On Wed, 29 Nov 2023 12:22:28 +0100, Jesper Kaas <kaasjesper0@gmail.com> wrote:

>On 29.11.2023 03:33, Char Jackson wrote:
>> On Tue, 28 Nov 2023 22:26:39 +0100, Jesper Kaas <jesperk@neitakk.online.no>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On Tue, 28 Nov 2023 12:38:03 -0600, Char Jackson <none@none.invalid>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Tue, 28 Nov 2023 16:11:50 +0100, Jesper Kaas <kaasjesper0@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I am
>>>>> very keen on fixed IP's. Used to have it on nearly everything at work,
>>>>> where we had hundreds of chemical analyzers spread over a hospital, most
>>>>> of which had a web interface. As retired at home it still is practical
>>>>> to have fixed IP's on the most used gadgets. But I don't think I have
>>>>> any "really" fixed IP's anymore, that are defined on the gadget/PC. Its
>>>>> not possible to set fixed IP in Windows 10 and 11.
>>>>
>>>> It's not only possible, it's done via the exact same approach that's been used
>>>> since at least Windows XP. Open the relevant network adapter's properties,
>>>> select IPv4 properties (or IPv6, if applicable), and enter the IP address,
>>>> subnet mask, default gateway, and (optionally) DNS information. Done.
>>>
>>> I have set fixed ip's on windows pc's connected to chemical analyzers
>>> at work many times. Did it exactly like you describe above, worked a
>>> charm. I also did it at home many years ago, no problem. But recently
>>> with my old Win10 PC and new Win11 PC, it was simply not possible. Not
>>> in Win10, not on Win11. It always ended with Windows starting an
>>> errorhunting that ended setting the network adapter back to DHCP.
>>> There awere 2 other ways to set static IP, one was via Windows
>>> Settings, but the settings menu has changed recently, and I can't find
>>> it now.
>>> I had always set a mark in the box "Validate settings at close"
>>> I just now again tested setting static ip on Win11: Enter ip-address
>>> for the PC, netmask, gateway and DNS-servers. Click OK, Close, this
>>> time without setting a mark in box "Validate setings". And big wonder:
>>> Windows accepted the settings, also after a reboot. So now I have a
>>> fixed IP on the PC and wil tru that out.
>>
>> Excellent. I'm not sure why 'Validate' was choking, but it's good to see that
>> you're able to set a static IP now, if you want to.
>>
>>>> I have no constructive comments regarding the extenders. When I get asked to
>>>> help with wireless network issues and I see one or more extenders, I either
>>>> remove them and place them where the owner isn't likely to find them, or I bow
>>>> out gracefully. There are other, much better, ways of solving such problems.
>>> Nice :-) What would you suggest instead of extender? I have seen
>>> mesh-systems recommended. I have no idea how it works, and it is
>>> expensive. My TP-link extender was very cheap, like 30 dollars.
>>
>> I don't know the details of your situation, so in no particular order I'd look
>> at running Ethernet cables to where you need connectivity, terminating at a
>> standard RJ-45 port. That way, you could directly connect a single device, or
>> connect multiple devices via a switch, or connect an Access Point (AP) if you
>> need WiFi in that area. If you can't run cables, consider accomplishing the same
>> thing via coax cables that may already be in place. Here in the US, most houses
>> have coax TV cables strung throughout the house. You can put Ethernet onto those
>> cables with a pair of MoCA adapters. Mesh WiFi units also work very well and are
>> typically able to dedicate an entire wireless band for backhaul, or they can use
>> your Ethernet cabling if available. Mesh tends to work very differently, and
>> much better, than WiFi extenders.
>
>The house is built in 1960, so no cables here except for 230v AC. I need
>5V DC and net outside. 5V DC is easy to supply, but I did not want to
>stretch cable for the net access. Therefor the attempt with a cheap
>wifi-extender.

