Netgear Modem

Hainso

I have just bought the Netgear Wireless Modem Router DG834PN and am on an Eircom broadband package, but after a couple of calls to the Netgear helpline am still having no luck getting it going

Anyone experienced this / got any tips ?

THx

PauloMN

I presume you can access the modem configuration page (think it's 192.168.0.1 on that model). It's probably just a setting somewhere, I set one up a while back and just worked off a print out of the DSL provider (UTV) settings. I remember having to change from PPPoA to PPPoE or vice versa (can't remember which) so that's worth checking. There's a couple of other settings also to check.

These are from the Eircom site, make sure you have these settings correct in the modem:

Username: eircom
Password: broadband1
Encapsulation: PPPoE
Multiplexing: LLC Based
VPI: 8
VCI: 35
Primary DNS: 213.94.190.194
Secondary DNS: 213.94.190.236

Hainso

Thx for info

Have tried all those but still no joy

Updated firmware, requested IP address from eircom, again no luck

Not picking up at all - Connection light goes intermittently from solid green, to flashing orange

Any more thoughts ?

Blaster99

You wouldn't be on a marginal line, in terms of quality, are you? As has been determined elsewhere, the Netgear ADSL routers are crap. I would still expect it to synch at some speed, though.

What does the router say about the modem status or line status or similar? Is it connected?

ADSLUSER

Could be a problem with Netgear modems after the upgraded speeds, have a look at this thread:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054885133

dub45

Blaster99 wrote:

You wouldn't be on a marginal line, in terms of quality, are you? As has been determined elsewhere, the Netgear ADSL routers are crap. I would still expect it to synch at some speed, though.

What does the router say about the modem status or line status or similar? Is it connected?

It is far far too simplistic to say that Netgear routers are crap.

Adeptus Titanicus

dub45 wrote:

It is far far too simplistic to say that Netgear routers are crap.

Agreed. Have had my DG834G for almost 2 years now, and never a problem with it. Had some problems on the line since the recent upgrades, but that was definitely line quality (hissing and cracking) which seems to be resolved now and I'm back to full speed and no dropped connections.

I just ran the connection wizard when setting it up. I had it on Eircom originally, then switched to BT mid last year and re-ran the wizard. Just had to give the user name/password and it detected everything else. Hainso, is it safe to assume you get a connection using the router Eircom supplied?

Hainso

Thx all for input

Yes, MY old Eircom Zyxel modem works absolutely perfectly

Am on the 3mb package, so maybe that is the problem - will try downgrading to 2mb

Netgear helpline not getting anywhere, round and round in circles wasting time

Calibos

Hainso,

I had my Netgear DG834G plugged out for a day or two while the room was getting replastered. When I reconnected it to the phone, PC and connected my 4 ethernet cables I was getting the flashing orange internet icon. A reboot of the router didn't help and I was starting to get worried that Eircom had fecked up my line. (lost connectivity for a week or so last year after Eircom screwed up something at the Eircom box at the top of the estate)

Anyway, I noticed that all my 4 port lights on the front were flashing like mad. Strange as only one of the ethernet cables was connected to a PC on the other end. Unplugged all the ethernet bar the one that was connected to a PC and bingo. The Orange icon stopped flashing and I got sync. When I plugged back in more ethernet cables the router lost sync again and the port lights started flashing again. Unplugged and swapped ethernet cables around in the ports and eventually found an arrangement that didn't cause the port lights to flash like mad and router got sync again and its stayed that way since. Worth a try. Unplug all bar one ethernet cable and unplug the router and then plug it back in and see if you get sync. Then by trial and error plug the rest of your ethernet cables back in.

Adeptus Titanicus

Hainso wrote:

Am on the 3mb package, so maybe that is the problem - will try downgrading to 2mb

I'm on the BT 3Mb package, and no problems since they fixed the line. The router should be well able to handle it, but it may be something on Eircom's side? DOn't give up yet!

tba

I would seriously try doing what I did here

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=50831502&postcount=20

PauloMN

Blaster99 wrote:

As has been determined elsewhere, the Netgear ADSL routers are crap.

:rolleyes: WTF? I had mine switched on 24/7 for over a year, unplugged about twice in that time to reset, wasn't even a modem problem but rather a line problem. Crap? I think not.

NTL thankfully supplied me with another Netgear to work on my new cable BB connection. Also on 24/7, and so far not one glitch.

Hainso

Thanks for all input

Am going to return product on recommendation of Netgear helpline having tried most of above fixes without success (all of which were more helpful than anything the Netgear helpline could come up with) Anyone got any suggestions for best wireless modem / router to use that will work with eircom ?

tba

linksys appear to be strong favourites here

dub45

Hainso wrote:

Thanks for all input

Am going to return product on recommendation of Netgear helpline having tried most of above fixes without success (all of which were more helpful than anything the Netgear helpline could come up with) Anyone got any suggestions for best wireless modem / router to use that will work with eircom ?

