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Products => Wireless => : Derwinator January 24, 2012, 02:35:12 PM

: Problems with DD-WRT 17798 update
: Derwinator January 24, 2012, 02:35:12 PM

Hi all,

 

I have a WHR-HP-G300N router that has been running the 17135 DD-WRT release for some time.  I have been experiencing the common problem of my wireless connection dropping out requiring me to reboot the router.  When I heard about the 17798 Alpha release supposedly correcting this issue I immediately installed the update.  However, I found that the problem only seemed to get worse with the wireless network disappearing at points and again requiring restarts.  I had to revert to the previous release before the my wireless network became stable again.

 

I'm wondering if it has anything to do with my selected wireless security settings?  I'm using WPA2 Personal Mixed TKIP+AES.  Should I try a different setting?

 

Any advice is appreciated!

: Re: Problems with DD-WRT 17798 update
: pshevtsov January 25, 2012, 12:31:06 AM

Hello!

This problem is discussing on dd-wrt forums, try searching there. 

And take a look at this http://g300nh.blogspot.com/2010/06/temporary-fix-for-stuck-beacon-problem.html post - maybe it can help you.

: Re: Problems with DD-WRT 17798 update
: Derwinator January 25, 2012, 10:21:06 AM

Thanks for the tips.  I've tried setting up the Keep Alive feature to automatically reboot the unit every day at 1AM.  That seems to have helped when using DD-WRT 17135 but can't figure out why as soon as I update to 17798 I see frequent drop outs of the wireless network.  Perhaps I need to perform a factory reset once I update?

: Re: Problems with DD-WRT 17798 update
: jt81951 January 25, 2012, 11:22:10 AM

I wanted to mention I am having similar problems with the new 17798 firmware, though they seem to be different (and worse) then problems I had with the previous firmware.

 

Prior to installing the update... I would have periodic loss of wireless, always recovered by rebooting router.  I tried the keep alive script but didn't have much luck getting it to work.  Seeing the new firmware was available gave me some hope, but no luck.  I kept my settings for the firmware (maybe the problem?) but now the internet would drop too (not just the wireless) and I would lose access to the web interface also.  I was able to downgrade back to 14998 and now am back to where I was at least.

 

Buffalo, any other solutions for us?

 

Thanks!

Jeremy 

: Re: Problems with DD-WRT 17798 update
: Derwinator January 25, 2012, 12:21:26 PM

Hi Jeremy,

 

I suggest that you give DD-WRT 17135 a try available on Buffalo's web site for download to see if it helps.  I haven't messed with adding scripts to the Keep Alive but you may want to try rebooting the router daily.  This relies on having Cron enabled under the Management tab and having the clock running with the correct time.  So far, I haven't found anything that helps with running the DD-WRT 17798 release on this router.

 

Thanks,

Darren

: Re: Problems with DD-WRT 17798 update
: nchall January 25, 2012, 01:26:53 PM

Install OpenWrt and never buy another Buffalo product again. That's what I'm doing:

 

http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/trunk/ar71xx/openwrt-ar71xx-generic-whr-hp-g300n-jffs2-factory.bin

 

If you are already on the professional firmware you can flash this through the firmware upgrade option in dd-wrt. Probably a good idea to read up on how to configure OpenWrt after first boot before you flash as it is a little different than the other firmwares. As I said, I've done this and everything is working well so far.

 

Pity Buffalo/DD-WRT do such a terrible job supporting this router and force the users to be beta testers. Will never buy another product from them again.

 

 

: Re: Problems with DD-WRT 17798 update
: Derwinator January 25, 2012, 04:54:00 PM

I'm almost at the point where I want to dump my Buffalo router and get something else that is reliable.  I really like the range of their high power series.  Anybody have recommendations for a wireless router that handles +1000 ft distances well?

: Re: Problems with DD-WRT 17798 update
: dtemp January 31, 2012, 11:40:15 PM

Anyone have any info on what is going on inside Buffalo with this issue? Are they aware? Are they testing builds that fix the problem? Is there a version coming out in days/weeks/months that will fix this issue? I just had to turn off the radio on my buffalo and plug in my old WAP54G which can't even handle my 30mbps internet connection, but at least I don't have to power cycle the router every 2 hours.

: Re: Problems with DD-WRT 17798 update
: dyounkin February 03, 2012, 10:50:18 AM

I was having the same issue with this build for my routers.

