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linksys ea6350 any way to turn wireless off or on ON router itself?



 
 
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  #1  
Old March 24th 17, 06:18 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware
R2D4
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 13
Default linksys ea6350 any way to turn wireless off or on ON router itself?

I just picked up a nice, used Linksys EA6350 at a garage sale.
Definitely faster than the router I have been using, but one thing that
annoys me at many routers is the inability to turn the routers wireless
off an on ON the router itself (NOT in the software). Does anyone know
if this one can, in fact, have its wireless enabled/ disabled from a
button on the router itself?
  #2  
Old March 24th 17, 07:39 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware
John McGaw
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Posts: 732
Default linksys ea6350 any way to turn wireless off or on ON routeritself?

On 3/24/2017 1:18 PM, R2D4 wrote:
Linksys EA6350


Hmmm... You have the router there. Do you _see_ a button other than the reset?
  #3  
Old March 24th 17, 07:41 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware
VanguardLH[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,453
Default linksys ea6350 any way to turn wireless off or on ON router itself?

R2D4 wrote:

I just picked up a nice, used Linksys EA6350 at a garage sale.
Definitely faster than the router I have been using, but one thing that
annoys me at many routers is the inability to turn the routers wireless
off an on ON the router itself (NOT in the software). Does anyone know
if this one can, in fact, have its wireless enabled/ disabled from a
button on the router itself?


http://downloads.linksys.com/downloa...serGuide,0.pdf

Nothing there on how to disable the wi-fi bands. Guess they figure
users that get a wi-fi router want to use wi-fi.

I still have an old Linksys router that I keep in case I want to
discontinue using wi-fi. Keep hunting those garage sales for a non-wifi
router. Might find one for cheap at Craigslist (if available in your
area); however, way too often sellers are too attached to their wares
and ask way too much on price. Maybe they think candidate buyers are
going to haggle but I don't haggle. Tell me a price, if I don't like it
them I keep looking.
  #4  
Old March 24th 17, 08:26 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware
Paul[_28_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,467
Default linksys ea6350 any way to turn wireless off or on ON router itself?

R2D4 wrote:
I just picked up a nice, used Linksys EA6350 at a garage sale.
Definitely faster than the router I have been using, but one thing that
annoys me at many routers is the inability to turn the routers wireless
off an on ON the router itself (NOT in the software). Does anyone know
if this one can, in fact, have its wireless enabled/ disabled from a
button on the router itself?


There is no button on it.

The unit has a power switch and a reset
(pinhole) momentary contact button.

Those are the controls.

Other options include terminator resistors,
Faraday cage, placing a switch in the VCC path
on each radio, none of which is practical or
convenient.

The problem with the Faraday cage concept, is
what to do with cables going into and out of the
cage area. Ferrites for controlling cable
emissions work up to 1GHz or 1.5GHz or so, but
I don't know of any materials that go all the way
out to 5GHz. As otherwise, the Ethernet cables
could work as antennas to redistribute the signal.

The software option looks pretty good to me...

Paul
  #5  
Old March 24th 17, 08:29 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware
R2D4
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 13
Default linksys ea6350 any way to turn wireless off or on ON routeritself?

On 03/24/2017 02:41 PM, VanguardLH wrote:
R2D4 wrote:

I just picked up a nice, used Linksys EA6350 at a garage sale.
Definitely faster than the router I have been using, but one thing that
annoys me at many routers is the inability to turn the routers wireless
off an on ON the router itself (NOT in the software). Does anyone know
if this one can, in fact, have its wireless enabled/ disabled from a
button on the router itself?


http://downloads.linksys.com/downloa...serGuide,0.pdf

Nothing there on how to disable the wi-fi bands. Guess they figure
users that get a wi-fi router want to use wi-fi.

I still have an old Linksys router that I keep in case I want to
discontinue using wi-fi. Keep hunting those garage sales for a non-wifi
router. Might find one for cheap at Craigslist (if available in your
area); however, way too often sellers are too attached to their wares
and ask way too much on price. Maybe they think candidate buyers are
going to haggle but I don't haggle. Tell me a price, if I don't like it
them I keep looking.



