Re: Linksys WRT150N vs. WRT54G

On Thu, 01 Jul 2010 08:30:50 -0400, Robert Peirce
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>I have a VNC app that needs to know the IP address of a computer in
>order to access it. The WRT150N allows you to "reserve" an IP as part
>of the setup screen. I cannot find this on the WRT54G. Maybe it isn't
>there. If it isn't, is there a work-around?

You're right, the stock WRT54G firmware doesn't offer that capability.
You could possibly upgrade to 3rd party firmware, but that seems like
overkill in this case.

Can you simply assign a static IP address to the target computer?

On Thu, 01 Jul 2010 19:32:02 -0400, Robert Peirce
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>In article <(E-Mail Removed)>,
> Char Jackson <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 01 Jul 2010 08:30:50 -0400, Robert Peirce
>> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>
>> >I have a VNC app that needs to know the IP address of a computer in
>> >order to access it. The WRT150N allows you to "reserve" an IP as part
>> >of the setup screen. I cannot find this on the WRT54G. Maybe it isn't
>> >there. If it isn't, is there a work-around?
>>
>> You're right, the stock WRT54G firmware doesn't offer that capability.
>> You could possibly upgrade to 3rd party firmware, but that seems like
>> overkill in this case.
>>
>> Can you simply assign a static IP address to the target computer?
>
>That's what I am trying to do. The router assigns an address depending,
>I guess, on when various devices join. Right now I am using the address
>that was given to the computer until that changes, but I would like to
>assign a static address as I do on the WRT150N.

Can you simply assign a static IP address to the target computer?
Forget the router, just assign it on the target computer. Do you have
the proper access to do that?

>The network address is assigned by Verizon and that changes as well.
>However, I am using no-ip.com to trap that.

Good, so once you make the target computer's IP static, you should be
all set.

On Fri, 02 Jul 2010 19:26:20 -0400, Robert Peirce
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>In article <(E-Mail Removed)>,
> Char Jackson <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> Can you simply assign a static IP address to the target computer?
>> Forget the router, just assign it on the target computer. Do you have
>> the proper access to do that?
>
>How would I do that? I can if I know how.

The steps vary slightly, depending on which OS is running on that
computer. Here's an example of how to assign a static IP in Windows
XP. http://www.hotcomm.com/faq/faq_staticipxp.asp

>What would the router do with that information?

The router doesn't care how IP addresses were assigned, as long as the
address is in the proper subnet and the other requirements are met,
which the link above (or a similar site) will help provide.

Holler if you get stuck. Plenty of people around here can help.

On Sat, 03 Jul 2010 07:43:58 -0400, Robert Peirce
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>In article <(E-Mail Removed)>,
> Char Jackson <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> The steps vary slightly, depending on which OS is running on that
>> computer. Here's an example of how to assign a static IP in Windows
>> XP. http://www.hotcomm.com/faq/faq_staticipxp.asp
>
>This turns out to be more trouble than it is worth. The problem is one
>of my routers operates at 192.168.0 and the other is 192.168.1 and the
>computer has to be in one of those ranges.

I'm not sure what trouble you're having. Setting a static IP on one
computer should take 30-60 seconds, and it's a one time task. Why are
the routers getting involved and causing confusion?

>It is easier to find out
>what IP the WRT54G has assigned and set up port forwarding for that IP
>than it is to create a static IP for one router and revert to automatic
>for the other.

No, I'm saying you should leave the two routers alone and set a static
IP on the computer you're trying to access.

>The ideal, of course, would be if the WRT54G could "reserve" an IP for a
>particular machine like the WRT150N can. Maybe I need to buy a new
>router.

It would be inconceivable to me to consider purchasing a new router
before configuring the computer with a static IP or exploring the
possibility of loading the existing router with new firmware. Static
IP's and firmware are free, while new hardware isn't.