1.)Turn on logging Services-->System Log enable syslogd and leave remote server blank

2.)Go to Administration-->Commands paste this code in and click run

nvram set rc_startup='while sleep 57; do if grep ^"`date  +"%b %e %H:%M"|cut -c1-11`" /var/log/messages|fgrep ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff > /dev/null ; then ifconfig ath0 down; sleep 4; ifconfig ath0 up; logger "wifi hang, restarting"; sleep 542; fi; done'

 

This will only restart the ath0(2.4GHz radio) If you are using the 5GHz radio simply change the ath0-->ath1. This is a one time thing.

 

Resource:http://dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Buffalo_WZR-HP-G300NH

: Re: Problems with DD-WRT 17798 update
: Derwinator February 03, 2012, 01:02:36 PM

Hmmm....interesting.  What exactly does this script do?  Can I assume that this fixed your problem with your routers?

: Re: Problems with DD-WRT 17798 update
: dyounkin February 06, 2012, 12:07:13 PM

This script reads the logs looking for a ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff mac address which is reported as a bad connection. Then resets the radio to re-establish the connection. 

 

Yes this fixed my issues or at least they come up with a better firmware for this device.

 

(35 routers programed to be AP's)

: Re: Problems with DD-WRT 17798 update
: Derwinator February 06, 2012, 12:41:33 PM

OK - I'm giving this a go.  I am wondering if I need to save it as a startup script or just execute it as a command once?  Also, is there a simple way to review the syslog once I've enabled it so I can see if it's catching the problem?

 

Thanks,
Darren 

: Re: Problems with DD-WRT 17798 update
: dyounkin February 06, 2012, 01:08:47 PM

"run commands"

: Re: Problems with DD-WRT 17798 update
: dyounkin February 06, 2012, 01:36:27 PM

1.)To reveiw log you will need to enable "sshd"

 

Services-->Secure Shell-->

SSHD: enable

ssh tcp forwarding: disable

password login: enable

port: 22

Authorized keys: (type in a password)

 

2.) Reboot router

3.) download a program called "putty" (free command based telnet and ssh software)

4.) Login to the router using ssh

 

host name: (Ip of the router)

port: 22

SSH radial button selected

 

click open

 

login as: root

root@(ip of the router)'s password: (password/key used in step 1)

 

 

5.) type "cd /tmp/var/log" (remove quotes)

6.)type "vi messages" (or the next file the longer the syslog has been enabled)

7.) read the log and close

: Re: Problems with DD-WRT 17798 update
: dyounkin February 07, 2012, 02:28:09 PM

Any updates?:smileymad:

: Re: Problems with DD-WRT 17798 update
: Derwinator February 07, 2012, 02:37:36 PM

Got it running and not sure if it's working or not yet.  When I was on earlier today, the network disappeared again but came back up after about 30 seconds. Checking the router shows that it rebooted.  So, it doesn't appear that it will prevent the network from dropping out but will just reboot the router when it does?

 

BTW, on my Mac I can Telnet into the router and use vi to read the syslog messages just fine.  Putty not required.  Thanks for the tips.

 

Thanks,

Darren

: Re: Problems with DD-WRT 17798 update
: dyounkin February 08, 2012, 07:02:36 AM

This is most definately a step in the right direction. This has worked for these routers being set up a wireless print servers and mass connections with laptops. I have found out that this firmware almost freezes the wireless card when there are too many connecting devices trying to pull bandwidth. 

 

Other tweaks that I have made:

 

Changed Channel width to Dynamic (20/40) -- this will give the capibility for 130MB/s on wireless G (If using the AG model the 400Mhz band

Increase the TX power to 25 dBm

Increase the Antenna Gain to 5 dBi

 

Depending on your wireless set up WPA2 is always slow but...

WPA2 Personal Mixed

TKIP+AES

3600 Second renewal

 

Enable UPnP Service

Keep Alive Schedule Reboot Enabled, Set at 18:00. (During a down time when you or anyone else will not be there using wifi)

 

Good Luck

 

 

: Re: Problems with DD-WRT 17798 update
: Derwinator February 08, 2012, 10:21:34 AM

I do not see the options to change channel width to dynamic under the Advanced wireless settings.  Also, TX power is set to 20 dBm however the status claims that I have only 13 dBm?  And for some reason antenna gain is set to 192 dBi?

 

I'm pretty much on par with you for wireless security and Keep Alive settings.

 

Thanks,

Darren

: Re: Problems with DD-WRT 17798 update
: dyounkin February 08, 2012, 12:55:23 PM

Check out these articles...

 

http://www.tomshardware.com/picturestory/571-wi-fi-beamforming-networking.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/wi-fi-performance,2985.html

 

They will help a lot.

