Help replacing current Router/Modem

KILLER NADS

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Hi Guys,

Really need some help.

There is going to be two parts to my problem:

1.
For last few years i had bought and used this router: Netgear dgnd3700, it is a 802.11n router.

I then upgraded to BT Fibre Optic here in UK. They installed a second rather ugly white Modem which sits between the line and the Router.

I live in a 3 floor house with literally around 10-15 devices constantly connected to my router wirelessly. I then also have 5 ethernet cables attached to the router that goes all round the house to other devices such as a HUB Switch that connects cat6 cables to 5 other devices including games consoles and my huge NAS server.

This router had worked wonderfully for last few years, providing nice wireless speeds all round my house including in the attic (3rd floor rooms). I have the router sitting on ground floor passage near the stairs so i guess the location was ideal for the whole house.

I have one 2.4ghz and one 5ghz network setup. Guest network is also enabled (which i think is another 2.4Ghz).

However, in the last few weeks all this has changed and wireless speeds have come to a stall!! I get sluggish speeds no matter where i am in the house, sometimes the 2.4Ghz network name doesn't even appear on my network lists for example on my iPhone 5s.

My ethernet speeds still seem good enough though, it only seems like the wireless speeds are affected! I was thinking of a factory reset but not sure if that will help plus i will loose all my manual settings I've changed on the router?

What could be wrong? Has the router had the best of its time and is dieting now? Time for a change? Something effecting my wireless signals but what could it be?! Almost impossible to track down in a big household. This leads on to my 2nd question.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2.

If I'm looking for a replacement, i ideally want a router that can take the white BT Fibre Optic Modem out of my network. So does my router need to be a Cable router this time instead of an ADSL+ router? (which is what i think my current one is). Will i then be able to take the BT modem away? or does this always need to be setup for fibre optic?

I have been looking at a few replacement routers particularly these ones, any recommendations? In particular i thought it would be good to go for a 802.11ac router:

Netgear R6300-100UKS AC1750 Dual Band Wireless Cable Router

Netgear R7000 Nighthawk AC1900 Smart WiFi Router
Netgear R7500 Nighthawk X4 AC2350 Dual Band Wi-Fi Router

Then there are also a few recommendations here but the article is a little out of date, so maybe there are newer better ones to choose from here in UK?

Five Best Home Wi-Fi Routers


Thanks guys for any help you can provide me with. Any questions feel free to ask!

Regards,
Nads
 
Have you tried inSSIDer yet?

EDIT: Just seen that above link takes you to the v4 (pay for) version. The freeware v3 is still available, just google for it.

I use it quite regularly to see what is going on in my wifi network.

Graham.
 
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Hi Guys,

Really need some help.

There is going to be two parts to my problem:

1.
For last few years i had bought and used this router: Netgear dgnd3700, it is a 802.11n router.

I then upgraded to BT Fibre Optic here in UK. They installed a second rather ugly white Modem which sits between the line and the Router.

I live in a 3 floor house with literally around 10-15 devices constantly connected to my router wirelessly. I then also have 5 ethernet cables attached to the router that goes all round the house to other devices such as a HUB Switch that connects cat6 cables to 5 other devices including games consoles and my huge NAS server.

This router had worked wonderfully for last few years, providing nice wireless speeds all round my house including in the attic (3rd floor rooms). I have the router sitting on ground floor passage near the stairs so i guess the location was ideal for the whole house.

I have one 2.4ghz and one 5ghz network setup. Guest network is also enabled (which i think is another 2.4Ghz).

However, in the last few weeks all this has changed and wireless speeds have come to a stall!! I get sluggish speeds no matter where i am in the house, sometimes the 2.4Ghz network name doesn't even appear on my network lists for example on my iPhone 5s.

My ethernet speeds still seem good enough though, it only seems like the wireless speeds are affected! I was thinking of a factory reset but not sure if that will help plus i will loose all my manual settings I've changed on the router?

What could be wrong? Has the router had the best of its time and is dieting now? Time for a change? Something effecting my wireless signals but what could it be?! Almost impossible to track down in a big household. This leads on to my 2nd question.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2.

If I'm looking for a replacement, i ideally want a router that can take the white BT Fibre Optic Modem out of my network. So does my router need to be a Cable router this time instead of an ADSL+ router? (which is what i think my current one is). Will i then be able to take the BT modem away? or does this always need to be setup for fibre optic?

