Wireless Router + Separate ADSL Modem (Noob)

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Great service from UniTerm Direct. Delivered within 48 hours as promised.

So to recap have the TL-WR2543ND router and TD-8817 modem. Setup was painless initially, but then i couldn't connect to the internet through the router, only directly through the modem. After about 2 hours of resetting, restarting, etc. I found a link about the problem here. Turns out I needed to reduce the MTU size from 1500. Now everything seems hunky dory.

Performance and feature wise its great. Great range. And I can finally reserve IP addresses.

The USB file share feature works better than expected. Streaming is not a problem. Copying happens at about 2.3 Mb/s. But I guess this depends on a range of factors.

I hope this helps if anyone else decided to go the TP-Link route.
 
Try formatting the drive to EXT3/4 and checking transfer speeds then. I have a feeling it will be much higher... (If you don't have linux then FAT32 might also be faster, but it has other limits, off course)
 
I find it VERY strange that the MTU isn't 1492 by default on the ADSL modem.

Stick with EXT2 or EXT3 partition types when you connect the HDD to a router/server running a version of Linux. NTFS read + writes are incredibly slow in Linux due to poor NTFS drivers. You can easily get drivers/applications to write to EXT2 partitions from Windows, and even EXT3. With EXT4, there are very specific ways of formatting it, so that you don't have journaling enabled on it. With journaling enabled, you're screwd when you try to access it from Windows IIRC.
 
I spoke to soon.

MTU size solved my problem temporarily. Still having internet connection issues. But there seems to be a bigger issue with the network as a whole. The connection is very very slow, and only really works for a few seconds after connecting. Cannot even stream.

The weird part is my downstorm downloads are happily chugging away at full line speed.

Tried a lower mtu.
Tried different channels.
Tried 20 and 40mhz

Help
 
nadimm said:
I spoke to soon.

MTU size solved my problem temporarily. Still having internet connection issues. But there seems to be a bigger issue with the network as a whole. The connection is very very slow, and only really works for a few seconds after connecting. Cannot even stream.

The weird part is my downstorm downloads are happily chugging away at full line speed.

Tried a lower mtu.
Tried different channels.
Tried 20 and 40mhz

Help
Click to expand...

Step 1 I'd try is to hook up to the router with an RJ-45 - this will tell you if the problem is with the wireless setup or something else.
 
Speedster said:
Step 1 I'd try is to hook up to the router with an RJ-45 - this will tell you if the problem is with the wireless setup or something else.
Click to expand...

I did. It is the wireless.

I seemed to have found a workaround.

I changed from mixed mode to bg.

I'm going to try taking out my new laptop from the equation and see if maybe that was causing the problem.
 
Last edited:
nadimm said:
I did. It is the wireless.

I seemed to have found a workaround.

I changed from mixed mode to bg.

I'm going to try taking out my new laptop from the equation and see if maybe that was causing the problem.
Click to expand...

Silly question - you sure your new laptop is 802.11n?
 
nadimm said:
No. I assumed so. I do plan to check. Lol

Might also have a look at the encryption.
Click to expand...

Make sure you're using WPA2 + AES on the encryption side - 802.11n isn't compatible with other encryption methods. You could also try to change channels.

Another diagnostic you could try is to get a RSSI (dBm) reading on the signal strength.

EDIT: added AES encryption requirement
 
Last edited:
Speedster said:
Make sure you're using WPA2 + AES on the encryption side - 802.11n isn't compatible with other encryption methods. You could also try to change channels.

Another diagnostic you could try is to get a RSSI (dBm) reading on the signal strength.

EDIT: added AES encryption requirement
Click to expand...

Thanks. Rssi seemed fine when I checked. And I'm on an empty channel.

Will have a look at encryption tomorrow. Thanks
 
My parents had issues with their TP-Link WR841ND WiFi AP, until I flashed it with DD-WRT firmware, so it is not impossible that it is a firmware related issue. Unfortunately there aren't newer firmware out for your router yet it seems: http://www.tp-link.com/en/support/download/?model=TL-WR2543ND&version=V1

When you're having wireless issues, first check the signal strength and then the speed/connectivity to your local network devices.
The antenna's should point upwards or at a slight angle from an upwards position. When the antenna is pointing directly upwards, it would transmit/receive on a horizontal plane.

Also ensure that the WiFi AP isn't overheating, which could happen when it is in an enclosed space with no ventilation.

On the ADSL modem, the MTU should be 1492, where as on the LAN/WiFi, it could be up to 1500 in most cases.
 
Pada said:
My parents had issues with their TP-Link WR841ND WiFi AP, until I flashed it with DD-WRT firmware, so it is not impossible that it is a firmware related issue. Unfortunately there aren't newer firmware out for your router yet it seems: http://www.tp-link.com/en/support/download/?model=TL-WR2543ND&version=V1

When you're having wireless issues, first check the signal strength and then the speed/connectivity to your local network devices.
The antenna's should point upwards or at a slight angle from an upwards position. When the antenna is pointing directly upwards, it would transmit/receive on a horizontal plane.

Also ensure that the WiFi AP isn't overheating, which could happen when it is in an enclosed space with no ventilation.

On the ADSL modem, the MTU should be 1492, where as on the LAN/WiFi, it could be up to 1500 in most cases.
Click to expand...

Ok. Cool. I set the router to 1492. But will do it as per your instructions.

Again it's working fine on bg. Mixed mode seems to be the issue.

I might try dd-wrt. Although i assume I'd lose my warrantee, which would be a bummer of its a hardware issue.
 
I've tried everything now. Set encryption to AES, same issue.

The internet works on bg but now the network is impossibly slow.

I think my only recourse is to ask for a refund.

Very disappointed.
 
How slow is impossibly slow? What connection speed does the laptop register?
 
nadimm said:
Registers max g speed, 56. But i can't even stream a video stored on the other laptop.
Click to expand...

And it's fine when you run both laptops through the router via cable?

Have you checked the IP addresses of the two machines - you're sure they're on the same subnet. Also, you have disabled DHCP on either the router or the modem?
 
No. I guess I'll check the speed over ethernet.

The laptops have reserved ip addresses.

Besides the ip reservation for the laptops, both the router and the modem have dhcp. Modem's on 192.168.2.1 and router on 192.168.1.1, router on modem at 192.168.2.100 dynamically assigned.

Should i make the router address on the modem static?
 
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