outside my house. How do I route them?
I have a domain (e.g. example.com), static IP address (e.g. 212.5.5.5) and local devices at 192.168.0.1:80, 192.168.0.2:80, 192.168.0.3:80, 192.168.0.4:80, 192.168.0.4:47 (this one is not a website).
...
34
votes
14answers
191k views
Are routers limited to number of devices?
I'm going to buy a new router, but, I've just realised that for nearly all routers I've looked at (Belkin, Netgear, D-Link) don't state the maximum number of devices which can connect concurrently.
...
34
votes
2answers
77k views
Do different positions of the antenna on a wireless router make any difference?
Often, the antenna of a wireless router can be moved in many directions. Does it make a difference as to which way it points? Should it point toward the device(s) using it? Should multiple antennas ...
32
votes
10answers
31k views
Can I make two wireless routers communicate using the wireless?
I want to make a setup like this:
cable modem <-cable-> wireless router 1 <-wireless-> wireless router 2 in another room <-cables-> PCs in another room
Basically, I want to extend my ...
31
votes
14answers
9k views
What is best way to share wifi with a building next door?
After a lot of window shopping and reading, I'm confused about how to share my WiFi with a building next door.
Should my router be able to broadcast powerfully enough? Or should I invest in some kind ...
31
votes
12answers
7k views
Which routers do you prefer for DD-WRT or OpenWRT? [closed]
I'm aware of the giant Supported Devices list. I'm wondering which ones you all prefer (e.g., support for Mega install, cheap, reliable hardware, USB port, etc.)
I've used an ASUS WL-500G Premium ...
30
votes
7answers
40k views
Ethernet cable too long?
I have an Ethernet cable running from a Huawei ADSL router to a computer> The total length is 61 meters (200 ft).
When connected to the computer, a cycle of identifying, disconnected, identifying, ...
30
votes
13answers
367k views
Windows 10 Wi-Fi issue: “Can't connect to this network”
A little background - I have a Lenovo G50 which was running Windows 8.1 up until a few months back. Then came along the free upgrade to Windows 10. Microsoft updated the laptop OS to Windows&...
29
votes
9answers
11k views
How can Internet speed be 10 times slower without a router than when using the same connection with a router?
I am trying to figure out what is the realistic "speed of service" that my Internet company provides to my house. Here are the test that I am running:
Internet ↔ modem ↔ wireless router ↔ laptop: ...
29
votes
7answers
31k views
Does DD-WRT QoS actually work?
There have been various reports of DD-WRT QoS not working (here, here and elsewhere).
The DD-WRT QoS Documentation mentions some checks would indicate whether the proper priorities are being applied ...
28
votes
4answers
28k views
Two Routers are fighting each other on LAN
My apartment is quite large and most rooms have several walls, meaning Wifi signals drop easily.
To combat this I found a spare DSL Router I had previously and placed that in the Kitchen and ...
28
votes
2answers
51k views
Why do some WiFi routers block multicast packets going from wired to wireless?
I have worked with dozens of consumer grade WiFi routers, and they have been really hit-or-miss with this, though it seems to be getting better.
Example of issue:
A device that can be discovered ...
28
votes
3answers
43k views
Alias for IPs in the home LAN network
Is it possible to assign a readable string alias to an IP address like 192.168.1.1? Maybe something like this:
192.168.1.1 -> router.home
or
192.168.1.22 -> printer.home
There is no need for ...
27
votes
3answers
12k views
Wi-Fi stops working when I attach wireless mouse to my laptop
I am using an HP 15-r249TU, and today I bought a wireless Redragon 2400DPI mouse. When I attach the mouse adapter to my laptop, my Internet connection stops working instantly. I have a TP-Link router ...
26
votes
6answers
246k views
Connect to internet with wifi, while wired to a different LAN through ethernet
So I have a small router I'm connected to through an ethernet cable, and I'm having multiple devices connecting to that router through wifi, so they can view my computer screen. Screen sharing on ...
26
votes
4answers
159k views
How will a router with NAT disabled behave?
I noticed that my home router has the option to disable NAT. How will the router behave with NAT turned off? Will it simply broadcast all incoming traffic to the subnet?
26
votes
4answers
27k views
DD-WRT: How to allow port forwarding to apply to requests originating from inside the LAN?
With the original firmware of my router I had port forwarding defined from port 80 to the server in the LAN, which I used in conjunction with an external dynamic DNS service.
I've now upgraded to DD-...
26
votes
9answers
181k views
MacBook Air constantly drops wifi connection
My MacBook Air keeps dropping wifi connection on my home network. When I connect to my network, it remains connected for a few minutes, then it drops the connection. I have no idea what's the problem. ...
25
votes
11answers
15k views
Home Networking: How can I have ethernet in another part of the house?
I would like some help with home networking.
I have a place with two rooms. In one of the rooms there is a router with wireless capabilities. I can connect a computer to it with ethernet cables or ...
25
votes
5answers
14k views
Home ethernet - daisy chained
I recently bought a house with RJ-45 and RJ-11 on one wall plate, and coax for TV on the other plate in a single box in each bedroom. I opened one up, and it looks like they did not run individual Cat ...
25
votes
6answers
35k views
Why do most routers not include local DNS?
I need to change my firewall/router, and I'd prefer something with built-in DNS to resolve queries on the local subnets. I've got a mixed Linux/Windows system, often with only one computer turned on, ...
25
votes
5answers
170k views
Why does my Internet slow to a crawl unless I reboot my router every few days?
A few weeks ago, I noticed that my Internet connection had slowed down to a crawl. I waited a few days hoping it would go away on its own, but it didn't get better. So I asked this question about how ...
24
votes
9answers
4k views
How to identify from a Windows computer the wireless device that is poisoning router?
I live in a house with various other people who all swear that there is nothing wrong with any of their devices. The problem being is that when wireless is enabled on the router, ping sky-rockets and ...
