wireless router configuration tips

by **terrell** on Thu Oct 25, 2007 5:31 am

i was talking to one of the i.t. guys concerning wireless routers, and i surfed to the netgear site to show him what i had at home. on the wireless router forums, i noticed some new (to me) troubleshooting tips posted by jmizoguchi. could help someone in their quest for the perfect direct connection:

addendum: what stuck out were tips i coulda tried back when i was having so much trouble with a d-link and our vpn. i could not get it to work, so i traded it for a netgear, which i've had no trouble with. had i tried some stuff here, i think i coulda gotten the d-link to work! (8

Common Router & Gateway Troubleshooting - Internet
Access/Applications behind NAT
Connection to Internet drops/intermittent
Symptom(s): You may be experiencing these
- intermittent or frequent Wireless Internet disconnection
- intermittent or frequent Wired Internet disconnection
- LAN resources and connection to router seem stable
Resolution(s): Try these tips to improve router performance.
- Gaming, P2P and other software applications may have too much load on the router and
cause it to reboot. Suggestion is to make sure that the P2P apps are adjusted to only allow a
certain amount of connections.
- Double NAT issue. Modem needs to be placed in bridged mode.
- Spyware and/or Viruses. Too many TCP connections.
- Make sure you are using latest firmware.
Internet access was working ok, suddenly no Internet access
Symptom(s): You may be experiencing these
- recent power outage
- wired or wireless connection to router seems OK
Resolution(s): For whatever reason, the connection from the router to the modem
occassionally loses synchronization. Try these tips to improve router performance.
- depending on your NETGEAR model, access the admin utility by "192.168.1.1",
"192.168.0.1", or "routerlogin.net"
- go to Router Status > Connection Status
- click "Connect" to manually connect to ISP
- should get WAN IP after a few seconds
- if router connection to modem continues to occur regularly, check with your ISP for any
issues,or try upgrading the firmware on your router.
Installation seemed OK, but no Internet access immediately
afterwards
Symptom(s): You may be experiencing these
- used included CD installation assistant without errors
- manually installed router without errors
- receiving private IP even when PC directly connected to modem
Resolution(s): Occassionally, the ISP provided model and the NETGEAR router are configured
to the same private network settings. Try these to get connected.
- Modem may be in "Router" mode, change to "Bridge" mode. (recommend calling ISP
provider if direction not clear)
- Change the LAN network of NETGEAR router to 10.x.x.x.
DG-series router synch issues with ADSL line
Symptom(s): You may be experiencing these
- Router not synching with the modem, not getting a WAN ip address
Resolution(s): Try these tips to improve router performance.
- Try placing a hub or switch between the 2 devices.
- Make sure that they have proper ADSL settings. Call ISP for VCI, VPI and multiplexing
methods.
- Check DSL filter to minimize line noise.
- Call ISP to have them inspect the line.
- When synching with ADSL 2+, may take up to 2 weeks for the ISP to get the line to sync
with router.
Tips on configuring port forwarding
Symptom(s): You may be experiencing these
- Unable to configure port forwarding for other software applications, external servers or
gaming.
Resolution(s): Try these tips to improve router performance.
- You must know the port(s) that the application or game calls for.
- Some ISP’s are blocking ports; i.e. 20, 21 and 80 are some examples, check with ISP to
verify.
- Double Nat. Make sure modem is in bridged mode.
- Reserve ip addresses for the computers to ensure they are getting the right ip for service
created.
- Disable SPI and other firewall.
- Create a DynDNS account for dynamic ip’s from ISP.
- Try updating the router's firmware.
Tips on pass-thu VPN usage
Symptom(s): You may be experiencing these
- VPN pass-through not working.
Resolution(s): Try these tips to improve router performance.
- You may have to forward ports; i.e. 50, 51, 500, 1701 and 1723 are standard vpn ports.
- GRE and AH not supported unless using DMZ; even then, may not work.
- Try updating the router's firmware.
Slow browsing while using router
Symptom(s): You may be experiencing these
- progressively slower web browsing
Resolution(s): Try these tips to improve router performance.
- Nake sure modem is in bridged mode.
- Adjust MTU size on router.
