My PS3 vs Eircom's F1000 Modem -- a story of constant annoyances

smee again · 25-09-2013 8:22am

murphaph wrote: »

I think we're comparing apples and oranges, don't you? The 47 + vat excludes a case and power supply, right? You also have to add the cost of a modem and a PBX to the cost of the mikrotik to make any sort of fair price comparison!

The RB951 comes in a plastic case and comes with a power supply. The OP asked about a suitable wireless router and already have a suitable modem to bridge. The suggestions were the Fritzbox, Draytek and Asus, all in the 200 quid bracket. They never asked for telephony, DECT or PBX, there is no mention in this thread that they even use their phone (many don't), they just want a solution to a gaming problem which requires a decent router. Then they added that they've not got the budget to pay for anything at all, so the Mikrotik is the most affordable.

murphaph · 25-09-2013 12:07pm

smee again wrote: »

The RB951 comes in a plastic case and comes with a power supply. The OP asked about a suitable wireless router and already have a suitable modem to bridge. The suggestions were the Fritzbox, Draytek and Asus, all in the 200 quid bracket. They never asked for telephony, DECT or PBX, there is no mention in this thread that they even use their phone (many don't), they just want a solution to a gaming problem which requires a decent router. Then they added that they've not got the budget to pay for anything at all, so the Mikrotik is the most affordable.

Ok, I thought you were making a general comparison between the products, not a specific comparison for the OP's needs.

I just saw your comment that lumped the FitzBox range in with the dross Zyxel that Eircom supply and posted based on that.

Indeed the OP should not spend money on features he doesn't need/want, but I wasn't suggesting he should, just highlighting why a FritzBox is not the same as your average ISP supplied router/modem (in Ireland-my German ISP gave me the FritzBox for free).

An issue with stringing together several devices to provide the built in functionality of a FritzBox is that you must power all those devices separately and most people leave these things plugged in and switched on 24/7, so power consumption should also be a factor in any decision to purchase A over B.

Cuddlesworth · 25-09-2013 7:23pm

smee again wrote: »

Mikrotik are an enterprise router and Mikrotik Routerboards are used by wireless providers for their core network for this reason. The overpriced Asus RT N66U I've seen recommended here lots of times is 200mW, the Mikrotik is 1000mW.

The higher the transmit power, the worse the interference for the other wifi devices. There are plenty of valid reasons why transmit power is limited.

smee again wrote: »

None come with a built in modem like the FritzBox, they make routers, so you'd need to bridge your existing modem. No telephony either, Mikrotik's expertise is in low cost routing and wireless, all for a lot less than a Cisco. The RB951 comes with 5x Gigabit and a USB port. The linux operating system (RouterOS) is really powerful and highly configurable, there are guides and scripts for whatever you need on here and their forum (very helpful community). It's an affordable wireless router that does all routing protocols (RIP, BGP, OSPF etc), layer 2 protocols (MPLS, L2TP, PPTP, EoIP etc) , vlans and switching protocols, virtual AP, hotspot, traffic queues, bandwidth shaping etc. even does MPLS where the cheapest Cisco to do MPLS costs thousands.

The cheapest I can find the FritzBox is ~€150 + Shipping (average €200+), the RB951 €47 plus VAT and Shipping here: http://www.interprojekt.com.pl/mikrotik-routerboard-rb951g2hnd-level-128mb-p-1370.html

Make no mistake, these are an enterprise router much like a Cisco, there is a huge learning curve, but it's worth it for all they can do. Trust me, these things are crazy value

I'm really interested in one and started playing with RouterOS today on a VM.

But...... for the normal household user, who gives a crap about 99% of its features? All the average home user really wants is a box they plug into a wall and it works. Devices like the Asus box do that and do it well.

Keeping in mind I have one, in a house with more enterprise networking equipment then most small company's.

Fritz box sounds amazing by the way. I can't think of another single device that would have that feature set, it would have to be at least three.

smee again · 25-09-2013 7:54pm

murphaph wrote: »

I just saw your comment that lumped the FitzBox range in with the dross Zyxel that Eircom supply and posted based on that.

