Another HTPC Thread

[LiamC]

DD-WRT alerted me to this

http://apcmag.com/new-worm-can-infect-home-modemrouters.htm

..."A new botnet, “psyb0t” is the first known to be capable of directly infecting home routers and cable/DSL modems.
...
According to DroneBL, any router that uses a MIPS processor and runs the Linux Mipsel operating system (a port of Debian for MIPS Processors) is vulnerable if they have the router administration interface, or sshd/telnetd in a DMZ, with weak username/passwords. DroneBL noted this includes devices flashed with the open-source firmwares openwrt and dd-wrt, and the group also said that other routers may be vulnerable, as it had observed the bot running on routers based on the Vxworks operating system."...

 

[Fushigi]

Fushigi, could you run a speed test somehow? I don't foresee buying these, but I will keep it in mind if the WiFi idea fails.

I'll see what I can do. It may take a few days, though, as we've out of town guests and I'm attending a conference tomorrow.

 

[timwhit]

I'll see what I can do. It may take a few days, though, as we've out of town guests and I'm attending a conference tomorrow.

No hurry, whenever you have a chance.

 

[timwhit]

I watched Quantum of Solace in 1080p last night. The quality is amazing. The computer handled it no problem.

On the other hand, Quantum of Solace was not amazing.

 

[Mercutio]

I've been doing homeplug in places that are 802.11-hostile for a while. One place where I work is using homeplug to run $75,000 Polycom teleconferencing systems in rooms that weren't wired for Ethernet in a building that is primarily steel construction (i.e. it eats radio signals). Data transfer rates are pretty poor for file copies but for regular internet applications like teleconferencing homeplug is just beautiful.

"N" speeds are tricky to obtain. In my office, I'm using a DLink router/AP and at times I'll have a claimed 170Mbpis connection and others it'll be just plain old 54Mbps. Mostly what I see is an AP I can connect to from farther away.

 

[timwhit]

"N" speeds are tricky to obtain. In my office, I'm using a DLink router/AP and at times I'll have a claimed 170Mbpis connection and others it'll be just plain old 54Mbps. Mostly what I see is an AP I can connect to from farther away.

Well 54Mbps is still a lot better than the 5.5Mbps I connect at now.

 

[Mercutio]

You have to realize that the claimed speeds are usually about 1/2 practical, just from 802.11 overhead, too.

If I really needed to transfer stuff to that PC over that sort of connection I'd be unspooling a long ethernet cable or dumping it all on a USB drive.

 

[timwhit]

You have to realize that the claimed speeds are usually about 1/2 practical, just from 802.11 overhead, too.

If I really needed to transfer stuff to that PC over that sort of connection I'd be unspooling a long ethernet cable or dumping it all on a USB drive.

I don't have a USB drive. I could buy one, but I think this will work for me. I just transfer the content overnight.

I do have a spool of cat-5e somewhere, but when it's not in use, I would have to find a place to put 70 ft of cable.

 

[CougTek]

DD-WRT alerted me to this

http://apcmag.com/new-worm-can-infect-home-modemrouters.htm

..."A new botnet, “psyb0t” is the first known to be capable of directly infecting home routers and cable/DSL modems.

PhuK!

I have a Linksys WRT54G2 with the DD-WRT firmware. I'll have to check if it is vulnerable but I bet it is. Last time I checked, no Tomato firmware was available for my router.

Thanks for sharing the information.

 

[ddrueding]

You are only vulnerable to that worm if you have enabled SSH access from the red (outside) interface and your password is easy to guess. It is not enabled by default, and can be disabled easily. It is not a big deal.

 

[timwhit]

I got the new wireless card, but the connection quality is even worse than the old Linksys card. I moved my wireless router closer, but I can't leave it there for long as it's sitting in the hallway with an ethernet cable strung along the floor. I am now connected at around 108Mbps. And I am transferring files at 50Mbps. This is much much better than the 2Mbps I was getting before.

I'm thinking about buying an AP/bridge. Does anyone have any experience with these? How about the TRENDnet TEW-638APB?

 

[Mercutio]

Yes. I have one sitting here in my office right now. They're acceptable.
The bigger problem you're probably having in your building is probably interference. It may not matter how much you boost your AP's signal; you're just making the spectrum more crowded.