I have been looking at a few replacement routers particularly these ones, any recommendations? In particular i thought it would be good to go for a 802.11ac router:

Netgear R6300-100UKS AC1750 Dual Band Wireless Cable Router

Netgear R7000 Nighthawk AC1900 Smart WiFi Router
Netgear R7500 Nighthawk X4 AC2350 Dual Band Wi-Fi Router

Then there are also a few recommendations here but the article is a little out of date, so maybe there are newer better ones to choose from here in UK?

Five Best Home Wi-Fi Routers


Thanks guys for any help you can provide me with. Any questions feel free to ask!

Regards,
Nads


The White box is a VDSL modem which is your Fibre connection. Your current router has an ADSL modem built in. If you continue to use the white box, you can get another replacement router which would be an excellent choice and would not limit you in any way. But the choice of routers is immense, and I wouldn't want to start recommending 1 over another - I can tell you that one man's perfect router is anothers nightmare...!

However...

If you're looking for a Single box solution, then there are quite a few, some listed here include BT's own box, all of which will do the job, the BT one will most likely be the least hassle, but if funding would allow, If I was in the market and money wasn't an obstruction, I'd probably go with the DSL-AC68U as it would be future proof with AC Wireless, but the N66U appeals as it is far cheaper. Horses for courses really, and it's up to you to decide what would fit your needs.

1. Asus DSL-N66U which includes a VDSL Modem at approx £100
Asus DSL-N66U review - router

2. NEW Asus DSL-AC68U - which is a BEAST of a router at approx £200, just come out.
Asus DSL-AC68U Router Review - Peripherals - TrustedReviews

3. BT HomeHub 5 approx £150
BT Home Hub 5 review
 
Have you tried inSSIDer yet?

EDIT: Just seen that above link takes you to the v4 (pay for) version. The freeware v3 is still available, just google for it.

I use it quite regularly to see what is going on in my wifi network.

Graham.

Hey,

I couldn't find version 3 for mac anywhere, think they have all been taken down now :(
 
The White box is a VDSL modem which is your Fibre connection. Your current router has an ADSL modem built in. If you continue to use the white box, you can get another replacement router which would be an excellent choice and would not limit you in any way. But the choice of routers is immense, and I wouldn't want to start recommending 1 over another - I can tell you that one man's perfect router is anothers nightmare...!

However...

If you're looking for a Single box solution, then there are quite a few, some listed here include BT's own box, all of which will do the job, the BT one will most likely be the least hassle, but if funding would allow, If I was in the market and money wasn't an obstruction, I'd probably go with the DSL-AC68U as it would be future proof with AC Wireless, but the N66U appeals as it is far cheaper. Horses for courses really, and it's up to you to decide what would fit your needs.

1. Asus DSL-N66U which includes a VDSL Modem at approx £100
Asus DSL-N66U review - router

2. NEW Asus DSL-AC68U - which is a BEAST of a router at approx £200, just come out.
Asus DSL-AC68U Router Review - Peripherals - TrustedReviews

3. BT HomeHub 5 approx £150
BT Home Hub 5 review

Right, thanks for the suggestions, i was intact already looking at the ASUS DSL-AC68U you recommend here. If i was going to upgrade to any new router this one would probably be the only one i go for.

However, is it worth it? My current net gear i only bought about 3 years ago, yes i know thats long time in tech but not sure how much it would make a difference.

If it will make a difference, and you feel that i will get much better speeds from it and signal around the house then I'm all in for it! In fact, i found it at pc world for £180 and have it on reserve for another few hours. So I'm deciding if its worth me going out to get it or not.

Yes it will help me get rid of white modem from bt and also give me 802.11ac and probably better wifi signals all round the house. But I'm wondering how much better it will make everything if at all?! I know that this is almost an impossible question to answer as it will vary from house to house. But still...

Also if i do get the ASUS router, how do i get the login details for the fibre optic from the BT white modem? Will i have to phone Talk Talk Support? will they give it to me? Currently i checked on my net gear router and it says 'No login is required' so no bt details are inserted.

My most important question is as i have currently setup a secondary net gear router upstairs to play out as a repeater. When i get the ASUS can i still use the netgear as a repeater? or will it not work anymore because they have to be same brand?

