Wi-Fi Connection to HD/HDR-FOX

[Black Hole]

Empowered by the addition of network settings to the WebIF (enabling me to enter my 64-character randomised AES pass string by copy&paste), I have had my various machines up and down on Ethernet and/or WiFi like the proverbial...

It does not appear to be possible to get the WiFi up just by setting it up in the WebIF (the WiFi dongle has to be plugged in at the time, otherwise the WebIF blanks out the settings the same as the SUI does - but I'll come back to that later). WebIF is still accessible via Ethernet, even with a non-functioning dongle plugged in.

Disconnecting the Ethernet and rebooting ought to then bring up the WiFi dongle, but it doesn't. The Humax will only join the WiFi network by going into the menus Menu >> Settings >> System >> Internet Setting >> Configure WiFi, where the settings entered via WebIF will be found intact, and then clicking "Apply". The Humax thinks a bit, and then declares the WiFi ready for use. But it isn't. Regardless of what WebIF settings were selected for DHCP/static and IP address etc, clicking "Apply" on the WiFi menu changes it to DHCP and fetches an address from the router. In my case, that's not what I want so the Menu >> Settings >> System >> Internet Setting >> Configure LAN (WiFi) settings then have to be tweaked and applied.

That done, everything seems to be fine.

As I only have one WiFi dongle, I was switching it between units. Using the dongle on another machine, and then switching it back (even though the unit was off all the time the dongle was elsewhere) seems to be sufficient to have to apply the WiFi settings all over again (and then tweak the LAN settings...).

Testing the HD-FOX with WiFi was challenging, as I don't have a USB hub to be able to run the dongle and a UPD hosting the WebIF at the same time. I needed the WebIF to configure the WiFi, but without the WiFi dongle plugged in the relevant settings were not available but without the UPD the WebIF was not available. af123 gave me a tweak which provided access to the WiFi settings even without a dongle plugged in, and will roll it out as a WebIF update imminently. This meant I could prepare for the WiFi dongle with Ethernet + WebIF, then remove the UPD and add the dongle, go through the "apply" process (as per paragraph 3), and bring up the WiFi link.

With 1.03.02/3.02 (HD-FOX) I'm pleased to say I could run iPlayer over WiFi, and get to Telnet and the Maintenance Mode menu. Using the HDR-FOX versions (with WebIF etc hosted on internal HDD and therefore not a problem), I had full functionality (including Maintenance Mode) over Ethernet or Wifi, with or without wireless-helper.

One quirk: if by any chance both Ethernet and WiFi are connected, both interfaces are available on the network (the LAN and LAN (WiFi) configurations have to have separate IP addresses). The WiFi IP address is only reported on the front panel display during Maintenance Mode boot if there is no Ethernet. If you disconnect the Ethernet in the mean time (whatever mode), the WiFi stops working too, until the Ethernet is reconnected or the unit is rebooted.

 

[raydon]

My experience in setting up Wi-Fi on the HDR-FOX using the new web interface Network Settings was a little different from that described above by Black Hole so I'll outline it here too.

I started with the box connected via Ethernet cable using a manually configured IP address. Plugging in the Wi-Fi dongle then enabled the Wi-Fi settings in the web interface. I entered the new Wi-Fi settings, specifying a different static IP address from the Ethernet connection, and hit the 'Save' button. I then put the box into standby before disconecting the Ethernet cable.

On powering back up I was immediately able to access the web interface on the new IP address I had specified in the Wi-Fi settings. Checked the settings via the HDR's own GUI and confirmed that Configure LAN(Wi-Fi) -> Configure IP was set to Manual not DHCP. I did not need to 'Apply' any settings on the box itself to get this to work.
Unplugging the dongle and then immediately reinserting it, only resulted in a temporary loss in connection. I then removed the dongle once again before putting the box back into standby.

Powered it back up with no network connection at all, before reinserting the dongle. Again the Wi-Fi connection re-established itself with no manual intervention. Checked the IP settings and confirmed to be still on Manual.

Reconnecting the Ethernet cable caused the Wi-Fi to disconnect and the active connection reverted to Ethernet on the original IP address. Unplugging the Ethernet cable caused it to flip back to an active Wi-Fi connection again, so it would appear that hot plugging was working in both directions.