Apologies, on re-reading I see you were not recommending the OP buying one, but now see you were supplied one. Yes, it would be miles better than any Zyxel, two tin cans and string would be better than Zyxel. Very few providers supply a decent router in this country. The Fritzbox does look great, I'd have to question whether it's worth spending ~€150+ on though, only if you needed all the functions.

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

But...... for the normal household user, who gives a crap about 99% of its features? All the average home user really wants is a box they plug into a wall and it works. Devices like the Asus box do that and do it well.

Agreed, but here and all over the internet the Asus RT N66U gets recommended, it's nearly €200 and is nothing more than a router with bells and whistles. TheMikrotik is about a third of that price and with the default config it ships with it works as a normal gateway router out of the box. Anyone I've convinced to buy a Mikrotik has been amazed at how much it's improved their connection, every house needs a router to cache DNS requests

murphaph · 25-09-2013 9:07pm

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

Fritz box sounds amazing by the way. I can't think of another single device that would have that feature set, it would have to be at least three.

Ah they're just the business-so many features in one little box. With the FritzFon app installed on our Android phones, the GF can call me from her phone (or one of the DECT handsets) from somewhere else in the house/garden-all via the FritzBox (WiFi).

You can also set alarm calls to specific or all phones in house, you can restrict internet access to certain devices (great for kids-you can control exactly WHEN they surf. You can also create black/whitelists of sites, block HTTPS requests and so on).

You can set the DNS's you want to use in the box (my last router which was also made by AVM but was an ISP "hacked down" version) couldn't do that-you had to set DNS's manually in each device and that's not even easy in Android devices, for example. Being able to set your DNS's in the router is extremely useful if you use something like overplay smart DNS to get around geoblocking to watch iPlayer & Co.

You can also set up VPNs with a FritzBox: I can access my home network through a VPN that is set up in the FritzBox itself (see here)

smee again · 26-09-2013 9:09am

murphaph wrote: »

You can set the DNS's you want to use in the box (my last router which was also made by AVM but was an ISP "hacked down" version) couldn't do that-you had to set DNS's manually in each device and that's not even easy in Android devices, for example. Being able to set your DNS's in the router is extremely useful if you use something like overplay smart DNS to get around geoblocking to watch iPlayer & Co.

Do you mean different DNS servers given out through DHCP to different devices? If so, that's a very good feature. If it's just being able to set a different DNS server to the one given in PPPoE, most routers allow this, the Eircom Netopia even does.

murphaph · 27-09-2013 2:50pm

No it's just the basic variant. You're right, any half decent router should allow this, but as I mentioned, I had a Deutsche Telekom W503V that didn't, which really sucks when you run android devices (or any device that doesn't make it easy to change DNS entries) and want to use a smart DNS type service.

I recently set up the VPN feature in my FritzBox....it's reassuring to know I can use open WiFi networks securely via my home network through a VPN tunnel. AVM even provide a nifty (if you have access to a WIndows machine) little config file generator where you enter in the user details, password etc. and it spits out a config file that you import into the router. It then shows you in the overview which users are connected via VPN at any given time.

It's a "zero cost" feature for me: I leave my FritzBox on all the time, so being able to get a VPN to my home network without additional hardware is a real bonus in my eyes. You can easily connect natively to the FritzBox (uses IPSEC) VPN from later model Android devices (4.0 on I think) and I even got my GF's old HTC Legend (running 2.3 or something, Cyanogenmod 7 anyway) to connect using the "VPNC Widget", but the device has to be rooted for that widget to work.

Oh, another nice feature is that the user interface has a MOBILE version, so you can check your modem on the go with a smartphone and everything is still easily reachable without lots of crazy side to side scrolling! I wonder how many routers have mobile versions of their user interface?! Not many I bet. Many of them are barely usable on desktops!

Alun · 27-09-2013 5:31pm

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

The higher the transmit power, the worse the interference for the other wifi devices. There are plenty of valid reasons why transmit power is limited.