I think I found a solution. I found a 120 VAC switch in my junk box
where whatever device you want to enable/ disable from the mains voltage
you plug in and then just use the switch. I do happen to notice that
most of these routers lack such a switch also, but now this one has it.
I can just turn it off totally when not using it for wireless and it
seems to be working out fine. By the way, I got this 6350 for $5 in the
box with everything, so if it didn't work out it wasn't a big loss.


  #6  
Old March 25th 17, 02:54 AM posted to alt.comp.hardware
VanguardLH[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,453
Default linksys ea6350 any way to turn wireless off or on ON router itself?

John McGaw wrote:

R2D4 wrote:

Linksys EA6350


Hmmm... You have the router there. Do you _see_ a button other than the reset?


From its manual (gave a link in my other reply), the only buttons a
Power, Reset, and WPS.

Maybe he could use a 3-prong plug, power cord (only need the ground
wire), and wrap the antennae with metal foil to ground them. That is,
shield the antennae.

The radios inside the router's case likely have a metal shield around
their circuitry. Could be the OP could look at the PCB traces to find
the power to that circuitry and use an Xacto knife to cut those traces.

http://tinyurl.com/l4lh5wb

Snipping the leads to the antennae would probably work okay except very
nearby devices might still get at the radios. The leads may simply
attach to a PCB header and he could pull off the connectors for the
antennae.

The OP wasn't clear if he wants no one connecting to his wifi router
(which would simply be him using a auth key that is very strong and
randomly generated) or if he doesn't want more radio transmissions
bombarding him (although his residence is probably so bombarded now that
a wifi router won't make much difference - an RF meter would be needed
to find out how to shield oneself without having to wear a grounded foil
hat).

The OP replied that he found a line switch and will use that to power
down his wifi router. That means losing ALL of the router's functions,
not just its wifi feature. I had assumed the OP still wanted to use the
router but without its wifi feature. If he is going to walk over the
router to use a line switch to power off the router, he could just use
the Power switch on the router itself.
  #7  
Old March 25th 17, 04:04 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware
Paul[_28_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,467
Default linksys ea6350 any way to turn wireless off or on ON router itself?

VanguardLH wrote:
John McGaw wrote:

R2D4 wrote:

Linksys EA6350

Hmmm... You have the router there. Do you _see_ a button other than the reset?


From its manual (gave a link in my other reply), the only buttons a
Power, Reset, and WPS.

Maybe he could use a 3-prong plug, power cord (only need the ground
wire), and wrap the antennae with metal foil to ground them. That is,
shield the antennae.

The radios inside the router's case likely have a metal shield around
their circuitry. Could be the OP could look at the PCB traces to find
the power to that circuitry and use an Xacto knife to cut those traces.

http://tinyurl.com/l4lh5wb

Snipping the leads to the antennae would probably work okay except very
nearby devices might still get at the radios. The leads may simply
attach to a PCB header and he could pull off the connectors for the
antennae.

The OP wasn't clear if he wants no one connecting to his wifi router
(which would simply be him using a auth key that is very strong and
randomly generated) or if he doesn't want more radio transmissions
bombarding him (although his residence is probably so bombarded now that
a wifi router won't make much difference - an RF meter would be needed
to find out how to shield oneself without having to wear a grounded foil
hat).

The OP replied that he found a line switch and will use that to power
down his wifi router. That means losing ALL of the router's functions,
not just its wifi feature. I had assumed the OP still wanted to use the
router but without its wifi feature. If he is going to walk over the
router to use a line switch to power off the router, he could just use
the Power switch on the router itself.


That's not how you take care of RF.

If the unit uses coax cables inside, you can disconnect
the antenna and connect a terminating resistor. That turns
the RF into heat. The resistor must be shielded, as well
as the connector body the resistor is in, being of
characteristic impedance.