FYI I do not have the Wireless Helper installed. My router is configured to assign static IP's to the devices I have bound to them via their MAC addresses. These are outside of the DHCP IP range I also have set up in the router. Dongle is genuine Humax badged item.

 

[Black Hole]

Just to make sure nobody gets the idea the above posts are contradictory, it has been established that there is a variable response to WiFi dongles. Prior to the 3.02 CF roll-out, some people were able to get WiFi access in Maintenance Mode and others were not. 3.02 is largely targeted at forcing the WiFi up, but no doubt there are still wrinkles.

 

[raydon]

Indeed. My post was not intended to be contradictory. Rather to highlight the fact that although the HDR Fox hardware and firmwares are identical, individual user setups are unique with regard to router hardware, configuration, and choice of dongle. These factors can much affect the final outcome so no single result can ever be taken as gospel. The more people who can contribute their own experiences, the better it will be understood.
My tests were conducted using CFW v3.00 not 3.02. Have yet to install latest revision.
For the benefit of new readers, this is a spin-off from the original thread posted HERE.

 

[af123]

Thanks both, interesting notes from both sides of the problem. Like raydon, I've never had a problem with my wireless coming up in maintenance mode (or normal mode) and that's using a non-Humax dongle. Many people can't get it to work though and, although I now know what's going wrong in those cases, I still don't understand why. The only thing we can say is that whether it works or not seems to be consistent. One of the members here has three HDRs on the same wireless network. Two work fine in maintenance mode and one doesn't. The latest firmware /should/ make it work every time for everyone!

af123 gave me a tweak which provided access to the WiFi settings even without a dongle plugged in, and will roll it out as a WebIF update imminently

This is fixed in webif 1.2.1.

 

[Black Hole]

This is fixed in webif 1.2.1.

Confirmed, thanks.

 

[Black Hole]

For reference, my dongle is marked "Edimax EW-7711UAn", but I agree with raydon - the router might also contribute to the observed effects.

 

[Black Hole]

Work this one out:

The WebIF on the WiFi-powered HDR was uncontactable this morning, ditto file shares, but DLNA was OK. SUI menus showed the WiFi link up and running. I would normally diagnose a CF crash under those circumstances (unlikely, I know) and try a reboot - but the machine happened to be recording at the time so I couldn't, so I tried rebooting the router instead. WebIF and file shares came back! Go figure.

 

[raydon]

Forgot to mention that Wi-Fi did not work for me in maintenance mode with CFW 3.00. Just reflashed this morning with 3.02. Still no joy.
Edit: Been trying again and got it to work intermittently. Most times it fails and just displays the default IP address 192.0.2.200.

 

[raydon]

If it's any help here's the last part of my maintenance.boot.log from a good connect. (why does it do Set SSID twice ?)

Waiting for network initialisation to complete...
Stopping humaxtv process...
Stopping dnsmasq process...
Unloading BCM kernel module...
rmmod: can't unload 'bcmdriver': Resource temporarily unavailable
Killing run-and-gun
Killing modinit
killall: modinit: no process killed
Running wifi-up
Wireless interface: wlan0
Set NetworkType=Infra
Set AuthMode=WPA2PSK
Set EncrypType=AES
Set SSID=XXXXXXXXX
Set WPAPSK=YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
Set SSID=XXXXXXXXX
Manual config:
+ swifi ip
+ swifi mask
+ ifconfig wlan0 192.168.0.10 netmask 255.255.255.0 up
+ swifi gw
+ route add -net default gw 192.168.0.1
+ swifi dns
+ echo nameserver 192.168.0.1
+ eth_check
+ ifconfig eth0
+ grep -q RUNNING
+ echo No link found on eth0, disabling.
No link found on eth0, disabling.
+ ifconfig eth0 down
+ /sbin/modinit setup_hosts
Done.
Displaying IP address: [192.168.0.10/10]

And this is from a failed attempt (seems to think it's already connected ?)

