Netgear DG814 Speed & Connectivity issues

[samuelmorris]

I have recently purchased a DG814 router to replace a faulty (and non-returnable since that's what tech support is like nowadays) D Link DSL-G604T.

However, to my dismay this router is just as faulty as the last one. Am I just a mug who can't set up a router properly or are most routers just balls?

The current issue is that the router will run fine for between 1-3 hours, then it will start slowing web browsing, so you get brief blips of access then no access. For example you can click on a link (even just to the google homepage) and it sit there for a whole minute then 404. Then you click stop, refresh and it instantaneously appears.With pictures, it's like with 56k, you get a bit then a 10 second stop, then a bit more etc. etc. At this point, accessing the router homepage takes 10-15 seconds.

After this eventually all traffic is blocked (msn fails to send more and more messages) until everything signs out because there's no access. At this point, opening the router homepage takes 2-5 minutes. At this point, I tried pinging a few URLs, nothing from anywhere, so I tried pinging the router's own page. 2/4 packets were received back.

If you leave it really long, the router homepage becomes a 404.
Resetting the router is not sufficient, but turning it off, and waiting 10 minutes is, for another hour or so. The the process starts again.

I have a 5 Megabit DSL connection, which while not perfect, runs fine most of the time. A USB modem runs along happily until the DSL line drops.

I am currently running an interleaved connection due to this occasional line drop (though it made no difference) but the other router stopped working on a straight access method, so I'm pretty confident this isn't the problem.
Any ideas?

 

[hispeedtech]

You say your getting 404 pages? When you say this, do you mean your getting a page that actually says "404, file cannot be found blah blah", or, are you getting the infamous "page cannot be displayed", or better yet, a blank page?
The reason I'm asking is that a 404 page is sent by a server, hence, your connected. For example, if you type

http://www.google.com

inyour browser, you'll get google's home page. If you type in

http://www.google.com/whoopi

you'll get a 404 page. That's google's server basically telling you it can't find a subfolder called whoopi. If this is the case, you're having a route problem, not a connection problem. Worse yet, if it's on again, off again, you have what is known as intermittant routing. This is a real pain in the but, and is usually on the ISP side (a lot of times a bad DNS server).
If, on the other hand, your getting a "page cannot be displayed" or a blank page, chances are you're having a computer resource problem. With the exception of the 404 page, everything else your discribing would point to this.
Try the following:
1. When you first start your computer check your resources. On Win 98, right click My Computer, choose properties, click on the performance tab. It will show you system resources as a percentage. On Win 2000/XP right click on the task bar , choose task manager, performance tab. Take the available memory divided by the total memory times 100. This will give you a percentage that is roughly your available resources. Also make a note of running processes. These should be in the twenties, no higher than themid thirties.
2. When you get your first 404 or page can't be displayed page, try to go to

http://www.yahoo.com,

if it doesn't bring it up, type in "

http://216.109.

117.207" (yahoo's IP) or try google and its IP "

http://64.233.167.147".

If it brings up the page for the IP address but not name, you probably have a DNS problem. Also check your system resources again. Have they gone down a lot? If they're below 50% and/or your running processes are real high, say 50, this is the culprit. This happens quite often if you have a resource hog for an anti-virus (think Norton). If this is the case, your connected, it's just that your computer doesn't have anything left to display the page properly.
A little more detail (browser, OS) and we can probably get it nailed down for you.
Best of luck

hispeedtech

 

[cyberspace]

Some excellent advice there hispeedtech!

I would also add that upgrading the firmware on the router would be a good idea. I have the ADSL version of that router (it's not very good to be honest, and the support is terrible) and when I first got it I was having similar problems, and also it kept losing its connection, wouldnt authenticate etc.

Go to

http://www.netgear.com

and find the latest firmware for your router...download and use it...then see what happens.

