Canvassing for expereince with single NIC hybrid

[TonyBryan]

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER!  I have read many wikis and forum posts:

• Yes, I know WIFI NICs are bad for PXE booting
• Yes, I know LMCE is designed on a 2-NIC design

Please don't feel you need to reply to my post if you only intend to point these things out!

This is my second install of LMCE hybrid, the first being a regular 2 x wired NIC build on an Acer Revo 3610 that worked okay (few issues with occasional freezing and loss of sound).  I've now moved into a rental home and I don't want to run ethernet to the hybrid sat behind my TV.  For one reason, my 2-year old likes to pull on cables lying on the floor!  I'd like to try a single WIFI NIC this time, just to see if it works and if not try a 2-NIC wifi-only approach  Two questions:
1.  Has ANYONE been successful with a single WIFI NIC?
2.  As a fall back, has anyone been successful with standard 2-NIC setup, but both WIFI?

I have a wireless N router which from what I can tell is better for PXE booting.  I have the NIC up and running, so tonight I will switch DHCP to the hybrid, and fire it up and see what happens.  My guess is a monumental fail, so this is a pre-emptive post!

Remember... We do these things not because they are easy.  We do them because they are hard.

[Marie.O]

A note: having a core with two wifi's should work. You probably need to configure the network part manually. PXE booting on via wifi on the MD?! I do not know of any wifi chipset that supports it. If you do, please enlighten us with the details.

Good luck getting it to work! (I mean it). And wikify your experience, if you can.

[TonyBryan]

Ahhhh - so its MDs that need a wired NIC to PXE boot.  Didn't understand that before.

What about a hybrid?  I presume the MD portion must be part of the install that boots from HD right i.e. it isn't like a 'regular' MD that'll need a wired NIC to boot?

[merkur2k]

a hybrid is just a single system, and as such the md portion boots along with it since its just a few applications.
it should work with wifi as external, but i dont think it has been tested in this configuration in awhile.
your best bet would be to also leave a wired nic in as the "internal", even if you dont intend to run any media directors.

[garagevibes]

If you don't want all the hassle you can of course just use a Wifi Bridge between MD's and the core via a router, there quite cheap online.

[TonyBryan]

Success!  If anyone is interested I totally got this working on a single WIFI nic!  If I sound excited, winning these battles when you aren't a Linux expert always feels good   I've made some rough notes on a wiki, and once I've tidied those up will post.

DVD playback was jittery at times though, which I thought odd because I stream HD movies from Netflix to my XBOX using the same gear, and same physical locations.  DVDs are ripped as ISO files in full quality, but obviously not HD.  About 24h after getting it working the HDD started going nuts, then hung.  When I forced a reboot I got a file system failure.  Need to create a bootable USB OS and do fsck (I think).  Once I've done that I'll add a final post on the quality of playback, and whether it was a transient HDD thing, or a limitation of the system.

[Aviator]

Congratulations with your Wifi success. I would recommend pulling cable though, it is worth it in the end.

[twodogs]

Tony,

Remember that patience is rule number one with LMCE. If your 2-year-old is the problem, all you have to do is wait a few years. Your child will discover the opposite sex and lose interest in the cat5 cables! I'm kidding but I suspect the kid will be in college before I get Insteon to work.

Twodogs