I'm sure there's a scenario where extenders work, to an extent, but it's
probably only in a lab setting. In the real world, I think they're an awful
choice, sort of on par with using the electrical wiring in the house for
Ethernet, what we call powerline networking here in the States.

If you feel like you have no choice but to use an extender, consider building
your own by putting two Access Points (APs) back to back, connected to each
other by Ethernet. One AP would be configured to act as a client to your main
WiFi, while the other device would be allowed to operate as an AP, but on a
different channel. That solves the main problem with an extender, that they use
a single channel, alternating between receiving and transmitting. Instead of
using APs for your homemade extender, you can frequently save money by using a
pair of WiFi routers after configuring them to work as APs. If you go the DIY
route, be sure your equipment can act as a WiFi client. You may need 3rd party
firmware to get that capability.

At best, the above is still no match for a wired connection or even a mesh
connection, but those options may cost more up front.

>Glad to hear that mesh actually works good. I was halfway thinking it
>just was a new way of getting money up your pockets. I will keep it in mind.
>>
>>> I have only tried this TP-Link WA850RE. Needed it for a birdboxcamera
>>> in the garden. It can work either by feeding it via cabled ethernet,
>>> or placing it in the outskirts of the main wi-fi's range, where it can
>>> pick up the wi-fi and pass it on with a different SSID and probably
>>> other channel. I have used the last method. It has one interesting
>>> setting, DHCP with possibilities Auto, On or Off. It was On from the
>>> factory. I turned it off, and set it up and it worked with no
>>> problems for aproximately a month, until it started giving problems on
>>> both cabled net and wi-fi. I tested changing the DHCP setting on
>>> extender first to "On" and got problems imidiately. Then to Auto, and
>>> after an hour I had the problem again. Unpluged the extender and
>>> problem solved.
>>
>> It would be very helpful to know precisely what problems you encountered. You
>> don't have to share the details here, but you should know what a set of valid
>> networking parameters looks like so that you can compare that to what you see
>> when there are problems.
>I am not quite sure what networking parameters you refer to. What i saw
>when in trouble, was a on the PC messages from Win11 saying about both
>the ethernet card and the wireless connection 12Com "No internet
>access". And there really was no internet access. I could connect the
>PC's wi-fi to the wi-fi from the extender (12Com_EXT) and get internet
>access. Problem stopped when AC was cut for the extender.

When you see a message like, "No Internet access", that's not very helpful for
troubleshooting and determining a root cause. Most people have no issues with
their LAN setup, and those people won't need to care about their subnet,
netmask, default gateway, DNS entries, etc. But since you're having some
problems, you might need to take some notes so that you can compare a working
connection to a non-working connection.

I assume you have a router that's acting as your Internet gateway, so you'd log
in to that device to get your LAN subnet, your netmask, the LAN IP of the
router, the DNS entries, etc.

Let's say your LAN subnet is 10.0.0.0 with a netmask of /24, sometimes written
as 255.255.255.0. Then you'd know that valid LAN IP addresses go from 10.0.0.1
thru 10.0.0.254. Scratch the LAN IP of the router from that list because it's in
use (by the router), and scratch the IPs of any statically assigned IP
addresses, making sure each of those is outside of the DHCP pool. Check the DHCP
pool settings to make sure it's more than big enough to handle all of your
devices. If your DHCP pool is too small, you could use up each of the IP
addresses in the pool and subsequent IP requests would be denied, which is a
potential reason for 'no Internet access'. Be aware that DHCP-assigned IP
addresses have a lease period, so if you have devices coming and going all day
you can quickly exhaust your DHCP pool. IP addresses won't be eligible for DHCP
reassignment until their current lease expires. You can adjust the lease period.
I've seen lease defaults as high as 7 days, which seems ridiculous, but 1 day
(24 hours) is more common. If your router shows pool exhaustion as a culprit,
expand the pool or reduce the lease time to, perhaps, 12 hours, or even less.