Thanks
 
There's no such thing as "Wi-Fi signal" as most people conceive it. Wi-Fi does not work by creating some kind of energy field like The Force, Ley Lines or Gravity that permeates the ether. Wi-Fi works like walkie-talkies. Everything Wi-Fi, - all phones, tablets, Macbooks, Laptops, Access Points, Routers, iPods and anything else you can think of - both receive and TRANSMIT radio signals. Note how much time people spend obsessing over how much "signal" this and that router emits, yet no-one ever obsesses over the "signal" their phone, laptop, etc. emits. People focus on the wrong thing armed with "a little knowledge."

Wi-fi transmit power is limited in law and most kit is (and always has been) close to the permitted maximums. Ironically, the radio frequencies AC uses fall off with distance quicker so the coverage footprint could actually be smaller. There's no magic bullet that means AC "goes further" than previous version (what AC does deliver is better rate-at-range if you have any AC clients - for A/B/G/N I doubt it'll make much, if any, difference - though this is a heavily caveated statement for "N" as there's a lot of factors that determine the performance of "N".)

Replacing your router is always something of a gamble - the new one might be (slightly) better, it could even be (slightly) worse. Until you try you just won't know. For any given protocol (A/B/G/N) and link rate (each protocol supports multiple link rates, but not all are compulsory,) there's no reason to think that new router X will support any faster "speed" than the incumbent. Where you might get a boost is if you have a client(s) that is/are capable of faster speeds than you current router avails that the new one does. Otherwise (let's say for the sake of debate all your clients a "G" type) your new router will make diddly squat difference - they will still function at G speeds. There's nothing for it but to slog through the datasheets to see what you clients support and whether you new router offers some corresponding protocols/speeds that the existing one doesn't.

IMHO you've yet to demonstrate that your existing router has a problem (there's nothing in them that "wears out" over time.) It could simply be some previously unknown interference source has emerged. It could simply be that the wi-fi channel you are using has changed and the old one worked better. There's an FAQ about diagnosing Wi-Fi issues pinned in this forum.

Also, repeaters absolutely clobber speeds. You're better off to establish a proper cabled backhaul between wi-fi hopspots (see the "Using Two Routers Together" FAQ in this forum) and pay attention to the channel tuning of adjacent hotspots to minimise inter-cell radio interference as much as possible.
 
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Hey,

I couldn't find version 3 for mac anywhere, think they have all been taken down now :(

Looks as though InSSIDer may not be supported on a mac, Bummer!

I don't know whether any of these free tools are any use. I'm not a Mac user.


Graham.
 
i can't name check them, but I'm sure there are InSSIDer type tools available for Mac's. If a response is not forthcoming here, maybe try asking in the Mac forum.

Now that Mac's are Unix boxes (I'll probably get flayed alive for daring to mention that! :D ) Kismet may work on Mac. Kismet is a useful tool if you "know what you're doing" and it's particularly handy because it shows clients as well as Access Points (which InSSIDer doesn't) but Kismet isn't anything like as intuitive and "pretty" as InSSIDer.
 
i can't name check them, but I'm sure there are InSSIDer type tools available for Mac's. If a response is not forthcoming here, maybe try asking in the Mac forum.

Now that Mac's are Unix boxes (I'll probably get flayed alive for daring to mention that! :D ) Kismet may work on Mac. Kismet is a useful tool if you "know what you're doing" and it's particularly handy because it shows clients as well as Access Points (which InSSIDer doesn't) but Kismet isn't anything like as intuitive and "pretty" as InSSIDer.

Kismet is indeed listed as one of the tools in the "free tools" link in my post [#7] above!


Graham.
 
I purchased the ASUS DSL-AC68U router for my fibre optic broadband with TalkTalk. Before this i was using a BT OpenReach Modem along with my own Netgear N600 Router.

However i purchased this ASUS All in One Modem/Router to replace my existing 2 boxes.

Unfortunately, yesterday after hours of troubleshooting, i and the talk talk tech support could not get it to work!

I have a DSL line going from the phone socket directly to the ASUS, and the DSL light goes on blue. In the setup screen of the router i tried running setup wizard and chose Talk Talk and ran through the settings choosing Auto IP etc...

However, when i go to the routers status page, it was always showing Disconnected. In the top right icons, it was showing that the ADSL line is active, but was showing that the WAN cable is not connected etc...

Me and talk talk support tried changing various settings but could not get the WAN to connect. Talk talk then also ran a line test, and they said that it was showing Authentication is failing on my side.

