20^th July 2010

Today has been all about getting my network and internet connection up and running. Yesterday, I ascertained via a support call to Netcomm that the problem with my wireless router was that the current (installed) version of the firmware did not support the Telstra Elite USB 3G modem. The fix was a quick 4MB download and install, and away we went. No difficulty there, although it did take four goes for some reason for the update to ‘take’.

Victory!

Well almost. The next step was configuring my network (2 NAS’, a netbook, desktop, laptop and printer) all talking nicely. My aim was to use a DLINK wireless 4 port switch in conjunction with the Netcomm (and its two ports). Now this is not an area I am not strong in.

Oh I understand the basics, but if something doesn’t work, troubleshooting is always an issue. Manufacturers (and Microsoft) would have you believe that creating a ‘Home Network’ is a breeze. Hell, even Telstra TV ads show a couple of surly looking teenagers using one. But simply, it’s not.

Oh it should be, but if I have a pet hate in the universe (second only to hypocrisy) it is Things That Should Work That Don’t. And with networks, mostly at first attempt they don’t.

And so it was here.

Thankfully I have access to a decent network of like journalists, many who specialise in networking, so a quick email to a specific internet list soon had me on track; it seemed that the Netcomm router and the DLINK switch were conflicting on both wireless settings and what are called IP addresses. For the uninitiated, an IP address is like a telephone number; every single device connected to the network (and indeed the internet) has one, and if two devices share the same number, conflicts appear. This is further complicated by the fact to make it simpler, and not chew more IP addresses than necessary (already the world is running out these special numbers that have the format, for example, of 192.168.0.1) home networks tend use a special series of numbers that don’t talk to the outside world so a conflict is not uncommon. In other words, the modem has a unique number (or talks to your ISP who suppliy a unique number) and the devices not directly connected to the ‘net but attached to your home or business network are all generally in a range of the aforementioned 192.168.0.1 – 192.168.0-100.

Once I had resolved this issue by manually setting an IP address for the DLINK switch, all seemed to be good. The Netcomm on occasion drops the PIN for the USB modem and I have to manually reset that – still not sure why – but all else is working nicely

You might ask why I needed to set an IP address manually? Normally, in a home or business network, one device will act as a number giver. That is, it will issue all the IP addresses automatically to any device that asks for one. Some devices however come from the factory with an IP address hard wired in, so this dedicated number needs to be overridden.

End result is I can use my desktop with twin monitors for my video editing, my netbook brings in my news via ABC, The Australian, The West Australian and other sites, plus Twitter, and my Acer Ferrari laptop is my workhouse. All the computers can share data across all hard disks and can print to the printer, and also have access to ‘net as needed.

Next is to setup my home theatre system and unravel the mysteries of HDMI, third party remotes (to eliminate 5 separate units) and network the Playstation 3 into the system. Stay tuned!

By David Hague

David is the owner and publisher of AusCam Online. He has a background in media dating back to 1979 when he first got involved with photojournalism in motorsport, and went from there into technology via a 5 year stint with Tandy Computers. Following that, he ran a software distribution company on the Gold Coast and was one of the first to recognise the potential of Microsoft Windows.

Moving back to WA, David wrote scripts for Computer Television for video training for the just released Windows and Office 95 among others, and was then lured to Sydney to create web sites for the newly commercial Internet in 1995, building hundreds of sites under contract to OzEmail including Coates Hire, Hertz Queensland, John Williamson, the NSW Board of Studies and many, many more.

He went back into full time journalism as the Managing Editor for Channel 7's 'Gadget Guy', Peter Blasina's publications VideoCamera and Pixelmag, before starting Australasian Camcorder magazine when these publications were shelved. He lives at Sydney's Avalon Beaches nearly on the ocean front with dog Budweiser and in his spare time is a nut for motor sport, road safety, fishing, science fiction - especially Dr Who - and technology.

David can be contacted via david@auscamonline.com 

Comments(1):

1. Sheds and remote locations.

   Your narrative plus technical woes brings to mind a fairly remote little village me and my family have visited and stayed in fairly frequently about 1 hour north west of Taree, which is itself about 4 hours north of Sydney (when the traffic flows well). The area has no direct line of sight TV reception, no mobile phone service (unless you are lucky to pick up from the top of one of a few high vantage points), has only had ASDL 1.0 internet near the village itself for about 18 months and everywhere else everything comes via satellite. I am greatly interested to see if the much looked forward to national fast broadband is going to benefit such a place. Only then will I believe what politicians tell us!

   Wednesday, July 21, 2010 Paul