Superhub : Superhub Modem Mode + DD-WRT

[MaverickJesus]

I just joined Virgin, and whilst most things are awesome, the Superhub is pants. The wireless signal goes about 5 yards without completely deteriorating (possibly due to me being in a row of quaint Victorian terraces, although I have twiddled with the channels to no avail), and the connection when on said wireless is so slow its not really worth using. Wired via ethernet is max speed all day though, and my TBB Ping graph is remarkably clean.

Fortunately, I have a lovely TP-Link Wireless N router with DD-WRT flashed onto it, which hopefully I can use with modem mode. I tried it fresh from my old install and it all went horribly wrong (probably because it was a bespoke setup with some odd settings), so I've restored it to factory settings ready to start.

A few questions in advance:

1) What mode should it be set to, Gateway or Router?
2) Should the router provide DHCP or the modem?
3) The Superhub is 192.168.0.1, but when I removed the modem mode the last time around I had to navigate to 192.168.100.1 - ideally if it works I want it to be on the same subnet, so what subnet should the router sit on?

Anything else I should know? Its bloody cold and I don't want to be faffing around with it all day

[Kymmy]

The superhub in modem mode is exactly just a modem and all dhcp/routing is done via the router.. so basically the router should work directly from a reset.

The router is a cable version (ethernet WAN) and not a ADSL version??

[MaverickJesus]

Yep, its got a WAN port separate from the 4 LAN ports so from a technical standpoint it should be fine.

[General Maximus]

your TP link router will assume all responsibility for routing/switching once you put the shub in modem mode and it will have a fixed ip of 192.168.100.1 as it is a modem. It used 192.168.0.1 when it routing mode because that is the convention for assigning ip addresses for routers in class C subnets; either that or the last available ip (.254). Anyways, you don't need to worry about what subnet and mask you want to use on your router for your lan because your TP link router will automatically detect the modem and forward all internet traffic to it as it picks it up as it's default gateway.

Once you have put the shub in modem mode it requires no further configuartion, everything else is done on your router. You want to be configuring your which subnet you are going to use, your wireless ssid, encryption and some static dns servers like google amongst other things.

[MaverickJesus]

Managed to get it working now. You need to set it to "Gateway" and reboot the Superhub at least once, or it won't create the WAN bridge for some reason.

Amazing how much better the wireless quality is. Honestly don't understand how you could manage to make the wireless on the Superhub that bad, its impressive.

[sniper007]

When you people say the wireless is bad, do you mean the range mainly? Or the stabiity of connections and drop outs? Is it basically just lacking power?

[MaverickJesus]

The signal to another computer upstairs was a fair amount weaker, and regardless of how close I was to the Superhub the connection speed was horrendous. Switching to the TP-Link made it normal speeds again.

Not sure of the exact reason, I don't have any incentive to care any more!

[Daveoc64]

Originally Posted by sniper007

When you people say the wireless is bad, do you mean the range mainly? Or the stabiity of connections and drop outs? Is it basically just lacking power?

Range is bad because the Superhub uses internal antennas.

[Skie]

Originally Posted by Daveoc64

Range is bad because the Superhub uses internal antennas.

There are plenty of routers with internal antennas that are fantastic for range.

The range on the superhub is bad because virgin specified the cheapest bit of kit they could.

[General Maximus]

Originally Posted by Daveoc64

Range is bad because the Superhub uses internal antennas.

I have got a dual band Linksys router with internal attennae and the range and signal strength are the dogs dangley bits