Plusnet & Dlink dsl-2740 problems

[kilasuit]

Re: Plusnet & Dlink dsl-2740 problems

Well been out since 4 came back to completely no way of connecting to router, even ethernet had become unresponsive.

The LED for the internet was off too so was yet another disconnection


Reconnected now but lost 900k in dl speed.

At least i wont be having to put up with this for too long.

[bobpullen]

Re: Plusnet & Dlink dsl-2740 problems

I'm not convinced it is the router that's to blame (although it's certainly possible). It could be proved one way or another by kilasuit sourcing another router from somewhere (or trying theirs on another connection).

We could send one but there are contractual considerations so it's not really worth it unless the evidence suggests that it is the DLink that's at fault.

Worth bearing in mind that it's not our router that's being used at the moment (although I recognise we did send one at some point).

kilasuit's connection has been up for over two days whereas you've said:

When the connection dropped, the wireless signal was still being transmitted from the router, but the broadband was down.

If it was just the WAN connection that was dropping then it would be a relatively simple problem to approach. It's the random WLAN dropouts that are the tricky bit.

Best regards,

[diddlydee]

Re: Plusnet & Dlink dsl-2740 problems

I had been suffering for months with a similar problem, ie. wired router drops connection and reboots itself; the router in question was a Zyxel. When the connection dropped, the wireless signal was still being transmitted from the router, but the broadband was down. The router was replaced by my isp with another Zyxel, but still the problem persisted.

I had changed filters several times, had my bb speed upgraded (free of charge); had the profile upped (whatever that means) and had BT out to test the line but the problem continued.

Finally this week one of the really senior bods was referred onto my case and advised me that the router was now having incompatibilities with the exchange due to some upgrades on it. Not sure what it all means, however, my router was replaced with a Netgear, and the problem seems to have been solved.

Certainly, I have had no drops since, and I've had the new router two days. Previously I'd have anything up to 10 drops a day.

Your problem does sound quite similar to mine. My isp replaced my routers free of charge and provided new filter etc. I've been with them 3 years, so definitely out of contract period and out of warranty on the router. I suppose they are just more helpful than some? But considering you pay them £xx pounds per month, surely it is in their interest to help you stay connected.

[bobpullen]

Re: Plusnet & Dlink dsl-2740 problems

Thanks for the clarification.

What happens if you disable wireless N connectivity but leave b/g (presuming the router supports it)? Might also be worth having a look to see if there's an option for extending the duration of the DHCP lease.

Are the WLAN drops specific to a certain device or do they affect all devices on the network?

Would certainly be helpful to try another router if you're able to source one from somewhere (you're right about the deferred contract with the devices we send out, unless they're a replacement for a faulty model).

Must admit, I've not witnessed the simultaneous WAN/WLAN disconnections before and have been through a fair few routers myself.

Best regards,

[kilasuit]

Re: Plusnet & Dlink dsl-2740 problems

Hi there,



Sorry to hear you're having problems. Worth noting that a very quick signal drop/re-sync may not show on our RADIUS graphing. This is to do with the frequency of the accounting packets that are sent to us to tell us if your connection is up or down.
That would seem the most logical reasoning behind that then


Probably things we've already suggested but make sure you're plugged into your master socket, avoid the use of extension cabling and swap the filter you're using. If possible try connecting to the test socket to rule out a problem/interference caused by your local wiring.
New build that Openreach redid wiring and placed an actual master socket for me, also router is less than 1m away from socket so no extentsion cables, changed filter (no difference)


If you suspect the router then we may be able to send you a Technicolor 582n on request. You'd need to cover the postage costs though I believe.
I was told needed to take a deferred 12month contract and pay for P&P


That suggests that either:

You've been moved from ADSL1 to ADSL2+, or
We've just uncapped the upload speed of your line (something we're currently doing in bulk).

It also provides evidence that the connection is dropping. The sync speed cannot change without a disconnect/reconnect.
Although normal practice is for this disconnect to lower the downstream speed mine has increased on the last 4 disconnect/reconnects by almost 1000k now stands at 3470 d/l and 827 u/l
So being placed onto ADSL2 (which is what router says) sounds like most likely option


Not true. The wireless should stay up. The LAN connection between a wireless device and the router is completely separate to the WAN connection between the router and the ISP. You can prove this by browsing to your router interface from a connected wireless device when the Internet connection drops
This depends on the chipset in the Router as i know of a fair few makes and models that see a WAN disconnection and then Disconnect LAN & WLAN.