Indeed. Not only that, but the maximum EIRP at the antenna in the EU for unlicensed 2.4GHz is 100mW, so if you really are putting out 1000mW or 1W at the antenna then not only are you breaking the law but probably seriously pissing off your immediate neighbours too.

Having said that, there are valid reasons for allowing over 100mW power output from the WiFi radio itself, including allowing for the losses introduced by long extension cables to external antennas for example.

smee again · 27-09-2013 7:13pm

RouterOS allows you to set the country and it will apply regulations. You can also reduce power to acceptable level if you need to. If you have a house with no houses beside you I don't see the problem (or empty houses like I have).

Boogietime · 01-10-2013 2:46pm

daveh077 wrote: »

Hi, I was wondering if you could provide some basic instructions so I could bridge my efibre router to my netopia, efibre's signal is terrible but the netopia reached the entire house.

I have them cabled together just lacking the required settings to make it all work.

If I do this and only use the netopia for wireless while having the efibre router to do just the routing do I still lose half my bandwidth like a traditional repeater would lose it?

later edit: looks like there is a way to set up the netopia as a wireless repeater. A friend will mail me the link with the instructions and I'll post it here

SteelyDanJalapeno · 01-10-2013 2:58pm

OP,

Here's another option,

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trendnet-TPL-308E2K-Powerline-Ethernet-Adapter/dp/B00BIH8W40/ref=zg_bsms_computers_1

Ethernet from your router to one of these sockets, and plug the other one in by your ps3 and ethernet from that to your ps3 anywhere in the house.

Boogietime · 01-10-2013 4:01pm

TiltedBrain wrote: »

OP,

Here's another option,

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trendnet-TPL-308E2K-Powerline-Ethernet-Adapter/dp/B00BIH8W40/ref=zg_bsms_computers_1

Ethernet from your router to one of these sockets, and plug the other one in by your ps3 and ethernet from that to your ps3 anywhere in the house.

That's a great offer on home plugs!!

And it basically removes all wireless issues you'd have with the ps3/xbox... provided that model of homeplugs are good.

SteelyDanJalapeno · 01-10-2013 4:13pm

Boogietime wrote: »

That's a great offer on home plugs!!

And it basically removes all wireless issues you'd have with the ps3/xbox... provided that model of homeplugs are good.

They're ideal for gaming, haven't had a problem yet

Cuddlesworth · 01-10-2013 4:52pm

smee again wrote: »

RouterOS allows you to set the country and it will apply regulations. You can also reduce power to acceptable level if you need to. If you have a house with no houses beside you I don't see the problem (or empty houses like I have).

Imagine you have a couple of people sitting around a table talking. Now as conversations ebb and flow, it becomes harder to understand what happening in your conversation and you have to really struggle to figure out whats going on. The usual pub problems.

Now imaging the prick at the top of the table starts shouting. Really loud, stupid loud. Even the people in his conversation find it difficult to talk to him, because they can't interrupt him, he can't hear them.

Thats what pumping the transmit power of a wifi point does. The best Wifi AP you want is the best listener. Because the problem with most wifi communication is the transmit ability of the small discrete antennas talking to it.

smee again · 01-10-2013 5:38pm

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

Imagine you have a couple of people sitting around a table talking. Now as conversations ebb and flow, it becomes harder to understand what happening in your conversation and you have to really struggle to figure out whats going on. The usual pub problems.

Now imaging the prick at the top of the table starts shouting. Really loud, stupid loud. Even the people in his conversation find it difficult to talk to him, because they can't interrupt him, he can't hear them.

Thats what pumping the transmit power of a wifi point does. The best Wifi AP you want is the best listener. Because the problem with most wifi communication is the transmit ability of the small discrete antennas talking to it.

Yes I know how it works, and it's not exactly as you describe, those sitting around the table are only interested in talking to the one shouting. As I said, set it to regulatory standards or turn it down if it does not suit your own situation, I pickup no other wifi networks in my house so it does not matter if my router is shouting, my devices with discrete antennas transmit much better and quicker, with much higher CCQ.

Rilgar · 09-11-2013 2:06pm

Duh-duh. I'm baaaack.