 

13 dBm may be a result of interference with other wireless devices. I could be possible to change channels to help avoid this.(it's in the article --> channels==frequencies) The farther distance in frequency the less interferance will be resulting. Think of it like radio stations 99.1 and 99.2 are very hard to separate and give good listening music. But 99.1 and 105.9 have no issues and sound great.

 

Your antenna gain should not be set that high. Think about the TX power as the distance projection and the dBi as the shape of the radio waves being projected from the antenna.

The higher the TX power the further distance that you can be way or the more **bleep** can be between the laptop and the router. But be careful the higher this setting gets the more likely you will burnout the radio. Yes it's possible. I think the max is around 251 dBm

 

Image a shape that is perpendicular to the antenna(s).

1 dBi representation is a sphere  O

5 dBi is more like a classic UFO shape  <>

10 dBi is like a disk   --

15 dBi is like a thin disk --

@ 192 dBi your making it a laser beam (good for 100ft but bad for 20ft)

 

Granted that the shape changes as soon as it comes in contact with a object. Sound moves well through air but not through walls or metals. The more tweaking you do the better it will get. However, the more you push it the closer you are to damaging the radios. 

Not Supported under Warranty!!! (I think)

 

The other thing to try is set to TKIP and go to your laptop and force it to use TKIP. If it no longer connects, reboot and try again (sometimes it hangs). If it still doesn't work switch them to AES and try again.

 

 

 

 

Weird why isn't any buffalo Tech's chimming in right now???? Hello.........???

 

: Re: Problems with DD-WRT 17798 update
: Derwinator February 08, 2012, 01:16:42 PM

The weird thing is that I've not messed with the advanced wireless settings before and found these setup as mentioned (by default?).  I have installed a couple of 9 dBi high-gain antennas in place of the stock ones the router came with.  I'm getting decent coverage around my house and full bandwidth for my network.  Should I set the gain settings to 9 dBi and TX power to 25 dBi?

: Re: Problems with DD-WRT 17798 update
: dyounkin February 08, 2012, 01:43:04 PM

sounds great! 

: Re: Problems with DD-WRT 17798 update
: Derwinator February 13, 2012, 10:18:56 AM

Well, I've been running with these settings for about a week and it seems stable enough.  I noticed that changing to 25 dBm TX speed in the advanced wireless settings had no effect on the reported TX speed (still showed 13) but I later switched to Auto channel and today I noticed it's reporting 16 dBm.  An improvement, not 25 dBm of course, but improvement none the less.  I also noticed the wireless packet error rate seems to have dropped since changing the antenna gain to 9 dBi so that's also good news.  I'm still using Keep Alive to reboot daily at 2am.  At this point, I'm probablty going to wait for a non-alpha release of the DD-WRT firmware before I try updating again.

 

Thanks again for all of the tips and advice!

 

Darren

: Re: Problems with DD-WRT 17798 update
: crammed February 13, 2012, 06:15:21 PM

"Weird why isn't any buffalo Tech's chimming in right now???? Hello.........???"

 

EXACTLY!!!!!

: Re: Problems with DD-WRT 17798 update
: dyounkin February 15, 2012, 07:07:48 AM

Happy to hear that you have cleared up some issues. Good luck. If you have any other tweeks that you find that works message me about them.

: Re: Problems with DD-WRT 17798 update
: dyounkin May 15, 2012, 08:43:15 AM

I found that using the ddwrt firmware 18777 has corrected alot of issues. Clients are not dropping off and connection speeds are much better. Caution this will void your warranty.

 

http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/down.php?path=downloads%2Fothers%2Feko%2FBrainSlayer-V24-preSP2%2F2012%2F03-19-12-r18777/

 

Select your device and upgrade firmware.

 

 

: Re: Problems with DD-WRT 17798 update
: slybunda May 15, 2012, 10:36:35 AM

18777 is a good firmware. it wont be long now for a new buffalo release for the v1 hardware. v2 already has new firmware version and its working very well from reports.

: Re: Problems with DD-WRT 17798 update
: Derwinator May 15, 2012, 11:27:45 AM

Sadly, my WHR-HP-G300N router has appeared to have died.  Came back from a trip and could no longer access the Internet although LAN connections were working.  Keeps dropping the wireless connection as well.  I tried reboots, factory reset and reapplied the firmware.  Each time I find it no longer routes WLAN to DHCP clients and the wireless connection drops frequently.  Gave up and bought a Netgear N600 dual band router and it was rock solid from the start.  I'm trying to get a hold of Buffalo support to see if I can revive my old router (still under warranty) but haven't had a response from them yet.  Very disappointing....