Lessons for the day

[mouser.livejournal.com]

Lesson #1: A cheap Linksys router can actually handle a lot of traffic from a lot of laptops. "50 laptops? It is to laugh!"

Lesson #2: When they all try to connect within 5 seconds of each other? Leeetle problem. BUT! It can recover if you give it a minute.

Lesson #3: If every one of the laptops has the same goddamn name, it MAY cause a few problems. "Which one of you was Spartacus again?" (Note: It will allow it though, and deals with it *fairly* well - even if EVERY one in the class is asking why their computers complains at connection time.)

Comments

[lightforce.livejournal.com]

"Which one of you was Spartacus again?"
*sporfle*

[phrogg.livejournal.com]

Those are what i used to hodge-podge a network together from equipment we inherited from the company we replaced, when i was deployed.

[wxgeek.livejournal.com]

Good thing this post caught me between sips, or you would be owing me one ancient IBM clicky-keyboard. :D

[starzz.livejournal.com]

lol

[snyperwolf.livejournal.com]

I can't tell, are those lil linksys's really that awesome, or are you being sarcastic?

I've always stood by my $40 linksys wireless router/switch/wirewall/(everything). Perfect for the home user ... and apparently, the not-so-home-user.

[mattcaron.livejournal.com]

WRT54G/WRT54GL w/ DD-WRT firmware is teh awesomes.

[mattcaron.livejournal.com]

Question: How unique Lesson #3 to this router? I mean, assuming that these are Windows machines, if they all connect at once there is going to be a huge flurry of traffic as they all announce "I'm here!" and try to go through "who is the SMB master?!? elections", and if they all have the same name, then they will get pissed off at each other.. but this would happen if they connected to any network, right? I guess I'm just curious if you've hacked some other interesting or useful service into your little Linksys router... ;-)

[mattcaron.livejournal.com]

The buckling spring w/ individual through hole soldered connectors? A little spillage wouldn't bother it. Unplug, wipe out, let dry overnight. Electrical shorts in most keyboards end up being random keypresses, not zzaps...

It's the friggin air-gap ones with the painted on contacts that get dissolved by anything which really die.

[siliconshaman.livejournal.com]

and the meta-lesson here is: cheap =/= crap or expensive =/= good.

[mouser.livejournal.com]

Linksys products of all types rock. No sarcasm.

When we fired our outsourced networking company that ran our common areas, we replaced their two commercial grade points with off-the-shelf home type units.

BETTER and STRONGER signal with FEWER problems. Still a few, but RARE!

[ptstech.livejournal.com]

WARNING! This post is incompatible with consumption of foodstuffs.

Now, where'd those wipes go...

[mouser.livejournal.com]

Off the shelf 100%. In fact, I did a factory reset on them and just changed the password/increased the DHCP count to 100 from the factory setting of 50.

It's meant to be an "ANYONE CAN USE ME! REALLY!!" access point.

[mouser.livejournal.com]

Only problem I have is that some of the Access Point hardware (WAP54G/WRE54G, not main router) requires a Windows machine with software to configure it.

I'm liking the WRE54G for home use, though.

[manuka.livejournal.com]

We've found the practical limit to most consumer-grade WiFi stuff is around 25 clients.

As I type this, I'm on a call to NetGear tech support to return not one but four access points that have all managed to brick themselves within 6 months of plugging them in. I suspect when the replacement units arrive, they'll go into the donation pile and not back into service.

[mouser.livejournal.com]

I've never like NetGear or dLink, personally. They tend to lockup (not brick level) WAY too often.

[mouser.livejournal.com]

True - It's why I've got still got some 10mbps switches still in place. (Well, aside from the fact one of them makes a handy shelf on one of my racks...)

[mattcaron.livejournal.com]

The WRT54G's are web-based.. and then you change the firmware so you can use https/ssh/whatever.

As for the WRE, you can use the WRT54G + DD-WRT firmware to act as an extender/bridge/uplink/whatever. I've had it as another AP all wired together so you flip between them as you move around the house, and as a bridge so that I didn't have to pull cable to my office (which was in the previous apartment). They're wonderfully flexible. I think the next thing for it is to install a SIP proxy on it to cure my wife's VOIP woes.

