ObiWiFi and Obi202

[TimDan]

The webpage Obihai.com/wifi/ (if one digs around enough to even find it) doesn't tell much about the purpose (or the rest) of the set-up.

What extra functionality does the ObiWiFi USB dongle give besides allowing distance between the Obihai202 and the router?

Is the ObiWiFi to put the Obi202 between the broadband modem and a WiFi router, perhaps to give high Quality of Service priority to incoming telephone data streams before the WiFi router sees the remaining IP data?

Can the WiFi router instead just be plugged into the LAN port of the Obi202 to have the same effect?

Obihai needs to supply more diagrammatic and photographic information for its entire setups, not just say where to plug one thing in, because no one will buy this stuff without seeing a purpose for it and thus having a motive.  IOW, Obihai is assuming a pre-motivation on the part of potential customers, rather than educating them on what wonderful things Obihai equipment enables.

*TimDan*

[pc44]

Hi TimDan,

My understanding of this setup is that the primary benefit is being able to go wireless.  Prior to this, OBIs were dependent on cumbersome cable/wire setups -- or by adding a wireless ethernet bridge into the scenario.  The OBIWiFi does away with much of this hassle by providing true wireless connectivity capability to the OBI unit.

Yes, your WiFi Router can be plugged into the LAN port of the OBI202 to benefit from QoS.

With the OBIWiFi, we can now take our OBI202 on the road for use with hotspots if desired (hotels, motels, cafes, friend/relative home, remote office, etc).  I'm sure there are other benefits of which I am unaware, but I believe the primary benefit of OBIWiFi is simply WiFi capability.

Does that help?
pc44

[TimDan]

[....] My understanding of this setup is that the primary benefit is being able to go wireless.  [....]

Yes, your WiFi Router can be plugged into the LAN port of the OBI202 to benefit from QoS.

With the OBIWiFi, we can now take our OBI202 on the road for use with hotspots if desired ....

OK, it seems that to give more than one PC WiFi Internet connectivity, one must have a
WiFi router plugged into the Obi202's LAN port.  Is that right?

But to give the Obi202 WiFi Internet connectivity for VoIP, one can just plug the ObiWiFi into
the Obi202's LAN port, and the connection is between the hotspot and the Obi202 via the
ObiWiFi.  IOW, the ObiWiFi takes the place of a modem connected to the Obi202's Internet
port.  Is that right?

*TimDan*

[Ostracus]

[....] My understanding of this setup is that the primary benefit is being able to go wireless.  [....]

Yes, your WiFi Router can be plugged into the LAN port of the OBI202 to benefit from QoS.

With the OBIWiFi, we can now take our OBI202 on the road for use with hotspots if desired ....

OK, it seems that to give more than one PC WiFi Internet connectivity, one must have a
WiFi router plugged into the Obi202's LAN port.  Is that right?

But to give the Obi202 WiFi Internet connectivity for VoIP, one can just plug the ObiWiFi into
the Obi202's LAN port, and the connection is between the hotspot and the Obi202 via the
ObiWiFi.  IOW, the ObiWiFi takes the place of a modem connected to the Obi202's Internet
port.  Is that right?

*TimDan*

The ObiWiFi plugs into the USB port and is a wireless bridge between your Obi202 and the hotspot (Access Point) which in itself is plugged into a modem somewhere.

A thought occurred to me. Since the ObiWifi moves the functionality of the internet port (bridge mode or router). It expands the capabilities of the Obi202 to two additional phone lines, with the addition of two Obi100s, or two phone lines, and two PTSN ports. Not bad for such small boxes.

[pc44]

OK, it seems that to give more than one PC WiFi Internet connectivity, one must have a WiFi router plugged into the Obi202's LAN port.  Is that right?

Yes.  You will need to have a WiFi router plugged into your network somewhere in order for multiple PCs to have wireless internet connectivity.  You could plug the WiFi router into the OBI, a network switch, or another router.  (The OBIWiFi is more of a client and not a WiFi access point itself.  At least, that is it's primary purpose.  There may be an ad-hoc workaround lurking somewhere of which I am unaware.)

