Netgear DG834UK

[pete]

Hi.

Our company has been using a Trendnet modem/router with our Mweb ADSL for many moons (3+ years), until recently it started 'hanging' the connection - so while it still showed connected, nothing was coming through, until I pulled the power out and put it back in again.

I replaced the router with a Micronet one, which worked well, with the exception that I couldn't set up an RDP service on port 3389 to allow incoming TS sessions. No matter how I searched, the router was just unable to comply.

Several people told me to just cut my losses and get a decent router - the Netgear DG834UK. So I did.

Now, I have more problems than I have ever imagined I could have. Pages (mostly international) hang mid-way, so the browser will sit saying "Transferring data from ......" all day. Refreshing does not help, it hangs in the same place again. A day later, the same site that was problematic is just fine to load - but others that were fine yesterday are hanging today. It seems totally random, and it's getting incredibly annoying.

Any ideas? I have a pots filter on the line. I have contacted MWeb, who in turn blame telkom. Knowing in advance that Telkom will blame MWeb, I haven't been able to bring myself to sit on hold for 45mins just to hear that. Besides which, I have ruled out a problem on the line by putting the old router back -- it allows flawless browsing.

I just can't see this being a settings issue, the netgear is as simple as it gets. Please help, I'm going mad here.

 

[pete]

case in point. I posted this thread, but it appears it's still posting. New browser tab, navigate here, and guess what......

Now that tab will spend all day 'posting' that thread.

 

[Brawler]

My Netgear DG834GT router does the same with firefox, all other browsers work fine.

 

[syntax]

Odd, i have usually seen that page problem with MTU sizes, with the old router working fine, its definitely a setting on your new one....

 

[pete]

My Netgear DG834GT router does the same with firefox, all other browsers work fine.

Same result with opera, ie, chrome on my side.

 

[pete]

Odd, i have usually seen that page problem with MTU sizes, with the old router working fine, its definitely a setting on your new one....

What kind of setting, where? I'm no pro when it comes to this stuff...

 

[pete]

Ok, found MTU size, atm its set on 1492. What should it be?

 

[syntax]

i dont think the MTU size is ur problem to be honest, but try change it to 1399 first, then 1452. I suppose you could look on the working modem and see what it has, but i am guessing it would be somewhere around 1492 anyways...

 

[wm0000]

Any ideas? I have a pots filter on the line. I have contacted ....

I've seen many similar posts and none mention one critical and mostly overlooked aspect of this - your line protection.

Line protection, consisting usually of GDT's (gas arrestor) and MOV's (Metal oxide varistor) can cause m-a-j-o-r connection problems.

What happens is the GDT or MOV absorbs the spike on the line when there is a surge (like the recent thunder storms) thus protecting your equipment on the other side of it. However, depending on the size and duration of the spike, the protection device takes damage, and over a period of time, breaks down (wears out for the non tech folk). This equates to a leaking or noisy device (sometimes just leaky, sometimes leaky and noisy).

A leaking device loads the line and causes line attenuation. A noisy device messes with your signal to noise ratio -- both a fatal to a good connection.

We actually build a piece of test equipment we sell to Telkom that automatically tests large Krone blocks of GDT's for exactly this. It's performs a number of sophisticated tests and costs a fortune so getting one for home use is not an option.

So how do you determine if you have an attenuation or noise problem that's killing your ADSL as a result of your line protection? Easy - bypass or replace the lot. (they are cheap enough to replace).

Where you will usually find them:

1. Your external modem/phone filter (POTS or other filter) usually has a GDT (some also have two MOV's)

2. If you route your phone line through the UPS protection ports

3. If you use an el-cheapo lightning protection box (the one with the single earth wire to the earth on the wall soket).

4. Some modems have them on the main line input. (This one is a problem as it means either snipping the device out with a side cutter or replacing the modem)

This is what a MOV looks like if you're feeling snippy:

And a GDT

Golden rule: if you recently had a lightning storm and your ADSL starts acting up, there's a good chance it could be this.