Look at this weird way I solved my network problem...do you think this will work?

Question

So I was getting pissed off that my router (a shitty WRT54G v5) was giving my slow response times and high pings on various sites and while gaming, especially if there was anyone browsing on the wireless.

So what I did was take a switch and place it in between the cable modem and the router and connected one cord directly to my computer and another cord connected to the router. Now I was able to get the speed I was looking for, AND accommodate the wireless user clients.

Now here's the question...will I be able to remote desktop to my machine from the internet? Will my switch be able to resolve the incoming requests?

charlyvvvvv:
my machine is running straight from the switch, not the router - so it doesn't have a subnet ip, just an external one. That's what I'm wondering is to see if the switch is smart enough to bring the requests to my machine - or the router.

greg m:
yes my machine and other wireless clients all share the same external ip

here's a graphic of the situation: http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b238/sr111/graphic.gif

Yes I have zone alarm pro on my machine. it IS locked down with heavy firewall rules, probably better than my router :|

Answer 1

I set my network up similarly before, because I was using more than one router. Additionally my ISP issues me more than one IP address, that is really key. I suppose both machines ( your computer and the router could share the same IP addy. but I dont know for sure. ) Have you had more than 1 person on your network at the same time? You should goto a computer that is run through the router and visit www.whatismyip.com and do the same with the machine that has no router, just to see if your ISP is giving you more than one IP addy.
And yes you should be able to access your machine via remote desktop, just like everyone else on the internet can ( since you are wide open running thru a switch only)
If your ISP is giving more than one IP address use 2 routers or expect a lot of attempts to access your windows machine.
Good luck


Your machine is wide open to the net!!
expect any constant connections to your machine to drop the other connections, or at least cause connectivity problems for the other machines that are connecting. Pretty much the same boat you just got out of just worsened because now your machine has no NAT ...
Regards

Answer 2

The switch (hub mode) is operating as a stupid device, it has no MAC address, and is just relaying packets.

Just because you are operating behind your local router, you are still behind the ISP's router, and have all the advantages of NAT and port security that they provide.

Your local router is still your gateway, and you are most likely getting served a DHCP address from it. IT is still resolving you, the way a gateway should. There is a possibility of you getting a DHCP service from the ISP and this could be a conflict so you can force the router to service you by specifying that it grant you a certain IP when it see's your MAC address

You have added a hop, since your computer is receiving packets from the cable modem passed into the hub, then into the router and back out to you.

Depending upon your traffic patterns, this is good and/or bad.

Yes, you can remote desktop to your machine, but make sure you tell the router to DHCP serve you a 'pseudo-static' as it were, or you will have connection troubles.

Answer 3

Q. "Will my switch be able to resolve the incoming requests?"

A. Routers handle the task of "resolving incoming requests" or sorting out what data packet gets in and who gets the requested data packet on a network. It's called NAT (Network Address Translation). The task of packet inspection is called SPI (Sequential Packet Inspection) and helps in keeping the bad stuff on the internet side of the router.

Switches are little more than glorified hubs. They could care less about "resolving" client requests because that isn't what they do.



Q. "will I be able to remote desktop to my machine from the internet?"

A. I'm just surprised that you're willing to expose your computer to the internet by essentially turning it into an ad-hoc router (No NAT/SPI or Filtering).

Let alone being able to successfully connect to your ISP without a broadband modem, router or assigning the PC a routable IP address.

A better solution:
1. Put all of your computers behind the router.

2. Head over to http://www.broadbandreports.com and run Speed Test and Ping Test. Take note of the results and any recommendations.

3. Download and use DrTCP to adjust your RWIN and other settings as recommended based on your test results.

Answer 4

Depending on their policies your ISP may get upset, the way you set this up your using 2 IP addresses, one for the router and another for the computer. Some might call this 2 connectionc..others might just not care, not notice, or ignore it.
You should be able to remote desktop to the computer, in fact you should be able to do anything to it since it's now directly on the internet and not behind your router. On the downside this means you better be running a firewall on that machine, since it doesn't have the protection of being behind your router.

Answer 5

whoaaa same as i grow to be yet I grew an inch! i'd nevertheless placed on them yet felt a touch humorous... I only did not placed on them with my large skinny skinniest skinny denims lol! I wore them with an prolonged pair that wasn't like dermis tight around the ankles.

Answer 6

Well i don't know but it sounds like a plan, when you get done can you come fix mine ? Its slow and kicks me off the Internet at odd times i need help as well.