This is an example of a terminator, to take the place of
an antenna lead. The power rating of the terminator, must
be selected for the amount of expected output. (If you're
doing this to a radio station, then this becomes a
"dummy load" and would be sized accordingly. The Wifi
transmitter should not run continuously, if it cannot
sense a connection or negotiate one.)

https://www.phoenixcontact.com/onlin...il:pid=2700425

Placing foil around an antenna, would be a mismatch, and
cause a high SWR (standing wave ratio). While you could
use RF absorptive materials like they use in anechoic RF
chambers, it would be a whole lot of work to apply them.
(The test chamber at work, it was a couple stories high
and was used for near-field work, and it would have materials
like this in it. Our test chamber cost around $4 million
or so, with a lot of that being the cost of test equipment.)

https://product.tdk.com/info/en/cata...9e_bdj_003.pdf

The Faraday cage idea seems to work - your microwave oven
for example, has a transparent viewing window, and the
high pass filter caused by that metal screen with round
holes in it, seems to block 2.4GHz or higher emissions,
without the screen itself becoming incandescent. So it
looks like that must be reflecting the 1KW of energy impinging
on it, rather than absorbing or converting it to heat.
But for a Faraday cage to work, you've got the problem of
all the other wired connections, needing to come out of the
caged area. And that isn't very practical.

Either use a terminator on each output connector, or,
remove power from the Wifi area for each radio (if it
has both 2.4GHz and 5GHz). A unit like that should have
MIMO, so you have to do a thorough examination inside
to see whether termination is going to be feasible.
(There might be patch antennas as well as the external ones.)

It all depends on whether you ever want to use the Wifi
again, as to whether some method that "trashes" the hardware
is called for. Using a terminating resistor won't trash it,
because the impedance matches, and the SWR will be low (unity).

Paul
  #8  
Old March 26th 17, 12:58 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware
R2D4
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 13
Default linksys ea6350 any way to turn wireless off or on ON routeritself?

On 03/25/2017 11:04 AM, Paul wrote:
VanguardLH wrote:
John McGaw wrote:

R2D4 wrote:

Linksys EA6350
Hmmm... You have the router there. Do you _see_ a button other than
the reset?


From its manual (gave a link in my other reply), the only buttons a
Power, Reset, and WPS.

Maybe he could use a 3-prong plug, power cord (only need the ground
wire), and wrap the antennae with metal foil to ground them. That is,
shield the antennae.

The radios inside the router's case likely have a metal shield around
their circuitry. Could be the OP could look at the PCB traces to find
the power to that circuitry and use an Xacto knife to cut those traces.

http://tinyurl.com/l4lh5wb

Snipping the leads to the antennae would probably work okay except very
nearby devices might still get at the radios. The leads may simply
attach to a PCB header and he could pull off the connectors for the
antennae.

The OP wasn't clear if he wants no one connecting to his wifi router
(which would simply be him using a auth key that is very strong and
randomly generated) or if he doesn't want more radio transmissions
bombarding him (although his residence is probably so bombarded now that
a wifi router won't make much difference - an RF meter would be needed
to find out how to shield oneself without having to wear a grounded foil
hat).

The OP replied that he found a line switch and will use that to power
down his wifi router. That means losing ALL of the router's functions,
not just its wifi feature. I had assumed the OP still wanted to use the
router but without its wifi feature. If he is going to walk over the
router to use a line switch to power off the router, he could just use
the Power switch on the router itself.


That's not how you take care of RF.

If the unit uses coax cables inside, you can disconnect
the antenna and connect a terminating resistor. That turns
the RF into heat. The resistor must be shielded, as well
as the connector body the resistor is in, being of
characteristic impedance.

