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Using hub1 as switch/wap

Tormat
Hooked
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎11-05-2020

Using hub1 as switch/wap

I have my old hub1 router and am trying to use it in the garage as a switch and wireless access point, all works BUT with one problem:

In have a media server pc in my garage, and I use an app on the iPad called ‘Off’ which allows me to turn the server off and on remotely using the app. If the server is connected directly to my new Plusnet router, with a Cat5e cable the app works flawlessly, both ON and OFF, however if I introduce the old hub1 (now configured as a switch) I can use the app to turn the server OFF but after doing so the app doesn’t discover the server so obviously I then can’t turn it on. I assume the hub1 is somehow blocking access? Here’s the configuration:

on the old hub 1 being used as a switch/wap:

dhcp turned OFF

Firewall turned OFF

IP  address changed from 192.168.1.254 to xxx.xxx.x.200 ( to stop conflict with new router)

like I said, works on all yellow ports as a switch and works for wireless.

can anyone say if what I’m trying to achieve is even possible, or am I on a hiding to nothing? 
It will be obvious to all that I am not the most tech person, so please be gentle, thanks

8 REPLIES 8
Baldrick1
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Re: Using hub1 as switch/wap

@Tormat  Welcome to the forum.

I don't know if it's your problem but it's more normal to set the Access Point IP address to an unused address is the fixed IP range of the router, that is, one in the range 192.168.1.1-63.

It might be worth trying?

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Tormat
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Registered: ‎11-05-2020

Re: Using hub1 as switch/wap

Hi, many thanks, will give this a go shortly 

MisterW
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Re: Using hub1 as switch/wap

@Tormat  whilst @Baldrick1  is correct in that it's not a good idea to allocate an IP in the DHCP range, I suspect changing it will not solve your problem. My guess is that the app you are using is based around something akin to Wake-on-Lan (WOL) which uses broadcast packets. I suspect that these are not getting forwarded by the 2nd Hub one being used as the access point. A true network switch SHOULD forward these packets but the Hub One MAY not be doing this.

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Tormat
Hooked
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎11-05-2020

Re: Using hub1 as switch/wap

Hi and thanks for the replies, baldrick1, changed it to xxx.xxx.x.20 but still no joy. MisterW, yes the app uses the wol protocol, Got it from hobbyist software.com, without the hub1 I can turn my server on as well as off, introduce the hub1 can turn it off but not back on as the app doesn’t ‘see’ the server. I’m doing tons of trawling the web, even tho I have the hub1 firewall turned off, could it be anything to do with port forwarding? Also if I do set my new router to something outside the routers DHCP will it still work as a wap?

many thanks

MisterW
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Re: Using hub1 as switch/wap

@Tormat 

Also if I do set my new router to something outside the routers DHCP will it still work as a wap?

You've already done that by setting it to .20, the dhcp range of the hub one is normally .64 to .253.

I can turn my server on as well as off, introduce the hub1 can turn it off but not back on as the app doesn’t ‘see’ the server.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'see' the server. It can see the server when it's on, to allow it to be turned off, but there's nothing to 'see' when the server is off!. I would guess (and its just a guess) that the app MAY remember the MAC address of the server from when it was on, and attempt to send a WOL packet to that MAC address. Not knowing exactly how the app works makes it difficult to see what effect connecting the server via the 2nd hub is having. 

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Tormat
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Registered: ‎11-05-2020

Re: Using hub1 as switch/wap

Ok, this is how it works

you install the app on your iOS device, then install  a small piece of software the author describes as a ‘helper’ on your win 10 pc, this I think broadcasts something to the app to tell it that there’s a pc running this bit of software in the background on my network.
so if I have this ‘client’ on two pc’s, my server and my laptop, when I run the app it discovers both pcs, my laptop and my server, you can then turn them individually off, on, broadcast a message onto the pc you choose etc etc

if I introduce the hub1 in the garage, I can turn it off but the app doesn’t find it, ie it’s not listed as a device so I can’t choose it to turn it on, only the laptop is found (as this is on a cat 5 straight from my hh6 router.

thanks for your patience in this, I could always buy the correct switch, it’s just that I was reading an article about using an old touted as a switch and thought I’d have a go( lockdown=boredom etc)

MisterW
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Re: Using hub1 as switch/wap

I suspect that the app is using the Bonjour (mDNS) protocol to 'discover' the devices running the clients.

The Hub one is essentially a Bt home hub 5. Now some years ago there were some reports of problems with propagating mDNS requests that originated on a wired interface see https://community.bt.com/t5/Archive-Staging/Upgraded-to-HH5-now-network-connected-printers-go-awol/t...

In your case, when the 2nd hub is in use , the mDNS request is seen ( assuming it is actually being forwarded by the primary hub one ) as originating on a wired interface and so, if the fault is still present, then this MIGHT be causing your problem.

Of course I might be barking up the wrong tree competely...

It would be interesting to see if a simple network switch ( or even a different router as a wap ) exhibited the same issue.

Given a properly functioning switch I dont see why what you are trying to do shouldnt work.

Edit: a thought, do you have the ability to run any network 'sniffing' software on the laptop or server ? If so you could perhaps capture the mDNS packets when connected to the main hub one and then see if they are still there when connected to the 2nd hub one. Although I dont thi k theres going to to be anything you can configure on the hub to fix it!!

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Tormat
Hooked
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎11-05-2020

Re: Using hub1 as switch/wap

Many, many thanks for taking the time to respond, but I’m obviously way out of my depth here, think I’ll just purchase a switch and give it a shot, kind regards

jim