Is anyone using a DG834G V3 with their PS3?

Jon Weaver · 18-05-2009, 2:30 PM

Last week I posted this:

Anyone had problems getting onto the PSN this weeikend?

But its gone on a long way from that post and I figured that a new post might be the way to get help...

Lets forget the history and tell you where I am now.

I have a DG834G V3 and assuming that I have just rebooted it, EVERYTHING works..

However, if I leave it for a period of time (less then 24 hours), when I first connect to PSN, it times out. I can reproduce this over and over by either 'turning off' the PS3 and then switching it back on (in software, not by the plug) or by simply alternating between my US and UK accounts... Every time I connect for the first time, I get a 'Timeout'.. However if I keep retrying (perhaps 2-5 times) I eventually get in. However when I start a game, it doesn't connect.. For example COD sticks at the "Downloading Game Settings" screen.. Warkhawk stops at the "Initializing Connection"...

Before I continue I should point out that I am currently Wired.. I have also tried Wirless and its the same.. But I wanted to say this, as I know there are security incompatibilities with the PS3 and DG834G and want to distance myself from that!

When its in this state, EVERYTHING else works.. For example I can:

1. Surf the net from the PS3
2. Use ALL aspects of the internet from a Wired PC (Surfing, Downloading, Streaming, Torrentz)
3. Use ALL aspects of the internet from a Wireless PC
4. Use the Internet using an iPod Touch
5. Connect to my Wired PC using FTP (port 21) from an external source
6. Connect to my 'Slingbox' using Port 5001 from an external source

But connecting to the PSN and/or trying to play games is impossible... HOWEVER, if I reboot the router, the problem is fixed.. I can connect to the PSN immediatly and games play fine.. But it only stays this way for less than a day.

I am starting to think that its the way I am quiting COD or 'turning off' my PS3 which is causing this. I wonder if a port is hanging or locking up?? What I need to do is a test where I reboot the router, leave it for a few days (doing nothing with the PS3) and then see what happens. But to be honest, when I first installed the Netgear I didn't use the PS3 for a few days and the first time I came to try, I had this problem (hence my inital post).

Now its not like I am an idiot? Believe it or not, I DO know what I am doing (some might disagree with that statment). I work in Technical Support for a large Telecoms manufacturer, based in in their 'IP' division supporting "core" routers, so I am not new to this and have worked with IP for the past 20 years!

But I am stumped.. Other than a fault, or a bug I can't work out whats wrong.. To rule out he bug, I am trying ALL of the firmwares available.. However, I have been able to reproduce this in 4.01.06, 4.01.30, 4.01.37 and 4.01.40, so its not looking good.

So that leaves a fault.. Luckly, my router is provided as a 'work tool' so I simply got a replacement from my IT dept.. This time it was a V4.. I installed it.. And immediatly got logged in.. Then I played COD and got past the 'Downloading Game Settings'.. Then I got to 'Setting Up Game' and it didn't continue.. I could hear voice people playing the game through their headsets, but my game never started... I tried over and over and over and it would also sit at this point.. So finally I left it and found that after a number of minutes, it WOULD connect.. But when it did, I have never see 'lag' like it.. Everyone was just jumping all over the place and it was impossible to play.. So I have found the V4 even worse (Different but worse) than the V3.

So my knee jerk reaction is to blame the router as "not fit for purpose".. But when you think that there are more than 20 million PS3s, many (most) of which are on-line, there must be MILLIONS of people using Netgears.. Even if you consider there are 5 versions of the DG834G and then consider that some people switch theirs off every day so might not see this you are still left with Millions of people who potentially use the DG834G V3 and I have not found ANY posts on ANY forums from people who have similar problems.

Believe me I have tried everything.. Static, Dynamic IP addresses.. Internal/External DNS... Wireless/Wired.. Manual Ports.. uPnP.. DMZ... But at the end of the day, its not exactly rocket science and there isn't really much to configure.. I am now out of ideas and other than trying the last few Firmwares available, I don't know what to do next.

It seems my only option is to go back to my Thompson which has given me years of faultless service (but is hopelessly out-dated in terms of features), or to buy another router..

The purpose of this post is simply to hear from other DG834G users to find out whether you have problems... As long as I know that there are others out there, I alteast have hope!!.. But for now, I havn't seen a single indication that ANYONE is using the DG834G V3 so feel that I am alone!

My fingers are crossed that someone can help and I look forwards to hearing from you.

Sorry for the long post, but I had to get all my thoughts down!!