Getting more DNS error ****e on my ps3. Additionally, been suffering disconnections on my own laptop, once or twice I considered this was due to them eircom folks working outside the door, but not last night or at other times. I amused myself in thinking could they be acting to solve all the problems that I've been mouthing and spouting about on here.

Anyway. Would anyone like to share some new solutions to resolve my DNS error woes? Had Primary & Secondary DNS set to google's ones, but thinking of changing them to OpenDNS' to see if there's a change.

smee again · 09-11-2013 3:59pm

Rilgar wrote: »

Duh-duh. I'm baaaack.

Getting more DNS error ****e on my ps3. Additionally, been suffering disconnections on my own laptop, once or twice I considered this was due to them eircom folks working outside the door, but not last night or at other times. I amused myself in thinking could they be acting to solve all the problems that I've been mouthing and spouting about on here.

Anyway. Would anyone like to share some new solutions to resolve my DNS error woes? Had Primary & Secondary DNS set to google's ones, but thinking of changing them to OpenDNS' to see if there's a change.

Why are you using Google DNS, use your providers, they are internal on their network and prioritised for. I'm not familiar with consoles, but could you tell us what happens that makes you believe it's a DNS error. DNS is just a single lookup to get an IP from a human readable domain name. You do not want to be connecting to DNS server the other side of the world

Rilgar · 09-11-2013 5:29pm

I checked them in eircom's modem page and the DNS values were set to "From ISP," which in turn turn out to be Google's. Odd, eh?

I know it's a DNS error because, in between the plethora of errors that get thrown at me on my ps3 console, some of them occasionally come up with an error code and a message that'll say something to the effect of "This is a DNS error." Haven't seen that quote lately, but out of the recent errors I've been getting is an error called "80710102" which again is DNS related, according to the techs over on Playstation's official forum, anyway.

Out of curiously, I'm hitting the road later today and I'm thinking of taking my ps3 with me just to see if it can connect to other modems and eliminate it from the problem, which I thoroughly believe lies with eircom's bogus lil' box. Ugh.

And also, for a reference, here is an incomplete list of at least some of the errors I've gotten while trying to sign into the Plystation Network and stay connected at that since we installed eircom's F100 - custom-Zyxel - "eFibre" modem;

80710D23 (Network Server Timeout)
80710092
(Don't have the code) - DSNL media server error
80710102 - DNS error
80028E02

smee again · 09-11-2013 5:36pm

A DNS error in the logs may mot be a DNS issue, it could just be the non return of a DNS request due to an inconsistent connection

Rilgar · 09-11-2013 5:59pm

In that case, I'm as wise as ever. *sigh*

If that were the case, what would you advise me to do?

smee again · 09-11-2013 6:27pm

Rilgar wrote: »

In that case, I'm as wise as ever. *sigh*

If that were the case, what would you advise me to do?

First thing to do is make sure he console works OK on another connection

Rilgar · 09-11-2013 6:40pm

I'm almost sure that it will, but I will check it later tonight, all the same.

Rilgar · 02-01-2014 6:14pm

Lads, please help me, I'm at my wit's end with this ****ing yoke.

would someone be kind enough to tell me, step-by-step, what would be the ideal settings for the eircom F1000 modem for gaming online?

SteelyDanJalapeno · 02-01-2014 6:56pm

Rilgar wrote: »

Lads, please help me, I'm at my wit's end with this ****ing yoke.

would someone be kind enough to tell me, step-by-step, what would be the ideal settings for the eircom F1000 modem for gaming online?

Have you tried the home plugs I suggested a while back?

Rilgar · 03-01-2014 11:36am

I can't find the post where you mentioned this TiltedBrain, so can you please link me to it?

Couple other things I've tried doing:

Gave the PS3 a static IP
Changed Primary & Secondary DNS' to OpenDNS' ones on both modem and ps3
*Tried* to put ps3 in DMZ (do you use the IP of the ps3 for this? It's what I did but i could be wrong)
Port Forward'd 9 ports for ps3
Put ps3 in static DHCP

And still no ****ing dice. Continuing to have problems as of this morning.

