Billion UK Forum

Yesterday I received a new 7800DXL from Amazon which came installed with the latest 2.32b firmware but I've already experienced problems connecting / remaining connected to WiFi.

Last night I ran through the quick set up wizard and connected to my DSL provider and 5 devices via wired ethernet. I left the settings unchanged from factory defaults aside from changing the SSIDs/WPA keys for 2.4 Ghz & 5 GHz band wireless networks.

I connected the following to the 2.4 GHz network via 802.11n:
Nexus 4
Nexus 7 (2012)
Win 7 laptop
PS VITA

And connected a HTC Desire to the 2.4 GHz network via 802.11g. There was nothing connected to 5 GHz 802.11n network. All the devices were able to connect to the internet and other devices on the local network.

This morning none of the wireless devices were connecting to the 2.4 GHz network: those that had been left on overnight had lost connection and were unable to reconnect, freshly booted devices (such as the laptop) also could not connect. The 2.4 GHz network SSID was still visible to all devices though it's signal strength seemed to fluctate mildly. Attempting connect using Android or Win 7 did not work, even when placed right next to the router with reportedly excellent signal.

Plugging the laptop into the router via ethernet & looking at the GUI there did not seem to be anything obvious reported in the status or logs. The channel was set to the default (reportedly the lowest interrence), channel was set at 40Mhz. The new WPA keys that I had entered were still displayed via the GUI.

Restarting the router via the GUI did not fix the problem nor did power cycling the unit.

So I was at a bit of a loss - while browsing the 2.4GHz wireless advanced settings I decided to hit 'Apply' without having made any changes and almost instantly all the devices reconnected to the router. Looks to me like the router lost some configuration for the 2.4 GHz network interface - will double check in the logs to see whether the router had restarted itself in the night (as this might explain why it might have lost the configuration).

Checking on these forums there have been many reports of flaky WiFi behaviour this seems to be most similar:

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=1669

However there appear to be a variety of problems...

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=1597
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=1562
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=1476

... and obviously I don't want to have to swap around eithernet cables connecting a laptop to the unit to reset the problem, especially if it's going to occur regularly. I'll raise a ticket with support as soon as I get home but given the number of similar issues that other users have reported in the last 3/4 months I'm minded to return the unit as not fit for purpose.

Follow up: After the reset yesterday the wifi was fine all day. However when I checked at 6.30 am this morning it was broken exactly as reported before (SSID visible but no devices able to connect). The only difference in configuration to the first time this happened was that I had moved the 2.4Ghz network to channel 11. The up time reports that the router has been on continuously since the last reset so there was no unexpected restart during the night. It might be useful to know that the Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 were both left on overnight both times that the fault occured (although Win 7 laptop was also unable to connect in the morning so it's not just a case of stale connections/IP addresses for the Android devices).

Again, plugging the laptop directly into the router & clicking the 'apply' button on the basic 2.4Ghz settings page (without changing any of the values on the page) allowed all devices to connect immediately.

I assume that this is a problem with the firmware since it can be reset via the admin interface and similar behaviour has been reported by several other people. However I would have expected a fault with the basic out-of-the-box functionality to have been picked up during testing.

granarythorax wrote:Follow up: After the reset yesterday the wifi was fine all day. However when I checked at 6.30 am this morning it was broken exactly as reported before (SSID visible but no devices able to connect). The only difference in configuration to the first time this happened was that I had moved the 2.4Ghz network to channel 11. The up time reports that the router has been on continuously since the last reset so there was no unexpected restart during the night. It might be useful to know that the Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 were both left on overnight both times that the fault occured (although Win 7 laptop was also unable to connect in the morning so it's not just a case of stale connections/IP addresses for the Android devices).

Again, plugging the laptop directly into the router & clicking the 'apply' button on the basic 2.4Ghz settings page (without changing any of the values on the page) allowed all devices to connect immediately.

I assume that this is a problem with the firmware since it can be reset via the admin interface and similar behaviour has been reported by several other people. However I would have expected a fault with the basic out-of-the-box functionality to have been picked up during testing.

Try setting the bandwidth to 20mhz, as I know Billion are working with Broadcom to investigate/debug the wireless issues, as the wireless code is writen by Broadcom (the chipset vendor) we have to wait for them to debug all the captures

Hi

granarythorax wrote:Follow up: After the reset yesterday the wifi was fine all day. However when I checked at 6.30 am this morning it was broken exactly as reported before (SSID visible but no devices able to connect). The only difference in configuration to the first time this happened was that I had moved the 2.4Ghz network to channel 11. The up time reports that the router has been on continuously since the last reset so there was no unexpected restart during the night. It might be useful to know that the Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 were both left on overnight both times that the fault occured (although Win 7 laptop was also unable to connect in the morning so it's not just a case of stale connections/IP addresses for the Android devices).