An extreme example of what you're proposing is to buy a new car
because you don't like the current radio station. :-)

On Mon, 05 Jul 2010 18:30:36 -0400, Robert Peirce
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>In article <(E-Mail Removed)>,
> Char Jackson <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> On Sat, 03 Jul 2010 07:43:58 -0400, Robert Peirce
>> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>
>> >In article <(E-Mail Removed)>,
>> > Char Jackson <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>> >
>> >> The steps vary slightly, depending on which OS is running on that
>> >> computer. Here's an example of how to assign a static IP in Windows
>> >> XP. http://www.hotcomm.com/faq/faq_staticipxp.asp
>> >
>> >This turns out to be more trouble than it is worth. The problem is one
>> >of my routers operates at 192.168.0 and the other is 192.168.1 and the
>> >computer has to be in one of those ranges.
>>
>> I'm not sure what trouble you're having. Setting a static IP on one
>> computer should take 30-60 seconds, and it's a one time task. Why are
>> the routers getting involved and causing confusion?
>>
>> >It is easier to find out
>> >what IP the WRT54G has assigned and set up port forwarding for that IP
>> >than it is to create a static IP for one router and revert to automatic
>> >for the other.
>>
>> No, I'm saying you should leave the two routers alone and set a static
>> IP on the computer you're trying to access.
>>
>> >The ideal, of course, would be if the WRT54G could "reserve" an IP for a
>> >particular machine like the WRT150N can. Maybe I need to buy a new
>> >router.
>>
>> It would be inconceivable to me to consider purchasing a new router
>> before configuring the computer with a static IP or exploring the
>> possibility of loading the existing router with new firmware. Static
>> IP's and firmware are free, while new hardware isn't.
>>
>> An extreme example of what you're proposing is to buy a new car
>> because you don't like the current radio station. :-)
>
>What I am saying is one router uses the range 192.168.1.100-150 and the
>other uses 192.168.0,100-150. As I understand, the static IP has to be
>in the allowable range for the router and I can't change either router
>to have the same addresses as the other. Consequently, if I set a
>static ip when I am on one router, I will have to change it when I am on
>the other.

Are you trying to say that the computer which you're accessing is
being physically moved from one location to another? I don't think
you've mentioned that before, so I assumed that this computer was in
one place and that you needed to access it from one or more _other_
places.

>Since I can reserve an IP on the WRT150N, it is easier to determine what
>IP the WRT54G has assigned and to modify port forwarding accordingly.
>It appears that once set the IP doesn't change as long as the network is
>up so this is something I only need to do once when I switch locations
>and not at all when I switch back.

Wait, are _you_ switching locations, or is the _computer_ switching
locations?? Your confusion is starting to splash over everything.

If the computer is staying in one place, then it needs to be on the
same subnet as the router to which it is physically attached. No other
routers need to be considered.

On Tue, 06 Jul 2010 18:41:14 -0400, Robert Peirce
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>In article <(E-Mail Removed)>,
> Char Jackson <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> Are you trying to say that the computer which you're accessing is
>> being physically moved from one location to another? I don't think
>> you've mentioned that before, so I assumed that this computer was in
>> one place and that you needed to access it from one or more _other_
>> places.
>
>Sorry. I thought the fact I was trying to connect to routers in two
>locations explained what I am trying to do.

Nope, not even close, and if I finally understand what you're doing,
it means I *still* had it exactly backwards in my most recent post,
quoted above. Yikes, I'm not doing very well.

>Yes, I take the computer, a
>laptop, from my home, where I have a WRT150N, which can reserve IPs, to
>a vacation home where I have a WRT54G, which cannot.

Ok, I thought you said the computer you were accessing is moving, but
now I see that the other computer is stationary and it's the laptop
that's moving. So then the question becomes, which of the two
computers is initiating the VNC connection? If it's the laptop, you
shouldn't need port forwarding since the router will automatically
forward to the laptop. Since you say you need port forwarding, does
that mean the other computer is initiating the VNC connection to your
laptop? If so, would it be easier to switch it so that the laptop is
initiating the VNC connection, thereby avoiding the whole port
forwarding deal?

Alternatively, is it feasible to turn off DHCP at one of the laptop
locations? If so, you could use the Windows "Alternate Configuration"
feature to configure one location for DHCP and the other location for
a static IP, thereby allowing the laptop to automagically configure
itself in both locations. If that's not feasible, you could use an app
to switch network profiles, or write a small batch file to do the same
thing.