That's good advice. I'd suggest 1,6 or 11 though to avoid overlap. A good method of testing your wireless connectivity is to run an extended ping to the router. From a command line (where 192.168.1.1 is the LAN address of your router):

> ping 192.168.1.1 -t

You'll see something like this (Press CTRL and 'C' to stop it):

C:\Windows\System32>ping 192.168.1.254 -t

Pinging 192.168.1.254 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64

If the connection between the device and the router gets flaky then the response time will increase. Timeouts or anything > ~60ms is likely to start causing you problems. Might be worth checking each of the above channels and seeing which one gives the lowest response time.
Did this and got a few around 20ms when on mixed b/g/n mode and then when i changed it to n only highest was 5ms

Wireless channel has been 13 since intial setup of the router also moved it from mixed b/g/n to n only and have only noticed a few WLAN drops but not any WAN drops.

Having suggested this, it's still not going to stop your actual Internet connection from dropping. That's a separate issue entirely.

There has now been no WAN drops in over 53 hours although still suffering with various WLAN drops (predominately in evening hours)
Hope some of that helps.

Best regards,

Please see updated response above

[bobpullen]

Re: Plusnet & Dlink dsl-2740 problems

Hi there,

I have been recently experiencing a fair few wireless drops and also router losing connection

Plusnet are adamant that there is no issue here and seem to think that i have a perfectly good line (although im stuck with 2-3meg, 8 houses down the road can get fibre and get 80meg) and even attempted to tell me that there has been no loss in connection only me rebooting the router. Even their little annoying picture that shows connection starts and end times shows no connection failures.

Although a gap of more than 5minutes kinda shows a problem if you ask me.

Sorry to hear you're having problems. Worth noting that a very quick signal drop/re-sync may not show on our RADIUS graphing. This is to do with the frequency of the accounting packets that are sent to us to tell us if your connection is up or down.

Just wondering what a suggested next step is as i have had them plague me with do a speed test all the time and its not a speed issue.

Probably things we've already suggested but make sure you're plugged into your master socket, avoid the use of extension cabling and swap the filter you're using. If possible try connecting to the test socket to rule out a problem/interference caused by your local wiring.

Also router was bought via Littlewoods and only in april so should i just contact Dlink under warrenty??

If you suspect the router then we may be able to send you a Technicolor 582n on request. You'd need to cover the postage costs though I believe.

an odd one as well i have just had to reboot router and my d/l jumped from 2952kbps to 3470kbps

also about 10 days ago upload jumped from 443 to 880

That suggests that either:

You've been moved from ADSL1 to ADSL2+, or
We've just uncapped the upload speed of your line (something we're currently doing in bulk).

It also provides evidence that the connection is dropping. The sync speed cannot change without a disconnect/reconnect.

wireless will always drop when router loses a connection, as they are both connected that way.

Not true. The wireless should stay up. The LAN connection between a wireless device and the router is completely separate to the WAN connection between the router and the ISP. You can prove this by browsing to your router interface from a connected wireless device when the Internet connection drops

log in to your router and change the broadcast setting to something high like 7 (most people wont even know to change this so they are all stuck on chan 1 - 5)

That's good advice. I'd suggest 1,6 or 11 though to avoid overlap. A good method of testing your wireless connectivity is to run an extended ping to the router. From a command line (where 192.168.1.1 is the LAN address of your router):

> ping 192.168.1.1 -t

You'll see something like this (Press CTRL and 'C' to stop it):

C:\Windows\System32>ping 192.168.1.254 -t

Pinging 192.168.1.254 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64

If the connection between the device and the router gets flaky then the response time will increase. Timeouts or anything > ~60ms is likely to start causing you problems. Might be worth checking each of the above channels and seeing which one gives the lowest response time.

Having suggested this, it's still not going to stop your actual Internet connection from dropping. That's a separate issue entirely.

Hope some of that helps.

Best regards,

[SXGuy]

Re: Plusnet & Dlink dsl-2740 problems

I had the thomson router when i was with O2.