Rilgar · 03-01-2014 11:39am

Oh yeah, one other thing, my ps4 is also suffering the same problems, a brand new machine barely in use, so this is clearly an eircom **** up, agreed?

Some more information:

Christ alive, after spending over 30 minutes trying to get a hold of a eircom "technician" I once again was getting the run around, getting told that "Oh, it's a problem with Sony" blah blah blah, a conversation which accumulated in basically being informed that the F1000 IS NOT compatible with either Sony console. Unbelievable!

SteelyDanJalapeno · 03-01-2014 1:56pm

Rilgar wrote: »

Oh yeah, one other thing, my ps4 is also suffering the same problems, a brand new machine barely in use, so this is clearly an eircom **** up, agreed?

Some more information:

Christ alive, after spending over 30 minutes trying to get a hold of a eircom "technician" I once again was getting the run around, getting told that "Oh, it's a problem with Sony" blah blah blah, a conversation which accumulated in basically being informed that the F1000 IS NOT compatible with either Sony console. Unbelievable!

It's about 10 posts back, it will allow you a good wired connection anywhere you have a plug socket,

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00BIH8W40/ref=redir_mdp_mobile?ref_=zg_bsms_computers_1

Rilgar · 03-01-2014 3:11pm

Mmm, I will look into this TiltedBrain, thank you very much!

Some other developments. Now my ps3 is telling me that "the router in use may not support IP Fragments, and the communication of some games may be restricted." This has come up after I manually put in an IP Address, the default router address and primary and secondary DNS address per instructions in this guide; http://www.ps3trophies.org/forum/tech-centre/16307-ps3-optimal-network-settings-guide.html

If this is to do with MTU and packets, I tried putting in 1472 which according to ipconfig in cmd is the highest packet number that doesn't need fragmentation.

Rilgar · 07-01-2014 10:51pm

Okay, tried my second modem, still no dice. Still having the same problems, and additionally now my ps3 keeps thinking the WPA key is wrong. Lovely! While the wireless remains perfectly fine and functional on another modem I recently tried. Thus, the ps3 ain't broken, the modems aren't broken, which means there's a problem somewhere in the go between, I'm assuming.

I've since gone and purchased these home plugs;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BIH8W40/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So fingers crossed I'll have some luck with them.

Another thing; now that I have two eircom F1000 modems is there some way I can use the two of them in a beneficial way, or will that be completely pointless?

Edit: actually; I've just added the MAC address of my ps3 to the MAC Address List in the modem's settings and soon after doing this the ps3 immediately jumped back into PSN. A nice result?

Freddy Smelly · 10-01-2014 2:01am

Rilgar wrote: »

Oh yeah, one other thing, my ps4 is also suffering the same problems, a brand new machine barely in use, so this is clearly an eircom **** up, agreed?

Some more information:

Christ alive, after spending over 30 minutes trying to get a hold of a eircom "technician" I once again was getting the run around, getting told that "Oh, it's a problem with Sony" blah blah blah, a conversation which accumulated in basically being informed that the F1000 IS NOT compatible with either Sony console. Unbelievable!

that is bull****

there is many customer using ps3's ps4 on the f1000

you might need to just open the ports the ps3 or ps4 needs

go onto the f1000 and reserve the ip address your ps3 has so it always gets it. then turn off the ps3 and reboot the f1000

then log onto the f1000 and go to network settings > nat

go to applications tab and add new application

choose game consoles > ps2/ps3

enter the reserved ip address of the ps3 and tick active.

then apply

now turn on the ps3 and the ports it needs will be opened and it will connect to the psn network

unfortunately the f1000 will only allow one ps console have these rules

in order to get both the ps3 and ps4 to work you will need to put one in the dmz

reserve the ip of the ps4

turn off ps4

then go back to nat > dmz and enter the reserved ip of the ps4

apply and turn on ps4

now your ps3 and ps4 can both connect to the psn network at the same time

jk787 · 10-01-2014 3:45am

Apologies if this is not the correct forum, but after some searching it seems to be the most relevant. My issue is trying to configure remote access to my CCTV cameras via the eircom F1000 modem/router. My setup consists of a static IP from eircom, a Linksys router behind the F1000 with my DVR, statically addresed from, and connected to the Linksys network. In brief :
eircom router has 192.168.1.254 address, Linksys has 192.168.1.2 connected to LAN port of F1000 (configured as static), DVR has 192.168.0.250 (Linksys network) statically configured.

