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WiFi getting worse? Does the new OS change anything?


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I've got the Netduma R1 which I've had for a few years running 1.03.6g firmware. Nothing has moved to cause interference and I'm on fibre broadband. On my PC wired I get around 70mbps down and around 18mbps up. On wifi though it's much slower, also I've found that I need to reset the router every 2-3 weeks due to the wifi dropping completely.

On wireless devices though I get below 28mbps down and 15mbps up. The download bandwidth use to be much higher than this. I've tried changing wireless channels and turning wifi work around on and off and see no difference. I have deep packet inspection off, upnp forwarding off, IPv6 off, Turbo mode on but Super turbo mode off.

I've also reset distribution for all of the devices.

Is there anything else I can try or does the new OS make any changes to the WiFi? I've avoided upgrading while it's in beta.

Thanks

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2 hours ago, Corbula said:

I've got the Netduma R1 which I've had for a few years running 1.03.6g firmware. Nothing has moved to cause interference and I'm on fibre broadband. On my PC wired I get around 70mbps down and around 18mbps up. On wifi though it's much slower, also I've found that I need to reset the router every 2-3 weeks due to the wifi dropping completely.

On wireless devices though I get below 28mbps down and 15mbps up. The download bandwidth use to be much higher than this. I've tried changing wireless channels and turning wifi work around on and off and see no difference. I have deep packet inspection off, upnp forwarding off, IPv6 off, Turbo mode on but Super turbo mode off.

I've also reset distribution for all of the devices.

Is there anything else I can try or does the new OS make any changes to the WiFi? I've avoided upgrading while it's in beta.

Thanks

Hi.

I would stick to the firmware you are on as it will not improve wireless performance if that is the only reason you are thinking of upgrading. I would consider purchasing the new XR300 when it is released in April as announced by Netgear/Netduma. It is cheaper than the XR500 if you are on a budget but the performance is far better and there are more features on that version of dumaOS than is available on the R1 dumaOS.

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19 hours ago, BIG__DOG said:

Hi.

I would stick to the firmware you are on as it will not improve wireless performance if that is the only reason you are thinking of upgrading. I would consider purchasing the new XR300 when it is released in April as announced by Netgear/Netduma. It is cheaper than the XR500 if you are on a budget but the performance is far better and there are more features on that version of dumaOS than is available on the R1 dumaOS.

Thanks, but I don't really want to buy a new router just because this one isn't working as it should and as it was. Unless of course it's actually starting to fail.

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I agree with you entirely, there's no need to buy a new router at all. I personally do not think dumaOS on the R1 would be any better for you as the version on the R1 is more basic than on the higher end routers. But as I stated it will not improve wireless performance upgrading to dumaOS from R1OS.

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On 3/17/2019 at 2:00 PM, Corbula said:

Thanks, but I don't really want to buy a new router just because this one isn't working as it should and as it was. Unless of course it's actually starting to fail.

This could well be a DHCP issue or something solvable - sometimes everything just needs to be reconfigured and put straight.

First off, I'd recommend upgrading to DumaOS. It's a more stable system, and installing it could resolve any outstanding bugs that might have caused the WiFi drops. When you're upgraded, give the router a factory reset.

Then I'd like you to try a hard reset. To do that, turn off the Netduma and your Modem. Wait 5 minutes, then turn on the Modem. Wait 2 minutes, then turn on the Netduma. Finally wait another 2 minutes before you start reconnecting devices, and reboot the Netduma when you're back online.

That will totally reset the communication between your Modem and the R1. If there's still issues after that we can see if maybe DHCP or channels are causing the drop-outs :)

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 3/20/2019 at 3:45 PM, Netduma Jack said:

This could well be a DHCP issue or something solvable - sometimes everything just needs to be reconfigured and put straight.

First off, I'd recommend upgrading to DumaOS. It's a more stable system, and installing it could resolve any outstanding bugs that might have caused the WiFi drops. When you're upgraded, give the router a factory reset.

Then I'd like you to try a hard reset. To do that, turn off the Netduma and your Modem. Wait 5 minutes, then turn on the Modem. Wait 2 minutes, then turn on the Netduma. Finally wait another 2 minutes before you start reconnecting devices, and reboot the Netduma when you're back online.

That will totally reset the communication between your Modem and the R1. If there's still issues after that we can see if maybe DHCP or channels are causing the drop-outs :)

Sorry it's taken a while to get back to you, I've not been able to get around to doing this until now. 

I've taken the steps you've mentioned so I will see how it goes with the wifi dropouts as it can be a couple of weeks between each one.

The wifi speed is no different though. Next to the R1 I get around 15mbps down and 10mbps up. In the room above the R1 though I get around 40mbps down and 15mbps up. Not sure what's going on there when I use to get close to my full speed.

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Upgrade to DumaOS and see if there's any improvement. I'd also try cycling through channels. Please try testing with at least two different devices e.g. your smartphone and a laptop.

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10 hours ago, Netduma Admin said:

Upgrade to DumaOS and see if there's any improvement. I'd also try cycling through channels. Please try testing with at least two different devices e.g. your smartphone and a laptop.

Thanks, I have done the upgrade as mentioned by Jack. I've been cycling through the different channels too. Is there anything else I can try? Any other settings? 