In my apartment I use 5GHz 802.11n, which has a shorter practical range but is much less subject to interference.

 

[timwhit]

Yes. I have one sitting here in my office right now. They're acceptable.
The bigger problem you're probably having in your building is probably interference. It may not matter how much you boost your AP's signal; you're just making the spectrum more crowded.

In my apartment I use 5GHz 802.11n, which has a shorter practical range but is much less subject to interference.

Well, when I move the router closer the signal is very strong. So, I figure if I put another AP halfway between the HTPC and the router this will accomplish essentially the same thing. Am I mistaken?

 

[Mercutio]

Do you have any way to do a site survey?
Netstumbler, even?

 

[timwhit]

I've never done it before. What are the general steps?

 

[Mercutio]

Generally what I'm talking about is just finding out what radio frequencies are in use nearby. If you're in an apartment building. Most of the time the manufacturer provided wireless client will tell you that, along with which signals are the strongest.

The three major points of interest are channels 1, 6 and 11, and I suspect those will all be in use, but you may find that for example there are several nearby devices using 1 and a 11, but the signal on channel 6 is weak enough that overcoming it locally won't be an issue.

In my apartment there are people nearby whom I can only guess had their equipment automatically settle on channels 4 and 8 based on their proximity to people using 1, 6 and 11. There are a whole bunch of people trying to use 1 and 11 (as am I; my stuff is dual-band and mildly amplified on high-power cards, though, so that's probably a bit frustrating for someone, when I turn the 2.4GHz stuff on). I'm not in THAT high density of an apartment building but seemingly EVERYONE is using 2.4GHz. At any given time I can see between seven and 12 SSIDs and there are a total of 12 apartments in my building.

Anyway, yeah, getting another source for your 2.4GHz signal that's closer to your client will probably help, but on another level it's just going to be another source of interference for someone else.

 

[timwhit]

I made sure that my router is running on a different channel than everyone else in the building. I checked this when I initially setup the router and I checked it again yesterday.

I think the main problem with my current setup is that I am in a 101 year old building in a garden unit (basement). There are a number of walls, appliances, etc degrading the signal. When the building was rehabbed they also used metal studs, which also hurts my signal.

I tried to figure out a way to either run ethernet or move the router to a more central location, but I just don't think it's going to be possible with the layout of my condo.

I will order the Trendnet AP/Bridge and see if it works, if it doesn't then I think I'm shit out of luck.

This HTPC is turning into a money pit.

 

[timwhit]

I'm trying to setup the audio on this correctly. I have it hooked up to a Denon AVR-1907 through TOSLINK. However, I only have front channel speakers and a center channel. I never bothered getting a sub or rears.

I setup the sound to output as Dolby Digital 5.1. But, there doesn't appear to be anywhere in the Realtek control panel to turn off the sub or rears. I already have this setup correctly on my receiver, so will this matter at all? Also, when listening to music it outputs to the center, which sounds like crap. I have to switch to Digital PCM output so that it only outputs in stereo. Can't this thing figure out what it should output in depending on the source? Or will I have to change it every time I want to listen to music or watch a movie?

 

[Stereodude]

It won't switch between PCM and DD/DTS automatically? I don't have to change anything on my HTPC. You can only get 2 channels via PCM anyhow, so it doesn't really matter.

Does the system do DD Live or DTS Connect?

 

[timwhit]

It won't switch between PCM and DD/DTS automatically? I don't have to change anything on my HTPC. You can only get 2 channels via PCM anyhow, so it doesn't really matter.

Does the system do DD Live or DTS Connect?

It appears to do DD Live, but there aren't any settings under that tab other than Automatic Override. I don't see anything related to DTS.

I guess it's not that big of a deal to switch the audio mode, I was just hoping for something automatic.

 

[Stereodude]

Can you turn it off? Seems like you don't need it.

 

[timwhit]

Can you turn it off? Seems like you don't need it.

DD Live? There doesn't appear to be a way to turn it off.

 

[Stereodude]

DD Live? There doesn't appear to be a way to turn it off.

Odd, I have a motherboard with DTS connect and I can turn it off.

 

[Mercutio]

The Auzentech hardware I'm familiar with does not do DD Live with Realtek hardware, but I too have no problem turning it on or off.

 

[timwhit]

The board, which is linked in the first post, uses the Realtek ALC889A.