Steve's workshop - Painting the outside walls

[Steve Maskery]

Yes, I figured it would make a decent COSHH cupboard.

 

[Racers]

Steve give me a shout if you have problems with the cat5, I have plugs crimps etc.

Pete

 

[Steve Maskery]

Pete came today. I'd already installed a pair of Cat5 modules down in the workshop. It took me over an hour. I used to install them every day at one time, but I had to read the instructions for the wiring. I also held the punching tool back to front so I snipped off all the wires on the wrong side of the little forks and had to do it all again. Dork. And my knees didn't like it one bit, so when Pete said he'd come over I thought I'd better leave something for him to do.

So he very kindly - and swiftly - connected up the house end and we set to trying to configure the repeater.

I'd bought a TP-Link box, which can be configured as an AP, a bridge, a repeater. There are half a dozen different options. I reckoned it should be a repeater But every time we changed any of the default parameters, the thing disappeared off the radar. The computer could no longer see it. The only way was to do a factory reset and try something else. We watched a TY video of how to do it. We were on the right lines, but every time we tried, it dropped out.

Eventually we gave up.

We'd briefly seen something about a firmware upgrade, so I did a bit of digging and found that there was an update available. I had to be careful to get the right update for the right hardware version, but I was sure I was right and pressed the button.

Lo and behold I got a Login page straight away and from then on it behave exactly as I would have expected.

So having got it working sitting next to the computer, I plugged it in at the conservatory endand walked down the garden. Normally the wifi signal would drop as I walk by the log cabin, but it was still quite strong even standing outside the workshop door.

Once inside, however, there was a significant drop in strength. It was there, but just one bar.

Way back last summer, Eric the Viking gave me a little Edimax box which he used to use as an extender. I didn't know the password so I couldn't connect to it, not even after guessing - successfully - how to do a factory reset. But I downloaded the manual and found out why. Its IP address is not in the same range as the rest of my network.

So I spent some time changing my own IP address and learning what was in its interface and making lots of mistakes. I couldn't get it to connect wirelessly to the TP-Link. Down in the workshop I could connect weakly to my home wifi through the TP-Link box and strongly to the Edimax, but the Edimax was not talking to the TP-Link.

But then I found a couple of patch leads, connected both boxes through the Cat5 that we'd laid down the garden and bingo, I have 5 bars of wifi signal and internet access in my workshop through my home wifi. - Result!

Thanks for all your help Pete, nice to see you.

 

[Racers]

Excellent news Steve, these simple things get quite complicated sometimes don't they!

Pete

 

[Baldhead]

simple things get quite complicated sometimes don't they!

Pete

Too true Pete.

First off my I point out I know absolutely b.....r all about computers (ok I can send emails, log onto the Internet etc etc but how or why they work......?)
So
CAT5 modules, TP-Link box, AP, TY video and Edimax box are all double Dutch to me, however IP address I believe means Internet Provider?
Steve your post made me laugh (something I haven't been doing a lot of lately), I didn't and still don't have a clue what your on about, but I'm pleased you got it sorted.

Baldhead
PS I linked my iPad to my iPhone all by myself (but I'm not sure how I did it) :lol:
Enjoying the thread too.

 

[Eric The Viking]

Well done Steve and Pete!

As you know, those little Edimax things have almost driven me nuts (as in 'ran over a dead cat and almost killed it') in the past. They're handy problem solvers, but it's annoying that they default to a temporary, 'silly' subnet. The moment you save settings, they'll switch subnets, so even though they're now on your 'normal' subnet, your temporarily-configured PC won't be looking in the right place.

In due course, if you can get a cable from the workshop directly into the back of the cable/ADSL modem (in the house) it will be quite a bit faster.

Also, given that the workshop is fairly "leaky" in terms of WiFI getting out, for security it would be sensible to give your router a list of permitted MAC addresses for the devices you intend to use on your network, and block everything else. That should stop any little local oiks sitting in their back bedrooms with Pringles cans and using your bandwidth to download snuff movies. Also turn off "SSID broadcast" on the repeater down in the workshop. You'll have to manually enter the SSID on client devices (one time only - it's stored), but it means there's no WiFi network name to be discovered by anyone searching. It doesn't add any security, but it does deter casual hackers.

E.

PS:

You can work around the 'lost-the-box' issue by temporarily giving the PC a static IP address and changing the netmask (see below) so that it can 'see' both the temporary subnet for the box and your usual one, together. Once you're done, you just put the PC back to it's normal settings.

Most PC netmasks default to either nothing at all or 255.255.255.0 , so they will only 'see' the subnet of their own IP address. That means, if your home network is 192.168.1.xxx, the PC will only connect directly to anything in the address range:
192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.255 (some of these are 'reserved,' but you get the idea).
For everything else it needs to use a router - which can't help in this specific case.

