bioneural.net » router

Resolving router issues with Be Unlimited

Bruce — Tue, 27 May 2008 07:02:48 +0000

Be Unlimited provide ADSL2+ services in the UK, supplying a Be-branded Thompson SpeedTouch wireless router called the BeBox. The Member Forum is full of complaints about router instability and errant behaviour. My 780WL had been doing well for around 6 months, then started resetting itself sometimes several times within a short period, but at least daily. Sometimes after a reset I was left with no Internet connectivity. Eventually Be sent me a replacement router, which came with replacement problems. So how do you turn a flaky BeBox into a rock-solid Internet router? Just take the "Be" out of your BeBox. Be deny any blame Be offered me a variety of explanations and solutions for the frequent disconnection/ resets I was experiencing: The router firmware was corrupt (this was suggested by each of the 4 support staff I contacted—perhaps a stock response. I explained I couldn't replace it using a Mac—see below); Local errors my router reported were indicative of a problem between the router and my computer; Local errors my router reported were likely due to line noise (despite very good data rates it seems, and a clear Quiet Line Test—17070 option 2); The replacement router was disconnecting because I was using the wrong DNS server IP addresses (I was; Be's instructions for configuring the replacement router for a static IP were completely wrong; I got no connection at all until I was given the correct gateway IP address over the phone); Ongoing issues with the replacement router indicated that the problem was "something on my network", ...

An exercise in wireless frustration

Bruce — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 14:17:34 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

Having spent the better part of two half days trying to achieve the impossible, I wish to recount an exercise in wireless frustration. The challenge was to hook up an iMac G4 (Flat Panel) with no Airport Card, located in the attic room, to my home LAN (and thus to the Internet). One purpose of this machine was to serve as a screen for streamed video that could be watched while using the exercise cycle. A TV had provided such distraction, but that had broke. To cement the challenge, the problem should be solved using equipment already to hand i.e. at no additional cost. My "BeBox", the hub of my home LAN, is actually a SpeedTouch 780WL WiFi router/ ADSL modem. The router's wireless access point (WAP) offers 802.11b/g, which is secured with Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) encryption—the earlier Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) standard is considered insecure. A slow, insecure option that worked It's worth noting that the original Apple Aiport Card appropriate for this machine can still be had on eBay for £30–40. Although this card is WPA-aware, it is only 802.11b (11Mbps) and thus not suitable for streaming. I know this to be so because the first device I tried was the Linksys WET11, a wireless Ethernet bridge. For the record, because it took me some time to discover, this device has a factory-default IP of 192.168.1.225. However, before you can connect to it using Safari (or any other browser), you need to manually assign your Mac an IP address in ...

Make a persisting link to an AFP share

Bruce — Fri, 02 Jan 2004 16:11:48 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

You'll need to register a free domain name at DynDNS.org and providing you keep this account updated with your current IP address, other folk don't need to worry about typing in a variable IP address in order to reach your AFP share: the domain name is always resolved to the correct IP address. Register a domain name for free Go to the Dynamic Network Services Web site at http://www.dyndns.org/ and create an account. Once you've had the account activation e-mail, log on to your account and in "Your Hosts & Zones", click "Add Host" next to "Dynamic DNS". Enter a hostname and click "Add Host"; your IP address should already be displayed. Turn on Personal File Sharing on the Mac Personal File Sharing allows other Mac users to access just the Public folder on your computer (if they sign on as a Guest) at afp://192.168.1.10/ or afp://myplace.net (for example), or to browse for the name of your computer by choosing Network from the Go menu in the Finder. It uses the Apple File Protocol on ports 548 and 427. PFS can be activated/ deactivated from the System Preferences Sharing preference pane. Turn on AFP port-redirection if you have a NAT router Read how here. Create an AFP location file Type the URL of your new domain name into the address bar in Safari: You could add this as a Bookmark and Safari will pass the request to mount the share to the Finder when you select it. Alternatively, click-and-hold on the blue globe (see above picture) and drag it to the desktop. This ...

Mac OS X sharing services and NAT routers

Bruce — Fri, 02 Jan 2004 15:18:18 +0000

From http://www.bioneural.net :

If you want to enable Personal File Sharing, Windows Sharing, Personal Web Sharing, or FTP Access, here is what you need to know to make these services accessible to users the other side of your NAT router... What are sharing services? Personal File Sharing: Allows other Mac users to access the Public folder on your computer (if they sign on as a Guest) at afp://192.168.1.10/ (for example) or browse for the name of your computer by choosing Network from the Go menu in the Finder. Uses the Apple File Protocol, which Apple describes as the "the richest protocol for Macintosh file services", on ports 548 and 427. Note that if the user knows your Mac OS X user name and administrator password, they could log on and see all your files with same same privileges as yourself. Windows Sharing: Allows Windows users to access your Mac at \\192.168.1.10\yourhome (for example). Uses the Server Message Block/ Common Internet File System or SMB/ CIFS protocol on port 139. Note that this service does not need to be turned on in order for you to connect to Windows shares by browsing Network in Panther's Finder (SMB connections to a Windows machine can allow you to share e.g. a PC floppy drive, printer etc. To connect you a Windows SMB share from Mac OS Connect to server menu, use the syntax smb://workgroup;server/share. Fro example: smb://mshome;192.168.1.10/mydocuments Personal Web Sharing: Allows Mac or Windows users to view your computer?s Web site at e.g. http://192.168.1.10 or your personal Web site at e.g. ...