N66u setup help

[preacher]

Hi, I have just upgraded from a dlink dir615 to the n66u and was hoping for some help with setup.

I know the basics of networking. I can set static ip addresses and ranges, forward ports, not a clue what udp or tcp are though.

Is there a help guide or has anyone got any advice on router basics? Should I set the router address to something other than 192.168.0.xxx??

I won't be using a hard drive with it as I have a NAS. Will be putting phones and my playbook on 5ghz (only things that support it), and other wifi devices on 2.4ghz.

It's hidden in the car boot at moment as the Missus will kill me for buying more gadgets but couldn't cope with the crappy 615..

 

[huotg01]

Hi, I have just upgraded from a dlink dir615 to the n66u and was hoping for some help with setup.

I know the basics of networking. I can set static ip addresses and ranges, forward ports, not a clue what udp or tcp are though.

Is there a help guide or has anyone got any advice on router basics? Should I set the router address to something other than 192.168.0.xxx??

I won't be using a hard drive with it as I have a NAS. Will be putting phones and my playbook on 5ghz (only things that support it), and other wifi devices on 2.4ghz.

It's hidden in the car boot at moment as the Missus will kill me for buying more gadgets but couldn't cope with the crappy 615..

For a start, don't make the things more complex that they need to be...

Just do the minimal:

• Let the router at 192.168.1.1
• Maybe change the router login name
• Setup a password
• Setup 5Ghz security
• Setup 2.4Ghz security
• Setup the guess network
• Unless required, don't use static address

It will still be time later to refine things.

GH

 

[preacher]

Thanks, I need to setup static ip for my NAS, boxee and PC because of shares I have setup and using some apps.

Is there any standard things you should change when setting up a router?

I'm happy about gigabit ports, I don't have to use my switch anymore!

 

[joegreat]

Settings for a new RT-N66U Router

Is there any standard things you should change when setting up a router?

Hi,

Some things I would configure or check when setting up the "RT-N66U beast":
Administration / System page:
- Enable Web Access from WAN = No

Firewall / General page:
- Enable Firewall = Yes
- Enable DoS protection = Yes
- Logged packets type = none
- Respond Ping Request from WAN = No

IPv6 / IPv6 page: (if IPv6 not needed)
- Connection type = Disable
- Enable Router Advertisement = Disable

WAN / Internet Connection page:
- WAN Connection Type: Static IP (if avaliable / working with your internet provider)
- Enable UPnP = Yes
- WAN IP Setting - with all the fixed provider stettings
- DNS Server1 = 8.8.8.8 (Google primary DNS)
- DNS Server2 = 8.8.4.4 (Google secoundary DNS)

LAN / DHCP Server page:
- Log DHCP queries = No

Wireless / Professional page:
for Frequency = 2.4GHz
- Multicast Rate(Mbps) = Disable
- Preamble Type = Auto
- Enable TX Bursting = Enable
- Wireless Multicast Forwarding = Disable
- Enable WMM APSD = Enable
- Enhanced interference management = Enable
- Tx Power adjustment = 100 mW
for Frequency = 5GHz
- Multicast Rate(Mbps) = Disable
- Preamble Type = Auto
- Enable TX Bursting = Enable
- Wireless Multicast Forwarding = Disable
- Enable WMM APSD = Enable
- Tx Power adjustment = 200 mW

Tools / Other Settings
- Resolve IPs on active connections list = Yes
- Stealth Mode (disable all LEDs) = Yes

Some settings make sense in general, some are more based on personal taste and concreate situation, but they do no harm.

Nevertheless it might be a good practice to write down the original settings before changing them to be able to revert them back in case something is not working as good as before.

With kind regards
Joe

 

[got_milk]

If you are happy with the wireless range and performance of the RT-N66U, I would suggest ignoring joegreat's wireless configurations above. The default professional options are more than suitable for a standard setup and playing with any of those options if you aren't having troubles usually results in a performance or range decrease.

You shouldn't also boost the power of the radios unless you need to - extra power introduces extra noise which harms throughput and can harm range as well.

Also, don't set the WAN connection type to Static IP unless your ISP requires it. DHCP as the default is just fine and switching to a static IP configuration will likely just break your connection if you don't have a configuration for it.

DNS servers also shouldn't be changed unless you have a reason to - your ISP's DNS should always be faster to resolve than using a service like Google's (however, for privacy reasons, some users do choose to set their own DNS servers).

 

[joegreat]

Thy the local ISP's DNS is not faster den the public Google DNS?