IIRC, those Edimax boxes start off on 192.168.2.xxx, so, unmolested, the laptop can't see them.

Changing the laptop's mask (n.b. NOT its IP address!) to "255.255.0.0" should let it connect directly to stuff on all subnets starting 192.168.xxx.xxx.

To find the Edimax box (or whatever-it-is - lots of stuff works this way), you'll still need to type the box's new IP address into the browser's URL bar once you've saved its settings, but it should then connect without issues (he said, naively). Once you're done, just go back to "Choose an IP address automatically", or whatever.

No, I don't know why it needs all this fussing about, either!

 

[morfa]

simple things get quite complicated sometimes don't they!

Pete

So CAT5 modules, TP-Link box, AP, TY video and Edimax box are all double Dutch to me, however IP address I believe means Internet Provider?
Steve your post made me laugh (something I haven't been doing a lot of lately), I didn't and still don't have a clue what your on about, but I'm pleased you got it sorted.

Warning, boring glossary for the non-technical.

The IP in IP address stands for Internet Protocol. Which is a number assigned to a device connected to a network. The number is represented in a human readable form called dotted decimal, which would look something like this - 192.168.1.100.

CAT5 is the cable and the module is the box which provides the plugs to plug the cable into. AP is Access Point, which is a wireless access point, which forms part of the wireless network. TP-Link and Edimax are companies which sell networking equipment.

ISP is Internet Service Provider (eg Sky, Talk Talk etc).

Hope you found some of that interesting/useful.

 

[Baldhead]

Well done Steve and Pete!

As you know, those little Edimax things have almost driven me nuts (as in 'ran over a dead cat and almost killed it') in the past. They're handy problem solvers, but it's annoying that they default to a temporary, 'silly' subnet. The moment you save settings, they'll switch subnets, so even though they're now on your 'normal' subnet, your temporarily-configured PC won't be looking in the right place.

In due course, if you can get a cable from the workshop directly into the back of the cable/ADSL modem (in the house) it will be quite a bit faster.

Also, given that the workshop is fairly "leaky" in terms of WiFI getting out, for security it would be sensible to give your router a list of permitted MAC addresses for the devices you intend to use on your network, and block everything else. That should stop any little local oiks sitting in their back bedrooms with Pringles cans and using your bandwidth to download snuff movies. Also turn off "SSID broadcast" on the repeater down in the workshop. You'll have to manually enter the SSID on client devices (one time only - it's stored), but it means there's no WiFi network name to be discovered by anyone searching. It doesn't add any security, but it does deter casual hackers.

E.

PS:

You can work around the 'lost-the-box' issue by temporarily giving the PC a static IP address and changing the netmask (see below) so that it can 'see' both the temporary subnet for the box and your usual one, together. Once you're done, you just put the PC back to it's normal settings.

Most PC netmasks default to either nothing at all or 255.255.255.0 , so they will only 'see' the subnet of their own IP address. That means, if your home network is 192.168.1.xxx, the PC will only connect directly to anything in the address range:
192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.255 (some of these are 'reserved,' but you get the idea).
For everything else it needs to use a router - which can't help in this specific case.

IIRC, those Edimax boxes start off on 192.168.2.xxx, so, unmolested, the laptop can't see them.

Changing the laptop's mask (n.b. NOT its IP address!) to "255.255.0.0" should let it connect directly to stuff on all subnets starting 192.168.xxx.xxx.

To find the Edimax box (or whatever-it-is - lots of stuff works this way), you'll still need to type the box's new IP address into the browser's URL bar once you've saved its settings, but it should then connect without issues (he said, naively). Once you're done, just go back to "Choose an IP address automatically", or whatever.

No, I don't know why it needs all this fussing about, either!

Steve as Eric says :wink:

Baldhead

 

[Baldhead]

simple things get quite complicated sometimes don't they!

Pete

So CAT5 modules, TP-Link box, AP, TY video and Edimax box are all double Dutch to me, however IP address I believe means Internet Provider?
Steve your post made me laugh (something I haven't been doing a lot of lately), I didn't and still don't have a clue what your on about, but I'm pleased you got it sorted.

Warning, boring glossary for the non-technical.

The IP in IP address stands for Internet Protocol. Which is a number assigned to a device connected to a network. The number is represented in a human readable form called dotted decimal, which would look something like this - 192.168.1.100.

CAT5 is the cable and the module is the box which provides the plugs to plug the cable into. AP is Access Point, which is a wireless access point, which forms part of the wireless network. TP-Link and Edimax are companies which sell networking equipment.

