Hello! So I've lurked on this website for a long time purely out of interest, but I need a little networking wisdom now, so I'm finally getting around to registering. This is a long post, but hopefully the largish size of the network makes it a fun problem! So a little background:
I'm a college student, I study computer science and biology, and I've been in charge of building and maintaining the network at my fraternity for the last two years. The network serves about 60 wireless clients in total, so probably on average no more than 30 at the same time, and a couple dozen wired game systems. The money trickles in slowly, so hardware will have to remain the same for some time. Here’s our current setup:
1) Comcast business connection, usually pulls about 18Mbps down and 6Mbps up.
2) Comcast-provided, 4-port router with inbuilt modem (some second-tier manufacturer). It does NOT have a bridge mode, but is configured with the main router as its only client and a static IP
3) D-Link DGL-4100 gaming router (does all of the heavy routing, chosen for its high throughput)
4) Two Netgear JGS516 gigabit switches which feed all wall outlets and APs
5) Two WNDR3700 routers (configured as APs) and one WN802T-200 AP
I love playing around with this stuff, but I’m having a few problems getting things to run smoothly so I thought I’d run it past you guys. Thing is, for the longest time the two WNDR3700s were not configured as APs, and I’ve been told many times that having a router hiding behind another router is bad (double NAT, right?), but with the exception of some wireless interference, things have always run relatively smoothly. I recently decided it was time to clean up shop, so I had everyone disconnect their own wireless routers and begin using the house’s, I repositioned the three APs and adjusted the transmit power for minimum interference, consolidated SSIDs, and I disabled all routing functionality on the WNDR3700s so they'd function just as APs.
Everything works perfectly except that now, about 10% of the time, a client connected to network doesn’t have access to the Internet. The wireless connection is established without a problem, and the client is assigned an IP address by the DGL-4100 at the top, but they can’t reach the Internet. Furthermore, it sometimes takes 10 or more seconds after making the wireless connection to actually reach the Internet. Neither of these problems were present when the WNDR3700s were still configured with DHCP and NAT on, it was only after I "fixed" them.
So the question is, what could be causing the trouble? I’ve considered shortening DHCP lease times, lengthening them, widening the DHCP range, and trying to replace the business modem/router combo with a residential modem that has no routing functionality, but I don’t know what, if any of this, will help. Thanks!
I'm a college student, I study computer science and biology, and I've been in charge of building and maintaining the network at my fraternity for the last two years. The network serves about 60 wireless clients in total, so probably on average no more than 30 at the same time, and a couple dozen wired game systems. The money trickles in slowly, so hardware will have to remain the same for some time. Here’s our current setup:
1) Comcast business connection, usually pulls about 18Mbps down and 6Mbps up.
2) Comcast-provided, 4-port router with inbuilt modem (some second-tier manufacturer). It does NOT have a bridge mode, but is configured with the main router as its only client and a static IP
3) D-Link DGL-4100 gaming router (does all of the heavy routing, chosen for its high throughput)
4) Two Netgear JGS516 gigabit switches which feed all wall outlets and APs
5) Two WNDR3700 routers (configured as APs) and one WN802T-200 AP
I love playing around with this stuff, but I’m having a few problems getting things to run smoothly so I thought I’d run it past you guys. Thing is, for the longest time the two WNDR3700s were not configured as APs, and I’ve been told many times that having a router hiding behind another router is bad (double NAT, right?), but with the exception of some wireless interference, things have always run relatively smoothly. I recently decided it was time to clean up shop, so I had everyone disconnect their own wireless routers and begin using the house’s, I repositioned the three APs and adjusted the transmit power for minimum interference, consolidated SSIDs, and I disabled all routing functionality on the WNDR3700s so they'd function just as APs.
Everything works perfectly except that now, about 10% of the time, a client connected to network doesn’t have access to the Internet. The wireless connection is established without a problem, and the client is assigned an IP address by the DGL-4100 at the top, but they can’t reach the Internet. Furthermore, it sometimes takes 10 or more seconds after making the wireless connection to actually reach the Internet. Neither of these problems were present when the WNDR3700s were still configured with DHCP and NAT on, it was only after I "fixed" them.
So the question is, what could be causing the trouble? I’ve considered shortening DHCP lease times, lengthening them, widening the DHCP range, and trying to replace the business modem/router combo with a residential modem that has no routing functionality, but I don’t know what, if any of this, will help. Thanks!