All the best

Jon

Hulligan · 18-05-2009, 2:56 PM

I have the exact same router you have, and have no issues what-so-ever. The only issue i ever had was not being able to connect when using one of wpa2-PSK security setting, but that was solved with a firmware upgrade.

Sorry i cant help you more.

[Edit - Have you tried installing the DGTeam Custom Firmware yet? If not it might be worth a try? http://dgteam.ilbello.com/index.php?pid=10]
[Edit 2 - Do you have UPNP enabled?]

Jon Weaver · 18-05-2009, 3:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hulligan

I have the exact same router you have, and have no issues what-so-ever. The only issue i ever had was not being able to connect when using one of wpa2-PSK security setting, but that was solved with a firmware upgrade.

Sorry i cant help you more.

[Edit - Have you tried installing the DGTeam Custom Firmware yet? If not it might be worth a try? ]DGTeam - The Custom DG834XX Series Router Firmware Web Site - DG834(G)-V3 - DGTeam Firmware download
[Edit 2 - Do you have UPNP enabled?]

Believe it or not, that IS a help.. At the end of the day, atleast I know that there are people who have a V3 working.

Have I tried uPnP?? Yes I have.. I have always put my PS3 as the "Default Route" in the Thompson (thats what it called the DMZ)... In the Netgear I put it in the DMZ, so there is no need to worry about ports.

But even though this is the case, I also removed it from the DMZ, configured uPnP and watched it create the ports inside the router.. Even with this config, it only worked a day before I needed to reboot it again.

I will try again... Just incase and I will also try the custom firmware... But the problem is that I am given if for VPN access into work.. So I need something which is 'supported' by my company.. If I have something non-standard, then there is a danger I will have VPN problems in the future!

Jon

Edit: The only other thing I can think of is some obscure bug, caused by the IP address that I am using (192.168.0.237).. Its just possilbe (unlikely) that a combination of values in the config are simply triggering a bug.. Perhaps another approach is to completely reconfigure everything, with different addreses.. But then again, its also possible that something on my PC, or one of the Wireless devices is sending something which is again triggering some kind of bug... I guess its impossible for someone to reproduce EXACTLY what I have.

Maybe I need to disconnect everything for a few days, see if the PS3 remains stable and then gradually add things??

Edit2: And now I am thinking. I have many things runng on the LAN itself which could trigger some kind of bug on the router.. For example, TVERSITY media-streaming.. I guess the problem here is that even if a 1000 people tell me they have this working, how many have EXACTLY the same setup as me???

Why is life so complicated.. I think I just need to go back to the Thompson and forget all about this??

Jon Weaver · 18-05-2009, 3:51 PM

Right.. I have got myself another brand new V4.

My V3 has a problem where its unstable and its no surprised that others have not seen it... But the V4 didn't work AT ALL.. And I refuse to believe that this was normal and that Netgear wouldn't already be aware IF it was a global problem

I am hoping that the V4 I tried before was simply faulty, so I am going to have another try...

I will have a play tonight and will report back!

sykotik · 18-05-2009, 5:09 PM

i have a netgear
and i was having a problem with a apple ipod touch
and i connected the ipod it would knock me off the psn network
and i wouldn't be able to log back in untill the ipod was turn off

i got these setting off phairplay a member ere
and it has work fine ever since

not sure if will help with your but it's worth a try

AVF K-Zone: Part VIII - Derailed

andrew

Jon Weaver · 18-05-2009, 9:49 PM

Thanks for that.. I have looked at the post but mine is already setup exactly the same as that...

I don't think I am going to make progress with the V3, but I have with the V4.

I tried the new one today and its running 'original' firmware (5.01.01).. When I tried to play COD it worked perfectly..

So then I upgrade to the latest (5.01.14) and now have exactly the same problem as I had last week.. It now takes ages to find a game.. Then when it starts, it sits at "Setting Up Game" and finally when it starts, its jumping all over the place.

Clearly 5.01.14 has a major problem with the PS3 as I have tried this on TWO different routers now and its the same.

So I am now going to go back to 5.01.1 and will see how it goes....

Fingers crossed!

Jon

sykotik · 18-05-2009, 10:24 PM

good luck jon

hope you get it sorted soon

Jon Weaver · 20-05-2009, 8:44 AM

An update.. After proving that firmware 5.01.14 on the V3 doesn't work.. I put it back to 5.01.09 and its working.

And its now been working for 2 days and I haven't needed to reboot it...

