Virgin Media Thwarting FSX on LAN

[OldAirmail]

From what I saw yesterday, SimConnect needs to be working on both computers.

Supposedly, each version of SimConnect is compatible with the versions below it.

FSX, FSX:SE, and all versions of Prepar3d can work with the multiple versions of SimConnect concurrently.

This download link http://forum.aerosoft.com/applications/ ... p?id=67233 contains a zip with all three versions of SimConnect. (Black Screen and Side Stick not working)

I don't see where it could hurt to install all three versions on both computers.

Then run the SimConnect test on each computer.



Another possible source of problems.

A few years ago I had a Plan-G problem due to a corrupted .NET Framework.

Take a glance through this post - Plan-G 2 & 3 dead.

.NET Framework is used in a great many programs. My version of .NET Framework was only partially broken which made it harder to track down.

Two resources are;
1) - How to uninstall Microsoft.net framework 4 client profile Read the post marked (check mark) Answer. See link http://cid-27e6a35d1a492af7.skydrive.li ... p_tool.zip
or
2) - Automated cleanup tool to remove the .NET Framework 1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 3.0 and 3.5


If you doubt your computer capabilities, you may want to skip all that. That it worked for me, is all that I can say.

[garymbuska]

I could be out in left field on this but if you are using a network computer it might have some kind of security on it that is stopping you. I know that my work computer which is on a network will not allow me to execute ANY EXECUTION program unless IT turns off the security. Different networks have different levels of security on them. Even though you are set up as an ADMINISTRATOR.
You still have limits as what you can do.
Now if this is your own network than that is a different story all together

[StargazerWoods]

It is indeed my own home network. My secondary machine has no firewall running at all. My Primary has 'some' firewall protection but there are so many holes punched into it I genuinely don't know why I bother leaving it on.

We can rule out .net corruption or configuration as possibilities since I can still make Tracker receive a SimConnect signal. But to do so, I have to have to have my machines routed through the old VMDG480 hub with no internet connection. Problem is, I don't want to disconnect from the web because; a) weather updates are a nice thing to have. And b) GoogleEarth (which I'd like to continue using) needs to download ground textures from the web. That's aside from the fact that while I'm spending a few hours on a flight, it's sometimes nice to be able to stoke up a webpage and read some news or watch some YouTube. What's the point in having a web service if I'm going to be disconnected from it?

The only thing that affects the SimConnect signal is the new VMDG490 SuperHub 2AC. What's really baking my noodle at the moment is that Sprocket has already said in this very thread, that he's got the same SuperHub and not having any trouble. What the hell is that?! What makes the two I've had out of VirginMediocre any different to his? Even at factory settings, it will not let the secondary receive the signal.

I've been told to try a network switch to see if that will give my machines some sort of initial bypass, but I honestly don;t expect it to make much difference. If the VMDG490 is blocking or nullifying these signals, it's going to do it throughout whatever network it is holding up, regardless of whether there's an additional switch involved, right? Also, will the Hub not kick out errors when two machines in a switch connect to one LAN port on the HUB? Will this not equate to the hub issuing the physical port and IP address that two computers then have to fight over?

This is really making my head hurt.

[OldAirmail]

As I mentioned above, .NET Framework can have all three versions working. If one product on one computer is using V2, and the other computer is using V3, there is no reason that they couldn't communicate.

However the first computer could have a damaged, but not totally useless .NET Framework. In my Plan-G problem mentioned above, I could still use TrackIR (.NET dependent) in Fsx. No problem.

But however it is that Plan-G used SimConnect, there was a big problem.

It took a great deal of work to remove the offending version of .NET Framework. But after removal and reinstallation, Plan-G worked.

If one person with the same setup as you has no problem, and you do, then the problem is somewhere on your system. You simply can't find it.



If all else fails - cheat

I'd like to help you solve the problem, but lets just work around it.

"It has been about 15years since I last setup networks."

It's been even longer for me, but I'm sure that the word "Bridge" rings a bell?

This is what you want to set up with your old router.



I even found a link discussing it with a Virgin "Super Hub", not that it really matters. Even a basic router can be used as a network bridge - How to Set up a Network Bridge Using the Super Hub?

PS - I didn't read the posts, I just took a glance at it. But for your needs a network bridge is pretty simple to set up.

If you have ANY doubts if this will work, simply connect your computers to the old router, establish that they are connected in any kind of a network (see/ping each other), and then try your programs. Needless to say during the test you won't have internet, but SimConnect and Plan-G should work.



And if SimConnect does not work, then there will be no doubt that one computer or the other is at fault. Note: Check you SimConnect port if you need to.

After testing the two computers through the old router, just set it up as a bridge.

If you need a refresher - setup a home network bridge

[Sprocket]

It is indeed my own home network. My secondary machine has no firewall running at all. My Primary has 'some' firewall protection but there are so many holes punched into it I genuinely don't know why I bother leaving it on.

We can rule out .net corruption or configuration as possibilities since I can still make Tracker receive a SimConnect signal. But to do so, I have to have to have my machines routed through the old VMDG480 hub with no internet connection. Problem is, I don't want to disconnect from the web because; a) weather updates are a nice thing to have. And b) GoogleEarth (which I'd like to continue using) needs to download ground textures from the web. That's aside from the fact that while I'm spending a few hours on a flight, it's sometimes nice to be able to stoke up a webpage and read some news or watch some YouTube. What's the point in having a web service if I'm going to be disconnected from it?