This is an example of a terminator, to take the place of
an antenna lead. The power rating of the terminator, must
be selected for the amount of expected output. (If you're
doing this to a radio station, then this becomes a
"dummy load" and would be sized accordingly. The Wifi
transmitter should not run continuously, if it cannot
sense a connection or negotiate one.)

https://www.phoenixcontact.com/onlin...il:pid=2700425


Placing foil around an antenna, would be a mismatch, and
cause a high SWR (standing wave ratio). While you could
use RF absorptive materials like they use in anechoic RF
chambers, it would be a whole lot of work to apply them.
(The test chamber at work, it was a couple stories high
and was used for near-field work, and it would have materials
like this in it. Our test chamber cost around $4 million
or so, with a lot of that being the cost of test equipment.)

https://product.tdk.com/info/en/cata...9e_bdj_003.pdf

The Faraday cage idea seems to work - your microwave oven
for example, has a transparent viewing window, and the
high pass filter caused by that metal screen with round
holes in it, seems to block 2.4GHz or higher emissions,
without the screen itself becoming incandescent. So it
looks like that must be reflecting the 1KW of energy impinging
on it, rather than absorbing or converting it to heat.
But for a Faraday cage to work, you've got the problem of
all the other wired connections, needing to come out of the
caged area. And that isn't very practical.

Either use a terminator on each output connector, or,
remove power from the Wifi area for each radio (if it
has both 2.4GHz and 5GHz). A unit like that should have
MIMO, so you have to do a thorough examination inside
to see whether termination is going to be feasible.
(There might be patch antennas as well as the external ones.)

It all depends on whether you ever want to use the Wifi
again, as to whether some method that "trashes" the hardware
is called for. Using a terminating resistor won't trash it,
because the impedance matches, and the SWR will be low (unity).

Paul



Just wanted to update here. This router did not have an on/off switch
on the unit itself, so the only way to turn it on/off was to either
plug/unplug the power adapter or place an outlet switch ahead of the
power adapter and I did the latter.

The idea was to have WIFI access only when I'm home or using the
Internet. I don't like to leave the WIFI on all of the time when the
net is not being used. My much slower Netgear N300 had a momentary push
and hold switch on the unit that either enabled/ disabled WIFI without
having to turn the unit off or on for WIFI, which I really liked. With
the upgrade to this EA6350, I lost that capability so was seeking out
another way. Another advantage of the N300 was that when WIFI was off,
I could hard wire directly to the system being used instead of using
WIFI; doesn't look like I can do this with the EA6350 unless I go into
the 6350's software and disable WIFI. So, if I want to have hardwire
net access without WIFI easily, I'll keep the Netgear N300 handy; in all
other cases, I'll be able to use this replacement 6350. I thought there
might be a possible boot up issue if I kept turning the 6350 off and on.
I noticed that the router Verizon provided didn't do well if
completely turned off and on before use each time (very slow boot up and
subsequent WIFI access), but the 6350 doesn't seem to have that issue.

So, issues addressed, and the goal of replacing the original FIOS router
while still mostly retaining WIFI speed has been attained. As far as I
can tell, the 6350 is nearly as fast or as fast with my service as the
FIOS router.
  #9  
Old March 26th 17, 04:27 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware
VanguardLH[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,453
Default linksys ea6350 any way to turn wireless off or on ON router itself?

R2D4 wrote:

Just wanted to update here. This router did not have an on/off switch
on the unit itself, so the only way to turn it on/off was to either
plug/unplug the power adapter or place an outlet switch ahead of the
power adapter and I did the latter.


http://image.11st.my/g/2/6/7/4/0/2/17267402_A2.jpg

The manual showed a power switch. The above image shows that model but
without a power switch. Bummer. A switched power strip (with or
without surge protection) takes care of that issue.

Another advantage of the N300 was that when WIFI was off,
I could hard wire directly to the system being used instead of using
WIFI; doesn't look like I can do this with the EA6350 unless I go into
the 6350's software and disable WIFI.


I've not run across a wi-fi router that disabled those RJ-45 ports when
wi-fi was enabled. You get both methods of connectivity and both are
available concurrently.

I scanned through the manual and did not see anywhere mention that use
of wi-fi and RJ-45 ports were mutually exclusive. Their manual is very
poor. It does not show every tab of every configuration screen and
there is no explanation of what each setting does.
 




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