Router / Broadband Woes

[burnside]

All,

I came home this evening to find no Internet, WiFi / Wired. Has happened a few times and some rebooting normally fixes the issue. However, after an hour of doing so I now have the wired connection / ethernet to the TV working so I can watch Netflix etc but no Wi Fi. Not sure how this is working but there you go.

My set up is as follows,

VM SH3 in modem mode and an Asus RT 66U in router mode.

Any thoughts?

[MB2]

Quick Fix -

Connect to the SH using the ethernet cable and turn WiFi on there - presumably you have a reason you need the WiFi from the other router ? I have a Linksys connected to SH2 in modem mode so I understand you might not want it.

Slower fix - use ethernet cable to connect to the router and see if WiFi enabled etc or do a factory reset and start again.

FYI you will probably have to reboot your laptop (or use DOS commands) to change networks/routers.

If you can't connect to the SH via cable try rebooting the laptop with cable connected to the SH.

To get to the SH config page it should be 192.168.0.1 in your browser and pw should be on the bottom of the router - default used to be changeme but not sure about SH3

[wadebridge59]

Disable the wifi adapter to clear the settings, then enable.

[stuie-t]

I have the same setup and had a similar issue last weekend. It turned out that the cable into the VM hub had worked loose, so worth checking that before messing around with the configuration.


Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app

[burnside]

So logged into the router page using the ethernet cable to the laptop.

It says my ISP's DHCP does not function properly?

[hogthrob]

Sounds like it's not you, it's them. Check https://my.virginmedia.com/faults/se...pos3_imagelink
Though it wasn't much use when my internet went down over the weekend. Took them nearly as long to update the status as it did for the problem to be fixed.

[Saxon007]

I recently had my router stop acquiring a DHCP address. Everything else - wifi and wired lan - worked but I could not get an IP from my ISP. Rebooting and then resetting the router did not help. I was able to get an IP by plugging a computer directly into the modem so that told me the router itself had gone bad.

[Mr Curta]

Defenestrate it

[burnside]

Mr Curta,

Defenestrate it?

Please can you elaborate?

[JasonM]

That’s that idea out of the window....

[burnside]

Ah ok. It's an old school term for sling it!

[Mr Curta]

I find it to be the most satisfying way to deal with recalcitrant IT.

[burnside]

Maybe i'll take it to the park and hurl rocks at it.

I am tempted to remove it from the equation completely and factory reset the SH3 and just use that.

[JDB]

That’s that idea out of the window....

Don't you go showing off your classical education around here!

[burnside]

Any recommendations on routers to use with a VM SH3 or is it not worth the hassle and just stick with it and use it as a router?

Best,

Ben

[burnside]

Asus router has been taken out.

SH3 factory reset and all up and running for now. In time for the Spurs game so my daughter is happy!

[wadebridge59]

Update/reset the router's firmware and try again, or just flog it. You could try a 3rd-party firmware, Openwrt or DD-WRT, if you want to risk it for a biscuit.

[MB2]

Any recommendations on routers to use with a VM SH3 or is it not worth the hassle and just stick with it and use it as a router?

Best,

Ben

If you are getting the WiFi coverage you need then I would stick with the VM SH3 as WiFi/Router.

It used to be necessary to add a router or WAP when needed WiFi etc. or more configuration options. Now it would be if need WiFi range or something specialised like VPN access, although modern router probably has some nice useful options like a guest WiFi network which SH may not have.

It is worth making sure have changed the default router pw if using the VM SH3 as all the SH2s shipped with "changeme" as the PW.

[burnside]

So far so good think I'll stick with the SH3 and not mess about with it.

[snowman]

Going to piggy back on this thread.

We've got a SH3 on superfast VM broadband (I can't recall how fast it's supposed to be, but 100s of MB/S).

Up until now it's been fine, but I've started using a Roberts R1 to listen to music from a server and internet radio over the last few weeks and it seems to drop out quite a lot - I know the wifi signal isn't strong in the room it's in.

I have a cheaper booster, but I don't think it works that well, so I was wondering if buying a dedicated router (not a super expensive one, it's not enough of an issue to justify big expense) would be likely to improve the signal strength.

Any experiences with doing that?

Thanks

M

[julian2002]

Going to piggy back on this thread.

We've got a SH3 on superfast VM broadband (I can't recall how fast it's supposed to be, but 100s of MB/S).

Up until now it's been fine, but I've started using a Roberts R1 to listen to music from a server and internet radio over the last few weeks and it seems to drop out quite a lot - I know the wifi signal isn't strong in the room it's in.

I have a cheaper booster, but I don't think it works that well, so I was wondering if buying a dedicated router (not a super expensive one, it's not enough of an issue to justify big expense) would be likely to improve the signal strength.

Any experiences with doing that?

Thanks

M

Best solution would be a wired connection from the router to the 'bad' side of the house, plugged into an 'Wireless Access Point', this does require some knowledge and effort to set up, running cables etc. but will provide the most robust solution.

Most convenient solution would be a 'mote' system such from BT, Netgear, Google, etc. Turn off your routers wi-fi (or put it in modem only mode) connect it to the base and put the motes around the house as needed.