ISP is Internet Service Provider (eg Sky, Talk Talk etc).

Hope you found some of that interesting/useful.

NO. I thought IP meant Internet Provider, I even got that wrong :lol:

Baldhead

 

[Steve Maskery]

LOL everybody!

I didn't know about changing the subnet mask to get round it, I simply gave my Mac a suitable static IP address until after I'd re-addressed the Edimax.
I have done MAC address filtering before, but not much and I can't remember anything about it. I might have to give you a ring, Eric. I have switched off the SSID broadcast though.

Off to visit Mum today, she's had another fall and is hospital.

 

[Eric The Viking]

Sorry to hear about Mum. 'Twas my dad's 85th last week-end - looking horribly frail now.

Take her what my daughter used to call 'smelly' flowers!

E.

 

[AES]

Sorry to hear about your Mum Steve. "Gute Besserung.

@Baldhead:

Don't worry Sir, you're not alone. I too did not understand one word of all that stuff that Steve and EtV wrote. And even Morfa's glossary didn't help stupid old me much at all (it's one thing to "know" what all these initials and acronyms stand for, it's quite another to understand what they really mean)!

But the main thing is that (IF I understood it at all), Steve now has internet and who knows what other capabilities on tap in his wood workers video palace! Looking forward to some sassy Router jig videos soon now.

More power to the elbow (and the pull-throughs) Steve.

Krgds
AES

 

[kostello]

It means that he can spend all day watching videos of cats instead of work........

Just like me.!!!!!!

 

[Brentingby]

It means that he can spend all day watching videos of cats instead of work........

Just like me.!!!!!!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

It's a good thing if you're allergic to cats.

 

[Steve Maskery]

I Spoke too soon.
This morning I decided to do a speed test in the house and down in the workshop. I went down there and my phone said that the network was Out of Range. Given that I was standing next to the box it was difficult to understand. I could still connect to the weak signal from the TP-Link in the conservatory, but the Edimax box was not playing ball. The lights were on but nobody was home.

The only difference from yesterday was to switch f the SSID broadcast and change the Gateway from the TP-Link that I had set it to, to the main Virgin router that everything else points to. I don't see how that would stop it from working.

I might just have to pester Eric tomorrow...

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

sometimes my wireless access point seems to "forget" the main router and in those situations I just reboot it and it usually rediscovers it and self fixes. Equally my router kindly loses connection with the exchange somehow and rebooting that seems to fix it too.

Basically if in doubt, reboot everything as a first diagnostic tactic.

 

[Bigdanny]

Hi Steve,
Like you I have a TP Link for the last couple of years.WHen someone yesterday started saying about SSID settings I started to look at my settings. I noticed I had never updated my firmware . Something you may want to check. You will need to do factory reset as part of the upgrade, but if you continue to have probs it may be something you want to look at.
My cable co has been playing with the connection again since the new year. I tried a speedtest and seem to have around 80Mb/s connection so very happy. Not bad for a village.
Hope it helps with firmware
D

 

[wcndave]

There's usually 3 different symptoms.

- can't see wifi signal
- can see wifi signal (say on a laptop or phone), however can't connect
- can connect however can't get "online"

Changing the SSID would only affect the first 2, and the gateway would affect the last one.

One thing to be careful about when using multiple devices on a network like this is that only one of them (probably your virgin router) has DHCP enabled. If you get multiple DHCP servers on one network, that can really mess stuff up.

Try turning the SSID on and see if that works.

In general I change one thing at a time and retest for all network stuff, so change gateway, test, then change SSID, test. That way when it breaks you usually know the cause.

 

[Steve Maskery]

After a very helpful conversation with EtV, it is now working perfectly.
I have the main router which covers the house, but which weakens as soon as I walk into the conservatory.
I have the TP-link set as a Bridge/AP in the conservatory, which boosts the signal in the garden and sends the signal down the wire to the workshop.
I have the Edimax box in the workshop set as an AP.

DHCP is switched off on all except the Router. MAC address filtering on the wireless boxes. So I gather that should make it fairly secure.

My phone stays connected to whichever box it is talking to at any point in time, and as soon as it is out of range it connects again to the appropriate box. Seamless. The only problem is that if the signal is weak but still there, it doesn't automatically switch to the stronger signal, but that is not really a problem, as by the time I am inside the workshop it has dropped the house signal anyway.

I think it really is sorted this time. Furthermore, I think I actually understand what is going on!

 

[SimonB]

Setting all SSIDs to the same name should overcome the problem of hanging onto a weak signal. The client device (at least Windows & iOS devices IMO) will then remain connected to the strongest signal at any location, although there may be a few seconds delay initially after you relocate.