Strange problem with downloads using fibre.

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Pandarye

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I recently had fibre intalled. I'm on an Openserve 10/10 line with Afrihost and using the D-link DIR 825 router supplied by Afrihost with the latest firmware updates (5.0.0 I think?).

The speed and WiFi connections appear to be stable and I am able to stream netflix, youtube etc without any issues, but from day 1 I have had issues with certain downloads which seem to have become worse since the recent firmware update.

Firstly, when downloading games/updates on my PS4 the downloads will stop every few minutes, giving me an error that the connection was lost. I never experienced this issue with ADSL or Rain and it is in fact now taking me longer than ever before to download anything because I have to manually restart the downloads instead of leaving the console to do it's thing overnight.

Secondly, when downloading podcasts on my phone I experience a similar issue. The downloads will periodically stop and I will get an error saying the url cannot be reached or that the url does not link to an audio file. Sometimes the download will indicate that it has completed but when I attempt to play it later I will get an error saying the file cannot be found and I then have to "delete" the episode and download it again.

The PS4 is the only device on the 5Ghz network and in the same room as the router. My phone and, at most, about 3 other devices are connected to the 2.4Ghz network.

I haven't tested the PS4 via ethernet yet but plan to do so soon. Is there anything else I may be doing wrong that I can try fix to make the downloads more stable?
 
Quick update. I ended up changing the router DNS to cloudflare first. I didn't have any issues with podcast downloads but the problem doesn't occur all the time so will have to test a bit more. The issue with the PS4 downloads persisted after the DNS change but seemed to be resolved by connecting via ethernet.
 
R_D_V said:
Quick update. I ended up changing the router DNS to cloudflare first. I didn't have any issues with podcast downloads but the problem doesn't occur all the time so will have to test a bit more. The issue with the PS4 downloads persisted after the DNS change but seemed to be resolved by connecting via ethernet.
Click to expand...

Could be a router issue. If the router is faulty we can do some troubleshooting and log a return request to have it tested and exchanged.

Have you set different types of wifi channels and checked the security type is set correctly?
 
D-link DIR 825 - from my testing this router was super temperamental, everything through 5Ghz would freeze, the router would randomly restart if you had more than 5 device connected via Wifi. It would even drop connection every 2 to 3 hours without warning. Firmware upgrade did not help much either.
 
AfriNatic said:
Could be a router issue. If the router is faulty we can do some troubleshooting and log a return request to have it tested and exchanged.

Have you set different types of wifi channels and checked the security type is set correctly?
Click to expand...
No, I haven't tried that. Is there a troubleshooting guide I can follow? Would like to test a few things over the weekend.
 
Have you any idea how congested the two bands are in your area?
Use an app on your phone to see just how busy the two bands are in your area
 
R_D_V said:
No, I haven't tried that. Is there a troubleshooting guide I can follow? Would like to test a few things over the weekend.
Click to expand...

Nothing specific but Channel 1, 6, 11 on 2.4Ghz and 36 on 5Ghz. The Authentication should also be something like 802.11a/b/g/n mixed. Sometimes the default security type is not ideal.
 
AfriNatic said:
Nothing specific but Channel 1, 6, 11 on 2.4Ghz and 36 on 5Ghz. The Authentication should also be something like 802.11a/b/g/n mixed. Sometimes the default security type is not ideal.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I will have a look at the settings and test over the weekend.
 
Geoff.D said:
Have you any idea how congested the two bands are in your area?
Use an app on your phone to see just how busy the two bands are in your area
Click to expand...
I haven't checked, but being in an apartment building I assume it's possible that they could be congested. Would make sense considering that the ethernet connection seemed to solve the problem.
 
R_D_V said:
I haven't checked, but being in an apartment building I assume it's possible that they could be congested. Would make sense considering that the ethernet connection seemed to solve the problem.
Click to expand...
Moral of the story, avoid wireless for fixed connectivity applications wherever possible.
 
Geoff.D said:
Moral of the story, avoid wireless for fixed connectivity applications wherever possible.
Click to expand...
Indeed. Was planning to wire the PS4 eventually anyway. Will have to get on it asap if this is how it will be over WiFi.
 
Download WiFi Analyser on smartphone and walk around house. Change WiFi on router to use less congested channel. Set WiFi 2.4ghz to use 40mhz instead of 20mhz.
Also do a MTU size test (Google how to) and you may need to change MTU size on router Wan interface. I had to reduce mine even though on Fibre link to 1465 I think. Else file downloads failed every time after downloading for say 60%
 
Quick update after further testing... Podcast downloads seem to be working fine but the problem with PlayStation downloads still persists. Although I previously thought connecting via ethernet had solved the problem it seems that the issue doesn't occur as often but does still happen.

I've locked the DNS settings to CloudFlare on the router and also on the PlayStation for good measure. I've also checked all the other settings as suggested and all seems in order.

The only thing I haven't tried yet is adjusting the MTU size. Will give that a try when I have a chance before throwing in the towel.
 
R_D_V said:
Quick update after further testing... Podcast downloads seem to be working fine but the problem with PlayStation downloads still persists. Although I previously thought connecting via ethernet had solved the problem it seems that the issue doesn't occur as often but does still happen.

I've locked the DNS settings to CloudFlare on the router and also on the PlayStation for good measure. I've also checked all the other settings as suggested and all seems in order.

The only thing I haven't tried yet is adjusting the MTU size. Will give that a try when I have a chance before throwing in the towel.
Click to expand...
MTU is more than likely your issue.
 
The PS4 control the download speed by adjusting the tcp window size. This usually happens if you are running a game while downloading. Have you tried closing all the games and see if that improves the download speed?
 
cavedog said:
The PS4 control the download speed by adjusting the tcp window size. This usually happens if you are running a game while downloading. Have you tried closing all the games and see if that improves the download speed?
Click to expand...
Yes, that is working as it always has: The download speed changes based on what's running in the foreground/background.

My issue is that the downloads will randomly stop completely and give me error code CE-32939-6 whether I have something else running or not.
 
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