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davearge
@50.177.75.x

davearge

Anon

[Speed] Internet speeds cut in half after Router install + Moderate NAT

I recently finished my basement and was trying to find the best solution to getting a solid internet connection down there. I have Xfinity X1 service with their 105mbps speed. I usually hit on a speed test around 115-120mbps wired from my laptop to the Xfinity Modem.

When I built the basement I decided I was going to use a POE setup and try that due to the layout and getting wiring down into the basement, also the wireless signal from the Xfinity modem was very weak in the basement with the modem located upstairs.

The POE cut my speeds down to only 30mbps wired directly to the same laptop.

I moved some stuff around in the house and was able to run a 50ft Cat6 cable from the modem down to the basement. I have 3 devices down there on my media shelving and I wanted to keep everything wired. So I had a Medialink WAPR300N router laying around. I hooked up the Medialink. The Xfinity modem is hardwired to the WAN port of the Medialink. I now am getting around 60mbps wired tested off of the Medialink. Its better but I know I can get closer to 100mbps. Is the Medialink just not capable of handling those speeds?

Also I cannot get an open NAT now with Xbox one service connected to the Medialink with UPNP turned on or even if I force a manual IP and open ports manually. It gets open NAT and full speeds wired directly into the Cisco/Xfinity Modem.

So basically the setup consits of.

Xfinity/Cisco modem upstairs.
50ft CAT6 wired to the basement into the Medialink WAN port.
3 Devices connected to the Medialink LAN ports. XBox1, PS4 and AVR.

I read some articles about making the Medialink into a switch, I tried to do this but everytime I disabled the DHCP setting I was not able to log into the Medialink anymore.

Any help on getting this sorted out is greatly appreciated.

graysonf
MVM
join:1999-07-16
Fort Lauderdale, FL

graysonf

MVM

[Speed] Re: Internet speeds cut in half after Router install + Moderate NAT

Get rid of that Medialink WAPR300N router down in the basement and replace it with a switch.

Or you can try this - plug the ethernet cable coming from the modem into LAN port 1 of the Medialink WAPR300N router NOT the WAN port. If it works at all it's because it's behaving as a switch.

Wayne99021
Premium Member
join:2004-12-28
Mead, WA

Wayne99021 to davearge

Premium Member

to davearge
A neighbor had pretty much the same situation you have.
We ran 60 feet of cat6 cable from his R7000 router to the basement and added a Netgear GS105 pro safe 10/100/1000 switch. Everything works great. He paid $29.99 for the switch, on sale at Bestbuy. Normal price is $34.99.
He has a desktop, Laptop and network type DVD player to watch Netflix with. That has been in for about 6 months and never a problem.

maxbrando
Premium Member
join:2014-06-01
Netgear WNDR3700v4
SMC D3CM1604
ARRIS TM602G

maxbrando to davearge

Premium Member

to davearge
said by davearge :

I recently finished my basement and was trying to find the best solution to getting a solid internet connection down there. I have Xfinity X1 service with their 105mbps speed. I usually hit on a speed test around 115-120mbps wired from my laptop to the Xfinity Modem.

When I built the basement I decided I was going to use a POE setup and try that due to the layout and getting wiring down into the basement, also the wireless signal from the Xfinity modem was very weak in the basement with the modem located upstairs.

The POE cut my speeds down to only 30mbps wired directly to the same laptop.

I moved some stuff around in the house and was able to run a 50ft Cat6 cable from the modem down to the basement. I have 3 devices down there on my media shelving and I wanted to keep everything wired. So I had a Medialink WAPR300N router laying around. I hooked up the Medialink. The Xfinity modem is hardwired to the WAN port of the Medialink. I now am getting around 60mbps wired tested off of the Medialink. Its better but I know I can get closer to 100mbps. Is the Medialink just not capable of handling those speeds?

Also I cannot get an open NAT now with Xbox one service connected to the Medialink with UPNP turned on or even if I force a manual IP and open ports manually. It gets open NAT and full speeds wired directly into the Cisco/Xfinity Modem.

So basically the setup consits of.

Xfinity/Cisco modem upstairs.
50ft CAT6 wired to the basement into the Medialink WAN port.
3 Devices connected to the Medialink LAN ports. XBox1, PS4 and AVR.

I read some articles about making the Medialink into a switch, I tried to do this but everytime I disabled the DHCP setting I was not able to log into the Medialink anymore.

Any help on getting this sorted out is greatly appreciated.

It sounds like all you need is an accesspoint in your basement since your are using one of those comcast gateways, all you need to do is connect the modem to the lan port on the medialink, and disable dhcp on the medialink, and set a static ip for the media link within the range of your network so that you can access the medialink setting.

NormanS
I gave her time to steal my mind away
MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
TP-Link TD-8616
Asus RT-AC66U B1
Netgear FR114P

NormanS to davearge

MVM

to davearge
Using a router (Medialink WAPR300N) as a switch requires (as graysonf See Profile states) not using the WAN port. Plug the run from the Xfinity device into one of the LAN ports, and disable DHCP. Disabling DHCP on the Medialink should not prevent you from logging in. I have an ancient Netgear similarly configured:

Netgear FR114p as print server.