- Check for possible intrusion by spyware and/or viruses.
- Clear browser settings and cache.
- Stop other Programs in the background using bandwidth.
- Specific site may be having server issues, try another site.
- Try updating the router's firmware.
Router not passing DHCP address to PC
Symptom(s): You may be experiencing these
- affects wired or wireless connections
Resolution(s): Try these tips to improve router performance.
- Make sure computer IP is not statically set already.
- Make sure modem is bridged.
- Try release and renew IP commands.
- Ensure wireless settings, SSID and Security, are correct.
- Ensure physical cable connections are correct.
Tips on using messenger services behind router
Symptom(s): You may be experiencing these
- intermittent error, can not connect to servers
- some features not working
Resolution(s): Try these tips to improve router performance.
- Lower MTU on router until improvement observed. (reduce by 50 incrementally).
- You may have to open some specific ports; i.e. 443 for MSN and 5190 for AIM.
- Make sure modem is in "Bridge" mode.
Tips on using AOL application services behind router
Symptom(s): You may be experiencing these
- can not connect to AOL servers on PC after connecting to AOL in router
Resolution(s): Try these tips to improve router performance.
- You must make an account for the router.
- Password must be 8 digits.
- Adjust MTU to 1400 for DG834 series routers.
- Add "@aol.com" to the username.
- Set VPI and VCI to 0 and 38.
- May have to place the computer in the DMZ.
- Some AOL packages only allow for one internet connection.
Tips on connecting to XBox Live, PSP, and Nintendo WFC
Symptom(s): You may be experiencing these
- can not connect to servers
- intermittent time-outs from servers
Resolution(s): Try these tips to improve router performance.
- Disable SPI and other firewalls.
- Reserve IP addresses for clients.
- Try putting the XBox or Nintendo DS in the DMZ.
- Try upgrading to the latest firmware.
- Make sure modem is in "Bridge" mode.
- Ensure UPnP is enabled in router.
- Try to open specific ports for the game server.
- Enable wireless on PSP.
- Remember that Nintendo DS does not support WPA nor passphrase.
- Router set to g&b mode for optimal compatibility.
Why do I need to disable SPI on the router? Am I still safe?
Symptom(s): You may be experiencing these
- can not connect to servers using games or applications
- intermittent time-outs from servers using games or applications
- noisy unclear connections on VoIP calls
Resolution(s):
- SPI needs to be disabled for certain games and applications to connect and work properly.
- Port forwarding for services like VOIP only work if you disable SPI firwall. Call is choppy
unless SPI is disabled.
- Security? Router is still using NAT (Network Address Traversal) to hide your internal IP
address from external entities.
Why does my router occassionally lockup or freeze? What can I do?
Symptom(s): You may be experiencing these
- can not pass traffic over period of time, requiring reboot
Resolution(s): Try these tips to improve router performance.
- P2P applications create many connections on the router to the servers which use router
resource and cause slow down.
- Adjust the amount of connections allowed.
- Sometimes, Spyware and Viruses infect PC and can flood router with traffic. Always use
anti-virus and other software to prevent intrusion, update your definitions frequently.
Tips on using NTP servers
Symptom(s): You may be experiencing these
- incorrect time stamp on router
Resolution(s): Try these tips to improve router performance.
- Try forwarding ports 123.
- Enter and select your own preferred NTP servers.
- Remember that some ISP’s block the use of using other NTP servers other than their own.
- Try updating the firmware of the router.
Where is the Install Assistant's hidden router page for override?
Symptom(s): You may be experiencing these
- want to turn off auto-control when no Internet connection detected.
Resolution(s): To disable Install Assistant's auto-control, (***this is only available on some
NETGEAR models***)
- Make sure that you completely finish the setup wizard.
- Point browser to "http://192.168.1.1/CA_HiddenPage.htm"
UPnP does not work
Symptom(s): You may be experiencing these
- UPnP does not work.
- Feature may not be available on your firmware version.
Resolution(s): Try these tips to improve router performance.
- On some PC clients, you will need to enable it for for UPnP on the PC. as well as on the
router.
- Try upgrading to the latest firmware.