Dear friends,

My brand new POHD MINI2 refused to connect to my wired LAN.

1) DHCP is enabled on router (192.168.0.1)
2) All PCs, NAS are allocated unique IP addresses by router (192.168.0.xxx)
3) DHCP (auto) & DNS (auto) selected: 'connection test failed
4) Manual IP allocation (192.168.0.xxx), subnet 255.255.255.0, gateway 192.168.0.1, DNS 192.168.0.1:failed to connect

firmware is the latest (Feb 2012) - downloaded and flashed successfully

set up, MISC, network info (after auto or manual IP): BLANK with no info whatsoever.

LAN cable tested OK with laptop

I have rebooted the POHD many times without success.

I am stuck.

What else should I do now?

H.E.L.P.

Thanks,

Andrew

Install the firmware again in the safe mode. This will clear all settings on your Playon.
Try a different LAN cable. There are several posts on the forum describing LAN cable that worked with PCs and laptops, but did not work with the Playon, which seems sensitive to the quality of the cable.
Make sure a manual IP address is outside the DHCP range of your router.

Duivels

You mean the manual IP should be INSIDE the DHCP range?

Not possible to allocate a number outside the range ???!!!

Will try now to reflash the firmware.

Andrew

Your router should hand out IP addresses within a range eg: 192.168.1.2-192.168.1.100

In this example make the static IP 192.168.1.102 which is outside the range issued by the router but still within the same subnet.

Problem solved

But it is weird !

Safe re-flashing the latest firmware made no difference.

What I found out is this:

1) Use a simple Gigabit switch to interface between the wall port and the POHD Mini2 using the same 5m cable would work

2) Use that same 5m cable (or another brand-new 5m) to connect from the wall port to the POHD would not work.

It seems to me the cable is not the issue but the direct 5m linkage from wall to POHD does not work - unless there is a switch in between.

I am not a tech person but this is rather odd.

Any explanation would be great.

Thanks

Sydney

PS: my DHCP numbers goes all the way to 255 so I chose a variety of numbers from 20-150 but all did not work. The problem is not DHCP (see above).

What is the wall port? How is that connected to your router? It may be a bad connection between the wall port and your first cable, which you solved by using a different cable between your switch and the wall port. The Playons are rather sensitive to poor quality cables,not only LAN cables, but also HDMI cables.

DHCP can never go to x.x.x.255 because that is the broadcast address for all devices in the LAN. You probably mean x.x.x.254. Normally routers do not use the full range from x.x.x.2 through x.x.x.254 for DHCP, but reserve a range for static IP addresses.
A static IP address should be outside the DHCP range, otherwise the same address may be used for different devices, which gives a conflict.

No, it is not the cable.

Wall port to router by a continuous cat 6 cable.

1) Both 5m cables (one old & one brand new) failed to work if connected directly between wall port and POHD;

2) However, both work perfectly if there is a switch in between wall port & POHD;

3) I tried some other 2m cables between wall port & POHD with the switch in the middle: perfect working.

Unfortunately, my POHD has to be 4-5m away from the wall port. I have no other choice except wireless which I do not like.

It is 100% perfect now - with a switch in the middle.

??? Signal attenuation because of cable length (I am just guessing here).

There is a 60m distance between wall port and router (big house !) - all cat6 cables.

Thanks

The maximum length of a LAN cable is 100 m (110 yards), so your 60 m + 5 m basically is within the specifications. Your wall socket may be the culprit and spoil it for the Playon. Did you check the backside of the wall socket, i.e. the connection of your 60 m cable to the wall socket? Did you use a cable tester (example) to test the full length?

It's working now and I am happy to leave it at that.

Too technical for me, really.

Just enjoy the movies !

Cheers

Problem solved and topic locked.