'When all else fails.......read the manual'

 

[samuelmorris]

Read the manual, updated the firmware (which completely disabled it, I had to put an older version to get it to connect at all - completely crashes when I first installed it)

The 404s aren't really such, in the sense that they're "page cannot be displayed" - now, when it starts slowing down, pages don't load (brief load, then "done" on a white screen). after about 7-8 refreshes you get the page, but no formatting, just blank text and no pictures. No such problem with a USB modem.

Though my ISP isn't great, the proof that all is fine with a USB modem shouldn't mean my ISP is messing up. My resources of the virtual memory are at around 20% most of the time, and equate to about 45% of my actual RAM. There are no problems with high usage processes.

 

[hispeedtech]

Two observation and one quick questiion.
First, if you have your resource percentages right (45% RAM, 20% virtual) you either have your virtual memory set up wrong (right click "My Computer, choose properties, choose performance, select "Virtual Memory", select "Let Windows manage my Virtual Memory settings" to correct) or you have a major league resource hog.
Second, either way your resources are low. Are these numbers after startup, or after you start experiencing system slowdowns?
Question, you mention a USB modem. Is the USB modem located between the router amd wall jack, or does it have a second connection from the computer, independant of the router?
If your trying to have 2 connections from your computer (one through the router, the other throgh the modem), that's your problem. It might also explain the low resources you have.
The correct connection for a modem and router combo is:

Computer-->Router-->Modem-->Wall Jack

if you have:
Computer-->Modem-->Wall Jack
|
|__>Router-->Wall Jack

Also, do you have a second device connected to the internet (Playstation, etc.)?

 

[hispeedtech]

Whoops. Some of my response is missing. Second physical setup won't work

 

[samuelmorris]

No those figures are how much I'm using, not how much is free.
My system doesn't really experience slowdown, it runs fine, just not the internet through the router. The USB modem is my alternate unit when the router isn't working. Its Computer-Modem-Phone line.

The router has its own modem, and when i use that it's
Computer-Router-Phone line.

 

[BionicJohn]

The current issue is that the router will run fine for between 1-3 hours, then it will start slowing web browsing, so you get brief blips of access then no access. For example you can click on a link (even just to the google homepage) and it sit there for a whole minute then 404.

Having used a DG814 for over four years, I can confirm I have experienced very similar behaviour. Your setup is correct.

Firmware ver4.9 was supposed to cure this problem, but in my experience this version was no better than the others.

I currently use Ver4.7 as it seems to be the least worst version.

Firmware updates can be found at:

http://kbserver.netgear.com/products/DG814.asp

Note that some of the links are incorrect. Ver4.8 links to Ver4.6 and so on.

I have recently upgraded my ADSL line to 2Mbps, and the problem seems to be worse. I suspect the DG814 is now obsolete and doesn't deal with the latest protocols effectively.

I'm now looking at replacing the veteran Netgear with a USR 019107 ADSL2+ 4-Port Router with USB Print Server.

LIVERPOOL FC - 5 times Champions of Europe. 1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, 2005.
Iechyd da! John
Glannau Mersi, Lloegr.

 

[samuelmorris]

Ouch. I run an 8 Megabit connection (well, syncs at 6.5). That could explain things. I wish I'd read up on things before I bought it on ebay. Oh well, at least I only paid £20, not the full RRP. Now, Could you see if my other router is as bad or is that genuineely faulty, or have I done something wrong?

The other router is a D-Link DSL-G604T, and this connects to the internet fine for usually say half a dozen hours (when out of the box, not recently used) then eventually cuts off and in the status box says ("connect ppp0") and gets stuck there, or continually reads (connection closed due to inactivity) - when of course there hasn't been. The problem requires a turn off, waiting for a couple of hours before it will work again. If left off overnight, the problem usually recurs within an hour, hence why I believe it to be faulty.

Why are routers so appalling?
If needs be, I'll sell off the DG814 and try and dispose of this one, and maybe buy a Linksys router since they're on special offer around now. Are they any good?

 

[BionicJohn]

It looks like we're suffering similarly.

Now, Could you see if my other router is as bad or is that genuineely faulty, or have I done something wrong?

