Router woes - Billion BiPAC 7800N

[Empgamer]

So, like a pillock I decided that as swapping my Netgear DG834PN for a BT Home Hub2 that I'd had sitting in a box for 5 months gave me about 10% extra wifi signal strength, I'd spend £115 on a new Billion BiPAC 7800N figuring that would be even better. Wrong!!!!

Now before I box it up and send it back to Amazon I'm wondering if there is actually anything amiss or set wrong or if it's just a rubbish router. I get it all set up OK and all my wired/wifi devices work OK but I connect the bridge and, while it connects, I think the set up is wrong. My main concern is that I have have an amber light on the respective bridge/ethernet port connection on the router indicating a slow connection. We have about 6.4Mbps here and nothing else is slow. When the ethernet was connected to the Netgear I just had a green light (but of course the Netgear light system may be less sophisticated) but I'm concerned that with this router I have an amber light and slow Napster performance.

Napster search and load speed is also rubbish. When it was trying to load a track to the queue of a player I got an UpNp error? On the router should that me on or off???? Of course the ongoing Napster problems may not help.

I have a green and amber light on the Bridge at the rear and can't for the life of me find any reference to what they mean, e.g. is the amber light indicative of a problem??? I've checked the manual and online. Maybe I'm just reading to fast in an attempt to find the problems!!!

I'm not sure I'll keep the router anyway as for £115 I'd be expecting a SIGNIFICANT improvement in performance for wifi generally and it is not better than my old router or the Home Hub. I certainly don't plan to pay £115 for the same performance.

I would like to check all the angles though and at least make sure it is working and working 100% with Sonos before I explore further tomorrow and make decisions. Would adjusting the frequency, as I've read elsewhere, from 20/40 to just 20 affect it at all, or switching UpNp off.

Anyone else have this router and does it work OK with Sonos?????

[Neilda]

I'm not really a techie, but I have the same router which works.... I'll try and help but chaps like Ratty on here are far better....

Firstly you have to make sure that your router is not broadcasting it's wireless signal on 20+40. You can step this down to just 20 on the routers setting page. This is important, I had exactly the same problem and was given the solution here.

Once you've done this you need to methodically power off everything, router, PC, Sonos equipment, and then power it all back up.

The other thing to note is that Napster is rubbish at the moment, they're working on it, but it's taking a long time and the Napster customers are just having to wait.

[Empgamer]

Thanks. I'd seen your thread I think. I couldn't figure how the router frequency would affect the Bridge seeing as it is ethernet wired and the Sonos uses its own mesh network. I'll give it a go though.

Secondly, do you have an amber or green light on your router relevant to the ethernet port the bridge is plugged into? All my other devices are green light (except the hard wired PC when it is off), only the bridge is amber??

I'm also not sure whether to turn UPNP off, or even what it does???

Haver to say though the wifi signal is rubbish from this, especially for £115!!! Think I'll end up going back to the Homehub and/or Netgear anyway.

[ratty]

AFAIK, port lights can mean different things depending on the device. On Sonos units, the amber light evidently signifies a 100Mbps connection (as opposed to 10Mbps). The flashing green light indicates activity.

UPnP in the router is to allow control by applications running on computers in the network, generally to set inbound port forwarding on demand e.g. for gaming or peer-to-peer apps. In some routers it can interfere with Sonos device discovery by the controllers. Since it's a security risk anyway, it's generally better to disable it.

As Neilda indicated, make sure you follow the standard advice on wireless channels. Sonos uses its own wireless mesh but it occupies a channel in the same 2.4GHz band as WiFi. So set the router's WiFi to a different channel to Sonos, restricting your WiFi choice to 1, 6 or 11 to avoid channel overlaps. Disable 40MHz/wide channels for wireless N and use 20MHz/standard width.

[Empgamer]

Thanks both. I'll try those things later. Esp the UpNp (or is it uPnP LOL), bandwidth and channel (although I am pretty sure Sonos is set to 6). I'll see how it goes.

WiFi signal on this thing is ATROCIOUS though and unless that goes, dramatically, it's back in the box for a refund. I won't be paying £115 for a router that's just different with poorer performance to a BT freebie!!!!

[ratty]

UPnP in the router has nothing to do with its wireless performance. I prefer to disable it as I don't use it.

FWIW in addition to a HomeHub I also use an Edimax Access Point to extend WiFi coverage. I recall various review comments about excellent range, and for my part I have to reduce its transmit power by 50% as it's too strong for the area it's covering. Edimax also make routers so they may well have just as good a WiFi performance.

[Empgamer]

Thanks. I'll look at the Edimax too. I'll try the BiPAC router tomorrow. Had enough of it yesterday so had a break today. Meanwhile the Homehub is back on and performing well!!!! If I go for an Edimax I'll likely use it as a range/signal booster.

I'll need to check actually if there is anything on the Homehub I can do to 'max' wirleless' strength. I suspect not. I never got round to messing with it really as I only had it wired up to replace the Netgear a couple of days until the BiPAC arrived.

[ratty]

Originally Posted by Empgamer

If I go for an Edimax I'll likely use it as a range/signal booster.

If you go for the Edimax EW-7416 it can perform various functions. Beware that some modes will reduce bandwidth by retransmitting on the same channel.

Originally Posted by Empgamer

I'll need to check actually if there is anything on the Homehub I can do to 'max' wirleless' strength. I suspect not.

The config options are relatively plain. I don't recall any detailed wireless tweaks.

[Empgamer]

Thanks, didn't think there was. Don't use the wifi upstairs much and the Homehub seems to get there OK.

I'd need to be careful with that extender too. Lots of reviews on Amazon suggest problems with Macs, we use two. That said, it might just be people not that familiar with wifi set up. I'm no expert by any means but tend to get through, particularly with help with 'snagging' from the internet.

[ratty]

Originally Posted by Empgamer

I'd need to be careful with that extender too. Lots of reviews on Amazon suggest problems with Macs, we use two.

A secondary WAP would usually be configured with the same SSID/key as the main router. There have been comments here about Macs not wanting to roam between APs unless the channels are also the same.

In my experience iTouches don't mind switching between different channels.