How To What's causing router WRT 1900ACV2 nstable connection

[jag_man653]

I have a Spectrum/TWC Ultimate account. A Spectrum modem connects to my WRT 1900. My desktop, laptop, and Samsung TV, Panasonic printer, etc., are hardwaired to the router. A Linksys AC1200 Max range extender helps get wiFit to cell phones & tablets throughout a 2000SF home.







When it's working, the speeds are quite high: 450 Mbs down, 23 up. However, the system frequenlty suffers connectivity problems. When it happens, emails don't get downloaded to the desktop, it takes forever to bring up a web page, and the TV Smart hub apps (e.g., Amazon) don't connect.







Spectrum says there's no problem at their end. Linksys want's to be paid to investigate the issue. I'm thinking about jumping ship & going with another brand router... but which one would be better? Or, perhaps I should drop back to a lower level of Spectrum service, hoping lower speeds would give better reliability.







Anything else I should be looking at?

 

[JackMDS]

Try temporary to disconnect from the Main Router everything and disable the Extender. Leave only one wired computer connected directly to the Router, if the issues go away, then start to add the other components one at the time.

The claims of ISPs that everything is OK from thier side is many time just away to avoid service.

They cannot evaluate from remote the actual signal that comes out of the Modme into the Router.

I have Spectrum 200Mb/sec and FIOS 50 Mb/sec. the Spectrum Stability/Reliability is "Crappy" as compares to the FIOS.

 

[aigomorla]

However, the system frequenlty suffers connectivity problems. When it happens, emails don't get downloaded to the desktop, it takes forever to bring up a web page, and the TV Smart hub apps (e.g., Amazon) don't connect.

when you say connection problems what does it show in your connections?

Does it say you have limited internet access? or does your network icon show you been dropped?

Is it just web pages and actual WAN activity that is being unreliable?
If its just wan it could be several things, including the a poor DNS server spectrum is resolving on.

You could try to change DNS servers on your desktop in network properties and see if that works.
If that works, then you would need to go into the router and manually set DNS so it doesnt use the default spectrum.

I personally have realized spectrum / time warner has the worst DNS servers, hence why i use my own private one on windows server 2016, but there are a lot of free public ones which are solid and reliable, like googles, cloudfire, and level3.

 

[jag_man653]

Thanks, aigomorla. Do you mean on the Router front panel? Usually when I glance over at the router the Internet light is solid white and the LAN connection lights are flickering. Once or twice I happened to see the Internet light Orange.

When I say "connectivity issues" I mean that I am:
a. working at the desktop and get "page can't be reached" notices, or
b. Trying to sync local and remote repositories with GitHub (software development ) and the Push command times out with a '"cannot connect error," or
c. Trying to download the newspaper with the Kindle app on my tablet and getting nothing but the twirling sync icon, or
d. Trying and failing to download my emails to Outlook on the desktop or cell phone, or
e. Trying to watch a movie on the smart tv and getting messages saying "not connected."

Typically, if I experience any of the above, at the same time all of the devices are having the equivalent problem. AND, resetting the router fixes them all.... until it happens again.

I wish I knew wither it was a WAN or LAN issue. Spectrum unequivocally says everything checks out at their end. Trying to isolate it by connecting the modem directly to the desktop for extended periods causes problems because it brings complaints from my wife "my cell phone isn't working" or "I cant get my email."

Thanks for the DNS tip. I'll try that today.

 

[aigomorla]

yea for now check to see if its DNS issues.. if not... then can you tell me the model number of your spectrum modem?

I want to see and make sure that is not a router / modem your using... which then could mean you might have 2 routers fighting over DHCP server, which is another can of worms you will need to resolve.

 

[jag_man653]

Well, I stumbled at the first step. The WRT 1900AC Internet settings page looks like this, after I've changed Connection type from Automatic to Static. I assume I should put the Google DNS 888.888.222.222 etc into DNS 1 and 2. In this context I assume the default gateway is the standard Liknksys values.. don't remember them but can look up.What should be used for Internet IPv4 & subnet mask? Don't want to screw it up and have no access at all :-(

 

[jag_man653]

Spectrum modem is E31T2V1. Definitely not a combo.

 

[aigomorla]

no you need to set that as automatic as residential spectrum internet service is dynamic and not static. If you set it on automatic, can you not change the DNS or is it grayed out?

google DNS: 8.8.4.4
cloudfire DNS: 1.1.1.1
level 3: 4.2.2.1

Does your modem look like this?
If it does i hate to be the bearer of bad news... but i think your modem is a combo...

