Using two routers

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willshep
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Using two routers

Post by willshep » Tue Mar 27, 2007 2:03 pm

Ok - p2p makes a lot of connections and routers don't always appreciate it - this much I understand. For this very reason I recently bought a new one. I had an ADDON 4 port now I have a PLUSCOM 4 port - and I get a strange feeling bar some little firmware tweaks they are actually the same router :O ie both are AR7

Anyway - i used to be on DMZ and my flatmates (2 of them) were connected to the router - their internet never really worked as fast as mine - and I never really had any connection problems at all - so on i continued hoping they wouldn't care.

They then got wise to what i was doing and demanded that we all have equal access to the router - so now there is no DMZ. On the old router this worked for a bit but it kept crashing a lot and the internet would just grind to a halt. So knee-jerk I bought a new one - the PLUSCOM.

Okay so - I am more than okay with tweaking everyone's uTorrent to limit connections to say 20, but could I possibly use one router as an ADSL modem only and then another as the switch? Or could i use one modem to DMZ to my computer - then with one of the other LAN's that you can have in this AR7 router - use my computer as the internet NAT for my flatmates - stopping NAT tables getting flooded?

Any help on this would be great - I'd like to upgrade to your bespoke firmware if at all possible if that makes a difference?

Will
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Post by studioeng » Tue Mar 27, 2007 2:22 pm

Are both ADSL modem routers, or is one of them a Cable/DSL router?

If they are both ADSL modem routers, then the answer is simply no; you can only use one of the routers on the ADSL line, and the 2nd will be a glorified switch (with no routing function). Which would obviously server no real purpse.

I think you have a couple of choices on this one; although I'm sure other will be able to suggest more suitable ones.

* Look into the RT firmware (if you are not already using it) as it handles P2P a lot better than most stock firmwares. I have seen a major improvement on my set up once I upgraded the firmware. baring in mind you should read into the router and check it's 100% compatible before you attempt an RT firmware upgrade.

* Take a look at TorrentFlux. You could use this as a communial P2P system which would only need you to set up once; it is simple enough; if not easier than uTorrent. It is avaliable in both Windows and Linux versions; although I would suggest looking into the Linux route as it is ALOT more reliable :)

I hope that gives you some more avenues to look down.
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Post by willshep » Tue Mar 27, 2007 2:57 pm

Thanks a lot for your reply - it's much appreciated.

Btw - can I telnet into the router to find out various information so i can see if it's compatible? I can't remember where I saw how you check for Adam2 and Linux MIPS and all that - have you got a link?

Thanks,

W.
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Post by studioeng » Tue Mar 27, 2007 3:07 pm

The link at the top of the page will take you to the v2.2 firmware page; this will give you some pointers on what to look for. Also the readmes contained within the package (if/when you finally download the one you need) will contain more information on what you need to do. I recommend that you heed all warnings before you proceed :) although it pretty straight forward; you may prevent something going wrong.

I personally use TorrentFlux on a Linux backend; It's a very good system for torrents; especially for muliple users. it would also mean you wouldn't need to leave all your computers on all the time to download. ;) If you decide to take that option, I could give you some pointers etc for a quick easy setup :D
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Post by willshep » Tue Mar 27, 2007 3:28 pm

I would do - I have Ubuntu/XP dual - but I don't often use Ubuntu - only when I want to see windows disappear in a colourful flash or lots of translucent things - I didn't install Ubuntu for any real reason :)

I use XP a lot - I could put the computer into Ubuntu at night maybe leave it downloading then.. Isn't the windows version any good?

W.
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Post by studioeng » Tue Mar 27, 2007 4:32 pm

Do you have an old box which you don't use anymore; doesn't need to be very powerful, maybe an old P3 500MHz-1GHz, just to store the linux distro/torrentflux and storage space for downloads.

You could all pitch in on a larger hard drive ;) Another good point about centralising the torrent downloading; it would also free up resources on your computers :)
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Post by willshep » Tue Mar 27, 2007 4:54 pm

I have an old laptop with a small harddrive and no USB for expansion so that's not ideal... It already has linux on it as it's very slow - I think PII 200 or something! Having said that I could pick up some old thing online. Will try to think of a cheaper solution for the time being. I could leave my computer on though - though i don't know how much it's going to help with the router crashing!

I'll try some Firmware upgrading - the router i have definately has AR7 and is not wireless and is 4 port - so I'd be quite surprised if it isn't compatible.

If I do get another dummy box setting up that backend will be a good idea for sure in the future.

TorrentFlux looks a lot like some script as an add on to Apache - I set up CGIProxy recently so I guess it's similar to that?

W.
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Post by studioeng » Tue Mar 27, 2007 5:03 pm

willshep wrote:I have an old laptop with a small harddrive and no USB for expansion so that's not ideal... It already has linux on it as it's very slow - I think PII 200 or something! Having said that I could pick up some old thing online. Will try to think of a cheaper solution for the time being. I could leave my computer on though - though i don't know how much it's going to help with the router crashing!

I'll try some Firmware upgrading - the router i have definately has AR7 and is not wireless and is 4 port - so I'd be quite surprised if it isn't compatible.
Yes, I think a firmware upgrade may be in order :) If it is only a wired router then I'm pretty sure it should have no issues at all.

With the router I would say it's suffering from the same issues that Netgear used to have; with them not liking heavy traffic with multiple connections; maybe a manufacturer firmware update will be enough, unless you want to give the RT firmware a try.
willshep wrote:If I do get another dummy box setting up that backend will be a good idea for sure in the future.