I can access the DVR from my home via the Linksys router no problem, and indeed prior to e fibre I could access them remotely via the Netopia with no issue. I have opened ports 100, 8080 and 9000 in the e fibre router, and, out of frustration, have tried multiple combinations of server and WAN IP addresses (have a look at page 155 of the e fibre users manual and you will understand http://broadbandsupport.eircom.net/download/zyxel/eircom_F1000.pdf

the address used in the config line example do not match those in the diagram above it).

Any suggestions greatly appreciated, and once again apologies if this is not the correct forum to publish this.

Rilgar · 10-01-2014 4:34pm

Freddy Smelly wrote: »

that is bull****

there is many customer using ps3's ps4 on the f1000

you might need to just open the ports the ps3 or ps4 needs

go onto the f1000 and reserve the ip address your ps3 has so it always gets it. then turn off the ps3 and reboot the f1000

then log onto the f1000 and go to network settings > nat

go to applications tab and add new application

choose game consoles > ps2/ps3

enter the reserved ip address of the ps3 and tick active.

then apply

now turn on the ps3 and the ports it needs will be opened and it will connect to the psn network

unfortunately the f1000 will only allow one ps console have these rules

in order to get both the ps3 and ps4 to work you will need to put one in the dmz

reserve the ip of the ps4

turn off ps4

then go back to nat > dmz and enter the reserved ip of the ps4

apply and turn on ps4

now your ps3 and ps4 can both connect to the psn network at the same time

Tried this, now to see if it works in the long term, thanks a mil!

Rilgar · 11-01-2014 1:27am

Nope, I'm still getting thrown out, Freddy.

Although, if its possible,I found that my connection with sony's network has improved a little bit. I'm really hoping those homeplugs I ordered will end this nightmare for good...

Rilgar · 13-01-2014 12:20am

I'm beginning to notice a pattern here. Now, i will be getting some home plugs tomorrow but...

It seems whenever I turn my laptop on, my ps3 gets disconnected almost straight away. Now i know this may have something to do with the laptop stealing the ip that the ps3 was using but....My laptop usually gets the first, single number at the end ip that's available, usually a x x x .1, or .2, whereas i've given the ps3 a x x x .13. I'm....baffled.....

SteelyDanJalapeno · 13-01-2014 12:44am

How many other devices are connected to the router?

Rilgar · 13-01-2014 12:54am

Three. Laptop, android and ps3. Modem recognised laptop and android for what they are(showed laptops computer name and said that the other device is an android), but it comes up as unknown for ps3 unless I manually rename it.

Rilgar · 17-01-2014 7:25pm

So it's been well over a week now and no sign of these home plugs. But that's another matter that I've since taken care of. On a side note, I have finally yielded and swapped to a wired connect...by lieu of my laptop. It ain't a conventional fix but at least I can finally grab games I bought during the week from the PSN store and download them with as-of-yet zero issue. (And the speed is niiiiiice, too)

Rilgar · 08-02-2014 9:44pm

Okay, last ressurection type post I'll hopefully do in this thread.

It seems I've found the solution to my problem. Lately the PS3 has been returning errors about the router not supporting IP Fragmentation. In light of this I went poking around and checked the MTU for the eFibre router and it was set to 1500, as you would expect. So then I did a ping test in command prompt and found the that 1500 would need fragmentation. So, I went about typing in packet sizes until I got the highest value where all four tests came back without issue, and that was something like 1472 I think. Did this change, and so far, so good. Thank god.

Can't believe it was something so simple. Who knew, haha.

My PS3 vs Eircom's F1000 Modem -- a story of constant annoyances

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