Jump to content

Multiple wireless networks…


Recommended Posts

I feel like there should be an easy answer for this, but I’m not sure what it is. Is there any relatively convenient and noob-friendly way to force a wireless device to connect only to a specific wireless network unless it is changed explicitly?

More detail, in case there’s an approach I haven’t considered. Living in a foreign country and using two wireless routers. One router utilizes the in-country ISP in the usual, straightforward way. The other router is running VPN software that connects to a server in Texas. 

Everything (think TV, streaming box, etc.) that needs to be connected to the TEXAS router is either hardwired or only knows about the TEXAS SSID. No problem there.

Then there are phones, tablets, and laptops. These should default to TEXAS and should stick to TEXAS unless they are explicitly changed to FOREIGN. There are times when these devices should be seen as in-country and times when they shouldn’t (don’t need to be unknowingly hitting banks, credit cards, brokers, etc. from another country and possibly getting locked out or whatever). Signal strength varies so sometimes the devices “helpfully” pick the stronger signal, regardless. Short of forgetting the FOREIGN network when not in use (neither convenient nor noob-friendly), what options are there here?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, not saving the password seems like the way, but that’s an utter whip for people who can barely manage to enter their passcodes. Maybe letting the mobile devices only know about TEXAS and finding some way to hardwire a laptop to FOREIGN is just an inconvenience that must be borne for some people. Or maybe an Ethernet cable with a USB-C dongle for an iPad.

Preferring the network doesn’t seem to limit it to that network. From what I’ve seen, at least with iOS devices, you can order your networks on a Mac and it will sync to your other devices. 

Even trying to have dedicated devices doesn’t seem to work if the devices share an Apple ID because they’ll share known passwords. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Doc Daneeka said:

Yeah, not saving the password seems like the way, but that’s an utter whip for people who can barely manage to enter their passcodes. Maybe letting the mobile devices only know about TEXAS and finding some way to hardwire a laptop to FOREIGN is just an inconvenience that must be borne for some people. Or maybe an Ethernet cable with a USB-C dongle for an iPad.

Preferring the network doesn’t seem to limit it to that network. From what I’ve seen, at least with iOS devices, you can order your networks on a Mac and it will sync to your other devices. 

Even trying to have dedicated devices doesn’t seem to work if the devices share an Apple ID because they’ll share known passwords. 

On Android devices, it is simple enough to leave it as a remembered network (so it remembers the password), but doesn't auto connect. You literally just flip the auto connect toggle. So you'd set the one you want as default to auto connect and the other as a remembered network, but with auto connect off. Don't know about apples devices as it has been years since I had one. 

  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

On Android devices, it is simple enough to leave it as a remembered network (so it remembers the password), but doesn't auto connect. You literally just flip the auto connect toggle. So you'd set the one you want as default to auto connect and the other as a remembered network, but with auto connect off. Don't know about apples devices as it has been years since I had one. 

I didn’t know that, but that will be awesome for the GF’s phone, but all the other mobile devices are Apple. I couldn’t find anything similar, but I’ll keep looking. That would be the ideal solution for my less than technically proficient companions. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Doc Daneeka said:

I didn’t know that, but that will be awesome for the GF’s phone, but all the other mobile devices are Apple. I couldn’t find anything similar, but I’ll keep looking. That would be the ideal solution for my less than technically proficient companions. 

Hmm. Stupid solution: can you just leave the non-Texas off until it is needed? How often do they need to use it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your previous reply sent me to where the answer was.

They use it for a lot of day-to-day stuff because they claim to be able to tell that the VPN connection is slower. 

Avoiding auto-connect should solve the problem as long as they remember to reconnect to the TEXAS network. That’s really the best case option, short of making the VPN the only option. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Doc Daneeka said:

Your previous reply sent me to where the answer was.

They use it for a lot of day-to-day stuff because they claim to be able to tell that the VPN connection is slower. 

Avoiding auto-connect should solve the problem as long as they remember to reconnect to the TEXAS network. That’s really the best case option, short of making the VPN the only option. 

Unless you have a slow, shitty local ISP, the VPN connection will always be slower. And unless you pay out the ass for a premium high bandwidth VPN service, going through VPN servers is a bottleneck. I deal with the same shit in Mexico and PIA.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, rage-a-holic said:

Unless you have a slow, shitty local ISP, the VPN connection will always be slower. And unless you pay out the ass for a premium high bandwidth VPN service, going through VPN servers is a bottleneck. I deal with the same shit in Mexico and PIA.

ExpressVPN doesn’t lose a ton of speed and loading Amazon.com or streaming something on Netflix doesn’t come close to maxing a 50 Mbps connection. Yeah, it’s slower, but there’s no damned way they can tell that while watching Netflix short of having to buffer, which it doesn’t. The VPN overhead is probably within the variance they see in Texas based on time of day.

I think their real issue is that American websites don’t respond as quickly from South America as they do from Texas. Not much to be done about that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Doc Daneeka said:

ExpressVPN doesn’t lose a ton of speed and loading Amazon.com or streaming something on Netflix doesn’t come close to maxing a 50 Mbps connection. Yeah, it’s slower, but there’s no damned way they can tell that while watching Netflix short of having to buffer, which it doesn’t. The VPN overhead is probably within the variance they see in Texas based on time of day.

I think their real issue is that American websites don’t respond as quickly from South America as they do from Texas. Not much to be done about that.

I think you may be surprised if you do some testing. Here is my connection to Starlink Mexico via PIA servers. As soon as I disconnect, I'm back at around 90/90.

I've used ExpressVPN and never found them much faster or more reliable. 

image.png.930ea846b69d8b24862d58515984ce94.png

image.thumb.png.de7742db9452e22bf95df6cd1f5fd862.png

image.png.6461832a4a9723315eb965c57eadf7b3.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, rage-a-holic said:

I think you may be surprised if you do some testing. Here is my connection to Starlink Mexico via PIA servers. As soon as I disconnect, I'm back at around 90/90.

I've used ExpressVPN and never found them much faster or more reliable. 

image.png.930ea846b69d8b24862d58515984ce94.png

image.thumb.png.de7742db9452e22bf95df6cd1f5fd862.png

image.png.6461832a4a9723315eb965c57eadf7b3.png

I have tested it. I installed it. I’ve used it. It’s not worth arguing about because there are too many variables. They have more than enough speed to stream UHD without buffering. 
 

 

13D3B677-FFAC-484C-AAD6-55CA387232F2.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...