Waiting for network initialisation to complete...
Stopping humaxtv process...
Stopping dnsmasq process...
Unloading BCM kernel module...
Killing run-and-gun
Killing modinit
killall: modinit: no process killed
Running wifi-up
Wireless interface: wlan0
Already connected to 'XXXXXXXX'
No link found on eth0, disabling.
Done.
Displaying IP address: [192.0.2.200/200]

 

[Black Hole]

This is annoying: I'm back on the no-WebIF-or-file-shares-but-DLNA-OK kick again. No Telnet either. I'll see what I can find out in the morning, but my suspicion is that the WiFi is active but on the wrong IP address (this would account for the symptoms).

 

[Black Hole]

I was right, but it's very odd. The WiFi was still up (as expected), and the Configure LAN (WiFi) setting was still on Manual (not DHCP) - and yet the IP address was not what I had set. I recognised it as the address the router hands out after a DHCP request.

Restored to the correct address, everything is back to normal. I will monitor.

 

[Black Hole]

After a reboot from WebIF, the relevant Humax failed to come back on line and I feared the problem was back - but no, all that had happened was that it had failed to come out of standby after reboot. Turned it on manually and all was well (WiFi up, manual IP, correct IP).

Suspicion falls on the router, but how could that force an IP address on the Humax when the Humax is set to manual?

 

[HarveyB]

Is it not worth letting the router assign fixed IP addresses to the humax, assuming your router can do this of course.
At least it means that all of your network addresses would be controlled from one place.

 

[Black Hole]

There's a bit of history behind it. This HDR was previously on HomePlug, and as these don't wake up fast enough to service the DHCP request before it times out, the HDR has to be on manual IP with the same IP address reserved in the router (actually I took it out of the DHCP pool). I now have a mixture of direct, HomePlug, and WiFi connections, with a co-ordinated set of IP addresses .1x = HDR-FOX, .2x = HD-FOX etc, so I know off the top of my head what IP address a particular unit should be on, and this one can't be put back onto DHCP without disturbing all that.

Besides which, this is an interesting quirk to diagnose.

 

[antipodean]

After a reboot from WebIF, the relevant Humax failed to come back on line and I feared the problem was back - but no, all that had happened was that it had failed to come out of standby after reboot.

I have had this happening as well, and I don't understand why as the box was powered up when the reboot happens as it is initiated from WebIF.

I have also done one from rs and that came up powered up, not standby.

 

[Black Hole]

I have had this happening as well, and I don't understand why as the box was powered up when the reboot happens as it is initiated from WebIF.

I have also done one from rs and that came up powered up, not standby.

Eh? We know there is a risk that the Humax will drop into standby after a CF reboot operation - that's why there are warnings before you do it. Don't you read them?

 

[Black Hole]

Is it not worth letting the router assign fixed IP addresses to the humax, assuming your router can do this of course.
At least it means that all of your network addresses would be controlled from one place.

Further information:

I found HDR3 (the WiFi unit) was not on the WAN (no connection to the TV Portal or the opkg server), even though it was connected to the LAN an. After checking the Menu >> Settings >> System >> Internet Setting was as it should be, I rebooted the router. That resulted in having to go into Configure Wi-Fi and "apply" the settings, and then reset the Configure LAN (Wi-Fi) settings from DHCP again (yawn). This brought up the WAN connection.

I was looking at the router control panel (Thompson TG585), and devices connected by WiFi can only have their DHCP addresses frozen - they can't be assigned a static address, or be assigned a fixed DHCP address. Therefore (in my case, with this particular router) the best I can do is to freeze the IP address handed out by DHCP or assign a static address outside the DHCP pool at the device end (which is what I have done). Note that there is no such restriction for Ethernet-connected devices.

 

[HarveyB]

Is "having a frozen dhcp address" not the same as the router assigning the same address each time? The difference being that the assigned address comes out of the DHCP pot rather than from outside that range.
That's the same principle as my netgear and my previous linksys.
In my case the DHCP range is 192.168.1.50 to 99, but 50, 51 and 52 (my choices) are always reserved for specific Mac addresses. Effectively leaving DHCP with three less addresses to hand out to other devices.

 

[Black Hole]

Maybe, but it would still mean my WiFi connection to HDR3 was no longer at its preferred address.