If thats what your looking at, you see how it has wifi... the unit needs router functions for it to have wifi + modem, unless its a designated Access Point. Another easy way to see is how many RJ-45 ports it has in the rear... A Modem will typically only have 1, while a router will have 4-5.
This is how a stand alone modem typically looks like:

Are you sure that is linksys's web portal?
I think that web portal you just linked is not the linksys but the modem's.
I believe linksys should have a linksys logo at the top for its web portal.

This might happen when your 2 routers share the same IP, so typically whatever portal your browser has cached might superseed the web portal.

You may need to disconnect the linksys to your modem, and connect a pc directly to it, and then try to go into the web portal to get your actual web portal for linksys.



So that might be your problem, you have 2 dhcp devices fighting over dominance...
Since it may be difficult to change the DHCP on your modem, its probably easier to reassign a different scope range on the other unit or disable the DHCP entirely on the linksys unit and see how that goes.

Just make sure you assign the proper IP address to the linksys unit before you disable DHCP, or it can be a hassle getting back into the web portal without doing a hard reset.

 

[jag_man653]

It's a modem. See attached photos.

Linksys WRT 1900AC Smart WiFi interface Home has several buttons. Your screen shot is what comes up if the Network Map button is clicked. It just shows what all is connected to the modem. If the Router settings| Connectivity buttons are clicked instead you get the screen in the 3rd attached file. By default Automatic is selected. With this setting, there's no way to set the IP addresses. If StaticIP selected instead, a dialog is offered that invites setting 1, 2, or 3 IP address as I showed earlier.

Ed

 

[aigomorla]

yeah without a doubt its a modem....
change the DNS on the machine directly and see if that helps then for that single machine...

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-change-your-pcs-dns-settings-windows-10

 

[jag_man653]

I may have been misunderstanding things. Just found this. see lordpuffer's comment here:
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r31915310-How-to-change-the-DNS-Settings-on-a-WRT1900AC-v1

Will try that tomorrow... gotta run right now. Thanks.

 

[aigomorla]

definitely try that when you can....

 

[jag_man653]

I set the DNS to 208.76.222.222 and 208.76.220.220. Seems somewhat faster at bring up web pages, but still does not reliably make connections, on the desktop, tablet, and TV.

I've now plugged the modem directly into the desktop and will leave it that way for a couple days. I have a feeling it will work better.

We went out to dinner yesterday and while waiting for our table I noticed the fellow next to me was wearing a windbreaker with a TWC (now owned by Spectrum as you know) logo. Couldn't resist telling him my Spectrum troubles. He said I should just call Spectrum and complain because after 3 calls in a 30-day period they escalate the issue to a team who do nothing but deal with the hard problems. I'm about ready to try that.

 

[jag_man653]

Well, I'm getting the problem with the modem connected directly to the desktop. It worked OK for 2-3 hours elapsed time, 30 minutes poking around the Web and catching up with email. Then I stated losing connections while sending in Outlook, and Chrome wouldn't bring up eBay. Reset the modem and it started working again.

So, does this mean it's the modem?

 

[aigomorla]

So, does this mean it's the modem?

can be a couple of things...
It can be signal strength. (the backdrop from the pole)
Or it can be the modem.

on your PC type this out:

192.168.100.1 <--- usually will bring out a page with your cable modem and signal strength.

go down the list and see how many uncorrectables you have and across how many streams you see them.

Also look at the power and SNR values.

Then i would google to see what values are commonly acceptable in your area.
IF you see something is off, you may need spectrum to escalate you to a level 2, and possibly from there have a tech come out to your house directly to inspect the backdrop.

 

[jag_man653]

192.168.100.1 'can't be reached' I'll poke around a bit more in the AM..

Thanks

 

[mxnerd]

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r32158492-Any-way-to-access-the-Technicolor-E31T2V1

You need to add "192.168.100.1 modem" line to Windows Hosts file (C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts)

then access the web page by visiting http://modem

open notepad.exe with administrative rights or you can't modify and save the file.

==

Well, some users said the web page is only for Spectrum remote access, some said the page loaded finally but can't login.

 

[aigomorla]

ugh as mxnerd states your modem might be blocked from viewing signal strength by that vendor.

You may need to call tech support and escalate it to level 2, and ask them to check out your signals on there end.

On that note, i will make sure i never pickup a technicolor modem, and make sure its an Arris as i feel those are probably the best ones Spectrum uses.