netopia 2247 wireless not working

jocksey

Hey guys, long time no post,

I am having serious issues with my eircom netopia router. the internet is working grand, the occasional disconnect but nothing major. however, in the last three weeks, my router has stopped working over wireless. the connection is always visable, as in its ssid will read eircom xxxx xxxx available or sometimes it will read secure network available. when i try to click on them it says that it the computer is not receiving a signal from the router.

also, if i power it off and then power it back on, the router that is, the laptops can pick it up fine for about an hour or so and then it goes again. does anyone know what is wrong here and how to fix it? is there a problem with the router that anyone could suggest so i can say it to eircom, who by the way just keep telling me to reset it, which works, for an hour. how do i fix it fully? if it is a router problem can you tell me so i can pass on the information to the lovely people at eircom who say that there is nothing wrong.

ps the computers are all fine, all laptops are working without issues on other networks, yes we do have the phone watch alarm but we have had that for a year without issue. the only thing that could be wrong is the router.

ethernet

By default, each client connecting to the router is given an IP address when it connects but the lease only lasts one hour. You can extend this time to stop disconnects from the router's config pages (http://192.168.1.254 unless this was changed). Alternatively, you can try setting static IP addresses on each client. This should solve the problem. If this is the root of the problem, you should notice the LAN/WLAN icon in the taskbar changing on the hour as the IP address is renewed. However, this should only take a matter of seconds.

Failing that, this could be down to interference from other wireless devices or networks. Changing the channel used by your router might resolve the issue in this case.

Alun

I'm puzzled. If the DHCP lease is an hour, then after 50% of that, i.e. 30 min, the client will simply issue a renewal, and everything should tick along as usual with no disconnects or anything like that. This is perfectly normal, and it shouldn't matter if the DHCP lease is 1 hour, 24 hours, or a week. Sounds like a bug somewhere in the Netopia's DHCP lease handling to me if a simple, routine thing like a lease renewal is causing a disconnect.

jocksey

ok,,, what i did to fix my problem was rename the ssid from eircoms standard one to one i designated. i then set the security level to none, ie no wep key was needed. once i did that i restarted the router. once this was done i went into the eircom wireless page and changed the security wep setting to wep automatic. i then copied the wep key from that page. once that was done i restarted the modem. i then had to click on connect to network. i clicked on mine and it said enter wep key or passphrase. i entered the wep key i copied earlier and bingo bongo ive got no probs since.

However, what caused this problem in the first place since its been working for a year with no problem until last month. take into mind that nothing new has entered the fray. could this happen again. and i must say, the girl who helped me out in eircom after 6 other people was an absolute star. sorry if some spelling is off, im typing in the dark.

dohouch

Strange, also after using the same router Netopia 2247, for 2 years without a problem I've also started having the same problem, wireless, in the last 2 weeks.

Just now I noticed that even though the wireless light on the router box is "on", the the router home page it show wireless as down.

Don't want to go changing any settings. My settings are and have been WPA-PSK +MAC filtering.

jocksey

my wireless was on allright and my net page said it was also on. if your netopia browser page is saying its not enabled then the light shouldnt be on...

thats uber strange, my mate, also using the same device has just started to experience the same problem. he did what i did and its working fine now..

is there some sort of hardware problem or bug that causes them to start to fail after the year and a bit mark??

dohouch

I think my usage of the router has changed a bit.
I used to turn the router on and use it, then turn it off. Now, I'm turning it on, maybe using it for a while and then leaving it runing all day. I think then when I come back to it the WiFi can be down.

It's connected to PC over Ethernet, and I have a mobile with WiFi and I use that to check Gmail,etc.

I'll keep an eye on and see if there is a predicitable period after which the WiFi shuts down.

jocksey

hey,,, to the guys who replied to the messages, eircom detected a fault with my modem some how so they are sending out a replacement.

dohouch

Well my new router arrived today from Eircom.

After suffering a variety of faults, Wireless light showing on router but not working and not showing as working on web interface, occasionally dropping the connection over Ethernet, then needing to be switched on a few times before the the power light would stay on it eventually refused to switch on at all last Wednesday evening.

Have measured the power output of power supply, the old one had 18.4 Volts, and the new one has 16.4 Volts, seems wrong to me as the Router is 12 Volts and the output of the Power Supply is given as 12 Volts.

Bit odd, no?

jocksey

dude, is that not a possible case for a burn out? im no electrical genius, my knowledge is in business and games but if my physics memory serve me correct should the supply of power not = the power required. i know you can run things on more voltage then is required but will that not damage the device

dohouch wrote: »

Well my new router arrived today from Eircom.

After suffering a variety of faults, Wireless light showing on router but not working and not showing as working on web interface, occasionally dropping the connection over Ethernet, then needing to be switched on a few times before the the power light would stay on it eventually refused to switch on at all last Wednesday evening.

Have measured the power output of power supply, the old one had 18.4 Volts, and the new one has 16.4 Volts, seems wrong to me as the Router is 12 Volts and the output of the Power Supply is given as 12 Volts.

Bit odd, no?

dohouch

I've passed thes measurements on to "watty" over on Satellite forums, bit of an electrical guru, see what he says.
Interesting if you or anybody else reading this could mesure the output of their own --- Netopia Router Power Supply ---

jocksey

in college now,,,, will do when i get home,,, is there some page i need to go to or what way do i measure it. i have a multi meter at home so ill try find it.

watty

many 12V gadgets actually work 10.5V to 16V (suits 12V car battery variation, which used to be 13.8 Charged, but zero maint. models are 14.2V charged, A nearly flat 12V battery is 10.5V).

Some PSU bricks are unregulated so without a load the voltage can rise 30%. Most routers take 200mA to 1.5A depending on technology used and design. 200mA at 12V is 12000/200 Ohms. So 60 Ohms @ 2.4W rating is dummy load needed to test a PSU.

If the router does not come on it could be power cable, plug socket, PSU or router is faulty. you can't properly test a PSU without some sort of reasonable "dummy load".

dohouch

@watty,Thanks I always get something from your explanations but being mathematically challenged I wouldn't be able to reproduce your reasoning.

@jocksey: I tested the voltage output of another Netopia PSU and that was also 16.18 Volts, so that appears to be what they are, and reading watty's explanation above it seems that an unloaded Voltage reading is not that useful.