[heinousbitca.livejournal.com]

i just soak the keyboard with 90% rubbing alcohol and fli it over right fast.

Mine came from far enough back that it has an XT part number on the bottom.

Old Big Blue keyboards are love.

[glitteringlynx.livejournal.com]

I cried when my D-Link died, and I really don't like the Cisco SMC router we have now.

I may need to check out Linksys. I had been told it can be a pain in the ass, but your post has given me renewed hope.

[glitteringlynx.livejournal.com]

Okay apparently the SMC isn't Cisco. I was confusing it for our cable modem, I think.

[mouser.livejournal.com]

Cisco = LinkSys (for small values of Cisco)

SMC is off on it's own like dLink and NetGear...

[glitteringlynx.livejournal.com]

Yeh, my bf clarified me up on that. Apparently Linksys *was* terrible before Cisco bought them up.

[jimbojones.livejournal.com]

If they ceased being terrible, it was sometime *well* after Cisco bought them. I got to the point where when I went out to a customer site with networking problems, and saw a Linksys router in place, I'd IMMEDIATELY look for "broken router"... and find it.

Hate hate HATE those goddamn things.

D-Link used to make good consumer-spec gear, but now they've become more interested in putting Flash into the web interface and using markety words like "GameFuel!!!!omgz0rz!!" than, you know, actually putting out a solid product with a consistent and full featureset. Netgear makes great small/med biz stuff in their ProSafe line, but the consumer crap is... CRAP. Especially the one with the 10 multicolored LED's in a circle on the top, that all flash in epilepsy-inducing circly patterns. Bling-bling, who's gettin' paid in tha Escalaaaade...?

Buffalo WAS making really great cheap extremely full-featured consumer-grade gear, but they lost a patent lawsuit so all their shit is off the shelves right now.

Sigh.

[davetheinverted]

My local supplier moved from selling a ton of Linksys to selling a ton of Netgear mostly because of Linksys's insane return policies. To RMA a piece of Linksys gear, he had to hook up the unit to a computer, call Linksys, wait on hold for 20 minutes, go through the complete 15-minute troubleshooting process, and get his RMA number. He could *not* do multiple units on the same call; Linksys required him to hang up, call again, and wait on hold for each individual unit. To return a piece of Netgear gear, he waits until he has 5 or 10, packs them into a box, and ships them back. Netgear then sends him new stuff.

And the return rate is about the same, maybe a bit in Netgear's favor.


Dav2.718

[mouser.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't know about LinkSys's return policy. The units I've dealt with have all outlasted any possible warranty

[mouser.livejournal.com]

LinkSys is all I recommend for people to put in their houses now.

[jecook]

Gods yes.

I had a laptop survive getting coffee'd only to get owned by juice about a month later. I was... not pleased with the owner.

[jecook]

Ouchies.

and that's post borging from Cisco, right?

*looks at the ANCIENT WAP11 that's still chugging along*

I guess I'll have to try me some netgear stuff when this old kit finally gives up the ghost, if it does that.

I can't remember: Does Netgear make power over Ethernet (POE) kits for their stuff, or do I have to bodge something togather?

[jecook]

So THATS what happened to them...

Hawking is another one of those 'who the hell are they?' companies. I've had a consumer grade firewall from them for a while and it's a tank.

[mattcaron.livejournal.com]

See.. the problem there is that laptops have important bits under the keyboard..

[mattcaron.livejournal.com]

And actually, on that note, I'm looking at toughbooks for my next laptop.. So far, my Thinkpad has lasted the longest, but these plastic undercarriages just don't cut it, there's a big ass crack in the underside because the screen is too heavy and it flexes a little every time you pick it up.

The two Dells I had before that ended up having the hinges tear loose from the backs.

[davetheinverted]

We haven't seen many fail either, and they're nicely configurable. (But when you're supplying hundreds of IT professionals (as my supplier does), at least half an hour per return adds up right quick.)

Dav2.718

[ace-brickman.livejournal.com]

+1

goin' on 4 years here with no troubles & no regrets

[mattcaron.livejournal.com]

Mine is actually an SGI knockoff. It doesn't have the exact same buckling spring design, but rather the switch on to which the key is mounted has a very nice tactile response - probably a spring integral to the switch. Each switch is an individually mounted component on the printed circuit board.