How does setting a static IP on a mobile device prevent linux router from assigning that IP address?

While 'mesh' may have its place in a home; it's typically regarded as a sub-par implementation path.

Gets points for "being easy", but loses points on "speed" and "reliability".

Or perhaps are you saying 'mesh', but mean something else?

Not for me either. But some in this thread do not seem to agree.

You probably mean that you need a fixed IP address. Static configuration is just one way to get a fixed address. On a LAN, DHCP reservation is another way to get a fixed address. Note that DHCP reservation is not necessarily based on the client MAC address but may be based on any other client identifier, such as the hostname.

In the client IP settings.

On any other device in the network.

Again, "default SSID from the manufacturer". It was (IIRC) the first round of actually trying to give people security (after the typical SOHO defaults of "Linksys" and "Password").

An Access Point. A router is a completely different box, with a completely different purpose.

Trouble is, nearly every SOHO "router" on the market is a router + switch + AP these days, so people tend to say "router" when they mean something else ...

Seems a bit redundant to have two routers in the mix there -- perhaps you would do better with a switch?

Or you get APs that aren't packaged with routers (e.g. Ubiqiti UAPs) :)

• firewall + DHCP server + DNS server + file server + print server...

E.g. in this thread everyone seems to consider that a router is implicitly a DHCP server. It's not. A router's job is only to maintain routes and forward IP packets accordingly. Nothing else. All the rest is only additional functions combined in the same box.

Your opinion noted.

this is about home setups, which are very difficult to cover an entire house with a single access point unless it's a really tiny house.

nope. they work quite well, but like everything, some work better than others.

i mean mesh.

I assume a home router, or ISP access router or some similar wording. All those I have seen do include a DHCP server and a DNS cache server (not a DNS server). Most also had a firewall, often disabled.

I don't assume pure routers like an enterprise level Cisco.

Such assumptions lead to misleading generalizations.

A DNS cache server is a DNS server. What do you mean ?

Or you get a good access point and put it in a good location.

I installed a Ubiquiti UniFi AP on a 1st floor ceiling after getting frustrated with consumer WiFi and trying to get coverage with 3 AP and get consistent login + roaming.

It gets roughly 2 to 3 times the "reach" of the various things I have tried before, which may be partly down to having power over Ethernet and mounted in the centre of the house.

It is accessible on all 3 floors in the original semi, the 3 floor extension and for 10m into the garden.

It depends on your bandwidth requirements, and what else clutters the WiFi frequencies where you are.

But a device which doesnt have a direct wireless path to the far end device the traffic is going to, mesh will increase the overhead for that path by well over 50% because of the forwarding at intermediate nodes. This translates into lower throughput and potentially higher packet loss (as the retransm increase the risk of a collision from simultaneous trans

Things can be a bit better than that if you use 2 different radios and different frequencies for each hop so that the mesh devices dont self interfere / block.

Usning an AP instead of a mesh unit on a "wired" link means the need for mesh retransmit over the WiFi radio goes away and the aggregate throughput improves.

Stephen Hope stephen snipped-for-privacy@xyzworld.com Replace xyz with ntl to reply

I know my "router" also contains a DHCP/DNS server, an ethernet switch, and TWO access points (for 2.4 and 5 GHz). I try to say what I mean when talking about one.

BTW, around 2005 I had a need for static DHCP, and my router's DHCP server didn't provide that. I disabled it and installed a piece of software on one computer.

I suppose the difference here is does it just cache data from a remote NS server, of does it provide local DNS as well. In my case, I want DNS requests for "gary.lan" to return 192.168.1.19 (The local IP for my LAN web server).

that's not always possible and won't work in a large house (or even medium size house).

trying to get coverage with multiple access points is the very problem mesh solves.

power over ethernet may be convenient but it doesn't affect wifi propagation.

either you're incredibly lucky or you're greatly exaggerating.

your bandwidth requirements must be rather low if you're satisfied with a signal that goes through two floors.

that's an overgeneralization and depends on many factors. in general, it won't be that high.

only if it's poorly implemented.

which is what most of them do, sometimes more than just two and in some cases, there's a wired backhaul.

not necessarily.

poe isn't the topic.

One is recursive, the other is authoritative. But both are DNS servers.

Note that the DNS function in some SOHO routers may not even be fully recursive nor have a cache : they just forward the DNS queries to a real recursive cache server and the replies back to the client.

In , Dan Purgert suggested:

The second "router" is a spare Linksys WRT54G version 5 which is not capable of being a wireless repeater (and which has a small RAM footprint so it's harder to put other firmware on it).

For simplicity (and speed), this wired repeater is being used in the game room for the kids to use on their gaming equipment. I attached a couple of spare Ubiquiti radios to throw the access points further in key directions (one of which is behind a mirrored wall).

You just gave me an idea though ... what do you think? Look here:

That's a picture of my spare Mikrotik RB750 router and Mikrotik RB411 routerboard with a R52n-M 5GHz and 2GHz daughterboard and antenna.

I got it for free from a neighbor, and it works just fine, but I just found out by playing with it that the RB411 routerboard only has a default level

What do you think about me placing that antenna as a wireless receiver in the far reaches of the house, and then I should be able to plug in a laptop to the router.

Do you think that would make good use of the spare Mikrotik equipment? (I should ask this on a separate thread.)

In , nospam suggested:

Again, you just make this stuff up!

I love how you make such blanket statements even though you know there is an entire thread on this topic in the iOS newsgroups, where *nobody* (not you, not anyone) could get it done.

Meanwhile, we had it up and running on Android almost without trying.

As always, you defend iOS' incapabilities but you never provide any proof since all you know is that the Apple Marketing Machine feeds you.

In , Stephen suggested:

If I didn't have a bunch of spare radios lying about, that's exactly the solution I'd use also.

You can buy the Ubiquiti Unifi access points in 3 packs, where you just throw them about, like frisbees, until you get good coverage in the home.

There's probably nothing as cost effective and easy at the same time, and still powerful enough for a decently sized home.

I agree that POE is the greatest thing since indoor plumbing!

The nice thing about Ubiqiti is that all the radios comes with AirOS which has a free AirView spectrum analyzer which will show you *everything* in the frequency band (not just WiFi devices).

Using AirView, I once found a "mystery emitter" that wasn't WiFi but which was in the band, causing noise that you could easily see in the SNR.

the only person making stuff up is you.

that's completely false.

just because *you* don't know how does not mean it can't be done.

it can, and various options were explained to you.