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Voxxjin
Made of Hamburger
Premium Member
join:2010-01-13
Dupont, WA

Voxxjin

Premium Member

Router Questions

I have a router at home that has 4 plug in slots and can also connect 4 wireless devices. If the 4 wireless connections are currently connected with devices and another one wants to connect, does the new device just get denied or does the router kick off a device that is not actively being used?

I am asking because lately we will have random devices that are unable to connect for periods of time (several laptops, Ipads, xbox, phones, etc). I had never thought about this before but with the addition of several items that can connect and the problems we have had makes me wonder. BTW the items that can't connect may connect at a later time (maybe due to another device being turned off).

Should I be looking to get a network switch? Would that solve the problem? (yes I am on the novice side regarding this sort of thing).
Bob4
Account deleted
join:2012-07-22
New Jersey

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Bob4

Member

What is the manufacturer and model number?

tschmidt
MVM
join:2000-11-12
Milford, NH
·Consolidated Com..
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tschmidt to Voxxjin

MVM

to Voxxjin
The wireless devices are separate from wired. Do you know why you can only connect 4 wireless devices? You should be able to connect a virtually unlimited number of devices to your LAN. You only need to get an Ethernet switch if you want to connect more then 4 wired devices.

As Bob4 See Profile posted be helpful to know the model of your router and what you mean by: "random devices that are unable to connect for periods of time."

When that happens are other devices able to access the Internet? If so it indicate the Internet is up and problem is local. Check the IP stats on one of the device when it is unable to access the Internet. If it is getting a 169.254.x.x IP address it means it tried to get an address from your router but could not. In that case all you need to do is increase the number of DHCP addresses the router is allowed to hand out.

/tom
Bob4
Account deleted
join:2012-07-22
New Jersey

Bob4

Member

said by tschmidt:

In that case all you need to do is increase the number of DHCP addresses the router is allowed to hand out.

That's my thinking, but we need to know what router he has.

Voxxjin
Made of Hamburger
Premium Member
join:2010-01-13
Dupont, WA

Voxxjin to Bob4

Premium Member

to Bob4
said by Bob4:

What is the manufacturer and model number?

Not sure off the top of my head but I do know it is a Belkin (N300 maybe?). Later when I get home I can post exactly what it is.
Voxxjin

Voxxjin to tschmidt

Premium Member

to tschmidt
said by tschmidt:

When that happens are other devices able to access the Internet? If so it indicate the Internet is up and problem is local. Check the IP stats on one of the device when it is unable to access the Internet. If it is getting a 169.254.x.x IP address it means it tried to get an address from your router but could not. In that case all you need to do is increase the number of DHCP addresses the router is allowed to hand out.

Usually yes, other devices will still be connected to the internet. The issue seem to happen most often on devices which enter and leave the house or on items that are turned off and on. When this issue has happened, the one 'fix' was to turn off the router and turn it back on. This seemed to get the machines that I needed connected at that time to connect (whether all machines would be able to connect, idk).

I will see if I can increase the number of addresses or what I can find in its settings when I get home. But you are saying that most routers can handle many wireless connections without needing anything, correct? I will try to see what a non-connecting device shows for the IP. usually the non-connecting machines just give a message that no internet is available or it cannot connect (even while other machines can).
Bob4
Account deleted
join:2012-07-22
New Jersey

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Bob4 to Voxxjin

Member

to Voxxjin
Log into the router and look for the DHCP server settings (probably advanced settings -> LAN settings -> local network settings). Look for the starting IP address and the pool size or the ending address. Let us know what you find.

Also make a rough count of the number of wired and wireless devices you're using. The total number. NOT just the number connected at any given time.

EDIT: Nobody is running bittorrent, are they?

Voxxjin
Made of Hamburger
Premium Member
join:2010-01-13
Dupont, WA

Voxxjin

Premium Member

said by Bob4:

Log into the router and look for the DHCP server settings (probably advanced settings -> LAN settings -> local network settings). Look for the starting IP address and the pool size or the ending address. Let us know what you find.

Also make a rough count of the number of wired and wireless devices you're using. The total number. NOT just the number connected at any given time.

