Network problems

Yes my sub-net does manage the LAN and DHCP. Whilst the ISP cable Internet is very stable it is in my opinion the weak link and would cause the issues you suggest. As it supports the TV and on-demand services this is a likely cause of issues which I can avoid impacting my music network. I do not run it in modem mode however simply because it changes the internal IP address which is a pain (particularly as the media server and a printer have fixed IPs) but I switch off all its wi-fi services. Very stable and all runs 24/7/365.

I have sorted the system . My nas and ndx2 are connected to a net gear switch which goes to my bt home hub 6. There is now one network for everything.

Previously the net gear switch was connected to a net gear router which was connected to the home hub.

Thank you for the advice.

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Do you have a different subnet masks for each segment of your network?

Happy days, glad you managed to find a working conclusion. Gave us all something to talk about for a few days as well :grin:

Yes, that makes sense.

The ISP modem/router has the address of 192.168.1.1 and the sub-net router which is connected to it is set with a different address such as 192.168.30.1.
All the devices (wired and wireless) that are connected to the sub-net router will have addresses 192.168.30.x
The Internet gateway is 192.168.1.1 (i.e. the ISP modem/router).

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Glad you are sorted and everything running OK again.

Hi There,

I have a question - I am aware that the router needs to be set in to modem mode if you want to use a different router as the one provided by the provider. However, what are the steps after the connection of the separate router? I’ve never done that… Thanks in advance if you can help me or if you can point me to a YouTube guide.
B. Rach

Are you also connecting to Virgin Media in the UK?

On your own router you will need to specify the WAN/Internet connection (the Ethernet cable that you’ll connect to the Virgin modem Port 1) to be a DHCP Client type.

This will allow the Virgin modem to assign an IP address to the WAN interface of your own router.

You can then setup your router for NAT and DHCP Server and configure the rest to your specific needs.

No, I am on Madeira. I have problems with the router changing all the time the ip addresses of my HiFi gear. I normally have everything on fixed addresses as it prevents any problems hence I want a separate router - the one from the provider does not allow that.
Bruno

What type of service connection do you have?

Is it over the telephone line (xDSL, typically RJ11 connector to modem/router) or is it from a cable company (coaxial F connector to modem/router)
If you have a fibre to the home service this will typically have an RJ45 Ethernet connection

The type of service you have will determine how to configure your router WAN connection.

It’s called DHCP and should not be causing any problems. In most cases it’s the safer option because it prevents problems caused by incorrect fixed addresses.

Wih DHCP, the IP addresses will indeed occasionally change, but unless you are trying to access gear over the network by IP address it should not matter. If you do, there are typically two solutions:

  • Many routers allow to configure that DHCP should always issue the same IP to the same device.
  • Most routers have a local DNS service that assigns names to the IP addresses, so you can use the name instead of the IP. The router configuration web page should usually show the names and let you change them too
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You can bind a specific IP address to a host in the settings of the router DHCP server typically, but not on all routers. The DHCP lease time may also be set to a too short interval.
The provider router maybe doing some sort of reset in service outage or even do so intermittently when checking for updates, either way it’s frustrating as a user and creates unneccessary management overheads.
Back to my previous comment, if you know the connection requirements of the modem, you can connect any router of your own choice to pretty much any residential service.

Hi There,

This service provider does not allow to assign fixed addresses. They recommended that I get a separate router. They will switch their router to modem mode then.
B. Rach

It’s from a cable company. It looks like the same connector as in the UK the connector from Sky TV looks.
Bruno

You should be able to go in to your Internet Service Provider’s Gateway/Router web interface and set it up to work in Bridge Mode, effectively disabling the router and WiFi functionality and making it a modem only.
You can then add your own seperate Router and WiFi Access Points to suit your environment and needs.

It is not necessary to put the ISP device in modem mode - you can just switch off the wi-fi services etc.
Many ISP devices change the address in modem mode e.g. from 192.168.1.x to 192.16.100.x

Yes, but it’s important to understand the two different functions, WiFi and DHCP, and which device is providing them.

Depending on your choice of hardware, you might leave the WiFi running on an ISP supplied router and add compatible WiFi extenders to give better coverage. Alternatively you might disable the supplied routers WiFi and run it entirely on your own equipment.

Entirely separate from the above, you can run the DHCP server on either the supplied router, or your own. If they both offer this capability it’s important to disable it on one of them, although it doesn’t necessarily matter which one. The problem here is that some decices do not allow you to disable DHCP, such as Google Mesh for example, and this is a common cause of connection problems.

If you enable Bridge Mode on a Cable Router it disables everything, including the WiFi and acts purely as a network bridge (DOCSIS on the WAN and Ethernet on the LAN).
The simplest solution is to add your own router that is also acting as the primary WiFi Access Point. This integrated Router and WiFi Access point device will be where the DHCP Server is located amd provide IP addresses to all wired and Wireless hosts on your LAN.

Again, not true, in Bridge Mode, a Cable Modem will have a single IP Address which is actually provided by the equipment on the other end of the connection within the providers network, known as a CMTS.
The IP address you refer to is a static management interface address (configured in the firmware and not editable by an end user) that has nothing to do with how the LAN operates.