Need some help with HD300 and Network Configuration

[hackzaw]

Some quick background. Brand new user to SageTV. Got my Sage media server up and running a few nights ago, and just received my HD300 extender yesterday.

I'm running Windows 7. And for that matter, just last week, upgraded from Vista to Windows 7 (what this means is... don't assume I've set up W7 correctly). I haven't setup any specific workgroup or homegroup.

I'm currently running Norton 2010 for anti-virus and also my software firewall.

I've got a Belkin Wireless N router 10/100 for wired. I'm no expert when it comes to networking/routers, but I'm learning.

I've hooked up my HD300 to the router, and went through the configuration. Looking at the HD300 Network page, it lists the IP as 0.0.0.0 . It's set for DHCP. I try rescanning, and the error I get is along the lines of "an error occured searching for the network. Timeout error". Basically, it's telling me it's timed out looking for the network.

I know the ethernet cable is connected with the indicator lights on the plug on the HD300. Also, when I go into the config of the router, and I go to DHCP clients, I can see the MAC address of the HD300. The router has assigned IP192.168.2.2 (I think - I'm at work so I'm going by memory).

I've gone back to the SageTV Server, and gone in the Detailed setup. Now I didn't exactly do all the "Placeshifter" options as I thought that was something different than the config for the HD300 extender. However, I did go so far as getting Sage Server to open up the two ports; UDP 31100 and TCP 31099. I'm not sure if this was done correctly, or how to check. One thing I checked was in the router config, there is a section titled "Virtual Servers", and in there you specify ports. I didn't see these listed there.

I've power cycled the router. I've tried turning Norton's firewall completely off.

So, where do I go from here? I'm thinking it could be how I've configured Windows 7 networking, possibly Norton 2010 firewall, or something else.

Please help before my wife loses her mind on me.

[GKusnick]

Until you solve your DHCP problem, there's no point changing anything on the server. The problem is between the router and the HD300.

First thing I'd try is a different network cable.

[mguebert]

It sounds like a DHCP conflict, make sure you don't have any reserved IP addresses in the router setup.

[hackzaw]

Okay - well that narrows it down a bit. I will say, I did have to connect the cable to a different position initially, because I wasn't getting the flashing lights on the ethernet plug on the back of the HD300.

I'll first try a different cable. That's easy enough to do.

If that doesn't fix it, is there a way to determine if I have a conflict? A quick google search shows a Windows feature whereby you enable conflict detection. I guess I'll look into that more if I have to.

Here's another thing I thought was weird. In Windows, when I go to the Networking utility where it lists all connected components, I see my router, my HDHomerun tuner. Should I also be able to see the HD300? I'm guessing the easy answer is "no" because the HD300 doesn't register an IP on the device itself. Oddly, when I go into the router settings, I see the HD300's MAC address in the list of DHCP clients.

[hackzaw]

Another thought I just had (dangerous considering I don't really know what I'm talking about). If I switched to Static IP address, and assigned an IP to the HD300, I presume I have to change something in my router config. Or can I leave it in DHCP mode? I've seen in the router config where I can switch to Static addressing. Would this be a good troubleshooting method?

Also when I was messing around with the original SageTV media Server software, I was messing around with the static IP addressing which changed the WLAN settings in my router. I think I've got a feature in my WLAN where it tests the WLAN connection, but it fails this test. Is this a potential problem (I don't really know what WLAN is).

My internet connection still works, but I've switched back to DHCP.

As you may be able to tell, I have enough knowledge to be dangerous to myself.

[kamp]

WLAN is the wireless setup.

I would say that the _best_ thing to do if you're going to assign a static IP address to something is to set it up in both your router and the device. Otherwise you start running risks of address conflicts if the router happens to assign that number to another device then the extender tries to be that address you have an issue.

Assuming our Belkin routers are similar, you should be able to look at the client list, find the extender (based on the MAC address or the name) and then hit some form of "reserve" button and the router will then set that IP address for that device from then on. Set up that IP address as the static IP address on the extender as well, along with the default gateway, subnet mask and DNS server information from the router on the extender.

Hope that helps.

[KeithAbbott]

Not trying to be mean here, but perhaps picking up a "Home Networking for Dummies" book would be worthwhile. In an evening, you'd probably learn all you need to know to get by.

To try to answer your question, though, typically you would assign static IP addresses to servers, and let the DHCP server inside your router handle the IP address assignment for client machines. The HD300 leans more toward a client machine, so I would start by setting it to DHCP.

