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[Bodge99]

Hello All.

Another bad night. I couldn't sleep again so I got up and decided to have a play...

I've recently bought another HG612 from Ebay for a couple of quid. This one actually came with 2 home hub 3b's (one brand new in its original packaging).

Now I've never played with any home hubs at all as they are somewhat locked down. As I had some time I thought I'd see what I could get from this one when it was hooked up into the network (not used to connect to BB).

Before connecting to the network, I accessed the admin page on its default 192.168.1.254. I changed the default hub gateway IP address to something spare that wouldn't conflict with any existing hardware on the network.
The DHCP server was disabled as everything (address allocation etc.) is handled by the upstream HG612.

I also changed the wireless SSID and encryption key (no change actually required, but I prefer to use my own choices here). WPS was also disabled as this is a security risk.

Saved the changes, powered down and hooked it up (network to the ethernet 1 port).

Restarted and found no upstream wireless connectivity. I then swapped to the GigE (ethernet 4) port.

Success, this resulted in full connectivity with both wired and wireless connections.

So, this is now effectively a 3 port switch with wireless N AP. Not too shabby for a piece of kit that I've seen referred to as "only fit for landfill as it can't be used for anything".

Bodge99.

 

[kitz]

Thanks for your post, it may come in useful for someone wanting to recycle one as a wireless AP.
Good point to note to use port 4.

[Bodge99]

Hello All,

I forgot to say.. The HH3 is a dual band device.

I've just bought another new one for £2 from Ebay.

This has to be the cheapest way to get into wireless 802.11ac . [EDIT <<< WRONG!!]

Bodge99

[kitzuser87430]

802.11ac

Are you sure ... I thought it was just dual band

IAn

[Bodge99]

Hello,

Mea Culpa... you are of course, correct.. The HH3 is a wireless N dual band device.

I've been looking at the spec of some wireless AP's for someone and "ac" sort of 'stuck' in my head.

Sorry.

/twat mode off.

Bodge99

[NewtronStar]

Well Bodge99 my landfill BT HH3 type A is holding up quite well though i'am not a router enthusiast it just works straight out of the box with a simple GUI thats what I like and you can of course unlock them it's just the process not so straight forward unlike the HG612 it's so easy.

And great thread thanks, could do with another HH3 in the living room as the WiFi is poor in that room.

[Bodge99]

Hello,

Please don't think that I regard these as "junk"... I don't... It's just that I've seen several comments about these saying just that..

I'm going to replace the cheapo wireless AP in my front room with one of these.. I've been testing the wireless range and stability and am quite impressed so far. I can always add external aerials if required.

Dual band wireless at pocket money prices... bit of a "no brainer" really!

Bodge99

[NewtronStar]

Hello,
Please don't think that I regard these as "junk"... I don't... It's just that I've seen several comments about these saying just that..

I know Bodge99 there quite reliable we things a bit like my Ford Focus touch wood 
Have to say i'm not very knowledgeable about home networking, yes i know the basics when using just the one router but have never been able to master setting up two together.

what I would like is to have the Master HH3 as it is in the PC room and have the second HH3 (slave) as just a wireless repeater in living room without the need for a lan cable from master to slave.

can this be done ?

[Bodge99]

Hello,

Good question..

I don't think that you'll be able to use 2 HH3's with one as a wireless repeater/extender with the stock/locked down firmware.

I'd guess that the hardware would support wireless repeater mode but is almost certainly disabled/not used in firmware.

If I can find out anything that might help then I'll post here.

Bodge99

[francisuk22]

Intresting!
So im guessing the HG612 is handing out the DHCP requested to the BT HH3 and also given all the WiFi/LAN clients a DHCP lease from the HG612 aswell (if that makes sense?)

I don't think that you'll be able to use 2 HH3's with one as a wireless repeater/extender with the stock/locked down firmware.

If the above info is right, There is a possible you can use as many as you wont However! each HH3 need there gateway IP changed and also there DHCP server off so like, Example,


HH3 = 192.168.1.254 (Your main HH3)
HH3 = 192.168.1.250 (AP1)
HH3 = 192.168.1.249 (AP2)
etc etc but again is just a guess and this method you would pick up a DHCP request from the HG612 so no matter what BT HH3 your connected, you will always have the same LAN IP until that DHCP IP expires.

[Bodge99]

Hello,

Yep, you've got it! It's good practice for the upstream router to handle DHCP for everything following.. At least on the same subnet. You can "normally" chain as many routers together as you need. As with much in life there are sometimes a few "gotchas". The main one is that the router has a WAN port and firmware that can handle more than PPPoE on it.

If any specific WAN port cannot be used, then you can normally connect the upstream connection to one of the lan ports and use the router as a switch.

I've found that the best way to see if a particular combination works is to just try it..

One tip. when you've found a combination that seems to work (i.e. full connectivity etc.) then power down and restart the router. Doing this proves that your configuration works properly from a "cold start" and that any configuration changes made have actually been saved etc.

If you wish to wireless bridge (use the router as a wireless extender), then you'll need specific support for this. Sometimes this can be enabled with 3rd party firmware.. YMMV regarding this.

Bodge99

[z1ts]

If anyone's interested there's a bit of info on one of the links provided in my thread http://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php?topic=12538.0 helpfully provided by other users of this great site!

It's dead easy to set up WAP's with all the same SSID & password so you can flit from room to room and your device will just pick up the strongest signal and use that (be aware that you may need to change wireless channels to prevent overlapping etc.).

Also you can change the 3rd part of the IP range (i.e. 198.162.2.254) that you assign the new AP and create yourself a totally separate network with a different SSID & p'word etc.  (Ideal for a 'Guest' network where you can freely hand out visitors details for connecting to the 'net confident in the knowledge they're not prowling around your files......!)

Another thing I fell foul of is expressed in the words of a wiser cat than I: b'cat "The number of DHCP servers on a LAN should be either 0 or 1 . . . and nothing else."

Oh I love WAPs etc!