Decent Router Needed

[Musical4Ever]

To start with Hello :-)
I've been with IDNet for over a month, I've had a few issues with my connection dropping out for half an hour to hours, the time between can be up to a fortnight or much less. Tech Support felt it was my router (Netgear R6440) which I got swapped & went for a similar but slightly better model (AC1900) I had to get another Netgear with warranty.
Anyway a couple of days ago I had the same problem which was DSL light was showing on the modem (New Comtrend 3030) as always is the case, & no internet, the light on the router was showing Ethernet connected but no data which is amber. I have replaced every cable there (twice out of desperation) is including a handmade twisted pair Faceplate - Modem & an Ethernet, Modem - Router.

The BQM shows the line is good & I have no issues between the dropouts. I turned the router off for 5 mins & when restarted all was well, however this has not always been the case & the service comes back on when it seemgly feels like it.
A few months ago BT checked my line & found it fine. The other day when I rang tech support the guy thought it was again the router as he said it issued a command around 5am to basically disconnect the service.

I know such problems such as this can be very difficult to track down but again suggested the router is at fault.
One interesting thing was though I can't see how this would give my fault is the issues only occurred when I changed my modem from the old Huawei EchoLife HG612 to the Comtrend IDNet supplied, which I asked for, but no one feels the modem is at fault. The problem is all may be fine for a week or more?

My question is can anyone recommend a decent router with good Wi-Fi under £100 ish as I'm going on the assumption the router is at fault as I'm not always here & others in the house need internet muchly. I’m not really sure what else to do, I do prefer a router & modem rather than an all in one & also just bought the modem. I do wonder if it’s possible to get two slightly different routers with the same fault. But I’m a little lost for ideas. I’m open to all & any ideas? As I really don't like keeping calling tech support as only just joined. Thank you.. Paul

[Simon]

Hi Paul, and

I don't use Fibre myself, and am not greatly technically minded when it comes to this stuff, but I too did have similar problems with more than one router, on my ADSL2+ service.  It sounds a similar problem to your own, in so far as I understand it, as I had a network connection, but the Internet (PPP) kept dropping, sometimes for a few minutes, and sometimes for much longer.  Rebooting the router(s) (Billion 7800DXL and Billion 7800N) seemed to solve the issue for a time, but it often reoccurred at random intervals.  IDNet could not find any problems on my line, but suggested setting the router to PPPoE rather than the default PPPoA, which kind of resolved the issue, in that the connection was then more stable, but it was also slower.

After putting up with this for ages, I finally decided to try a different brand of router, and bought a nearly new Asus DSL-N66U off of eBay, which has worked more or less faultlessly since it was installed.  This is a modem router, but I do know that Asus also make non-modem routers, such as the RT-AC86U, which, if you check out reviews on Google, seems to be highly rated.  Unfortunately, it doesn't fall within your £100 budget, but you may be able to pick one up off eBay cheaper than purchasing new, should you decide to go down that route.

I'm not personally recommending that you buy that router, or indeed, any other router, but just thought it might be useful to relate my own experiences, as there seemed to be some similarities with your own.

Hopefully someone with some better technical advice will be along in due course.

[zappaDPJ]

 

I would be inclined to ask tech support if they would loan you a router before buying another one.

[Musical4Ever]

Thanks for both replies: The reply from Simon is interesting. Buying a new router isn't going to be a cheap option as I need a good Wi-Fi due to my offspring needing a good connection upstairs (& I can't really sell the one I'm using in good faith) so it would have to be sold as seen maybe? - Another option would be buy a cheaper router as a temp fix if I can't pluck the courage up to ring them. I’ll have a think. 

[Simon]

Don't be concerned about ringing them.  They won't bite. 

As Zap mentioned, they may be able to loan you a router to try out, which they have done for customers in the past.  If that router works well, you could possibly then purchase it from them. 

[MisterW]

The other day when I rang tech support the guy thought it was again the router as he said it issued a command around 5am to basically disconnect the service.

I know such problems such as this can be very difficult to track down but again suggested the router is at fault.
One interesting thing was though I can't see how this would give my fault is the issues only occurred when I changed my modem from the old Huawei EchoLife HG612 to the Comtrend IDNet supplied, which I asked for, but no one feels the modem is at fault. The problem is all may be fine for a week or more?

Hi Paul,
From what you describe, the router is losing it's PPPoE connection, the question is why ?
I'm not sure why no one feels the modem is at fault, that could give exactly the problem you have. Say the modem loses DSL sync for a short period, the router PPPoE connection may(or may not) timeout and recover. You then have what's known as a stale connection, where one end has teminated the PPPoE but the other end still thinks it's active. Restarting the router will (mostly) fix it.
Have you checked the router log ?
You might also check (just in case) that your PPPoE settings on the router are 'Always ON' and 0 timeout, they almost certainly are but it's worth checking anyway.
Does the Comtrend modem have any logging facilities to confirm whether the DSL is dropping ?