We couldn't get it solved, so i disconnected the phone with them and continued to play around tweaking some settings for VDSL, slightly later on i started to get a WAN connection, not sure how or what caused this to come?!

Internet was working now, but unfortunately the victory was short lived, as i did a firmware update on the router as it was recommending me to do it ASAP.

After the update was complete, i tried going back into router settings, however as before i was getting No WAN connection again. I spent hours playing and tweaking settings and running setup wizard again etc... but could not get anything on the WAN to connect.

Only thing i noticed is that clicking on the WAN status was showing me with no IP's however it kept showing that Lease is Renewing.... However this message never changed and was constantly the same.

Please could you help me sort this problem out ASAP.

Thank you.
 
I feel your pain - that sounds like a whole load of no fun.

I doubt that I'll be able to offer much help with that particular router, but to preempt questions others might ask - did Talk Talk give you any information about the connection settings they require. For example, did they talk about anything such a PPPoe...? Maybe it might be useful if you posted up a screen print of your routers "internet settings" screen(s) (though I'd suggest you obscure the loginid and password.)
 
Hi Mickevh,

Thanks for your input. They just said to have everything on auto as its a VDSL connection.

In the end i just ended up putting my bt modem back and connecting the new router through that. Atleast for now.

Perhaps on the weekend i will try again. I did completely update the firmware of the router to the latest version, so that just might help.

Thanks.
 
I did choose 101 and tried with no authentication. But it still didn't work, this is on the first day, i have not tried it since then. Also IPoA was set to auto earlier.
 
Found this snippet from an Amazon review

PS: For anyone using the FFTC modem, make sure that you set 802.1q to YES and VLAND ID to 101 or it won't connect.
 
Thanks Charles, will definitely try this option next time when i have a go which will probably be on the weekend now. Also i got a bunch of settings to try emailed to me by Asus. So will give those a go to.
 
OK- there are several people on the Overclockers forum using this router with Talktalk...

48sVF2N.png


Is a screenshot I found with some of the settings

It's quite a long thread, 26 pages! It might be worth you perusing it as it'd dedicated to your router:
Anyone Using an Asus DSL-AC68U - Overclockers UK Forums

Interestingly, they seemed to indicate that the firmware is still not very stable. (which was the case with my ASUS DSL-N55U for a long time).

I recently upgraded to Fibre with TalkTalk, but I'm still using my DSL-N55U in Bridge mode with the TalkTalk SuperRouter, I have the WAN address passed through to the Asus as the TalkTalk Router, although I'm told is good was really going to require a lot of fiddling to get my network working as I'd like it, so I'm missing out on the AC speeds (not that I have ANY clients with AC anyway, so it wasn't a difficult decision to make)

You might want to stick to that approach with your BT Openreach Modem for now whilst ASUS tweak the firmware - its still a relatively new router, and it seems like ASUS prefer real customers to have the pain over Beta Testers.
 
Interesting that the connection apparently needs to use VLAN's.

A bit of background information - "802.1Q" is one of the mechanisms used to "mark" ethernet packets with a VLAN "tag" - essentially the tag identifies which VLAN a packet belongs to. "Bog standard" ethenet (like the majority used in SOHO LAN's) doesn't use VLAN's and doesn't have tags, it's something "stuff" has to insert/remove where reqired, which means the relevant kit needs to have the capability to do so and need to be appropriately configured if required.

That might explain why you get "stuck" at the "DHCP" stage - the link negotiates it's basic parms, DSL, etc. up to the point of acquiring an IP address (using DHCP,) but if your ISP is expecting the DHCP request and all subsequent traffic marked with VLAN tags and your gear doesn't append them (or appends them with the wrong ID) thence the ISP will be receiving traffic incorrectly "tagged" and almost certainly discard it - hence no DHCP request/response, thus no IP address and the link establishment proceeds no further.

Not sure why an ISP would need an lInk supporting VLAN's - maybe (using "their" equipment) they separate "control" and "data" traffic, or possibly it's one way to differentiate "user" and "guest" traffic as one might do in a "BT FON" type situation.
 
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Did you do a Factory Reset when you upgraded the firmware? That might be the cause of the problems you're seeing.

Certainly with my own DSL-N55U, it was recommended to flash the firmware, perform a factory reset, then flash the firmware a SECOND time, then another factory reset.
 

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