Ostracus answered your second question.  Nice idea, Ostracus, on using the OBIWiFi to free up the WAN port for an additional network device when the OBI is bridged!!

[TimDan]

OK, it seems that to give more than one PC WiFi Internet connectivity, one must have a
WiFi router plugged into the Obi202's LAN port.  Is that right?

The ObiWiFi plugs into the USB port and is a wireless bridge between your Obi202 and the hotspot (Access Point) which in itself is plugged into a modem somewhere.

OK..., so the ObiWiFi provides the Obi202 with a  connection to the Internet, effectively substituting for a hard wire from a modem that is plugged into the Obi202's WAN port, the primary motive to give VoIP service through the hotspot. And any laptop PCs must either be plugged into the Obi202, or they could directly use the WiFi signal from the hotspot.  IOW, the ObiWiFi is not meant to provide WiFi connectivity between laptop PCs and the Obi202 router.  Is that right?

*TimDan*

[TimDan]

Yes.  You will need to have a WiFi router plugged into your network somewhere in order for multiple PCs to have wireless internet connectivity.  You could plug the WiFi router into the OBI, a network switch, or another router.  (The OBIWiFi is more of a client and not a WiFi access point itself.  At least, that is it's primary purpose.  There may be an ad-hoc workaround lurking somewhere of which I am unaware.)
[...]

When plugging a WiFi router into the Obi202 to give WiFi connectivity to multiple PCs, should one plug the WiFi router into the Obi202's LAN port?

*TimDan*

[pc44]

TimDan,

IOW, the ObiWiFi is not meant to provide WiFi connectivity between laptop PCs and the Obi202 router.  Is that right?

Exactly!  The OBIWiFi is not intended to function as a "wireless router" but rather as a wireless client/device on an existing wireless network.

When plugging a WiFi router into the Obi202 to give WiFi connectivity to multiple PCs, should one plug the WiFi router into the Obi202's LAN port?

Yes, that is probably the best way set it up!  You can also design your network in other ways:
1)  Internet Cable or DSL Modem -> OBI202 -> Wired or Wireless Router -> Several PCs
2)  Internet Cable or DSL Modem -> Wireless Router -> OBIWiFi+OBI202 -> PC
3)  Internet Wireless Hotspot -> OBIWiFi+OBI202 -> PC
4)  Internet Wireless Hotspot -> OBIWiFi+OBI202 -> Wired or Wireless Router -> Several PCs
5)  etc...

You can mix and match configurations as long as you follow the basic rules of network design.  Also keep in mind that when you connect one router to another router, you are forming a network within a network (so to speak).  It's usually better for the OBI to be closest to your Modem or Hotspot; otherwise, you may need to configure the other routers for port forwarding, and QoS (which can prioritize and thereby improve voice quality) may also not work properly.

pc44

[TimDan]

OK, thanks guys!

It would be nice if Obihai supplied diagrams for these topologies
as part of the education for Newbies  <hint, hint>.   

*TimDan*

[64chuck]

So I want to do what pc44 is talking about in his #1 scenario posted on June 13.  Should I make my OBI202 a 3 port switch or keep it as a router?  I have my DSL modem set to bridge now, and then going to my Linksys wireless router and then the 202 -works fine, but if I'm uploading pictures, etc., my voice doesn't work too well going to the person on the other end.  My Linksys is set to PPPoE and acts as the DHCP server.  If I put the OBI202 before the Linksys, which I want to do to take advantage of voice priority, do I need to do the PPPoE with the 202?  and should it be set to switch, etc.  Again, us newbies need all the help we can get.  I know enough about networking to be dangerous.  Thanks for the help!!!

[DRWANTHEM]

I can get the OBI202 to connect to my WiFi, make and receive calls fine.

I can also attach a network device to the LAN port, pick up an IP address and connect to the internet.

However, what I really want to do is have the Obi bridge between the WiFi and LAN port so a device plugged into the LAN port is on the same subnet as the rest of the devices on my WiFi network.  My wireless LAN is on 192.168.0.x, the OBI sticks the LAN onto 192.168.10.x and I really want them the same so I can stick an ethernet printer on the OBI LAN port and access it from my WiFi.