If it works most of the time, then there is nothing wrong with your setup in principle. You may want to try tweaking the Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) to 1458, but it's likely the Setup Wizard chose that any way.

The only other option is that something is adrift at your local exchange, but to be honest that's not likely if re-booting the router sorts the problem.

Here's a review of the DG814 - [URL unfurl="true"]http://www.adslguide.org.uk/[/url]. Note that it's now classified as an "Old or Discontinued Product", and has a review date of Oct 02; approximately when I bought mine.

Like you, I'm looking for a high quality replacement ADSL Modem/Router, and would welcome recommendations. I'll have a look at the D-Link DSL-G604T. I have installed cheap and cheerful SafeComs for friends which seem very good, e.g [URL unfurl="true"]http://www.ebuyer.com[/url]

LIVERPOOL FC - 5 times Champions of Europe. 1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, 2005.
Iechyd da! John
Glannau Mersi, Lloegr.

 

[samuelmorris]

The only other option is that something is adrift at your local exchange - There is an occasional DSL issue but I know that's totally unrelated to the problem, as using a Modem does not give the same issues.
Wow, that safecom router is cheap, however I'd love it if I could get one that would run wirelessly, like the G604T did. Any recommendations?

 

[BionicJohn]

I tend to avoid wireless networks unless it's totally nailed down. My son (a student) is always surfing on his laptop using someone else's connection!

that safecom router is cheap, however I'd love it if I could get one that would run wirelessly

They do make wireless routers, but it looks like the SafeCom website is out of action (not a Netgear fault!)

Look around the eBuyer site - there's quite a few wireless SafeComs for about £40. I can only really vouch for their DSL/Cable routers which have been really good.

LIVERPOOL FC - 5 times Champions of Europe. 1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, 2005.
Iechyd da! John
Glannau Mersi, Lloegr.

 

[samuelmorris]

Great, I'll look into those.

 

[hispeedtech]

samualmorris

Before you buy another gateway, make sure you don't have any issues with your NIC. Ping your localhost next time the slowdown happens (127.0.0.1), as long as you get 4 packets sent and recieved it is your router. As far as a good gateway goes, I've found that Linksys seems to have a lot less issues than either dlink or Netgear (haven't dealt with many SafeComs). Check to see if your ISP has a particular brand they support, since the support for a lot of consumer routers leave a lot to be desired!

 

[BionicJohn]

Good point!

LIVERPOOL FC - 5 times Champions of Europe. 1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, 2005.
Iechyd da! John
Glannau Mersi, Lloegr.

 

[samuelmorris]

Yeah sure, though I must admit I've been pretty impressed with the support D-Link have offered (although they're very unwilling to accept the unit back). I haven't tried Netgear support yet, from what I've heard it doesn't sound like I need to.

 

[BionicJohn]

The Netgear Support forum -

http://forum1.netgear.com/support/

- lists other people with the same problem.

Suggested causes: MS Messenger, P2P Program "emule" and UPnP.

(Sorry about the link - it won't display correctly because it contains the word "forum", so I have disabled TGML.)

LIVERPOOL FC - 5 times Champions of Europe. 1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, 2005.
Iechyd da! John
Glannau Mersi, Lloegr.

 

[BionicJohn]

To check if you have MS Messenger and/or UPnP installed and active, visit Steve Gibson's site - [URL unfurl="true"]http://www.grc.com/default.htm[/url]

"UnPlug n' Pray" and "Shoot The Messenger" will give the status of both and remove them if they are present.




LIVERPOOL FC - 5 times Champions of Europe. 1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, 2005.
Iechyd da! John
Glannau Mersi, Lloegr.

 

[samuelmorris]

I use MSN messenger but have removed Windows messenger.

 

[BionicJohn]

have removed Windows messenger.

Any improvement?

LIVERPOOL FC - 5 times Champions of Europe. 1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, 2005.
Iechyd da! John
Glannau Mersi, Lloegr.