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Re: [LUG] Routers and Modems

 

On Sun, 15 Apr 2012, Neil Winchurst wrote:

On 14/04/12 17:57, Martin Gautier wrote:

I think you mentioned initially that you had a Netgear DG834. These are
usually rock solid in my experience.

I'd be inclined to check you have the latest firmware installed before
dashing out for a new one.

Ironically that is the problem it seems. Lots of people with various
versions of the Xperia range of smartphones are having similar problems.
(But not everyone. My daughter-in-law has an Xperia Arc and has never
had any problems at all.) My research has shown that my router, Netgear
DG834G, does not work with Xperia phones if it is at the latest firmware
version, V5. Earlier versions of the firmware worked. And, of course, I
am right up to date with version 5! And, again of course, there is no
sign of any more versions in the pipeline. And there is no way to revert
to an earlier version, AFAIK.

One of the issues I found with the train project I was involved with last year[1] was the multitude of hassles we got from various "smart phones" trying to access the network. Each seem to have their own issues - iDevices "phone home" to see if they have Internet access - they're the most annoying as the standard landing re-direct pages need to cater for this, else you get half way through filling out the form and the iPhone tried to see if it's connected (by fetching a file off Apple), thinks it's not and cancels what you're doing!)

Other devices aggressively renew their DHCP lease, even though the DHCP server gives them a generous time - I think this is to see if they're switched networks or something (and I suspect this is whats happening here), so the DHCP servers get somewhat overwhelmed. Others do funny things in low-power modes (which necessitated a firmware upgrade on the Wi-Fi APs we used - Some android phones would connect once then never again before that!)

And a few other minor issues to do with phones not liking the forced proxy/cache we developed.

So it's looking like your phone is trying "too hard" to keep itself online and its efforts are not appreciated by your router.

These days, home router/modem/AP devices are all "made to a budget" so it's hard to know what's goo and what isn't. The ISPs want to lock you into long contracts, so give you a free router all configured as a bit of a carrot, but it's not always the best thing for you. Personally, I go separate and have a separate modem, router and Wi-Fi access points. However it's more wiring, expense and management, but I feel it's also a better choice for me.

Get a new one. (either phone or router! ;-)

Gordon

[1] With a couple of colleagues, we developed a wi-fi broadband system for trains and there is currently a train whizzing up and down the country with our kit on-board. If you ever travel on Cross Country trains, look out for it, but you'll have a 1 in 60 chance of getting the right train ;-) Our train is currently going through Dawlish towards Exeter (we have a GPS on-board too!)


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