Here are some links to apps to get you started.
http://software-central.berkeley.edu...Netswitcher+II
http://www.brothersoft.com/easy-net-switch-55372.html
http://www.brothersoft.com/downloads/net-switch.html
http://3d2f.com/programs/58-037-easy...download.shtml
http://www.easynetswitch.com/
http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/B...itch-free.html
http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/N...et_Switch.html

On Tue, 06 Jul 2010 23:39:05 -0500, Char Jackson <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>Alternatively, is it feasible to turn off DHCP at one of the laptop
>locations? If so, you could use the Windows "Alternate Configuration"
>feature to configure one location for DHCP and the other location for
>a static IP, thereby allowing the laptop to automagically configure
>itself in both locations.

I meant to include this Microsoft link to help you set up Alternate
Configuration, in case you think that would work.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/283676

On Wed, 07 Jul 2010 23:48:30 +0200, Rambo <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>There is no "other computer" ...
>I believe that there is only *one* computer, the laptop.
>And *two* routers : WRT150N at home and WRT54G at vacation location.

It turns out that the other computer is an iPod. When you're making a
VNC connection, you need two endpoints for that connection.

On Wed, 07 Jul 2010 12:50:10 -0400, Robert Peirce
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>In article <(E-Mail Removed)>,
> Char Jackson <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> Ok, I thought you said the computer you were accessing is moving, but
>> now I see that the other computer is stationary and it's the laptop
>> that's moving. So then the question becomes, which of the two
>> computers is initiating the VNC connection?
>
>Oh, boy! I am not explaining this well. I have a laptop that I use at
>home and at my vacation home. I have an app on my iPod called Mocha VNC
>Lite that I can use from any public WiFi location to access my computer.
>It uses port 5900 to access VNC on the computer. I don't need it often,
>but when I need it, I need it.

The smoke clears! Thanks, that helps a lot. :-)

>There are two problems. One is that I use Verizon DSL so my external IP
>is not constant. I use no-ip to get around that. Second, the router
>needs to forward port 5900 to my laptop. At home (WRT150N), I can
>reserve an internal IP for the computer and port forward to that IP. I
>can set it and forget it.
>
>I can't do that on vacation (WRT54G) because the router can't reserve an
>IP. However, I noticed that once the network is up at my vacation home
>the internal IP doesn't change. Therefore, I decided the easiest route
>was to note the IP that was assigned by the router and tell the router
>to forward port 5900 traffic to that IP.

Agreed, that will work.

Like I mentioned, though, if you can turn off DHCP at the WRT54G
location then everything can be made automatic. The laptop would
request an IP address from the WRT160 and would always get the same
one because that router knows how to reserve the address, but at the
WRT54G location the laptop wouldn't be able to get an IP address via
DHCP (because you'd have DHCP turned off) so it would use the static
IP address you've told it to use. Free, easy, and automatic, but it
requires that you turn off DHCP at the WRT54G location, which may
cause other issues of you have multiple DHCP-enabled computers at that
location. Microsoft calls this "Alternate Configuration".

>In theory, I should only have to do this once when I fire up my DSL
>modem and router. While that is more than zero, it seems to require
>less work than any other alternative I have seen. Further, if I am
>careful of the order in which I bring up the computers when I am on
>vacation, there is a chance the router will assign the same IP each
>time. I haven't checked that, but it makes sense. Then I may just have
>to remember to connect to the network the same way each time.

The options, in no particular order:
1. Manually forward port 5900 to the laptop's IP when you go to the
vacation home, as you're doing now.

2. Upgrade the WRT54G to another WRT160, if you otherwise like your
other router, then reserve an IP address and permanently forward port
5900 to that IP.

3. Use Microsoft's Alternate Configuration feature.

4. Use one of many free 'net switcher' tools to assign your preferred
IP address to the laptop at the WRT54G location. Permanently forward
port 5900 to that IP in the router.

Did I miss anything?

"Char Jackson" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Wed, 07 Jul 2010 23:48:30 +0200, Rambo <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote:
>
>>There is no "other computer" ...
>>I believe that there is only *one* computer, the laptop.
>>And *two* routers : WRT150N at home and WRT54G at vacation location.
>
> It turns out that the other computer is an iPod. When you're making a
> VNC connection, you need two endpoints for that connection.
>
Correct, i realized my stupide reaction just after sending it :-)