Please help with my network config

[atytse]

Hi guys,

I'm really glad to have found this forum because I'm having trouble with the small home network that I recently tried to setup.

Here are my network components:

1 modem (fiber 20mb, China Unicom)
1 router (ASUS RT N66U with latest firmware)
1 access point (ruckus wireless z7363)
1 NAS (QNAP TS210)
1 TV Box (Maige TV)
1 networked music player (Linn Sneaky DS)


Problems I'm encountering:
1. Network kept dropping the networked music player. Sometimes the player cannot be detected (even though it has been assigned an IP). Sometimes the music fades in and out

2. TV Box streams with slight lag despite high internet speed

What I've tried:
1. Assigning static IPs to TVBox, Access Point and Networked music player (not sure if this will resolve things)
2. Bought a Netgear 8 port switch. Haven't installed into the network.
3. Turned off wifi from Router, only use Access Point's wifi signal

Here's the current network setup
1. Modem connects to ASUS router
2. ASUS's 4 Lan Ports are respectively connected to QNAP, Linn, TVBox and Ruckus Access Point (using ethernet cables, not sure if they all of them are cat5e)
3. Laptops, iphones, ipads, androids are connected to the wifi signal from Ruckus Access Points
4. Just using DHCP until recently tried to assign static IPs to some devices

Any Advice on how to optimize the network and fix those problems would be most appreciated. I understand that ASUS RT N66U has many toggles and features one can play with but I didn't dare to mess things up. Also if any of you is familiar with settings of Ruckus AP, that would be wonderful too.

Thanks guys! Look forward to hearing from you.

 

[thiggins]

Why do you have the Ruckus?

Make sure the tv and music streamers are connected via Ethernet, not wireless.

Static IPs don't do anything to enhance connection reliability or performance.

 

[atytse]

Tim, Thanks for replying. I was recommended Ruckus to enhance the signal and cover the whole house. I was advised in another forum to assign private IP and change the subnet mask for stability. Any other things I'm missing? My network switch just arrived so will try to use that as well...

 

[thiggins]

I was advised in another forum to assign private IP and change the subnet mask for stability.

The AP should be in the same subnet as the router, with the same subnet mask, usually 255.255.255.0. If you are going to assign a static IP, make sure it is outside the range of the ASUS' DHCP server.

If there is a DHCP server in the Ruckus, shut it off.

But as I understand it, the devices that you are having problems with are connected via Ethernet, so wireless should not be involved.

The switch won't do anything other than to let you connect more devices.

 

[atytse]

Thanks again Tim.

Can you explain a bit more about shutting off DHCP server in Ruckus? I believe it is currently enabled.

Also, do you recommend using Merlin's firmware over the official firmware? I just found out that Merlin's firmware is rather popular in this forum.

Thanks!

 

[atytse]

Also, for some reason, ASUS doesn't allow me to change subnet mask. I would love to limit the IPs since I don't need 254 IPs anyway.

Would be great if you could also let me know why the assigned IP for AP should be outside of the IP pool range (since currently it's not)...

Thanks Tim.

 

[Gingernut]

You only need one DHCP server on the network, the main router should be the main DHCP server.

Two DHCP servers on the same network can cause problems if not configured properly.

 

[Gingernut]

The assinged IP for the AP should be outside the IP pool so no other device gets given the same IP by the DHCP server, that can cause a conflict and big problems on a network.

 

[atytse]

Thanks for the quick response Gingernut!!

Can you please also comment on whether you recommend upgrading to Merlin's firmware over the official one? Is the upgrade method the same?

Do you also know why one cannot change the subnet mask on router? I wanted to change to 255.255.255.244.

 

[atytse]

Oops no wonder. I typed 244 not 224.

 

[Gingernut]

I would say to upgrade to Merlin's firmware and you can do that just the same as you would with stock.

 

[atytse]

Gingernut, my router isn't allowing me to set an IP outside of the IP Pool range (for the Access Point). Did I do something wrong?

 

[CaptainSTX]

You are doing something wrong.

First, on the device you are using make sure that you have turned the DHCP server functions off. It is generally simplier if you allow the router to handle this function.

Set your router up to assign IPs in a certain range. If your router's IP is 192.168.1.1 then a fairly conventional plan is to set the DHCP assign range to 192.168.1.100 - 119.

Then when connected to the AP assign it a static IP vs allowing it to automatically get an IP. If your primary router is 192.168.1.1 I would assign the AP an IP outside the range set above. (192.168.1.2 for instance ). It would also be possible to set the static IP using the router's manually assign function, but for network equipment that offers an option I prefer to make the assignment/selection using the network equipments built in firmware.

Before starting the process you might want to come up with an assignment scheme that will help you identify what is connected to your network.

In my network I use the following numbering plan:

192.168.1.1 - 20 - Routers, APs, Repeaters & Bridges

192.168.1.50 - 59 - Video:Satellite receivers, Slingboxes

192.168.1.60 - 69 - Telephone: 3G MicroCell, MagicJacks

192.168.1.70 -79 - Network connected printers

192.168.1.80 - 89 - Network connected storage devices


Most everything else connects using automatically assigned IPs in the range 192.168.1.100 - 119.

 

[atytse]

What do you think about turning off the firewall for the router? Maybe that is unnecessary and might help?

 

[Wisiwyg]

Highly recommended you DON'T turn off your router based firewall unless you *KNOW* there is something else between your router and the internet that is providing firewall security services...

I'm assuming you don't do this often... On manual IP address assignment...

Go to your LAN page, DHCP Server tab, and set your IP Pool Starting and Ending Address to something that will suffice your needs - something like 50 should serve up anything most home setups will need. eg Starting: 192.168.1.2 and Ending: 192.168.1.51. The previous recommendation on segments for types of devices was a very good one if you understand what they were trying to say.

Then, go to the bottom of the same page and select Enable Manual Assignment - Yes. Then go to the Manually Assigned table below that and start populating the table with the MAC ids you want to assign a unique/static IP address and start assigning them above the Ending limit you input above - 192.168.1.52 or higher.

Don't forget to hit Apply at the bottom of the page or none of these changes will stick. Recommend a Reboot, button at the very top of the page, after you have hit the Apply button and the router comes back up.

 

[RMerlin]

Also, a lot of the router features won't work properly if the Firewall gets disabled.