I only have one Ethernet port, of five, connected on the Netgear; a short CAT 5e patch cord to a switch. The WAN port is not used at all. In theory, I could use the three remaining LAN ports for other devices; but, with a sixteen port Gbit switch, I don't need them.

Netgear in router device list.

davearge
@50.177.75.x

davearge

Anon

I tried your suggestions and am making progress.

I first tested the 50ft cable plugged directly into my laptop. The cable is good and I am seeing 120mbps down 11-12mbps up

I tried plugging the 50ft cable from the Xfinity Modem into the LAN port of the Medialink. Everything still worked. I can connect to the Medialink Wirelessly and wired but speeds are the same. I then went into my Medialink settings and DISABLED DHCP on the Medialink. For some reason after I disable the setting I cannot get back into the router config screen to login to it. I tried logging into it both wirelessly and wired directly to the Medialink. The IP is 192.168.8.1 to get to the login for the config settings.

On my Xfinity router the IP showing for the Medialink is 10.0.0.93 so I set a static IP through the Xfinity Modem for that.

So where I am at now is. Downspeeds improved slightly with my laptop wired to the Medialink to 80mbps down, so there is still a 40mbps loss wired. Xbox One sees about 60mbps down wired which is about a 50-60mbps loss. I do now have an OPEN NAT though so it corrected that.

I cannot get to the Login/Configuration screen now. Plus wireless works on the Medialink. Since DHCP is disabled should I be worried about connecting devices to it wirelessly still?

Why can I not connect to the Medialink? Does the Login IP change for the way I have it configured with DHCP off now? I am assuming its acting as a switch now but I still want to login to adjust wireless settings...
Moffetts
join:2005-05-09
San Mateo, CA

Moffetts

Member

The IP address of the Medialink should be on the same network as the Xfinity router. Can you web manage the medialink at 10.0.0.93?

davearge
@50.177.75.x

davearge

Anon

said by Moffetts:

The IP address of the Medialink should be on the same network as the Xfinity router. Can you web manage the medialink at 10.0.0.93?

The Xfinity Router gateway IP is 10.0.0.1 to access it. The Medialink is set to a static IP to 10.0.0.93. I cannot webmanage the Medialink from 10.0.0.93 nor 192.168.8.1(medialink default IP) I have tried connecting to the Medialink like this Wired to the LAN port and also tried it wired to the WAN port with no success. I also tried wirelessly as well.

I can connect to the internet wired and wirelessly to the Medialink. Thats how I am posting this reply now. It shows an IP on my laptop of 10.0.0.193. I just cannot connect to the Web manage config screen be either of those IPs.

I am thinking that since the Xfinity Modem DHCP range is 10.0.0.2 to 10.0.0.254 and I set the Medialink to 10.0.0.93 which is right in the middle of that range is why I cannot connect to the MediaLink config? I will have to do a hard reset on the Medialink and start all over with a static IP for it OUTSIDE of that DHCP range correct?
Moffetts
join:2005-05-09
San Mateo, CA

Moffetts

Member

Is the LAN interface of the Medialink set to 192.168.8.1? It probably is, but you can only access it from another system on that same network. Because the Medialink is no longer doing DHCP, you would have to hook a laptop up to another one of the LAN ports and set the system up with a static IP and subnet mask (for example, 192.168.8.5 and 255.255.255.0, respectively). Now that the laptop is on the same network as the medialink, I'll bet you can web manage it at 192.168.8.1 and then change that address to 10.0.0.93, or whatever address you want. 10.0.0.2 might make more sense.

NormanS
I gave her time to steal my mind away
MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
TP-Link TD-8616
Asus RT-AC66U B1
Netgear FR114P

NormanS to davearge

MVM

to davearge
said by davearge :

So where I am at now is. Downspeeds improved slightly with my laptop wired to the Medialink to 80mbps down, so there is still a 40mbps loss wired. Xbox One sees about 60mbps down wired which is about a 50-60mbps loss.

From the Medialink WAPR300N data sheet, the LAN ports are 10/100. I don't see how any device connected to the modem through the Medialink as a switch will do better than 100 Mbps; 60~80 Mbps is probably as good as you will get without a Gig port switch.

davearge
@50.177.75.x

davearge to Moffetts

Anon

to Moffetts
Oedipus, yes the LAN interface of the Medialink is 192.168.8.1

I have tried to hook the laptop up to another LAN port and I cannot access the Medialink Interface once the DHCP is disabled

Also,

I tried following the steps on this link here, read the very last post »www.tomshardware.com/ans ··· ter.html

Per those instructions the Medialink IP to access the Interface page would need to be outside of the range of the DHCP addresses of the Xfinity modem. The Xfinity modem access IP is 10.0.0.1 The DHCP range is 10.0.0.2 to 10.0.0.254 I changed the range on the Xfinity to start from 10.0.0.3 to .254 leaving 10.0.0.2 available. .