Again, plugging the laptop directly into the router & clicking the 'apply' button on the basic 2.4Ghz settings page (without changing any of the values on the page) allowed all devices to connect immediately.

I assume that this is a problem with the firmware since it can be reset via the admin interface and similar behaviour has been reported by several other people. However I would have expected a fault with the basic out-of-the-box functionality to have been picked up during testing.

I've said it before, these Billion boxes do not have the same quality assurances you get from most other Wi-Fi products because Billion cut corners and do not put them forward for the Wi-Fi Alliance testing and accreditation. I suspect you could find lots of other Wi-Fi products using the exact same Broadcom chipset with the Wi-Fi Alliance approval and also without these issues of interoperability. This "it is with Broadcom" we hear is starting to seem like finger pointer.

Anyway, that aside, one thing that might help your Wi-Fi problems is to have the Wi-Fi access points turn off for a minute or so by using a schedule with this happening overnight when when you would not notice. This turning off and on again soft reboots the Wi-Fi firmware and may help avoid it seemingly crashing in some form causing you connection issues. Of course this wouldn't be a real fix but might help until Billion come out with fixed firmware.

Also as Billion admin has advised switching to 20Mhz may also resolve issues. If you have neighbouring Wi-Fi points it may be some odd compatibility problem. To use 40MHz requires Wi-Fi access points to be considerate of their neighbours, and if they detect channels are over subscribed it will drop back to 20Mhz anyway. Perhaps, a bit like passing someone in a narrow corridor where you both go to the same side to let the other pass, then both move to the other side, etc, the access points are oscillating between themselves giving up then taking back channels. This could explain the fluctuating signal.

Hope that helps.

Regards

Phil

Thanks for the help - the reasons I went for a Billion over some of the bigger names was the Broadcom chipset and the community / support.

Further follow up: I set the channel width to 20Mhz yesterday morning after I reset the wifi settings. Billion support got back to me & advised the same workaround. So far it has run overnight ok & wifi was still usable this morning. Fingers crossed there are no further problems.

Unfortunately the signal range of the 802.11n from the 7800DXL is worse than my old cheapo 802.11g AP when sited in the same position. I'm going to play about with positioning and the antennae to see if that improves matters - does anyone have any suggestions around improving range?

Just experiment with the positioning of the antennae. My router has to be upstairs and I got a definite improvement for devices downstairs by positioning my antennae horizontally.
You could also browse YouTube for lots of examples of simple and cheaply home-made reflectors. Search for "improve wireless signal" or "boost wifi signal". I made one with my old router and they do work, making the Wii downstairs get a connection whereas it couldn't without a reflector.

Hi

I'd also add that Wi-Fi has strict rules about the power output so you can't get "more powerful" Wi-Fi kit (unless illegal) and the tech has been around long enough that a cheap Wi-Fi point is pretty much as well optimised and as well performing as an expensive one.

What tends to happen is manufacturers have different types of antenna, so some broadcast more sphere shaped, giving better reception between floors, other more flat so you get further distance on the horizontal.

Moving the antenna around should help. Make sure they are all laying in different planes, say one horizontal one vertical then one at some silly angle, that should give you the most diversity and hopefully coverage.

Regards

Phil

I have seen no wireless issues with my 7800DXL running 2.32b. I have several phones, laptops and games systems and all have connected OK and retain their connections until terminated by me.

scwilson wrote:I have seen no wireless issues with my 7800DXL running 2.32b. I have several phones, laptops and games systems and all have connected OK and retain their connections until terminated by me.

New firmware 2.32c is coming soon, hopefully this week.

I have had loads of compatibility and just weird functionality from the beginning of my ownership of my 7800dxl in terms of WIFI.
Had problems especially with a HP Wireless printer. Version 2.32b didn't really make a difference on that side of things either.

I have long since turned off WIFI and used other access points (the main reason I have it is for its damn great ADSL modem + super features like static arp/nat loopback/Scheduled reboots/SNR tweak etc...)

The 7800DXL has some big boots to fill WRT to my old 7800N which had flawless WIFI stability + performance.

Hopefully 2.32c brings this.