It wasnt bad.

Had issues with getting XBox to work with it, no DMC settings, so had to use port forwarding, but was fine once that got sorted.

[SA Gold]

Re: Plusnet & Dlink dsl-2740 problems

i think the one plusnet provided was a thomson but i think it got chucked out when we moved here.

Shame, the Thomson's are generally quite reliable.

[kilasuit]

Re: Plusnet & Dlink dsl-2740 problems

Its likely the model number is different because its been re-branded as a plusnet router.

You could, i guess, email them and ask for the adsl settings, buy a new one (linksys never let me down) and apply the settings to it.

But, if the prob still happens then you wasted your money, so its a chance you take i guess.

this isnt one provided by plusnet

i bought it in april

i have infact never used a plusnet router although one did get sent out to me but i already had a dlink dsl-2640 so used that. i think the one plusnet provided was a thomson but i think it got chucked out when we moved here.

[SXGuy]

Re: Plusnet & Dlink dsl-2740 problems

Its likely the model number is different because its been re-branded as a plusnet router.

You could, i guess, email them and ask for the adsl settings, buy a new one (linksys never let me down) and apply the settings to it.

But, if the prob still happens then you wasted your money, so its a chance you take i guess.

[SA Gold]

Re: Plusnet & Dlink dsl-2740 problems

this is where some of the problem lies

There seems to be some confusion between Dlink's website and also their routers and which is which model and then there is also slight different HW revisions

I believe my Model is classed as dsl-2740r b1 and therefore no firmware i have d/l has worked for it.

Tad annoying to say least.

When you say confusion, do you mean the model listed on the device you have isn't exactly the same as the one on the D-Link site here?

I think when we move i will look at hardwiring everything especially as i'll need to look at getting a new desktop capable of H/W virtualiation sp i can learn unix and sun coding (depending on which apprenticeship i end up getting) or even running a small 2008/2012 server system along with SQL and Exchange etc.

Interesting times ahead needless to say

Sounds like a plan! I have a Dell T100 server at home for that very purpose. Just check the spec of anything you plan to purchase and make sure the processor is visualization capable. Also, bear in mind the memory expansion - as you get to play with it, you may want more virtual machines running at the same time which will need more memory. If you get a server, opposed to a desktop, all but the most basic will have 8 dimm's allowing you to expand cheaply (in comparison) - compared to a desktop board which normally have 4 (some 6)

Does that make sense? lol

[kilasuit]

Re: Plusnet & Dlink dsl-2740 problems

Firmware current? If not, its the first think d-link will ask you to do.

this is where some of the problem lies

There seems to be some confusion between Dlink's website and also their routers and which is which model and then there is also slight different HW revisions

I believe my Model is classed as dsl-2740r b1 and therefore no firmware i have d/l has worked for it.

Tad annoying to say least.


I think when we move i will look at hardwiring everything especially as i'll need to look at getting a new desktop capable of H/W virtualiation sp i can learn unix and sun coding (depending on which apprenticeship i end up getting) or even running a small 2008/2012 server system along with SQL and Exchange etc.

Interesting times ahead needless to say

[SA Gold]

Re: Plusnet & Dlink dsl-2740 problems

Firmware current? If not, its the first think d-link will ask you to do.

[kilasuit]

Re: Plusnet & Dlink dsl-2740 problems

the wireless channel has been on 13 since i got it. the only other wireless router around is a BT Home Hub and its on channel 1

[SXGuy]

Re: Plusnet & Dlink dsl-2740 problems

ok, down the road have fibre optic, has nothing to do with your adsl speeds, two seperate things.

They will always have better speeds than you.

wireless will always drop when router loses a connection, as they are both connected that way.

With my virgin all in one router and wireless network it was a known bug (by users, virgin wont admit it) had to get another wireless router and connect it to the modem, switch the modem to disable wireless ability so it used both, but i dont think you have the option.

My guess is, to many people on your street are broadcasting on the same channel, causing yours to drop connection, im beting your router is set to default channel 1.

log in to your router and change the broadcast setting to something high like 7 (most people wont even know to change this so they are all stuck on chan 1 - 5)

save, your router will either reboot, or you will need to do this manually.

this "should" fix connection dropping issues.