Routers & Other Networking Stuff

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gogusrl

Molten Core Raider
1,362
105
Ideally you have ethernet to each one, if not you go ethernet over powerlines, if not you daisy chain them (remember you halve the speed for each link in the chain). So you got AP1 connected to ethernet at 1000 mbps, when you connect the AP2 they both run at 500 mbps, the third one will halve it again to 250mbps for all of them.
 

Crone

Bronze Baronet of the Realm
9,714
3,211
Ideally you have ethernet to each one, if not you go ethernet over powerlines, if not you daisy chain them (remember you halve the speed for each link in the chain). So you got AP1 connected to ethernet at 1000 mbps, when you connect the AP2 they both run at 500 mbps, the third one will halve it again to 250mbps for all of them.
Well hopefully he can get an enterprise ap and just crank the power all the way up to full, and be good to go!
 

Pagan

Lord Nagafen Raider
506
202
Ideally you have ethernet to each one, if not you go ethernet over powerlines, if not you daisy chain them (remember you halve the speed for each link in the chain). So you got AP1 connected to ethernet at 1000 mbps, when you connect the AP2 they both run at 500 mbps, the third one will halve it again to 250mbps for all of them.
Interesting, so even as a wireless access point they would lose power per mbps if I had them connected via wireless. What if I used my wireless router for example to power the upstairs internet/wifi and dropped one of these commercial grade AP's down stairs via wireless, would that possibly be an option?
 

Mist

REEEEeyore
<Gold Donor>
31,197
23,353
Anyone know shit about DOCSIS? My modem is 7-8 years old now, would replacing it fix my low upstream power levels? I'm having issues where my modem loses connection fairly frequently. Usually it reconnects just fine and quickly, but sometimes just stops responding to pings and you need to unplug it. This is happening like once a week now.
 

Palum

what Suineg set it to
26,510
41,247
It's not worth diagnosing. Go buy a DOCSIS 3 modem and plug it in. If the problems don't go away start looking at last mile or ISP issues. If they do then your modem died.

I never expect consumer network equipment to last more than 2-3 years. They just aren't engineered well.
 

Mist

REEEEeyore
<Gold Donor>
31,197
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It's a DOCSIS 3 modem. It's a SB6120.

I figure it's either the modem or the tap or both.
 

Palum

what Suineg set it to
26,510
41,247
I'll put it this way, it's highly unlikely it's the actual coax drop given the symptoms if nothing has changed. The ISP could be at fault but basically you will die long before you get satisfaction from them. So the only real recourse you have is to hope it's the modem and the easiest way to diagnose consumer grade equipment is to plug in a new one. If it still doesn't work return the new one.
 

Mist

REEEEeyore
<Gold Donor>
31,197
23,353
I think it is the drop because the signal has dropped slowly over the past year or so. But it could also be the modem.
 

moonarchia

The Scientific Shitlord
23,417
42,567
With a modem that old it's best to replace it anyways. Get it out of the equation as well.
 

Kedwyn

Silver Squire
3,915
80
Go to 192.168.100.1 and post your stats. If you're losing connection most likely it is a power issue or SNR is out of spec. Changing your modem won't fix that but an amplifier might.
 

Mist

REEEEeyore
<Gold Donor>
31,197
23,353
It's low upstream power. It's between 25-28, that's horrible.

That much I know.
 

Kedwyn

Silver Squire
3,915
80
Pick up an amplifier at walmart or something and plug that in behind your modem. Make sure you use the correct ports and it should help with your power levels. IF your SNR is in spec you should be fine with that.
 

Intrinsic

Person of Whiteness
<Gold Donor>
15,026
13,124
Long shot but figured I would throw something up here and see if anyone had any ideas.

Just today my "internet connection" has been dropping and I've narrowed it down to occurring in in 1hr intervals. Almost exactly 60m as close as I can time.

All devices on the network (wired and wireless) can see each other, I can reach the router and the cable modem from any device. The router and the modem both claim they are up and running (and all lights on the modem are flashing normally). But no device can reach a webpage or service outside.

Using the router software I can successfully ping a URL or an IP, and can also trace route. But if I ask the router to, say, check for a firmware upgrade it "cannot reach ASUS servers b/c there is no internet connection."

Only rebooting the cable modem solves the issue. Rebooting a device on the network or the router will not fix it.

Logs on the Surfboard and the RT-N66U are gibberish to me. But if it is happening consistently every hour it seems like it should be some setting somewhere that is getting flipped every 60m. Like an IP conflict or routing conflict between the modem and router. Enough info seems to be passed so that both devices think they're fine, but something is dropped. My guess is that it is router related and not modem related though. Unfortunately I honestly have nothing in the house I can plug directly in to the modem to find out if I still can access the world when this happens.

Oh well that's my blathering. Was mostly to just lay out my thoughts and see if there's something I had not thought of yet.
 

LiquidDeath

Magnus Deadlift the Fucktiger
5,041
11,878
I wish I could help.

I had a RT-AC66U that exhibited the same type of issues, the dropped connections weren't as consistent as that but they were constant. I RMAed the thing and Asus sent it back as "fixed" but it immediately had the same problem. I switched to a cheaper TP-Link router and never looked back. I bought the damn thing because it was so well reviewed, but fuck Asus and their shitty routers. I'll never buy one again.
 

Intrinsic

Person of Whiteness
<Gold Donor>
15,026
13,124
Well if it is kaput that's what it is. Just wish I could figure it out. No big deal $70 or whatever for a new one.

The other strange thing is I can still get gmail, twitch notifications, and access the play store on my phone and tablet. Just no browser stuff.
 

ronne

Nǐ hǎo, yǒu jīn zi ma?
8,257
7,804
Time for process of elimination. Wire something direct to the modem and see if it still loses the signal, if it does you've got an isp issue or the modem itself is just a brick.

Very unlikely the router is causing it, as you'd see failures in the interface/local network rather than just trying to get to the outside.
 

Kedwyn

Silver Squire
3,915
80
If it was the router you wouldn't be able to access it. Unless you're using static IP's in the DHCP range you shouldn't have IP conflicts and it certainly wouldn't be hourly.

Since it goes out like clock work I'd assume it is your ISP. Post your modem status page here so we can take a look and make sure everything is in spec when you lose service. You can usually get to it by going to 192.168.100.1 but if that doesn't work then google your modem brand and make for it's ip address so you can pull it up and see.
 

Palum

what Suineg set it to
26,510
41,247
Yea you say that but I had a pair of WRT54Gs go out the same way within 2 years.

I started getting odd symptoms like timed drops and specific applications (really ports) would fail for periods of time then come back up.

TL;DR: later found out it was shitty firmware but I mean I can only stomach so much troubleshooting shitty $100 network devices that are just as likely to have a cold solder joint or slightly misprinted board causing uneven heating or something dumb.