Be aware that LAN access is required before Internet access will be possible, so
if you lose Internet access the first thing you'd check is whether you still
have LAN access. I use the command line tools ping and ipconfig to get a quick
look at what's going on. If ipconfig suddenly shows that you have a 169.254.x.x
IP address, you know that DHCP failed and you definitely won't have LAN access
or Internet access. If ipconfig shows that your IP, netmask, gateway, and DNS
are reasonable, try pinging your LAN gateway IP, which is probably your router.
If you can successfully ping your gateway, try pinging an Internet address. I
use 8.8.8.8 because it's easy to type.

The key to troubleshooting network issues is to familiarize yourself with how
things look and work when you aren't having problems. Then when a problem crops
up, you'll be able to see what has changed. There's no magic involved.

>> If your LAN consists of a single subnet, then you definitely want only one DHCP
>> server. You don't want IP conflicts or incorrect default gateway or incorrect
>> netmask, to name just a few things that can go wrong.
>Yes. When installing the extender at first (just following the set up
>instructions) i saw that it handed out an IP address by itself. Looked
>at the extenders settings, and changed DHCP-setting from either On or
>Auto to Off. Then i got ip-addresses looking like they were from the
>routers DHCP pool. Left it at that for about a month until the trouble
>began 2 days ago.

Got it, but you'll need to dig in and see what 'trouble began' really means.

>> I think you mentioned earlier that you enable both wired and wireless
>> connections at the same time, which is something that I never do. I'd pick one
>> and stick with it.
>Well, I think wired works best for printer and TV, and wi-fi is needed
>for a lot of things. Phones, charger for car, hifi whatever. Even got a
>dishwasher with wi-fi, but turned it off after testing :-) Right now the
>router shows around 10 things connected via wi-fi.

At the router, definitely enable both wired and wireless if you need to. I only
meant at the various PCs and other devices on your LAN. Pick a connection type
and disable the others, is my advice. Windows won't try to use two connection
types simultaneously, but I still wouldn't leave both enabled, especially if
you're trying to troubleshoot something.

>>> Then I read RapidPedagogs reply about removing all static IP's. Did
>>> that, and there has been no trouble for some hours.
>>
>> That smells like you assigned a static IP that was already in use, or perhaps an
>> IP that was later also handed out by your DHCP server. That situation is easily
>> remedied, but you first have to recognize if it's the case.
>>
>>> With the extenders DHCP set to "Auto" it hands out IP-adresses above 10.0.0.200 and up.
>>> The main router is set to hand out DHCP in the range 20 to 199, so
>>> theoretically there should be no problems.
>>
>> Yeah, don't do that. One DHCP server per network segment is all you need.
>Right. That's why i first set DHCP to Off on the extender, but still ran
>in to trouble. So now I try the extender with Auto, and it looks like
>the extender hands out ip's above the range of the pool on router. If it
>works fine, else drop the extender.
>>
>>> The first problem, yesterday, came after I had been fiddeling with 3
>>> raspberrypi's connected to main wifi and a fourth connected via the
>>> extender for half a day. At that time one raspberrypi had been
>>> connected via the extender and working fine for a month.
>>>
>>> For now the extender is plugged in with nothing connected, exept for
>>> occasionaly a mobile phone for testing. The only static ip on the net
>>> is a pc.
>>> I keep my fingers crossed :-)
>>> Thank you for the comments
>>
>Still no problem with intarnet on the PC.
>Did a little testing with the extender set to Auto for DHCP:
>
>- WS850RE powered on, no clients connected:
> Router shows hostname TL-WA850RE, IP 10.0.0.200, macadresse as shown on
>the thing, status online
>- WS850RE with one phone connected:
> New line added in router: Hostname empty, device type android-dhcp-12,
>ip 10.0.0.20, mac-adresse as the phones, status offline
>- WS850RE with two phones connected:
> Router shows the same as with one phone connected
>
>Internet acces on both phones, phones show ip's 10.0.0.200 and
>10.0.0.201, and that is what is shown in the app Tether that is used to
>manage WA850RE.