EDIT: Nobody is running bittorrent, are they?

I will chekc when I get home tonight. As for the number of devices, I am thinking 2 wired and 11 wireless devices.

No bittorrent.

Johkal
Cool Cat
MVM
join:2002-11-13
Pennsyltucky

1 recommendation

Johkal

MVM

Standard wireless routers by default can have 50 clients. Devices acquire IP addresses from the pool of available. Most times devices play nice with each other. As each devices connects to the router, it acquires whatever IP is given. Now, some devices don't play nice & some routers are too forgiving with a device asking for an IP it had previously but is already taken. So of course there is conflict & either one can't connect or 1 is booted off. Long story short: Go into the router and assign each device a static IP. Each time the devices connects, it will get the same IP because it is assigned. No conflicts.
Give this a try.
Bob4
Account deleted
join:2012-07-22
New Jersey

Bob4

Member

said by Johkal:

Standard wireless routers by default can have 50 clients.

I don't know how you can make a statement like this. My standard wireless router can have 253 clients.

Voxxjin
Made of Hamburger
Premium Member
join:2010-01-13
Dupont, WA

Voxxjin to Bob4

Premium Member

to Bob4
said by Bob4:

What is the manufacturer and model number?

Belkin F7D4302 v1

If I get any future disconnects I will check the router or computer/

Johkal
Cool Cat
MVM
join:2002-11-13
Pennsyltucky

Johkal to Bob4

MVM

to Bob4
My router supports 150 by default. If I said "253", would that be accurate for average by default?

Edit: To clarify: you can change it to a max above 50, but default is such. My bad for just showing the OP that by default his router would handle more than the clients he has.
Bob4
Account deleted
join:2012-07-22
New Jersey

Bob4 to Voxxjin

Member

to Voxxjin
Log into the router and check the DHCP server settings I mentioned earlier. You don't have to change anything, just take a look.

Johkal
Cool Cat
MVM
join:2002-11-13
Pennsyltucky

Johkal

MVM

said by Bob4:

Log into the router and check the DHCP server settings I mentioned earlier. You don't have to change anything, just take a look.

I'm a gambling man. I'll take that bet & guess it will show 50 default available IPs.
Bob4
Account deleted
join:2012-07-22
New Jersey

Bob4

Member

It might show 100. But until he checks, we won't know!

Next thing to check is the number of attached devices. If he doesn't have WPA security set up, everyone in the coffee shop next door might be using his WiFi.

Johkal
Cool Cat
MVM
join:2002-11-13
Pennsyltucky

Johkal

MVM

Ah yes..open WiFi. Good point!

Voxxjin
Made of Hamburger
Premium Member
join:2010-01-13
Dupont, WA

Voxxjin to Bob4

Premium Member

to Bob4
OK I checked the DHCP server settings. Basically it has a range of 100 IP addresses it can use. (1 for the internal IP address and 99 more for the DHCP server.)

@ Nyan Cat: I checked and currently there are 10 devices attached. I believe all are mine. Yes the router is password protected.

Of course since today when I started this thread, everything has been connecting. Whether that has anything to do with me resetting the router last night or not, idk. If it happens again, I will check the connections of the non-working devices and see what I can discover.

Anyway I appreciate the help. Not sure where I got the 4 wireless connection limit but I could have sworn I read that somewhere. If nothing else I learned the router can have a lot more connections.

Johkal
Cool Cat
MVM
join:2002-11-13
Pennsyltucky

Johkal

MVM

If it starts happening again, assign static IPs.

printscreen
join:2003-11-01
Juana Diaz, PR

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printscreen to Voxxjin

Member

to Voxxjin
Your router is password protected but... is your Wi-Fi password protected?

I have a Belking N150 and is configured by default to accept 99 devices just like yours. I found it odd that you said it only allowed 4 in your first post. Mine had 10 devices at the same time a few days ago. Three wired and 7 wireless. I hadsome family at home that day and they all had their laptops, cell phones, tablets... etc connected to my wireless connection. Nobody experienced any trouble connecting.