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Currently, I'm in a situation where an end device talks at a certain transmission rate over ethernet. Auto-negotiation between the device and router are supposed to be able to address the issue, but apparently the device is stubborn and will crash if the RJ-45 port on the router is not configured with auto-negotiation disabled and specifically set to the appropriate speed the device communicates at.
Unfortunately, I have no control over the device, so all I'm left with is to change the port settings on the router. There is also an added level of crappiness to where I may or may not have access to the router that is communicating with the device. My solution was to put another router that I would have full control over in between the main router and the end device.
I think this would work (please advise if you think otherwise), so I pulled out a linksys WRT120N router and explored its settings to find that transmission speed was not something that I could set for the physical ports.
Do I need to get another router? Am I going about this all wrong? Is there a way to configure this on the WRT120N that I am unaware of?
MandM
Posted 2013-07-12T20:05:01.477
Reputation: 177
Sure, if you pay more than $40 for them... – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams – 2013-07-12T20:07:35.433
So, it's essentially an "advanced feature" then? What prices would I be looking at? And would it still be a residential-focused router? It doesn't necessarily need to be, but it would be nice I guess.. – MandM – 2013-07-12T20:11:16.803
The stock control panel on a cheap home router will almost certainly never include this setting no matter what make and model it is, but you might be able to obtain sufficiently fine-grained control if you reflash it with DD-WRT or similar custom firmware. – Aaron Miller – 2013-07-12T20:18:20.727
Actually, I doubt even DD-WRT would help you here. Most consumer routers are a 2-port router with a 5-port unmanaged switch. You would need something like a managed switch for this. – Darth Android – 2013-07-12T20:20:55.783
If the router is indeed a 2-port router - would that not be enough if its just one upstream connection (to the main router) and one downstream connection (to the device)? That is, if flashing with custom firmware would give me access to those port configurations. – MandM – 2013-07-12T20:37:22.017
1Do you really need a router? A cheap managed switch, or maybe at 10mb hub would be enough. – Zoredache – 2013-07-12T21:00:21.780
@MandM you are right and wrong. It does have enough connections for the task, but between one of the ports and the user there's a 4-port unmanaged switch whose settings you can't modify. – GnP – 2013-07-12T22:02:50.960
@Zoredache - I guess I don't really need a router, I was just operating under the assumption that was the way to go. If I was to go the 10mb hub route - I'm assuming I'd just put the hub in between the upstream connection and the device? – MandM – 2013-07-15T13:41:24.007
Also, thanks for all the comments - this has been very helpful! – MandM – 2013-07-15T13:41:43.667
@Zoredache - do I need to use a crossover cable connecting hub to router? And then regular to the device? Sorry for the barrage of questions, I just saw mentions of issues due to the type of cable used in some related searches. – MandM – 2013-07-15T13:43:54.520
A crossover cable may not be needed. Newer switches/routers/interfaces include the ability to automatically crossover. If your equipment doesn't support it then you will need a crossover for any connection from a switch/hub/router to another switch/hub/router. – Zoredache – 2013-07-15T16:10:15.983