It would be even nicer if both the LAN and WAN bridged to the WiFi but I'd settle for one ethernet port.

[pc44]

Hi 64chuck,

If pursuing scenario 1: Internet Cable or DSL Modem -> OBI202 -> Wired or Wireless Router -> Several PCs, then yes you could set the OBI202 in Router Mode with a PPPoE Addressing Type, etc.  However, please keep in mind that others on this forum have reported the OBI202 Firewall to be off by default.  As such, you will want to enable the OBI202 Firewall in this scenario.

I am not sure I understand exactly what "switch" setting you are referencing on the OBI202.  If you don't mind having a subnetwork created by your Linksys Router, then your setup should work.  If a subnetwork is a problem, then you may want to configure your Linksys Router for more of a bridge or switch functionality, if possible.

Hope I made *some* sense
pc44

[pc44]

Hi DRWANTHEM,

For your purposes, have you tried setting your OBI202 in Bridge Mode?  The setting is located here:  Router Configuration -> LAN Settings -> OperationMode: Bridge.

Let us know if that is of any help,
pc44

[DRWANTHEM]

Setting the OBI202 to Bridge Mode results in a device attached to the LAN port, whether my printer or a laptop, not getting an IP address.  That suggests that it isn't bridging the WiFi port to the LAN port. 

The documentation isn't clear what the LAN port is bridged to when in bridge mode but it doesn't appear to bridge to the WiFi.

The OBI still appears correctly on my WiFi subnet at 192.168.0.108

[pc44]

That suggests that it isn't bridging the WiFi port to the LAN port.

This could be the case.  I do not have the time to test that theory, but if you set up a Laptop on the LAN Port with a static IP, gateway, and mask matching that of your WiFi network, you could then confirm it.  If the Laptop is still unable to ping the gateway or even the OBiWiFi IP from the LAN Port in a properly set static IP config, then yes, I believe you are unfortunately correct.  It would be nice to have this feature.

pc44

[64chuck]

Thanks for the input pc44.  In the last few days I've successfully set my obi202 as a router, and it is set up to log in to the PPPoE server, and to provide the DHCP addresses to the rest of my network.  My DSL modem is set to bridge.  The LAN side of the 202 is then plugged into one of the ports of my LinkSys router, which I have turned off PPPoE.  This works fine.  I've enabled QoS on the 202 and that gives voice priority over data as I upload large files, like a picture file.  All that works fine until about 7AM each morning.  (I'm not kidding....).  Before 7 everything is still working, then the little red DSL light on my DSL modem starts blinking, and the internet connection goes up and down, and is totally unusable.  I've had my provider (at&t) check the DSL line and they say it's okay, I've acquired a new DSL modem, with the same results.  "Most" of the rest of the day it all works fine, but I can't just reboot the modem, I have to reboot the 202 to get it all working again, it will not come back on it's own without the reboots.  Is there a "keep alive" somewhere that needs to be checked?  I've returned it to the original situation with the 202 behind the LinkSys and the LinkSys doing the PPPoE login (which worked fine for several weeks until I tried to do the QoS).  The reason I bought the 202 was so I could enable QoS on the outbound voice, where it's sitting now, that would have no effect since the data is closer to the internet than the 202.  Thanks for any input.. ...

[YuriF]

Seems like it is the case, but based on FAQ statement http://www.obihai.com/faq/OBiWiFi-sec/Can-I-use-the-OBi202-with-OBiWiFi-as-a-wireless-bridge it supposed to bridge to WiFi. Must be bug.

That suggests that it isn't bridging the WiFi port to the LAN port.

This could be the case.  I do not have the time to test that theory, but if you set up a Laptop on the LAN Port with a static IP, gateway, and mask matching that of your WiFi network, you could then confirm it.  If the Laptop is still unable to ping the gateway or even the OBiWiFi IP from the LAN Port in a properly set static IP config, then yes, I believe you are unfortunately correct.  It would be nice to have this feature.

pc44