Wireless issues

[philos]

I got a 7800n a week ago on the basis of reviews and recommendations on various forums. Set up on a DSL line was easy and for the first couple of days had no problems. Recently I have had two separate problems with the wireless network.

First problem was that suddenly, although all my devices (XP, windows 7 PCs, iPads and iPhones) could see and connect to the wireless network, they could not connect to the internet even though the PC and iMac connected via ethernet could. This lasted for several hours and then spontaneously resolved itself.

Second issue was that the wireless network suddenly disappeared (nothing could see it). Rebooting the router did not help. When I ran the quick start utility (without changing any settings) this initially did not seem to help but then the network reappeared 10 minutes or so later. An hour later it disappeared again but the same trick fixed it.

Speed and wireless coverage (when it works) are vastly superior to the Belkin Wireless N router I was using before and the Speedtouch modem I also have. However both were MUCH more stable. I don't want to give up on the 7800n. My question is does this sound like a faulty unit or do I need to tinker with the settings?

Thanks in advance for any advice

[billion_fan]

Try tweaking the channels, channel width etc

Maybe change over to channel 6 or 7, if that doesn't work try and change the channel width on the device.

You can make these changes under 'advanced >> configuration >> lan >> wireless'

I hope this helps

[philos]

Thanks for that. It's been stable for a couple of days now on channel 7. I'll keep you posted.

[philos]

Sadly this didn't last. Loads of problems again after being stable for a few days. I've had a good look around the internet forums and review sites and it seems that I am not alone with these problems so it's probably not worth trying to get it replaced. Now trying channel 12 but I'm not holding my breath....

[philos]

Channel 12 no good either. Tried unplugging cordless phone and switching off iMac (bluetooth keyboard and mouse can apparently interfere) but this didn't help either. In desperation I have installed the cheap D-link router which my ISP sent me and guess what, it all works fine. Not quite as fast but at least it works. The billion is going back to Amazon I'm afraid. Very disappointing.

The other annoying thing is that my wireless devices can see every BT home hub for miles around yet not the router in my own house!

[Tomken]

This useful tool http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider/ cuts out the guess work for setting the best channel which ideally, should be three away from the nearest because of overlap, but you can can still be on the same channel as someone else without any conflict as long as the RSSIs don't converge.

You should be looking for a channel which will give you approx -50db RSSI or less as this will be a stronger signal strength than those with higher numbers, even if they're on the same channel which will indicate theirs' as being weaker.

I was wondering if the router is set to PPPoE when it should be set to PPPoA or vices versa depending on your ISP, although mine auto picked up PPPoA. Just a thought.

Did you try changing the Channel Width from 20/40MHZ to 20MHZ as billion_fan has suggested, as Apple products aren't usually too keen on the dual width.

[philos]

Thanks I'll try out those suggestions

[tinytim]

Did you try changing the Channel Width from 20/40MHZ to 20MHZ as billion_fan has suggested, as Apple products aren't usually too keen on the dual width.

My iPhone & iPad have no problems with the 20/40MHZ setting providing I use WPA/WPA2-PSK security mode & AES as the WPA Algorithm. Apparently it's only with that security that the iPad can get full "N" wireless throughput.

[Tomken]

Yes, for some reason it doesn't affect everyone's ipads etc, it was from an article I once read and one of my sons who will use my connection occasionally when he visits, now only has to come within range of my router and it picks up his iphone and puts it into the DHCP table.

It may be worth checking, as you've suggested that the security is set to AES and not TKIP.

[philos]

The problem was not specific to Apple devices. My windows PCs could not see the network either. Anyway I tried those suggestions but made no progress.

In the end I ordered a 7700N as I don't really the need most of the more advanced features of the 7800. So far (5 days) the 7700 has worked fine with no dropouts at all and just as good a wireless range and synch speed as the 7800. My conclusion is either I had a dodgy unit or the 7800N is particularly susceptible to wireless interference. Either way the 7800 is on its way back to Amazon.