Bear in mind that the only predictable thing about wireless equipment is its unpredictability! for instance I just had a look at amazon.co.uk and your netgear gets very good responses there. anyways if you want to try a linksys the wag354g seems to be pretty ok -http://www1.linksys.com/international/product.asp?coid=18&ipid=764 and you can get this in Argos who allow you to return a product within 6 days I think. The wag54g is also pretty good.

Have a look here for lots of user reviews on wireless equipment:

www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk

DemonOfTheFall

I would think that it is fair to say that netgear are crap. I have a VOIP gateway from them and a wireless router. Both are junk. Their so called "Quality of Service" feature does nothing. The wireless router regularly fails to let me change options. It needs a reboot to change just about everything. Their interface is inconsistant.

In short, IMO, netgear = trash. Would never pay for one. Very glad that I didn't pay for the 2 that I do have (blueface,ntl)

rogue-entity

To be fair, I disagree with your assessments of NetGear. I have a NetGear WPN824 Wireless MIMO Router. It has never given me any trouble. At the moment it is connected to my Zyxel ADSL modem. The modem is set to its default routing mode, and the NetGear router routes between the modem and the rest of the network. This was the default setup and while I can set the DSL modem to bridged, I am not going too for one reason. I did notice one problem with the netgear router, but in my current setup, it is no longer an issue.

One evening when I was using the internet, MSN messenger just lost connectivity and failed to reconnect. At the same time I was no longer able to browse the web. The Internet and Wireless lights on the NetGear router were green and on full. I suspected that I was under a DoS attack, which is likly since I had a DynDNS name setup, and the firewall on my modem was forwarding ALL ports to the NetGear router. When I rebooted the router I had Internet Connectivity for a few minutes before the router froze again. I rebooted my modem, and then logged in, and disabled the DynDNS feature before rebooting again (to change the IP). Then I reset the firewall, and I have not had a single problem with any of my equipment.

In short, NetGear != trouble, but like all companies, it is prone to vulnerabilities. Mind you, I would liked to have gotten a Linksys (or Cisco) Pre-N (or MIMO) Wireless router instead, but the Netgear router was a gift.

tba

Well I have found the routert element to be flawless, it is the modem component that was malfunctioning. I am not sure but it seemed to be a fault only after the speed upgrades.

ADSLUSER

Here are some findings from testing my Netgear DG834 Vs a Xyzel 600 Prestige series ADSL modem.

I tried it over at my parents house and compared the noise margins each indicates. Here are the results:

Netgear: SNR 22-31 DB
Xyzel: SNR 39-40 DB

As the line is pretty good (anything above 12 DB maintains a stable connection), however it is still pretty clear that the Xyzel has a better noise tolerance than the Netgear.

In my house, the line is not as good and I rarely get anything about 12 DB using the Netgear and so I loose sync quite often which is very annoying. I'm thinking of trading my Netgear for another modem/router which handles noise better. Everyone seems to indicate the Linksys is a good bet and they're quite reasonably priced at the moment so I might just take the plunge and try it. Will let everyone here know how I get on.

If anyone has anything bad to say about Linksys, I would be interested to hear you feedback.

DemonOfTheFall

More bad mouthing for netgear, I'm using my netgear WAP as a hub aswell, with my netgear VOIP box as the actual router. Theres 30 metres of cat5 between me and the WAP, 1 metre between it and the VOIP box.

The piece of crap WAP adds between 1m and 6ms to my ping, just to hop down the stairs and to the router. No other switch or AP i've used was so slow. cheap 10 euro hubs, eircom netopia modem/routers, you name it, it's faster than netgear.

dub45

ADSLUSER wrote:

Here are some findings from testing my Netgear DG834 Vs a Xyzel 600 Prestige series ADSL modem.

I tried it over at my parents house and compared the noise margins each indicates. Here are the results:

Netgear: SNR 22-31 DB
Xyzel: SNR 39-40 DB

.....................................

If anyone has anything bad to say about Linksys, I would be interested to hear you feedback.

I have had good and bad experiences with both Netgear and Linksys - the linksys wag54g (which looks a bit old fashioned now) is pretty reliable - at the moment I am using the wag54gs which has great wireless range but has not been been that reliable for me - I have updated the firmware recently and it seems to have stabalized it for now but prior to that it had lost the settings a few times and dhcp stopped working requiring a complete reset (It really should never have been released with that firmware. have a look at www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk theres lots of user reviews there on most products - the linksys models with srs have been getting very good reviews around the net (the srs gives extra range0 but as I posted on here before no matter what brand you search for you will find people loving it and others hating it - the equipment seems very variable indeed - by the way my brother in law has been using a netgear for over a year and has not had any trouble whatsoeve with so you pays your money and you takes your chances.

ADSLUSER

Just replaced my Netgear DG834 for an Eircom Netopia and all the connection drops and constant resyncing problems have disappeared. The signal margin is also now registering a healthy 22db. I think the Netopia modems are less susceptible to noise or just more tolerant of the noise levels.

For the record, I also tried a Linksys but it performed poorly. I think I'm towards the end of the exchange and the broadband signal is not strong here.