TorrentFlux looks a lot like some script as an add on to Apache - I set up CGIProxy recently so I guess it's similar to that?

W.
Regarding TorrentFlux; it's not the fact that the Windows version is no good, its's more that the Linux version was created and then they decided to make a 'port' of it to run on Windows boxes.
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Post by willshep » Wed Mar 28, 2007 8:10 am

Ok - upgraded firmware last night to both routers - ADDON(adam2) and PlusCom(psb). Now I have one really decent router which hasn't showed any signs of crashing like it used to... and one lovely blue brick. So now it's back to PCTool - though really I'm more than happy with the current router - the only thing being that I think there's more RAM in the Pluscom and it's more uptodate so it may be worth the trouble of recovery.

(Both routers are AR7 and 4 port wired)

W.
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Post by willshep » Wed Mar 28, 2007 9:25 am

Update - so I got into the Brick with PCtool and then realised what all that bold red text was in the Readme.First - about, hmm what was it... backing up the current firmware or something... Yea so now I have an empty brick.

Any ideas why the 2.2 doesn't work - and do you know of any other firmware I could load onto it to try? (4 port, psb, AR7, wiredonly)

My ADDON is okay but the same problem where the web interface just hangs at the user/pass screen although the internet still works happens. I can't help but think it's becuase there are still loads of p2p people trying to connect and it's gone and got itself in a memory pickle.

W.
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Post by studioeng » Wed Mar 28, 2007 10:09 am

willshep wrote:Ok - upgraded firmware last night to both routers - ADDON(adam2) and PlusCom(psb). Now I have one really decent router which hasn't showed any signs of crashing like it used to... and one lovely blue brick. So now it's back to PCTool - though really I'm more than happy with the current router - the only thing being that I think there's more RAM in the Pluscom and it's more uptodate so it may be worth the trouble of recovery.

(Both routers are AR7 and 4 port wired)

W.
When you downloaded the firmware, did you download both PSP and ADAM2 versions; or did you try the same one on both routers?? Obviously if you tried the same, that's why it bricked one. :(
willshep wrote:Update - so I got into the Brick with PCtool and then realised what all that bold red text was in the Readme.First - about, hmm what was it... backing up the current firmware or something... Yea so now I have an empty brick.
Somebody didn't listen :P :lol:

If it is booting up and you can access the router via PCTool, then you will be able to upload the firmware and get it working again. I would have a search around for the manufacturer's original firmware, and then once that's back on and up and running again, try to go to the RT firmware again; unless you want to stick to the manufacturer's version ;)
willshep wrote:Any ideas why the 2.2 doesn't work - and do you know of any other firmware I could load onto it to try? (4 port, psb, AR7, wiredonly)
I'm sure it will work with v2.2 as long as you are using the right version for the bootloader.
willshep wrote:My ADDON is okay but the same problem where the web interface just hangs at the user/pass screen although the internet still works happens. I can't help but think it's becuase there are still loads of p2p people trying to connect and it's gone and got itself in a memory pickle.

W.
Did you perform a factory reset on the router after you upgraded the firmware? It might be worth doing it again anyway; just to double check.

It might be worth setting up the optimise memory script, heres a thread about setting up the optimise memory script in a cron job, which will run at set intervals :) This could help with the router crashing when it runs out of memory.
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Post by willshep » Wed Mar 28, 2007 10:18 am

Yea that I did remember to do ie - Older router(adam2), newer router(psp) - I checked it all with telnet. It's odd becuase the router isn't static - it does boot up - windows reports some activity - ie the lights come on then go off, then on, then off - like it's rebooting itself - then after two reboots, sweet FA.

Yea I've actually been talking to the people who make my router and have been trying to get a copy of the firmware without letting slip that i've been up to no drats good flashing this and that... They actually asked me if i'd 3rd party flashed it - I just ignored that :)

I tried uploading the 2.2 firmware again (the psb one) with PCApp/Tool and it all seemed successful - but same effect.

I did do a factory reset on the other router - I mean it's okay - but the web interface hangs and thats annoying.. I'll check out the memory script when I get back and have time!

Just to say though that the new firmware is definately better - and I appreciate both this very useful and comprehesive support of it and it's very existance!

Thanks,

W.
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Post by biro » Wed Mar 28, 2007 10:34 am

willshep wrote: the only thing being that I think there's more RAM in the Pluscom and it's more uptodate so it may be worth the trouble of recovery.
Can you post the env. ( obtainable via PCTool )
If the router does have more FLASH / RAM then you may be better off using the wireless firmware.

It may be that the router uses a FLASH chip that is not supported by RT firmware.
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Post by willshep » Wed Mar 28, 2007 10:46 am

Yea will do - I'm not home now so will have to be later on. The reason I suspect it has more RAM is because in Update Gateway the max file size is 3.5 MB - however thinking about it it could be becuase it takes a single img file rather than multiple files... I dunno :)

I'll send the env when I'm back,

Thanks again for your help.

W.
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Post by thechief » Wed Mar 28, 2007 7:50 pm

The firmware will work if your hardware is supported AND you used the correct firmware image. You will get a brick if either of these is not correct.

Yes, all those warnings in the documentation were there for a very good reason, and I wish people would heed them. If you supply all the information listed here: viewtopic.php?t=961
then perhaps someone might be able to help.
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