Recommend Me a Router

hairy_mutley said:
I had a similar problem recently... I uninstalled the drivers for the network hardware and re-installed it (get latest drivers from the motherboard supplier before starting uninstall!).
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Sadly, this is true on tablets and phones too, but one can go out of action and another is fine. So, it isn't the internet connection from the router that fails but is something about renewing credentials over WiFi.

My current router leases IP addresses for up to two days. I used to have one that leased for 60 days, but there was no difference. Even permanent leases seem to make no difference. Running on 5GHz WiFi as the only user nearby makes no difference. Very odd.
 
I'm getting problems with my Devolo HomePlug sub-network again. The three I have connected to HD/HDRs all talk to each other fine (meaning my Humii can see each other for file sharing), but the fourth which connects to the router drops out (so I can't access the WebIf from the rest of the network, or run the TV Portal). So I swapped the router node with one of the others, but the problem doesn't swap with it.

This happens intermittently (the fault seems to be pretty solid this morning, although it's been OK for quite a while and I was using it yesterday), and was happening before I started using Trev's Netgear router (which seems to be working fine, but the way, although maybe the WiFi coverage isn't as good as the BT).
 
My Internet died late last night, no idea why, and I was able to access the internal network without problems (even the Devolos were behaving themselves). I was able to fall back to using my phone as a hot-spot for what I was doing, and it was bed time anyway so I decided not to worry about it rather than run around like a headless chicken rebooting the router or whatever.

It's fine this morning, no intervention required, and SpeedSmart says 3.01Mbps (which is as fast as I've ever seen it).

Meanwhile, my phone (Galaxy A310) has announced a software update, so I let it install this morning but it has made no difference to the Android version - still 6.0.1! As far as I can see it has affected the kernel version, "SE for Android" status (whatever that is), and Android security patch level. To me, that all adds up to an updated version number - but there you go.

Time I had Nougat, isn't it?
 
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Google pushes most of its updates out in a manufacturer independent way these days. The OEM may push security updates, eg, to the kernel, but Android keeps up to date via something called Google play services.

/wiki/Google_Play_Services#Adoption

Android versions mainly affect the GUI. I have a final 5.1 on my phone, 2 years old, and 6.0.1 on a Nexus 7, probably its final version too. Being as I use adw launcher on both, there are only slight differences between them.
 
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Android updates are pushed out either by the phone manufacturer or sometimes the carrier for a locked/contract phone. So BH is at the mercy of Samsung. Pretty much the only phones to get updates straight away are base/clean Android, which is largely Google's own devices (Nexus/Pixel).
 
I don't believe it! My Internet has gone down again - after midnight again! I don't believe in coincidences.
 
So what was not working? Have you tried changing your dns servers to opendns or google? Was the router showing no connection? Did you reboot the router? Have you set the router to keep the connection live?
 
No, I have not rebooted the router (and the connection still seems to be down this morning - I'll investigate further in a bit), and I don't understand the rest of what you said.
 
Oh.

This looked pretty conclusive:

IMG_2097.PNG

I went through a rig-marole of trying to establish a connection and got nowhere, so then I decided there was no harm in a reboot... and I'm posting this on broadband! Maybe this router isn't as good as advertised.

The Devolos were off this morning as well, and the reboot has kicked them into life too (I can't blame the Netgear for that - they were dropping out before).
 
A bit off topic, but I used to have 3 Devolo dLAN 500 AVTriple+ units and used to have nothing but trouble with them. They would be fine for a period of time of then the performance would gradually degrade requiring a reboot to restore them. Then one day just outside the warranty period 2 of the 3 units died completely (no lights). I switched over to Solwise (1200AV's) and have not had any issues with them since...
 
The router has two lights (amongst others), at the end by the USB port. These tell you your connection status. The one that looks a bit like a chain is the ADSL/VDSL link to the exchange and the one nearest the USB port is the 'you have an internet connection' indicator. I vary rarely got a 'no internet' status, and that was ony when either EE was down or Openreach were heads down, arse up in my local 'green box' and obviously a reboot won't fix that. I did have occasional problem with WiFi on my lappy that a reboot fixed, but that was the lappy, as my other devices were OK and since changing the WiFi card in the lappy to a 2.4/5GHz one I had no problems there either .
 
Trev said:
The router has two lights (amongst others), at the end by the USB port. These tell you your connection status.
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I'm sure the lights only say the same as the status in the control panel - I'll look next time.

There is just a very slight possibility that the line really was down and came back while I was rebooting the router...
 
I installed the Devolo Cockpit software (Windows), which insisted on a cable connection from the PC to one (any) of the adapters (and is why the iOS version will only work with a WiFi-enabled Devolo in the system), but then proceeded to identify and chart all the Devolos in the sub-network, repeat their lights, and report point-to-point connection speeds. Then I asked it to check for updates and it flashed all the units with new firmware while I went to the post. Not only that: it can set any particular unit to turn off its lights, and assign a name to each unit (which can be used to identify where it is), and if there was any doubt which was which during the naming process turning its lights off was an easy way to check. Finally I asked it to set a new homeplug network password using a random string, and that got distributed through the system without any intervention from me. Very nice.

What's more, now the cockpit software has been "introduced" to my homeplug sub-network, it no longer needs the direct cable connection and it recognises it via WiFi and a cable from the router to one Devolo. I suspect the iOS version would work if there was a way to configure the network password.

Let's see if the firmware update improves things!
 
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There should be setting on the router wan to keep the connection always on. The router then regularly sends a signal, possibly a ping, so you don't get disconnected. There is a delay reconnecting and your external ip address may change. I paid Plusnet a one off £5 fee for a fixed ip address.

I noticed on the web that BT's dns servers often get overloaded. There should be a setting to either get those automatically or fix them. If you choose very stable DNS servers, it may reduce the number of times you get a message saying a site could not be found.

Google DNS servers are 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. OpenDNS also have public servers. If you do change the dns servers, you may have to reboot the router, and then any other devices that connect to the internet, so the new settings take.

DNS is what changes hummy.tv into an IP address.

My TP-Link powerlines offer the same interface as your Devolos. I suspect them as the weak link in my network, causing the occasional disconnection for no obvious reason, and when other devices are still connected. Removing them would be difficult. I already have enough Ethernet cable running across outer walls. I might try a few smart plugs that reboot them at 3am.
 
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You don't have to reboot the router after a DNS IP change, but I think you do have to IP-Refresh your computer.
 
I think you'll find "Always on" on the Basic Settings screen (browser). It's a drop down box under Encapsulation/Connection Mode.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
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