The only thing that affects the SimConnect signal is the new VMDG490 SuperHub 2AC. What's really baking my noodle at the moment is that Sprocket has already said in this very thread, that he's got the same SuperHub and not having any trouble. What the hell is that?! What makes the two I've had out of VirginMediocre any different to his? Even at factory settings, it will not let the secondary receive the signal.

I've been told to try a network switch to see if that will give my machines some sort of initial bypass, but I honestly don;t expect it to make much difference. If the VMDG490 is blocking or nullifying these signals, it's going to do it throughout whatever network it is holding up, regardless of whether there's an additional switch involved, right? Also, will the Hub not kick out errors when two machines in a switch connect to one LAN port on the HUB? Will this not equate to the hub issuing the physical port and IP address that two computers then have to fight over?

This is really making my head hurt.

Hi Rob,
Let's re-start at the beginning...Like I said, my set-up works fine, but just to prove it again, I went on my wife's PC and "joined" my HOMEGROUPS network from her machine. All working fine.
I then downloaded and installed a copy of Plan-G on my wife's WIN 7 PC.
(This PC does not have anything remotely FS on it, let alone Simconnect.) It is also not cabled, but instead wirelessly connected.

Plan-g installed fine, and after I updated the DATA file, (using a pen drive), I went to options and filled in the connection details.

Which I get from here:


I then launched a flight in FSX, launched Plan-G on the wife's PC, and all is fine..
The wife's PC is totally in a separate room, downstairs actually, wireless connected, while my PC's are upstairs,

BUT...I have picked up on a small difference between us. My SUPERHUB model is VMDG485, and not VMDG490 as you've got.

I can't help feeling that this problem is no-where near as complicated as we think it is.

These are the instructions I used to set up the Homegroups network, if that helps any.
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/h ... ws-10.html

In the meanwhile, my brother-in-law is Virgin technician, and I have asked him to find out the difference between the modem models.

Jan

[StargazerWoods]

Thanks for the replies.

Alas, I fear no amount of configuration on the PC's is going to work. I won't rule it out completely, but as already stated, if I use the ancient VMDG480, everything works as intended. But because the 480 is not compatible with the inbound broadband signal I can't use that as my Modem/Router. The SimConnect signal is only failing when I introduce a VMDG490 to the network.

Jan, I'd be really interested to hear about anything that might be going on in the 490. Even if it means that VM have to report it back up to their peeps at Netgear to hack together a new firmware they can push down to us. If I knew a fix was due, it would go a long way to making me feel a bit more at ease. So far, VM's position has been that since LAN and Web work, there's no problem because it's functioning as planned. I tried to explain that it's like buying a brand new car from a brand dealer and finding that the air con or the built in GPS is faulty but the dealer won't support you because the car is still driveable without them. They wouldn't have it.

Here's a bonkers idea... What if I were to get a USB to USB network link and direct-connect my two machines with that as well as my ethernet to the router/hub; Does SimConnect broadcast on all available networks or just the main ethernet one? Would this be a way to get both web 'and' a SimConnect signal?

[OldAirmail]

Here's the way that a network bridge would work.

Both computers are connected to your old router.


Test you're SimConnect with Plan-g. If it works then you can use the old router as a bridge to the Virgin "Super Hub".


Setting up a network bridge is easy, read this link -How to Set up a Network Bridge Using the Super Hub.


This is not substituting your old modem for the Virgin "Super Hub".


This is easy to do, and you will not loose the internet access.



This diagram is only used during the SimConnect testing part. Afterwards you would connect the old router to the "Super Hub".

For what it's worth - this same thing can be done wirelessly. The main difference is that the old router would be plugged into the "Super Hub" with a cable (just to make it simpler).

[StargazerWoods]

The bridging thing isn't working out so well. Nor is using a small switch for my two machines. This leads me to suspect that problem is related to the assignment of internal ip's/subnets (whatever the hell a subnet is. I thought they were the things people strung along the entrance to harbours in the war to stop sneaky sub-captains torpedoing docked ships). The switch couldn't do it because it's not designed to issue internal addresses and the 490 hub can't do it because NetGear norsed something up in the process.

I've been in touch with VM again and they have kindly agreed to let me have a 485 model hub. I'll give that a go when it gets here and if it works, I'm never taking another web-upgrade again as long as I use FSX.

Jan, if you ever here anything back from your chap in VM, I'd be fascinated to know in case it becomes relevant again in the future. At the very least, the opportunity to hear that someone at VM is willing to accept the 490 has a fault and will investigate getting it fixed with NetGear would go a long way.

[OldAirmail]

At this point all I can do is wish you luck.

I'm betting that there is a solution, but finding it can be a real son of a beach.

[StargazerWoods]

The 485 hub is just as cak as the 490.

To roll back to the 480, we'd have to pay VM lots more money to have a slower connection. I'm not giving them more for less!

Game over. Everything tried. Rubbish.

Steer clear of Virgin Mediocre and their rotten superhubs.