[rfrazier]

I've moved my office (for teaching, etc.) out to the garden room, using ethernet over powerline (about 40m of cable from the main electrical panel). It is about halves the speed from what I would get inside. It is down to 50Mbs down and 10Mbs up. I don't know where the loss is. It could be the cable, connectors, being on a different circuit from the router, powerline adapter in the garden room, or, most likely, a combination of all of these. In any case, the connection is plenty good for video conferencing and the like. I find these powerline adapters very useful.

Best wishes,
Bob

We have a Ubiquiti router and two Ubiquiti APs in the house. The garden room powerline adapter is a TP-Link with wifi and one ethernet.

[NickGaters]

It’s pretty annoying that VM won’t let users simply swap out to a decent cable modem. It’s all locked down so you can’t get the required credentials to swap out the SH.

Like many of you I’ve had the exact same issues with WiFi drop outs. The VM router just can’t cope with many simultaneous WiFi clients connected and it does crazy things with prioritisation of tragic. No amount of channel separation, renaming 5ghz ssid would cure it.

In our house with us both working from home and Philips hue we had about 30 WiFi devices connected at once.

In the end I set up the VM router into modem only mode, disabled it’s own WiFi function and used a relatively inexpensive mesh based WiFi system hooked into the back of the VM super hub. Cost me about 90 quid for three mesh stations on all floors of my house. It’s been rock solid ever since then. Full speed throughout the house and importantly no buffering or random dropouts.

It’s key to switch off the SH WiFi function though. That’s garbage. Don’t be tempted to leave it on as a guest network.

[wileeeeeey]

I haven't put my VM hub into modem only mode but I did turn off WiFi and plug it into an Orbi mesh system. One in the downstairs hall and another in the loft. The one in the loft is connected by ethernet which makes a world of difference.

[mindforge]

How do you turn off WiFi or put in modem mode? I have mine connected to a Ubiquti wireless AP system, which is hard wired into a switch.

[wileeeeeey]

If you go into the hub settings by going to the internal IP which is something like 192.168.100.1

"Hub Advanced Settings | Virgin Media" https://www.virginmedia.com/help/vir...gs-on-your-hub

Do not put it into modem only mode unless you have a different modem you want to use physically to hand. I bought a Ubiquiti EdgeRouter*but in the end didn't bother plugging it in as turning off WiFi did the trick for me.

[NickGaters]

One other option to try perhaps if you can get a marginal WiFi signal and need more pep: Somewhere in the DHCP settings of your router you’ll probably find the primary DNS and secondary DNS fields blank. That’s usually fine as they’ll default to the router’s IP which in turns goes out to VMs DNS servers.

However VMs DNS servers suck and are pretty slow. If you set those two fields as Google’s DNS servers 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 respectively you might just get better network performance.

A few times on my old setup I’d still have an ok WiFi signal, but the actual network performance sucked. So much so that we thought we’d lost WiFi itself. Swapping to a public DNS server over VMs we got some extra snappiness back.

NB: Using Google’s DNS servers is fine but be aware that means DNS will be able to track every lookup your network does. There are others out there that you could use instead.

[Scepticalist]

Just to reiterate. Don't put your Virgin SH into modem only mode unless you have another router/firewall to use.

I use the SH3 in modem mode and recently changed from an Asus Rt66 to a Ubiquti USG3P which is good for ISP connections up to ~220Mbit speed - if you want more than this or to turn on advanced analysis etc you'll need to buy the USG4 or the Dream Machine.

Also have a central Ubiquiti AP whcih covers the whole house and two Ubiquiti switches. Eveything is rock solid, very impressed

[mindforge]

Just to reiterate. Don't put your Virgin SH into modem only mode unless you have another router/firewall to use.

I use the SH3 in modem mode and recently changed from an Asus Rt66 to a Ubiquti USG3P which is good for ISP connections up to ~220Mbit speed - if you want more than this or to turn on advanced analysis etc you'll need to buy the USG4 or the Dream Machine.

Also have a central Ubiquiti AP whcih covers the whole house and two Ubiquiti switches. Eveything is rock solid, very impressed

Right got it, thanks.

I have four WAPs over 3 floors, two on the ground floor. Signal still doesn't make it into the garden! Think it's all the steel beams used for the extension.

[wileeeeeey]

Right got it, thanks.

I have four WAPs over 3 floors, two on the ground floor. Signal still doesn't make it into the garden! Think it's all the steel beams used for the extension.

Are they backhauled?

[mindforge]

Are they backhauled?

Good question, I don't actually know. Can ask the guys who set it up for me.

[wileeeeeey]

Good question, I don't actually know. Can ask the guys who set it up for me.

No worries, you'll know. It's just a fancy term asking do they have ethernet plugged into them or do they pick up the signal they pass on wirelessly from the other access points.

Our repeater in the loft is wired in be ethernet and it's made a big difference although hard work to get a wire from the ground floor into the loft.

[mindforge]

No worries, you'll know. It's just a fancy term asking do they have ethernet plugged into them or do they pick up the signal they pass on wirelessly from the other access points.

Our repeater in the loft is wired in be ethernet and it's made a big difference although hard work to get a wire from the ground floor into the loft.

Oh right. The wireless access points are hard wired in with Cat 6, had it all done when renovating the house. I though or might mean a fatter pipe like a coaxial connection or separate cables back to the switch!