Its a bit early to say, but I think that the V4 has solved the problem.. Why the V3 has this problem I don't know.. But if its a bug, its must be VERY convoluted for it to be in ALL firmwares and for it only to affect me.

There is a cloud though.

With my Thompson, it would initially sync to the exchange at around 3.2Mbs and then over a perioud of time gradually drop.. But it would rarely go below 3M.

With the DG834G V3 it used to connect at 3.2M, but I never left it long enough to see whether it would stay that way.

But with the DG834G V4 it only connects at 2.688M (Both routers, everytime).. Turns out that Netgear have changed chipsets between the V3 and V4,! Turns out that the V3 has an AR7 chip set which goes for line speed, over quality.. The V4 has Broadcom, which goes for Quality over Speed.

So, the V3 would connect faster, but would have a higher 'Signal To Noise Ratio'.. What this means in the real world is impossible to judge.. The V3 might constantly re-train.. Or it might actually get 'bad' data and have to resend.. So its possible that the slower V4 might actually be faster in terms of through-put!

Jon

sykotik · 20-05-2009, 10:58 AM

jon thanks for your post mate.....

just a question mate as you seem to know about these things
i'm thinking about getting new router
and quite happy to get an other netgear one (the one i have is coming up to 2 years now.

how would i know which router has which firmware

andrew

Jon Weaver · 20-05-2009, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sykotik

jon thanks for your post mate.....

just a question mate as you seem to know about these things
i'm thinking about getting new router
and quite happy to get an other netgear one (the one i have is coming up to 2 years now.

how would i know which router has which firmware

andrew

The version of firmware that a router is running, should be fairly obvious from the HTML Config page.. In the case of the Netgear its right at the top of the 'Router Status' page..

However, you wouldn't be able to tell the version of firmware by looking at the box or the router itself as it would basically contain the version which was current when it was manufactured. But that shouldn't be an issue, as you can simply get the latest firmware from the manufacturers web site.

There are 2 ethos's with Firmware:

1. If its not broken, don't try to fix it - basically. if its working on a given firmware, leave it alone
2. Upgrade to the latest version to get the best, most stable, feature rich version - Basically, get the latest version and use it.

I personally go for option 2, but in the case of the V4 DG834G, this isn't the way to go a 5.01.14 doesn't appear to work with the PS3, where as 5.01.09 does!

Even though I am currently in a 'hate' phase with Netgear, I have to say that their upgrade/downgrade process is VERY good.. A lot of hardware cant easily be downgraded.. And much would need a re-configure after upgrading.. But in the case of the Netgear I have bee able to upgrade/downgrade until my hearts content and afterwards, the config is still there and working.

However, before anyone suggests that this is the root of my problem (i.e downgrading with the same config), rest assured I have 'started from scratch' many times, just to rule that out!

Jon

sykotik · 20-05-2009, 11:20 AM

thanks jon

was going to ask about downgrading but you allready ans that

thanks mate ....
if have any problems
i know where to come

andrew

Jon Weaver · 20-05-2009, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sykotik

thanks jon

was going to ask about downgrading but you allready ans that

thanks mate ....
if have any problems
i know where to come

andrew

Of course.. In my week of testing, I have become a bit of a Netgear expert, so if you have any problems or questions, let me know

Jon

Hulligan · 20-05-2009, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon Weaver

'Signal To Noise Ratio'.. What this means in the real world is impossible to judge..

The higher your SNR is, the more stable your connection will be, meaning it'll stay connected for longer, and wont recieve/give as many packet errors.

But, most ADSL connections can be stable at as low as 6db SNR, i know this because thats what im running atm (or there abouts, it fluctuates.) in order to get 11mbit sync.

If you're having connection issues with it dropping off all the time, check your SNR in your router config and if its low, get in touch with your isp and get them to put you onto a lower speed "profile" which in turn will raise your SNR and make your connection more stable.

Also, the higher your line attenuation, the lower speeds you'll get because you're further away from the exchange. IF you have a low line attenuation and a high noise margin, it'd probably be worth while ringing your isp and get them to put you on a higher profile which will increase your maximum sync rate, which will lead to an increase in actual real world download speed.

Heres mine from the netger stat page.

ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 11261 kbps 1021 kbps
Line Attenuation 43 db 13.5 db
Noise Margin 7 db 7 db

This is the highest my line will go on ADSL 2, but, i had to tell my isp to up the profile as when they first put me on, i was syncing @ 8mbit and had a noise margin of around 30 or so.

Hope this helps.