BT BB & LinkSys WAG160N help please!

bjroche

Hi Folks,

I know this is OT but I am hoping somebody can help. I have BT broadband (3 MB version) and up until quite recently was using a NetGear DG834GT as my ADSL modem. I bought a LinkSys WAG160N and am able to connect to BT but at a fraction of the speed I did previously with the NetGear.

- The drop in download speed is verified by any of the speed test sites but downloading an ISO is about 5-10 times slower.
- The user account and password are correct, I can connect.
- I am following the settings they suggest (i.e. PPPoE, VPI=8, VCI=35).
- I never realised that they only support their own modem, but can understand why.
- I know the WAG160N is ADSL2 capable. There are four non-ADSL2 DSL modulation options (multimode, T1.413, G.lite and G.dmt). I am have chosen G.dmt as it seems to give the best speed. Is this right?
- What should the MTU be set at? It is on auto and in the connection log it says 1500 is supported, is there a recommended value? Could this be the culprit?
There are 3 QoS options. UBR, CBR and VBR. The default seems to be UBR.

If anybody has any suggestions, please help,

Bernard.

DECEiFER

The MTU on PPPoE should be 1492 and the QoS should be UBR, indeed correct. The Modulation should also be G.dmt, or MultiMode, which is an auto setting. The rest of your settings are also grand.

Now, why not check out your DSL line stats and post them here. What would be most intriguing would be the "Downstream Rate" and "Upstream Rate" that the router is syncing at, which should be on the "Status" menu and "DSL Connection" sub-menu (I own a different Linksys and I also looked at a screenshot of the WAG160N menu to confirm that the stats are in the same place as mine are).

You can also post your "Downstream Margin", "Upstream Margin", "Downstream Line Attenuation", and "Upstream Line Attenuation", which should really be in the same sub-menu, and if not, should be somewhere else within the "Status" menu hierarchy.


One more thing. Have you updated the Firmware within the router to its latest version?

You can find an update for your model here:
http://www.linksysbycisco.com/EU/en/support/WAG160N/download

Follow the steps, choose your correct router version, and then download the Annex A Firmware (Annex B is DSL over ISDN, which can be found in some EU countries and beyond, and Annex A can be found in most countries, including Ireland and the UK, which is DSL over PSTN).

bjroche

Hi DECEiFER,

Thank you! I have updated the firmware, I collected these just after the update:

Status -> DSL Connection gives:

Status: Up
Downstream Rate: 3072 Kbps
Upstream Rate: 384 Kbps

Encapsulation: RFC 2516 PPPoE
Multiplexing: LLC
QoS: UBR
PCR:
SCR:
Autodetect: Disable
VPI: 8
VCI: 35
Enable: 1
PVC Status: Up

The secret menu (http://192.168.0.1/setup.cgi?next_file=adsl_driver.htm) gives

--- System Information ---
Vendor: Linksys
ModelName: WAG160N
Firmware Version: A1.00.15 , 2009-05-31T16:58:02
GUI Version: A1.00.15_007
Boot Version: 1.0.37-5.4
Hardware Version: 0.01

--- DSL Information ---
DSL Driver Version: AnnexA version - A2pB022g.d20e
DSL VPI/VCI: 8/35
DSL Status: ShowtimeRetrain Reason: 0
DSL Mode: G.DMT
DSL Channel: INTR
DSL Upstream Rate: 384 Kbps
DSL Downstream Rate: 3072 Kbps

Down up
DSL Noise Margin: 30.1 dB 16.0 dB
DSL Attenuation: 13.0 dB 8.0 dB
DSL Transmit Power: 6.1 dBm 2.0 dBm

DECEiFER

bjroche wrote: »

Hi DECEiFER,

Thank you! I have updated the firmware, I collected these just after the update:

Status -> DSL Connection gives:

Status: Up
Downstream Rate: 3072 Kbps
Upstream Rate: 384 Kbps

Encapsulation: RFC 2516 PPPoE
Multiplexing: LLC
QoS: UBR
PCR:
SCR:
Autodetect: Disable
VPI: 8
VCI: 35
Enable: 1
PVC Status: Up

The secret menu (http://192.168.0.1/setup.cgi?next_file=adsl_driver.htm) gives

--- System Information ---
Vendor: Linksys
ModelName: WAG160N
Firmware Version: A1.00.15 , 2009-05-31T16:58:02
GUI Version: A1.00.15_007
Boot Version: 1.0.37-5.4
Hardware Version: 0.01

--- DSL Information ---
DSL Driver Version: AnnexA version - A2pB022g.d20e
DSL VPI/VCI: 8/35
DSL Status: ShowtimeRetrain Reason: 0
DSL Mode: G.DMT
DSL Channel: INTR
DSL Upstream Rate: 384 Kbps
DSL Downstream Rate: 3072 Kbps

Down up
DSL Noise Margin: 30.1 dB 16.0 dB
DSL Attenuation: 13.0 dB 8.0 dB
DSL Transmit Power: 6.1 dBm 2.0 dBm

Your line noise and singal dB values are grand. You can't be too far from your exchange. You're syncing at the correct speeds, so according to the router, you should be going full steam ahead.

Can you confirm any difference on speedtest.net since making the Firmware update? The only thing I can think of that could be slowing down your connection is the connection itself from the ISP, where it be experiencing temporary problems or high usage from other homes near you (contention).

bjroche

Hi,

I have ran the Speedtest.net test twice on each ADSL modem and these are the results:

LinkSys Test 1
Download 0.55Mb/s
Upload 0.03 Mb/s
Ping 43 ms

LinkSys Test 2
Download 0.32Mb/s
Upload 0.03 Mb/s
Ping 58 ms

NetGear Test 1
Download 2.57Mb/s
Upload 0.32 Mb/s
Ping 49 ms

NetGear Test 2
Download 2.58Mb/s
Upload 0.32 Mb/s
Ping 45 ms

As you can see, when I use the NetGear it is about what you would expect. The linksys is almost 10 times slower.

When I carried out the tests there was just my laptop connected to the ADSL modem (through a wired port) and nothing else. I didn't want any other traffic to skew the results.

I think I might have a dodgy LinkSys box? Could there be anything else to try?

My next step is to reset it back to factory defaults in case I have chosen some option which would be limiting the speed. But even if I manually put in a dead DNS server (or something) it would just be either slow resolving (or fail) but once it found the server should be quick enough.

Regards,

Bernard.

DECEiFER

It's a very strange problem. I have a Netgear DG834GT, but I don't use it. I switched it out for a Linksys WAG354G back in 2006. I have recently given the Netgear one to a friend, and he's making good use of it. I never had any problems switching between the two. In-fact, I've never seen anything like what you're experiencing.

Before you read ahead, go to http://www.irishisptest.com/runmyspeed.php and do a test there. If the results are the same as from the Speedtest.net servers, then proceed to reading on. If it shows OK, then confirm this by downloading a large file for about a minute from a speedy server. You should get ~300-330KB/s. If all is well on those fronts, then Speedtest.net just doesn't like your router or its configuration.


Put the Linksys in and try these two Command Prompt commands:

netsh winsock reset catalog
netsh int ip reset reset.log

Reboot when you've tried them both. If that doesn't work, then try your factory reset idea by pushing in the rear reset button until it reboots. Failing that, then back to the Netgear and return the Linksys. If you're unhappy with the Netgear, consider getting a different model Linksys to replace it.

bjroche

Solved at last!

Hi Folks,

First, thank you all for your help!

I spoke to LinkSys today and got it fixed. This is what I had to do:

Log into the device.
Go to the "Applications and Gaming" tab
Choose "QoS"
Enable "internet access priority" - it was already
Set "Set Internet Bandwidth" to manual and choose 3072 (Which I guess is for 3Mb.

I hope this helps somebody else too!