Router choice

The ISP went all hot on security about the time I got this router, I think that's why UPnP was disabled by default.  With UPnP enabled it does "just plug'n'play", but with a degree of compromise to the security.

The problem is that if you run with the tightened up security on this router (and firmware), you just can't get this type of stuff to work manually; if you want it to work at all, you have to relax the security (but then it does "just plug'n'play").

The best answer that I've worked out is to use a longer alphanumeric WPA2 security key, with a different format to the default one provided for your particular WAP (this makes it much harder to crack).

Mike-B posted:

I am sitting feeling smug after reading & trying to understand all this.        BT & their HH6 does it all,  just plug'n'play & nothing (much) to fiddle with,    & as yet after 5 months its given faultless uninterrupted 80/20 service.    Thinking about it,  it was the same with the previous HH5 hub.      

Indeed Mike that is how it’s supposed to work... and BT do tend to test their later stuff rather well...... all this stuff about IGMP versions and SSDP, Bonjour, mDNS, Yada Yada Yada is supposed to be hidden away under the covers and dealt with automatically.... this stuff was often developed to make it easier for equipment to function automatically.

Hungryhalibut posted:

That sounds a bit like my AirPort Extreme. It's not very flexible and so is ideal for the confused. It has no flashing lights or aerials either, which is a big plus for me. 

Same here, my AE just sits in a cupboard and gets on with it. I've just moved my system to a different room, and until I get a wired Ethernet connection, the NDX is running quite happily wired to an Airport Express, streaming UPnP and web stuff over WiFi. 

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

...... all this stuff about IGMP versions and SSDP, Bonjour, mDNS, Yada Yada Yada is supposed to be hidden away under the covers and dealt with automatically.... this stuff was often developed to make it easier for equipment to function automatically.

I cannot imagine the grief & turn-off of such difficulties you & Huge discussed existing in the marketplace.  These things need to work P'n'P & without the knowledge of the likes of Huge & yourself.   I spent an hour or so with a neighbour a few weeks ago helping him get his broadband working (again)   He is reasonably able around this kind of technology but had reached the end of his rope especially as his teenage kids were bringing in new devices & software every week,  NetFlix was the last straw.   The problem (IMO) was he was trying to use (adapt) a 3rd party router.  Thankfully he has bit the bullet, changed his ISP & all the problems have just vanished.  

My problem was that I was trying to get stuff working without compromising secondary security.

In the end I determined, and finally accepted that it couldn't be done with this device on this firmware (and this one won't update), so I'd have to compromise secondary security and put increased reliance on primary security (i.e. intrusion prevention).  Most home users neither know about, nor care about, secondary security; so for them this wouldn't be a problem once the help line had told them how to open up the router.

From info on my ISP's forums, later routers supplied don't seem to have this problem (but then they may just have the UPnP router configuration interface enabled by default, I don't know).

Security is always a compromise between robust protection and convenience.

Huge posted:

Of course there's another option for Windows 7...

Get a copy of Windows 7 Retail edition, install Windows 10 on a new machine, install Oracle VM VirtualBox, then install Windows 7 in a Virtual Machine!

(Of course, don't install a virtual machine manager inside a virtual machine or you'll be into Inception computing and you may never find your way out - the circle may just keep spinning for ever! )

Good advice, I only run windows in a virtual machine & prefer to use Linux or Mac as the host as Windows 10 cannot be trusted.

</derail>

ChrisSU posted:

Hungryhalibut posted:

That sounds a bit like my AirPort Extreme. It's not very flexible and so is ideal for the confused. It has no flashing lights or aerials either, which is a big plus for me. 

Same here, my AE just sits in a cupboard and gets on with it. I've just moved my system to a different room, and until I get a wired Ethernet connection, the NDX is running quite happily wired to an Airport Express, streaming UPnP and web stuff over WiFi. 

Other than Apple's support of IGMP and handling multicast groups leaves a lot to be desired and the software is all getting a little long in the tooth now and perhaps best not suited to some current applications  - I could never get my Apple Aiport Express to function properly here and I used to have to disable snooping for any sort of reliability and in the end it found a place in my odds and sods drawer... of course if your home network requirements are not so demanding (and home UPnP audio is very undemanding)  or you very much limit yourself to Apple's ecosystem and their view of TCP/IP it will be fine... until perhaps one day when you might need to run an application at home that is more demanding than Apple prefers to handle..

Strange old world isn’t it? Folk obviously love their HH5s and Smart Hubs not to mention their Apple bits and pieces. Try as I might I couldn’t get on with my HH6. Numerous duff ones with the fabled amber light of doom. I also experienced no end of discovery issues. Draytek works for me though and long may it continue to work. I’m still waiting for FTTP. Work started four weeks ago with tree trimming along the lane and a blue chord being strung between telegraph poles. Nothing since but a promise of super gargantuan speeds by year end - just in time for me contemplating a house move. Probably everything will implode when faced with more than 7 mps.

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

ChrisSU posted:

Hungryhalibut posted:

That sounds a bit like my AirPort Extreme. It's not very flexible and so is ideal for the confused. It has no flashing lights or aerials either, which is a big plus for me. 

Same here, my AE just sits in a cupboard and gets on with it. I've just moved my system to a different room, and until I get a wired Ethernet connection, the NDX is running quite happily wired to an Airport Express, streaming UPnP and web stuff over WiFi. 

Other than Apple's support of IGMP and handling multicast groups leaves a lot to be desired and the software is all getting a little long in the tooth now and perhaps best not suited to some current applications  - I could never get my Apple Aiport Express to function properly here and I used to have to disable snooping for any sort of reliability and in the end it found a place in my odds and sods drawer... of course if your home network requirements are not so demanding (and home UPnP audio is very undemanding)  or you very much limit yourself to Apple's ecosystem and their view of TCP/IP it will be fine... until perhaps one day when you might need to run an application at home that is more demanding than Apple prefers to handle..

Indeed, my requirements are pretty basic, not much beyond streaming music, iPlayer TV, and general surfing. Given that Apple seem to have stopped developing Airport in favour of other home network gizmos now, if they stop working, I guess I'll be looking elsewhere for replacements. They've been serving me well for over ten years now, so I'm not complaining.