I then reset the Medialink, I can access the config page after the reset. I went to the LAN SETTINGS tab to set the IP of the Medialink to access the config page. The default is 192.168.8.1 I tried to change it to 10.0.0.2 since that is an available address outside of the DHCP range of the Xfinity. The medialink will not let me use that address, it says there is an error with the subnet address which has been unchanged....

In the link, he clearly states once the DHCP is disabled on the 2nd router, I cannot access the config page unless directly plugged into the network. This is what I cannot get to work....

NormanS
I gave her time to steal my mind away
MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
TP-Link TD-8616
Asus RT-AC66U B1
Netgear FR114P

NormanS

MVM

said by davearge :

I then reset the Medialink, I can access the config page after the reset. I went to the LAN SETTINGS tab to set the IP of the Medialink to access the config page. The default is 192.168.8.1 I tried to change it to 10.0.0.2 since that is an available address outside of the DHCP range of the Xfinity. The medialink will not let me use that address, it says there is an error with the subnet address which has been unchanged ...

What is the subnet mask on the Xfinity device? What is the subnet mask on the Medialink?

davearge
@50.177.75.x

davearge

Anon

They are both 255.255.255.0

So when I go into the LAN settings of the Medialink. The IP address (default) is 192.168.8.1 and subnet is 255.255.255.0 When I try to change it to 10.0.0.2 it says the subnet configuration is invalid even though it never changed.

NormanS
I gave her time to steal my mind away
MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
TP-Link TD-8616
Asus RT-AC66U B1
Netgear FR114P

NormanS

MVM

said by davearge :

The IP address (default) is 192.168.8.1 and subnet is 255.255.255.0 When I try to change it to 10.0.0.2 it says the subnet configuration is invalid even though it never changed.

Check the Medialink WAN port configuration. There should be no IP address entered for the WAN port. The Medialink may have retained a 10.0.0.0/24 IP address from when you attempted to use the WAN port.

Otherwise, there may be a firmware bug where the device expects to hold the "1" address.
fcfc2
join:2014-05-17

fcfc2 to davearge

Member

to davearge
Hi davearge,
Is there something that you think you will need to reconfigure on the secondary AP once it is configured and running?
The maximum download you are going to get is 80-90Mbps on a fast ethernet port, so you are not loosing 40, you are maxing out the port capacity. Assuming you configure the wireless correctly same ssid as primary, fixed but different channels (1,6, or 11) on the primary and secondary. Besides the DHCP, you should probably disable the firewall, and maybe some other "features". Wireless is hard to max out and there is a reason no IP ever guarantees* wireless speeds, congestion, interference from lighting and many other devices, building construction, metal duct work, etc., etc. If you want to get the max out of the ethernet ports, you should watch for a sale and pick up a 5-8 port Gigabit switch for between $25 & $30 bucks.

davearge
@50.177.75.x

davearge to NormanS

Anon

to NormanS
There was no IP address in the WAN settings.

It is not a firmware bug because I can change the IP to 192.168.8.XX, I just cannot change it to 10.0.0.XX

I just tried it again. The error says Subnet Mask Subdivision not supported. I am wondering if the Router cannot accept a manual input of 10.XX since its a 192 XXX based IP?

graysonf
MVM
join:1999-07-16
Fort Lauderdale, FL

graysonf

MVM

Throw a few dollars at a cheap gigabit switch and be done with it.

davearge
@50.177.75.x

davearge to fcfc2

Anon

to fcfc2
fcfc2, I wanted to have access to the secondary AP "just in case". However I may never need to touch it. I know it is not a big deal but I figured if I can get it working, why not?

I think you guys are right on the max speed of the port. This router is just not capable of it and I am realizing that. I would like to get max speeds out of the port since I am paying a premium to Comcast for it and I will be using the basement alot.

A gigabit switch is an option but I also need a better wireless signal in the basement, hence why I was trying the router route.

What about getting a better Wireless router capable of handling the speeds through the port and doing the same as I am trying now with this Medialink? This way I will get the speed wired I am looking for and will have a stronger wireless signal in the basement.
fcfc2
join:2014-05-17

fcfc2

Member

Hi, the switch is the lease expensive route but no wireless. How about something like this:
»www.amazon.com/D-Link-Wi ··· 0JFOP688
It has all the features you need, gigabit ports, dual band AC wireless and is designed to be setup as an AP.

davearge
@50.177.75.x

davearge

Anon

Just an update. As suggested I went out and bought a different router. I did not want a switch since I wanted to have wireless as well. I picked up a Netgear N750 WNDR4300 which has 4 gigabit LAN ports.

Worked perfect right out of the box. My speeds are where they need to be wired. I am getting 120-125mbps wired through it vs the 60-80mbps I was seeing with the Medialink.

Wireless about 15ft away from it through a wall in another room on the 5ghz channel I am seeing 118mbps. It opened ports for my NAT issues as well. All is good!