Any WoWLAN successes out there? (1 Viewer)

SwissBuster

Portal Pro
June 27, 2008
229
4
Geneva, Switzerland
Home Country
Switzerland Switzerland
I spent the best part of last weekend tweaking my setup to get sleep mode (using PowerScheduler) working reliably. I had to deactivate every single PC component (i.e. untick "allow to wake the PC" under device manager) as if any single one was active, the HTPC would immediately wake from sleep. This includes my Netgear wifi dongle. Anyhow, it is now reliably waking on a daily schedule, including for an EPG grab.

I'd like to be able to connect remotely (using TeamViewer). The HTPC is my home server / central storage so I sometimes need to grab a file remotely or modify some settings. The only option today is to sign in when I know the PC is out of sleep mode (30 mins daily for the EPG grab) - a workaround solution but not ideal.

So, ideally I'd like to get a remote "wake" function working. I suspect this will be mission impossible as I don't have a cabled LAN connection (drawing a LAN cable from the router to the HTPC is close to impossible) and from what I have read, it's unclear if WoWLAN really exists as a working solution. It's also unclear what steps have to happen to get WoWLAN working, assuming it does work. My 'research' hints that (1) the motherboard has to support it (and probably a BIOS update is needed if it does), (2) the wifi card/dongle has to support it, and (3) I need a fixed IP address for the HTPC (which my internet provider has to allow).

Does anyone have any experience setting WoWLAN up and working reliably? What steps are needed?
 

CyberSimian

Test Group
  • Team MediaPortal
  • June 10, 2013
    2,848
    1,770
    Southampton
    Home Country
    United Kingdom United Kingdom
    I don't have a cabled LAN connection (drawing a LAN cable from the router to the HTPC is close to impossible)
    Could you use powerline networking to connect your HTPC to your router? Your HTPC and router would need to be on the same electrical "loop". It should support wake-on-lan. This is how I connect my HTPC to the internet (but I don't use WOL). It is not as fast as a gigabit cable would be, but it is fast enough for me (about 100Mbit/sec sustained throughput).

    -- from CyberSimian in the UK
     

    SwissBuster

    Portal Pro
    June 27, 2008
    229
    4
    Geneva, Switzerland
    Home Country
    Switzerland Switzerland
    Could you use powerline networking to connect your HTPC to your router?

    I used to have a Powerline connection for this HTPC, but switched to wifi as I found it more reliable. It's worth a shot... Before doing this I would probably have a go at testing with a LAN cable (trailed through the house) for WoLAN proof-of-concept. After that, trying Powerline and/or WoWLAN. I'm also not sure if a wake function would work with a Powerline (I think the Powerline is dormant unless there is traffic).
     

    sunfire7

    Portal Pro
    March 24, 2011
    193
    47
    35
    Home Country
    Mexico Mexico
    Yes, I do.

    Just open an UDP port on router (I have port 9) pointing out to the PC you want to wake. For this to work reliable you must have the MAC address of the PC you want to wake "active in ARP" on your router. Check how to do this on your router (look for something like "ARP list" MAC bound to IP, etc).
     

    SwissBuster

    Portal Pro
    June 27, 2008
    229
    4
    Geneva, Switzerland
    Home Country
    Switzerland Switzerland
    Yes, I do.

    Sunfire - thanks for the reply. The steps you suggested are a couple that I had learned 'researching' this. They are a bit beyond my capabilities but something I can probably figure out. Before I start down this road, though, can you confirm you have a reliable wireless wake-on-LAN? If yes, what is you wifi card/dongle setup?

    I ask because I can't get my setup to allow the current wifi dongle to 'wake from sleep'. If this is activiated, the PC won't shut-down. In other words, I can't even get to the starting line of the WoWLAN race.

    I'm considering the 'nearly impossible' alternative of drawing a LAN cable and going the WoLAN route instead.

    All inputs gratefully received!
     
    Last edited:

    sunfire7

    Portal Pro
    March 24, 2011
    193
    47
    35
    Home Country
    Mexico Mexico
    Currently I use a Lan cable, but you can set up a "pocket router" (or any router with bridging capabilities for that matter) to do the trick, connected to the lan card.
     

    JimCatMP

    Documentation Group
  • Team MediaPortal
  • April 1, 2010
    652
    283
    Leeds
    Home Country
    United Kingdom United Kingdom

    SwissBuster

    Portal Pro
    June 27, 2008
    229
    4
    Geneva, Switzerland
    Home Country
    Switzerland Switzerland
    I'm considering the 'nearly impossible' alternative of drawing a LAN cable and going the WLAN route instead. All inputs gratefully received!

    You did say 'all inputs' - WiFi Extender with Powerline [example only - http://uk.tp-link.com/products/details/cat-18_TL-WPA4220.html] - not tested this even slightly, so it's pure suggestion and not at all a known solution:unsure:TTFN - JCMP

    My message should have read "WoLAN" not "WLAN". Anyway, I have used Powerlines in the past to avoid hardwiring, but found a regular wifi connection to be more reliable. Powerlines do allow you to use the LAN card. But the connection depends on a number of factors, key is the quality of your eletrical circuits. One issue I had with them is that they needed to be reset (i.e. unplugged) once in-a-while and for me access to re-set was fiddly.

    I've also tried the 'pocket router' method (apple airport in my case) which is also OK, and again allows me to use the LAN card rather than wifi dongle. However, using wifi seems to be generally a little less reliable than a LAN cable and I have not heard (yet) of a reliable WoWLAN, all of which is pushing me towards hardwiring the LAN. Next to the HTPC, I have a Swisscom TV box (IP TV) which, although running OK most of the time via WLAN (using the apple airport), sometimes struggles with a connection, whereas a LAN cable draped across the living room always works OK.
     

    Users who are viewing this thread

    Top Bottom