[Musical4Ever]

@MisterW - What you wrote is exactly what is happening - The Comtrend modem supplied a few weeks ago by ID Net doesn’t have logging as least I don't know how. The reason the connection is dropping while still synced is the mystery, it doesn’t happen often enough to find some common time or incident etc. & can happen at 4am or 4pm or can be a day twice a day or a week or more.
The thing that intrigues me is that I had router for over a month with no problems & the night after I bought the modem was the first drop out though this could have been OR doing work as it was early in the morning, as always there are alternative explanations with this issue.

Rebooting the router doesn’t sort it always but last time turning it off for 5 mins did though of course this could be a coincidence? Line speeds also speeds to be dropping also. Wondering whether selling house & moving to another cab might sort it? I do have an OR modem, I could couple this up for a while?    Thank you .. Paul
EDIT: Checked router & set to Always On - Timeout greyed out.

[MisterW]

The reason the connection is dropping while still synced is the mystery

Paul,
but are you sure that the modem is actually staying synched ? if it drops synch for just a few seconds are you going to notice it, presumably there's an indicator light on the modem showing dsl sync ?
I'd definitely try the HG612 again. Is it unlocked, in which case you could monitor it.
See http://www.kitz.co.uk/routers/hg612unlock.htm

PS why did you change from the HG612 to the Comtrend in the first place ?

PPS if you needed another modem to replace the HG612 then have a look at this http://uk.tp-link.com/download/TD-W9970.html . You can pick them up at Argos and pcworld for £29.99. They are a doddle to siwtch to bridge(modem only) mode and are as good as the HG612 as regards the modem . See the kitz review http://www.kitz.co.uk/routers/tplink_TD-W9970_review.htm
I've been using one in front of my Draytek 2830 since I moved to FTTC about a year ago.

[Musical4Ever]

(PS why did you change from the HG612 to the Comtrend in the first place ?)

That is a very good question for which I have no answer other that it seemed a good idea at the time? I'll couple the HG612 up & keep my fingers off it for at least 4 weeks or so. This should be an inexpensive way of completely ruling the modem out of the equation (I have 3 of the HG612s BTW) I was concerned that the HG612 may not support G.IMP so that’s probably why I swapped, I did read conflicting information about that - I really appreciate your help BTW - Paul 

[MisterW]

That is a very good question for which I have no answer other that it seemed a good idea at the time?

I thought that might be the case - failed to observe good engineering practice Rule 1 , 'if it works , don't mess about with it'
The HG612 is one of the best modems for performance on FTTC. If you've got 3 then I'd definitely unlock at least one of them so you can get stats and monitor it. I've never unlocked one myself but it seems a straightforward operation, at least you don't have to open it up and do any soldering.

I was concerned that the HG612 may not support G.IMP so that’s probably why I swapped, I did read conflicting information about that

From the unlocking link it looks like G.INP is suppoerted but maybe with later firmware...

[Musical4Ever]

Don't faff with things that aren’t broken is excellent advice, I often give that advice to others yet from time to time totally fail to observe it myself, at this point in time I'm not sure why? 
I've coupled the HG612 up & going to unlock one over the weekend. I will now see what occurs, patience is a virtue (I’m not even going to look at the modem!). Thanks again.. Paul

[Adrian]

I thought that might be the case - failed to observe good engineering practice Rule 1 , 'if it works , don't mess about with it'

Or you could try the other sound engineering rule which states "Keep fixing it until it's broken" 

[Musical4Ever]

I do that often too, esp. with hi-fi etc. I'm now in the hands of the Gods & when in lounge where modem resides will apply cable ties to wrists, I'm even going to forget I have a modem!

[MisterW]

I've coupled the HG612 up & going to unlock one over the weekend. I will now see what occurs

Let us know how it goes...

[Musical4Ever]

I will do that & thanks 

[Musical4Ever]

I'm really not sure what to do: The HG612 has been up for over nine days. Because I had to I was able to change the Netgear router to an ASUS RT-N66U for little cost which isn’t the best router there is but not bad £100 or so. Tonight I had the same outage as before, on the BQM showed large packet loss at the time of outage the modem seemed to show no loss of sync or re-sync, the possibility of the router being dodgy or affected is pretty rare it thing being as its the third different router I've tried & this issue only occurring with any router since I joined IDNet.

I've changed every cable there is (twice+) & modem & routers. On Think Broadband the single thread download is pretty bad around 30 or much less. I'm on 80/20 - When I've rang IDNet they really don't know what to say. One guy suggested REIN but before today the last outage was before 4am, & I have been everywhere with a Roberts AM radio on the correct frequency.

I’ve spoken to me neighbours & nothing electrical was coming on at 4am. I have posted on Think not with the intention of pulling IDNet down but to resolve this issue. I did try to have Traffic Priority added to sort the slow speeds out but nothing came of it. I was going to join UNO & at this point I wish I had Any ideas??

[Musical4Ever]

IDNet are changing my backhaul provider - :-) 

[Simon]

 

[Musical4Ever]

Seems all sorted, been moved to a different backhaul which seems to have solved peak time slowdowns etc. Very happy now ! (as regards ISP etc. other things in life not so happy about but unchangeable)  Thanks Simon IDNet !  Thanks for all help on site.

[Simon]

[Musical4Ever]

Just a small (final) update: It's been around 3 weeks since backhaul change & connection been first rate, little slowdown (if any) at peak times, works great - Again Thank you!