If you assign your SageTV server a static IP address, make sure it is outside of the range of IP addresses that your DHCP server in your router manages. Unpredictable things happen when you have duplicate IP addresses within your network.

Finally, many routers offer a third option, which is a reserved IP address. You would tell your router the mac address of the SageTV server, and it assigns a predefined reserved IP address from within the DHCP-managed range of IP addresses. It has most of the advantages of a static IP address, but with a little less setup hassle. Also, since your router is managing that range of IP addresses, there is almost no risk of having duplicate IP addresses.

[KeithAbbott]

Originally Posted by kamp

Assuming our Belkin routers are similar, you should be able to look at the client list, find the extender (based on the MAC address or the name) and then hit some form of "reserve" button and the router will then set that IP address for that device from then on. Set up that IP address as the static IP address on the extender as well, along with the default gateway, subnet mask and DNS server information from the router on the extender.

No need to set the extender up with a static IP address, if you have gone through the work of reserving the IP address in the router. Better to let the router manage it at that point.

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by hackzaw

Here's another thing I thought was weird. In Windows, when I go to the Networking utility where it lists all connected components, I see my router, my HDHomerun tuner. Should I also be able to see the HD300? I'm guessing the easy answer is "no" because the HD300 doesn't register an IP on the device itself. Oddly, when I go into the router settings, I see the HD300's MAC address in the list of DHCP clients.

I don't use Windows 7 so I'm not familiar with this utility, but are you sure you haven't inadvertantly enabled Windows to act as a DHCP server? If you already have a router doing that, it will only confuse things to have a second DHCP server on your LAN.

[hackzaw]

Thanks for the replies so far.

GKusnick - you might be on to something. I'm no wizard when it comes to Windows 7 or home networking.

In Windows, I can pull up the status of the Local Area Connection. This is the page where is shows what the connection is (IPv4 Connectivity, IPv6 Connectivity, Media State, Duration, Speed, and how many bytes have been sent received).

Then I click on Details from here. This Details page shows:
Connection specific DNS suffix
Description: Intel Gigabit Network
Physical Address
DHCP Enabled: NO
IPv4 Address: 192.168.2.4
IPv4 Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
IPv4 Default Gateway: 192.168.2.1
IPv4 DNS Server: 192.168.2.1

I've left out a couple details there, but essentially this looks like the internal network. It shows DHCP NOT enabled.

Can anyone with Windows 7 networking give me some advice. How do I check for conflicts?

Keith - no effence taken. I happen to agree, that my home networking skills are rough. Not formally trained, so what I know is more or less self taught and trying to learn through various forums.

Not sure if it was a great idea, but I've made a backup of my Belkin router settings, and then I've done a factory reset. I'm going to start from scratch in case there was some setting in there I inadvertently set. Next is to figure out what I'm doing on the Window's side.

[hackzaw]

I hath prevailed.

So, I'm literally pulling my hair out listening to my wife say, "Can we send all this stuff back if it doesn't work?"

Brilliant idea. Pull the power plug on the HD300. Wait 5 seconds. Plug it back in. Go to the network setup screen. Low and hehold, under DHCP settings, it shows an IP!!!

Now I don't know where I watch live tv yet, but I was able to navigate to the Online Services on the HD300 and pull down a Youtube vid. So, I'm connected.

Why a power cycle fixed the HD300, I don't know but this has driven me crazy.

Now I presume I haven't fully configured the extender on the Media Server. That's next.

Thanks for those that tried to help. I'm sure I'll have other questions coming soon.

[Blimpo]

I m have the same issue with the DHCP Sever. The DHCP Sever is my 2Wire router for my AT&T Uverse.

This happened after the latest update 20110124.2.

I had 20101209 update when it was working - I had to disconnect the power for the HD300 to connect to the DHCP Server the first time I updated to 20101209

Maybe there is an issue with the driver for the network card in the HD300

--- Update --
I got it to work but don’t understand why it did. I unplugged the unit and held the power button on the remote while I repluged it in -- it went thru a long boot up got to the factory reset screen then I turned it off from the remote and turn it back on without unplugging anything and now it got the IP configuration from the DHCP Server.

DUDE no Clue why this is happening and why it fixed itself --- not sure if it is my 2wire Router or the HD300 --- but no other device has an issue getting an IPaddress from the DHCP server.