Multicast support

[Hidden Hippo]

Hi everybody,

I'm in a little bit of a quandry at the moment and could use your expertise. I'm currently away at university and they have a form of IPTV called Freewire TV. This works fine until I try and watch it using my router, which I need to share the connection between my laptop, my desktop and my Xbox 360.

I've found out that the problem lies in the fact that there is no multicast enabled on my current router. My question is this - does anyone know whether it is possible to get multicast enabled on a Netgear RP614v4 through either official or unofficial firmware, or is this not possible? If this is not possible, does anyone know of a cheap router that does have multicast support (the internet connection comes through an ethernet cable rather than a phone/ADSL cable)?

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
HH

 

[spidey07]

I would assume they all support multicast? What you're looking for is a router that supports IGMP. I'd call netgear and ask them about it, or find out/call what your uni allows/suggests.

-edit
I don't know much about 3rd party firmware, but I seems to remember multicast/igmp support from the usual suspects - ddrt, tomato.

 

[Hidden Hippo]

I've had a look at tomato and ddrt firmware, but can't seem to find one that would enable IGMP on my router. The university staff recommend that we don't use a router as it is quite indepth and in fact suggest we reconnect everytime, which involves resetting the connection, swapping the cables and going through the re-registration process, not ideal.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a cheap router (taking an ethernet connection for the intenet) which can support IGMP, or can provide a link to firmware that will enable it on an RP614v4?

Thanks.

 

[Hidden Hippo]

Someone must have some suggestions?

 

[spidey07]

From the freewire FAQ, if this is the service they're using...

"Q. Is it true that if I use a router in my room the Freewire Extra! channels will not work?

A. Yes, if you?re in halls you must connect directly to your university's network. The use of wireless or wired routers in your room may interfere with your ability to receive Freewire Extra!"

 

[chucky2]

I don't know a thing about Freewire, however, AT&T's U-Verse TV is an IPTV solution. Their Residential Gateway (RG) users IGMP v3.

You might start looking for something like that used or new...

Chuck

 

[Hidden Hippo]

Thanks Chuck - basically (as far as I can tell) I just need a router that supports IGMP/multicast, although the AT&T could be awkward as I'm based in the UK.

Spidey - I've seen that, but it is possible to watch using the above type of router.

I've been looking around and spotted the D-Link DIR-100. Does anyone know whether this is the type of thing I'm after? Networking really isn't my strong point with regards IT.

 

[Puffnstuff]

My dgl-4500 supports multicast.

 

[chucky2]

Originally posted by: Hidden Hippo
Thanks Chuck - basically (as far as I can tell) I just need a router that supports IGMP/multicast, although the AT&T could be awkward as I'm based in the UK.

Spidey - I've seen that, but it is possible to watch using the above type of router.

I've been looking around and spotted the D-Link DIR-100. Does anyone know whether this is the type of thing I'm after? Networking really isn't my strong point with regards IT.

Well, what I meant was that the AT&T RG sends traffic with IGMP v3. So if you put a switch behind the RG, then technically it should support IGMP v3 so the video packets will route correctly.

Are you sure that it's the IGMP limitation in your router, and not that they'll only assign one IP address to that port at a time?

I'm not really a network guy, so maybe I'm just confusing the whole issue...hopefully someone knows more than me and can help you out!

Chuck

P.S. I know there's different versions of IGMP...the AT&T stuff needs v3, not v2.

 

[chucky2]

I did a quick search on NewEgg for IGMP switches, and then just quick looked for a v3 one in the main viewing page (so there may be others if you dig).

The cheapest v3 one was the HP J4813A.

NewEgg's new price was quite pricey, however, you can find it cheaper:

Electronic Discount Sales - $74 Used

Compeve Corp. - Refurb for $95.00

Many others if you just use "HP J4813A" in Google Shopping.

Chuck

 

[compman25]

Not sure if this would work, but can't you put a hub in front of your router and plug your tv into the hub?

Or are you watching tv on your computer? Wouldn't work then.

 

[Hidden Hippo]

Watching TV on my computer, so I doubt that would work. As far as I can tell, the router just needs to support multicast/IGMP, which that d-link one says it can, but I don't really know whether that's everything.

 

[spidey07]

The router would have to pickup, NAT and forward the IGMP join message from your computer. Then it would also have to know how to receive the multicast stream and the multicast it to you. There isn't much use of a router saying it supports IGMP without actually being able to use it.