Router Setup - What do YOU use for your router's name? Why?

the router name is a bit more important for wireless devices, it will be listed in available wireless networks so choosing an appropriate name makes it easier to find the correct network to connect to. Also if your running dns then you can typing 'ping routername' rather than ping 192.168.1.1 - you can also do this with your hosts file if you dont have dns.

My servers and network devices are all named after greek gods, some people arent as creative and may opt for simple names such as 'gw- router', 'mainswitch' etc.

you can't leave it blank, in general networking terms it could be nameless without any issues, however the software on the device wont allow it to not have a name.

Flamer.

Are you confusing the SSID with the ROUTER NAME? Or am I? The router setup asks for an SSID and a ROUTER NAME. I understand why they ask for an SSID (I named mine "Mikey") but why does the wireless home router need a router NAME?

ah right, usually these two values are set the same.

Flamer.

Use whatever you like. It doesn't matter.

That's my whole question to you experts.

If it doesn't matter what the router NAME is, then why does the Linksys router setup REQUIRE a router name to be entered?

Am Thu, 24 May 2007 14:42:23 +0000 schrieb Mike S.:

OK, you need to call him sausage or crabpot. You also could google for man hostname.

"Mike S." hath wroth:

Easy. It's like kids. They can function just as well without a name. You can also change their name at any time without serious damage. However, if you try to manage your kids without a name for very long, you will eventually run into a situation where a name is required. [1]

Also, think of the alternative. Would you prefer to identify your kids or routers by numbers? Yech. It also begs the question, why would you want to run your kids or router without a name? Is this some form of security by obscurity? I usually put in something to identify the device, location, or customer for logging and never have left it blank. It's handy on reports.

I came in late in this discussion. What model Linksys, hardware version, and firmware release are you talking about?

Looking at a typical router, in this case the WRT54G v8 at:

The "router name" field is there in all WAN configurations. If I blank it out, it complains that there has to be a name. Yep, you're correct.

My best guess(tm) is that a "router name" is necessary to identify the router in syslog, SNMP, or logs. The logging routine probably blew up if the field were left blank, so it became a requirement. It might also show up as a NETBIOS name if the router has a built in Windoze print server. (Just a guess).

[1] It was customary in societies with high infant mortality rates, to not name the kids until they were sure to survive. That was usually several years into childhood. Perhaps we should do the same with cheap commodity routers that have a similar high infant mortality problem?

Gosh my router would have to be named "old fart"

David hath wroth:

Your router has tubes, condensers, Leyden jars, a Jacobs Ladder, and is powered by a dynamotor?

There are three things wrong with your router name.

1. It has a space in the name. This very bad as many utilities still get confused by the imbedded IFS. I suggest "old_fart" instead.
2. In boating, renaming a vessel is considered an invitation to disaster. Same with routers. You should not rename your router or your will surely be visited by crashes, component failures, lightning hits, exploits, or firmware upgrades. If you had named your router in its infancy, you would not have considered "old_fart" as a suitable name for a young router. Therefore, I deduce that you've changed the name and the router will soon be visited by divine retribution.
3. The name "old_fart" is severely lacking in imagination. Network host and device naming has been the subject of many usenet discussions and at least one RFC. I won't go there. Suffice to suggest that you should consider a more creative naming scheme. For example, Apple names their conference rooms after cartoon characters. I was naming my printers after former Soviet premiers. My servers were named after the 7 deadly sins, but I soon ran out and had to invent some new sins. Lately, I've switched to puns and intentional mis-spellings, which has caused no end of syntactic distress. Bad idea. If you're going to rename your router, I strongly suggest you follow the proper nautical ritual (or invent your own):

And it communicates via spark gap transmission.... or styrofoam cups and string for better security.