Unable to Find Extender (Setup) and Router Recommendation

[jrbown]

I feel like prefacing this with "Help me Obiwan Kenobi, you are my only hope"...

I am having the dreaded inability to setup an Extender (LinkSys DMA-2100) with the "Unable to Locate Extender" problem. The Windows Event log reads:

“Media Center Extender Setup failed to find the Extender on the network (timed out after 20000ms).”

I know this is all related to uPnP and Multicast and the ability or non-ability of my router to handle this correctly. I'll try to give as much backround as possible in the hope that somebody out there can recommend a solution. I'm in the UK by the way:

Initially my ISP was Demon, and I used a SafeCom SWAMR-54125 Wireless ADSL router. The extender was connected wirelessly and the PC wired. Setup worked perfectly. I still have this old router, and as a sanity check when I have problems, I plug it back in and of course the Extender and PC can see each other fine. (I don't want to get into a debate about the merits of wireless on an Extender.. It works perfectly for me!)

I then switched ISP to BT with BT Infinity fibre. This required a cable router, so I used the supplied BT Home Hub 3 router. To my horror, I experienced the problems with the setup whereby the PC could not locate the Extender during setup. A few trawls of various forums confirmed that lots of people were having all sorts of issuess with the BT Home Hub Router and Media Streaming and uPnP in general. However, I found a nifty workaround. I made sure the extender and PC had fixed IP addresses, ran through the setup using my old router, unplugged that, and plugged in the BT Home Hub, and the PC and Extender could communicate, the setup having already been done.

All good so far, except the router would occasionally need resetting, sometimes the extender wouldn't connect to the PC first time, and streaming to our Internet radio became a bit hit & miss. Basically the BT Home Hub 3 is a waste of space, at least in my experience.

So I have just purchased a TP-Link TL-WR841N. All is well with Internet radio streaming again, speed seems better, and haven't had to reset it yet. However, I am back to the situation where I can't set up the Extender because the PC can't find it. It's worse this time though. Even if I set up the extender using my tried and trusted SafeCom, when I switch to the TP-Link, it forces me to go through the wireless network setup again (which it didn't do with the BT Home Hub), which then means the extender configuration is no longer valid. Yes - I have the same SSID, and fixed IP addresses. I've tried the TP-Link fully hard-wired as a test, and setup still fails.

Any suggestions anyone? As I see it, my options fall into 3 main categories:

Firstly, try to get the TL-WR841N to work. I've raised a support ticket with TP-Link. They assure me that it fully supports uPnP (which is enabled) and IGMP Multicast. But is there some other form of Multicast which is being used which isn't supported? I don't know.

Secondly, try to get my Home hub workaround working. Is there some way I can set it up using the SafeCom router, and then change something in the registry which will let the PC see the extender when connected using the TP-link? It appears as if they are paired using a combination of IP address, MAC address, and some ID for the Wireless access point which isn't the SSID.

Thirdly, get a new router. This is probably the best solution, but does anyone have a recommendation? Must be a Wireless cable router with PPPoE support (suitable for BT Infinity), and known not to have any problems when setting up a Media Center Extender! Also not too expensive - the TP-Link was £19.99.

Thanks

John

[jrbown]

Perhaps my original post was too long.... So I'll cut to the important bit:

Can anybody recommend a Wireless-N 4-port broadband cable router (i.e. PPPoE) suitable for use with fibre broadband (such as BT Infinity), and which is known not to have any problems when trying to set up an extender?

I have three routers:
TP-Link TL-WR841N - Blocks SSDP Search or Notify packets, so the PC can never find the Extender during setup.
BT Home Hub 3 - Also blocks SSDP Search or Notify packets, so can't set up the extender with this one either.
SafeCom SWAMR-54125 - Doesn't block anything and works perfectly, but is an ADSL and not a cable router.

Any recommendations welcome.

Thanks

John

[barnabas1969]

You could save your money and just use one of your existing routers, uplinked to the BT Home Hub. You should be able to setup the BT Home Hub so that it passes everything through (aka "bridge mode". If the router doesn't support bridge mode, then you can just forward all ports 1-65535 to the SafeCom or TP-Link router). Then, connect your PC and extender to the SafeCom or TP-Link router (whichever one works with the extender... I got lost on which one works for you).

[barnabas1969]

Oh, I didn't catch that the SafeCom router was an ADSL router. I suppose that means that it doesn't have an Ethernet port for the WAN side? I've never had DSL.

[moolelo]

Some routers don't support or auto allow IP Loopback, which is the hardwired way to connect Local Networking. Port Forwarding setup might work, but try the old ctrl select each in Windows Network Center and right click these to select bridge connections. If they don't both show up network center, then that is when to look at port forwarding or IP loopback.

[jrbown]

Well I've managed to find an answer to my question, namely: Is there a verified Wireless-N 4-port broadband cable router (i.e. PPPoE) suitable for use with fibre broadband (such as BT Infinity), and which is known not to have any problems when trying to set up an extender? And the answer is:...

A TP-Link TL-WR841N (the one I bought), but with the DD-WRT firmware installed. Works like a charm.

Also, completely unrelated, but I thought I'd share it anyway: I bought some TP-link 500Mpbs Powerline adapters at the weekend. Even with one adapter stuck in the end of a 4-way 6ft extension cable, the extender network monitor bar-graph maxes out on green. In a word, forget wireless of any sort when it comes to extenders. I know everyone says that, but I finally believe it. Even though (SD) TV worked fine with wireless, plugging in these adapters has made the Linksys almost feel like the HTPC itself in terms of animations and responsiveness.

[barnabas1969]

DD-WRT is terrific. You can do lots of stuff with it, depending on your router's hardware. DD-WRT can make your router do things that much more expensive routers can do.