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12 hours ago, Corbula said:

Thanks, I have done the upgrade as mentioned by Jack. I've been cycling through the different channels too. Is there anything else I can try? Any other settings? 

If your speeds are being limited it's probably an easy fix through settings. Bear in mind whenever you do a speed test, it should always be on a wired PC or laptop. With QoS disabled you should always receive your max speeds in that environment (if nothing else is hindering your network - downloads etc). With QoS enabled (especially Anti-Bufferbloat) your speeds will be limited in favour of low latency and connection stability.

Let us know if the WiFi drops out again - usually switching channel will solve these types of issues. 

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1 hour ago, Netduma Jack said:

If your speeds are being limited it's probably an easy fix through settings. Bear in mind whenever you do a speed test, it should always be on a wired PC or laptop. With QoS disabled you should always receive your max speeds in that environment (if nothing else is hindering your network - downloads etc). With QoS enabled (especially Anti-Bufferbloat) your speeds will be limited in favour of low latency and connection stability.

Let us know if the WiFi drops out again - usually switching channel will solve these types of issues. 

Speeds are fine over wired its just the WiFi. I'm not sure if QOS is on or not (it was just default). I will have a look.

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22 hours ago, Netduma Fraser said:

Also a good idea to move ANY devices that operate wirelessly at least 3 feet away from the router, this could be headphones, mobiles, mice, anything wireless.

Yea, it's been in the same place since new and nothing else has moved. I will try and move it somewhere else and see how it is there. 

Looking on WiFi analyser the strength of the signal has dropped from what it use to be. Occasionally one other device on the same channel but there's more on the others. 

Either the WiFi is just getting worse on the router or something is interfering with it. 

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It may be worth seeing if there is any dust in the unit, could be blocking the antennas, they're small after all! I'd suggest you get one of those air cans and spray into the vents (when it's off & unplugged of course!)

 

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13 hours ago, Netduma Fraser said:

It may be worth seeing if there is any dust in the unit, could be blocking the antennas, they're small after all! I'd suggest you get one of those air cans and spray into the vents (when it's off & unplugged of course!)

 

That's an idea actually. I will have a look. Is it easy to open with a couple of screws or will that damage something inside? 

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4 hours ago, Netduma Admin said:

It's easy to open with screws, it comes apart neatly so just avoid ripping it apart! 

is this the R1? because that does not come open easily. I've been trying to figure out how to open mine to give it a good clean for ages.

 

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Ive used both firmwares, neither one will provide better speeds over the other honestly. The only thing that ever changed speeds for me was using preemptive over reactive. I have 100/10 connection and using reactive at 70/70 give me the expected 70/7 speeds, over 2.5ghz though I believe the fastest theoretical download speeds are 150mb/s and thats assuming this is an 802.11n device and that the netduma will output that as well. but that will almost never happen. You say the device has never been moved, but what about the wireless speeds you are testing the device from, has that changed? has your QOS changed, or the speed numbers input in the device manager? What about it being possibly plugged into a strip with multiple devices drawing power off of that strip? Are there neighbors around you with more wifi routers causing interference? Theres literally a ton of things that could cause your speeds to be lower. Ive had my netduma for a while now and I still dont think my speeds have ever dropped below what I would expect on 2.4ghz. If you wanted to, you could use repeaters, or another AP that is capable of higher speeds and combine that with the R1. But at that point you might as well just wait for the xr300 thats coming this month, in probably another week? I forgot the exact release date. 

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3 hours ago, Azlios said:

is this the R1? because that does not come open easily. I've been trying to figure out how to open mine to give it a good clean for ages.

There are sort clips on the underside, if you have tweezers you can sort of pry it free. You may have to use more force than you think is necessary but it should then come apart undamaged.

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Ok, so I unplugged the R1 and had a look at getting inside but couldn't so didn't try to push it in case I broke something. I blew in each side to see if it cleared anything and plugged it back in.

 

However the issue I have now is when I go onto the network settings page of DumaOS it doesn't load. I get the following message.

image.png.b17b8c9d1afd0ab367ce44d22c58ef01.png

The left section doesn't load and the right section only has PPPoE settings. However to try and clear the message I did a factory reset, the message still comes up and if I try to put my internet details in and click save the message comes up again. I've had to go back to using my old isp router as I can't use the R1 at all now!!

Any ideas of how to fix this?

Also, on a little side note, when you connect the power to the R1 is it normal to see sparks? This isn't new it's always done it but I've never asked the question.

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That's very strange, what browser are you using? Does it still happen if you clear cache/cookies?

I've always had that on my personal router so I've dismissed it as normal but if you're concerned you may want to look into an alternative power adapter.

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7 hours ago, Netduma Fraser said:

That's very strange, what browser are you using? Does it still happen if you clear cache/cookies?

I've always had that on my personal router so I've dismissed it as normal but if you're concerned you may want to look into an alternative power adapter.

I tried it on Chrome which is my normal browser but the tried it on Edge which never gets used so I can try clearing cache and cookies but can't see that solving it as there wouldn't be anything in Edge. 

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21 hours ago, Netduma Fraser said:

Did you change anything on the settings before this error occurred?

No I didn't, I just unplugged everything to look at the clips underneath, couldn't get in so left it and connected it all back then got the error. 

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