DNS servers also shouldn't be changed unless you have a reason to - your ISP's DNS should always be faster to resolve than using a service like Google's (however, for privacy reasons, some users do choose to set their own DNS servers).

Hi,

You should do a DNS performance test with the Namebench tool to find out that the Google DNS is by far faster then most ISP's DNS server...
Details on the performance test and why Google is typically faster, can be looked up here.

With kind regards
Joe

PS.: I re-checked the DNS performance of my provider vs. Google. The theory is still right: My ISPs DNS is ~100% (double time) slower then Googl's primary one (8.8.8.8).
Which means that a DNS query taks >100ms (0,1 sec) to get an IP address for a given internet name, which clearly can be seen on the slow (first) loading of homepages.

But the funny thing is that the secoundary ISP DNS is quite fast: Only 17% penalty over Google's primary one.
But Google's secoundary DNS (8.8.4.4) is again faster: ISP's DNS has ~30% overhead on top of it.

 

[got_milk]

You should do a DNS performance test with the Namebench tool to find out that the Google DNS is by far faster then most ISP's DNS server...

I have access to a few machines across Canada and the United States on some of the major internet service providers, and on every machine the ISP's local DNS was far faster (over 25% in most cases) than the next closest public DNS (usually Google's).

Just because your ISP's DNS resolution performance is bad doesn't mean all other ISPs are - like I said, most ISPs should be faster. You don't need to route out of state or country (on my computer right now, it takes 5 total hops to reach my ISPs DNS in 16ms, and 11 hops in 51ms to reach Google's Public DNS), and whatever speed improvement in resolution Google may have over your ISPs will likely not win out to the extra latency in the connection.

You shouldn't be so quick to suggest switching DNS servers as for many people who may read this - it will actually hurt them, rather than benefit them. Those who may be interested in using Google's public DNS should run namebench themselves and see if the performance benefit is really there for them.

 

[RMerlin]

Hi,

You should do a DNS performance test with the Namebench tool to find out that the Google DNS is by far faster then most ISP's DNS server...
Details on the performance test and why Google is typically faster, can be looked up here.

With kind regards
Joe

PS.: I re-checked the DNS performance of my provider vs. Google. The theory is still right: My ISPs DNS is ~100% (double time) slower then Googl's primary one (8.8.8.8).
Which means that a DNS query taks >100ms (0,1 sec) to get an IP address for a given internet name, which clearly can be seen on the slow (first) loading of homepages.

It's not that simple. Using a DNS server that's not local to your ISP network might end up pointing you at a web server that is much slower than the one pointed at by your ISP. For example, if you use live on the East coast, your ISP's DNS might point you at a Youtube server on the East coast (or even a cache that sits right on your ISP's local network), while using another DNS could point you at a Youtube server on the West coast.

So while you save 20ms on the initial DNS query, your streaming will be slower. Saving 20 ms out of a 10 mins video means nothing. But having a video play smooth rather than constantly interrupting - that's what you'd desire the most.

People also forget that DNS queries are cached at many levels. First, your router (in the case of an RT-N66U) will cache a response, so if you query the same hostname soon after, your router won't even need to recontact the DNS. Your OS also has its own cache. And many browsers (like Chrome and Firefox) ALSO have their own cache. So when visiting a typical website, you only send maybe 5-7 queries in parallel, and the result gets cached so they don't get queried again as you navigate on the same site.

Don't believe those so-called DNS benchmarks. The speed of a query has no noticeable impact on your overall performance - in fact it will most likely end up degrading it. Your ISP's DNS are almost always the best ones to use. They would have to be REALLY bad to not be the best choice.

 

[preacher]

Thanks for the replies. I always thought it was best not to enable upnp as my understanding is that is for access from the Internet. Is that wrong and I should have it enabled. As I mentioned I have a NAS which I stream all my media from.

 

[RMerlin]

Thanks for the replies. I always thought it was best not to enable upnp as my understanding is that is for access from the Internet. Is that wrong and I should have it enabled. As I mentioned I have a NAS which I stream all my media from.

UPNP is generally fine, as long you control everything that is plugged to your network, and you have your router's firewall enabled. If a rogue program is able to open a port through UPNP, then you probably have far more important issues.

Some people who are more concerned about security will keep it disabled - it's their choice. Just like some people (especially on corporate network) would even go as far as restrict which outbound connection is allowed through their firewall. There is no limit to how far you can push security - it's always a matter of balancing reasonable security with a minimal impact on your normal uses.

 

[preacher]

I know about that balance! We went from an internally managed network to outsourcing to managed network company. They stopped everything working! Made my job a lot harder and longer to do..