Is Force acting as Master Browser important?

[dikkiedirk]

I see in the latest firmwares Force acting as Master Browser listed.

Is this important on a router and can it be disabled?

In what cases can it cause conflicts?

I have Master browser enabled on my unraid server. Should this be disabled? Do 2 Master Browser mean trouble?

 

[ozzed]

There should only be one Master Browser. It would make more sense to let the router be the master browser and disable it on the unraid server as the router is the center of the network.

But if you absolutely want to keep your unraid server be the master browsrt, then yes, disable it on the router.

 

[peraburek]

I am using ASUS as Master Browser to speed up network sharing discovery, in network where PCs come and go, and there is no active Server or NAS
usually Master Browser state is negotiated between computers in one network, but if there are no clients available 24/7 then ASUS router could (should) be Master Browser
didn't noticed any downsides

 

[sfx2000]

I see in the latest firmwares Force acting as Master Browser listed.

Is this important on a router and can it be disabled?

In what cases can it cause conflicts?

I have Master browser enabled on my unraid server. Should this be disabled? Do 2 Master Browser mean trouble?

There can only be one Master Browser per workgroup/domain - normally it's determined thru election - forcing can cause conflict...

Side Note - way back in the days of Win 95/98 - if there was a Win9x machine as the master, one could cause a blue screen on that box by forcing a Samba box to be the master

 

[RMerlin]

There can only be one Master Browser per workgroup/domain - normally it's determined thru election - forcing can cause conflict...

Technically, Asuswrt-Merlin does not force it. What I do is use a high OS level, to ensure that I win any election.

My personal advice: if you have a NAS or a server, leave it disabled. If you have just a LAN of PCs, enable it.

 

[peraburek]

if you want to check which device is master browser in your LAN, this code works in Windows 7 (command prompt)

for /f "delims=\= " %C in ('net view ^| find "\\"') do @echo -Checking %C && @nbtstat -a %C | find "MSBROWSE"

http://bucket-o-notes.blogspot.de/2013/06/find-master-browser-on-windows-7-machine.html

 

[Shonk]

Technically, Asuswrt-Merlin does not force it. What I do is use a high OS level, to ensure that I win any election.

My personal advice: if you have a NAS or a server, leave it disabled. If you have just a LAN of PCs, enable it.

What's Merlin's stock OS level i dont force master it seems quite agressive in taking master even with force off
It beats out 8.1 Pro 10 Pro 100% of the time and most of the time manages to take it from my AC66U with a good few days uptime

MY AC66U is running stock asus firmware in ap mode and quite often i will get something along the lines of
Aurora (88U) thinks its master browser when we thought we where forcing an election
Odyssey (66U) is no longer master browser
and thats the end of that..

 

[sfx2000]

Good info below:

https://www.samba.org/samba/docs/man/Samba-HOWTO-Collection/NetworkBrowsing.html#id2581357

 

[NomadTech]

if you want to check which device is master browser in your LAN, this code works in Windows 7 (command prompt)

for /f "delims=\= " %C in ('net view ^| find "\\"') do @echo -Checking %C && @nbtstat -a %C | find "MSBROWSE"

http://bucket-o-notes.blogspot.de/2013/06/find-master-browser-on-windows-7-machine.html

Also works in Windows 10

 

[RMerlin]

What's Merlin's stock OS level i dont force master it seems quite agressive in taking master even with force off
It beats out 8.1 Pro 10 Pro 100% of the time and most of the time manages to take it from my AC66U with a good few days uptime

The default OS level is 0, which means the router should never win any election (unless there's no one else to participate in the election I suppose).

Windows Pro probably has an OS level of 16 (if it's the same as previous professional, non-server Windows).

When force is enabled, the router uses an OS level of 255.

 

[jsmiddleton4]

"My personal advice: if you have a NAS or a server, leave it disabled. If you have just a LAN of PCs, enable it."

I've always followed that simple rule. With NAS devices that feed my media playback device I've always set the router to not be the Master.