Weird problems with Netgear home wireless routers:

[Epsil0n00]

Hey guys, I could really use some assistance and advice with this issue.
I have a client who I installed three Netgear Wireless Routers in their home (WGR614v6). The way I have it setup is so that one is acting as the primary gateway (routing and NAT) between the cable modem and the rest of the LAN. This router is also the only one that is running DHCP... and it also hosts a wireless signal.

Connected to this router I have two more routers, same model Netgear, setup on the network only acting as wireless access points, not doing active routing or NAT or DHCP. All of the client machines are attached either wirelessly to one of the three access points, or physically to one of the latter two devices (XBox and printer hooked up physically). I used instructions from Netgear's website to setup the Wireless Routers as "Access Points." HERE is the website with Netgear's instructions, which I followed.

Now for the problems... most of the time everything works well. However, they experience random loss of connectivity where the wireless network will not be available and then somewhere between like 5 to 45-50 minutes later the wireless network will pop back up again. It isn't that the cable modem is having problems, because they would still be able to connect to the wireless network, but not get any internet... No, in Windows it just pops up and reports that the wireless network is unavailable.

I thought maybe the channels were conflicting with other access points in their neighborhood, so I set the three channels to like 2, 6, and 10 (they were at 1, 6 and 11 previously). This didn't make any difference...

The only thing I can think of is this mention of "Potential Issues" from the Netgear instructions I linked above: DHCP configuration may not work reliably because the wireless router/access point may not correctly relay DHCP information from the router. Workaround: Use static IPs on the wireless PCs. The clients get a valid IP address when they connect... but then they lose their connections later... so it doesn't seem like a DHCP issue. I have also made sure that all of the devices with static IPs (the access points, the printer and the XBox) are outside the DHCP range (to avoid IP conflicts).

I am about ready to take these Netgears back from my client and try some Linksys devices. I would just get a router with no wireless, and then two access points that don't know how to do anything other than be access points (ie. non-routers).

What do you guys think!? I am at a loss...
Thanks!
Epsil0n

EDIT: OOohhh, this was my 1000th post! w00t! It took me a long time to hit 1000!

 

[Wolfshanze]

I had a similar problem with my own Linksys Network over the past month or so... computers randomly dropping off the network for a day at a time... wireless AND wired.

Never could figure out why, but it happened with my Linksys setup. Not sure what to tell you, but I feel your pain... been there too, can't figure out why it was happening. Maybe it's something in the air?!?

 

[Epsil0n00]

Thanks for the reply... I read your thread... that sounds like quite the frustrating problem.
Did you end up flashing the router's firmware?

I know Netgear has some more current firmware that is in Beta stage... Netgear even recommended that I flash to the latest (beta) firmware... but on Netgear's own website they tell you all over the place that they will not support Beta firmware! I wanted to reach through the phone and strangle them! "Sir, you are not running the most current firmware." Me: "Well, yes, I am running the most current supported firmware... If I upgrade to the Beta and call you back I bet you will tell me to downgrade back to the supported version of the firmware!"

My worst fear is buying new Linksys equipment... or some other brand... and the problems not going away. There are a lot of other wireless networks in the vicinity of their house... but not with the same SSID and not on the same channels.

 

[Metron]

Sounds like your real problem is coverage... is that why you're running more than one router?

If the reason your running multiple routers in your house is coverage, perhaps you need to upgrade your technology. My sister had a similar issue trying to cover a large 2 story house. I attempted to upgrade her wireless B router to a Linksys MIMO Wireless G, and I had a really bad time with the firmware upgrade.

I would suggest a Wireless Pre-N spec router, which has better range, coverage and speed. I used this Belkin Pre-N router for my sister's house. Probably cheaper than buying 3...

*edit* mis-read OP on DHCP... revised.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: Metron
Sounds like your real problem is coverage... is that why you're running more than one router?

ATOT correct me if I'm wrong here, but I don't think you want to run more than one router with DHCP. It's like having multiple people in charge, each assigning different addresses for the same laptop. It's a recipe for trouble. One router assigns a DHCP address for your laptop in the living room, but you move to another area of the house covered by a 2nd router. The 2nd router assigns a different DHCP address...

If the reason your running multiple routers in your house is coverage, perhaps you need to upgrade your technology. My sister had a similar issue trying to cover a large 2 story house. I attempted to upgrade her wireless B router to a Linksys MIMO Wireless G, and I had a really bad time with the firmware upgrade.

I would suggest a Wireless Pre-N spec router, which has better range, coverage and speed. I used this Belkin Pre-N router for my sister's house. Probably cheaper than buying 3...

I think having just one router on your network to assign DHCP addresses will solve most of your problems.

He specifically stated that only one router is running DHCP ("Connected to this router I have two more routers, same model Netgear, setup on the network only acting as wireless access points, not doing active routing or NAT or DHCP."). Please read troubleshooting posts carefully before responding to them.

It sounds like you're trying to run multiple wireless networks within one environment; this may not work well. You probably want to configure the wireless routers/WAPs so they act like 'repeaters' for the same network. The instructions you linked are for setting up *one* WAP, not two or more on the same network. Check the documentation for your routers to see if they support this kind of configuration.

Alternatively, try the Networking forum. GH is generally not good at answering tricky networking questions (as you may have noticed).

 

[Epsil0n00]

Matthias99 said "You probably want to configure the wireless routers/WAPs so they act like 'repeaters' for the same network. "

By this do you mean having all of the WAPs broadcasting the same SSID? If so, then yes, all of the WAPs are broadcasting the same SSID and are all picking up DHCP addresses from the same router... when everything is working well then all of the client machines can ping one-another and print to the network printer.

Metron was correct, I am using 3 devices to cover a large 3-story house. I was wondering if I am getting overlapping coverage... but that doesn't make sense because when things are working well the wireless laptops can roam all over the house and seemlessly pickup new signals from the closest AP.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: Epsil0n00
Matthias99 said "You probably want to configure the wireless routers/WAPs so they act like 'repeaters' for the same network. "

By this do you mean having all of the WAPs broadcasting the same SSID? If so, then yes, all of the WAPs are broadcasting the same SSID and are all picking up DHCP addresses from the same router... when everything is working well then all of the client machines can ping one-another and print to the network printer.

Yes, that is what you should be doing. You want one SSID, and all the computers should be on one subnet.

I'd still recommend asking in the Networking forum to see if anyone else has gotten a setup like this to work correctly.

 

[Epsil0n00]

Is there anyway to get a mod to move this thread... I'd appreciate it!

 

[Metron]

Thanks Matthias... I updated before you posted!

I need to read more carefully.

 

[Boztech]

This may or may not be relevant to your specific issue, but FWIW in a home environment I always suggest disabling DHCP and setting static IPs for all of the existing machines. DHCP is not necessary in a home environment and enabling it as such adds a very big point of failure to an otherwise small and simple network.