Recommend a Router

Vronsky

I need a bit of advice. We have a Vodafone broadband connection at home using the Huawei router provided by them. I also have a VoIP system set up. The house is wired for cat 6 and also has a wireless link to our farm nearby. On an ordinary day there would be about 10-15 devices connecting to the network. Most have static ip's like the cctv, while others get their address dynamically e.g. smart TVs.

The problem I have is that whenever the rest of my family comes to visit and they bring their devices with them, the whole network collapses (wired and wireless connections, so it's not a wifi congestion issue, we have wireless several access points anyway) - connecting idevices seem to be particularly troublesome. That said when everyone is present and the whole network running some 40 devices are on the network.

My guess is the Huawei cannot handle the traffic and locks up under the strain. Can anyone recommend a Router to me that would work, ideally replacing the dsl Huawei we have at the moment.

Thanks

Johnboy1951

We have a Vodafone broadband connection at home

What level of broadband have you?
Speedtest?


With 40 devices connected, what are they doing? Downloading or streaming?

Vronsky

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

What level of broadband have you?
Speedtest?


With 40 devices connected, what are they doing? Downloading or streaming?

Most of the devices are idling on the network or are working internally on the network e.g. CCTV recording to the drives.

The connection is relatively slow at 4mbps - but I don't think the speed to the internet is relevant. The network crashes when 30+ devices are connected.

Johnboy1951

Vronsky wrote: »

Most of the devices are idling on the network or are working internally on the network e.g. CCTV recording to the drives.

The connection is relatively slow at 4mbps - but I don't think the speed to the internet is relevant. The network crashes when 30+ devices are connected.

Check that you have sufficient LAN IP addresses available for the number of devices that are trying to connect.
In a lot of cases the number available is limited in the settings.

fxotoole

Is there any reason why the cameras need to be on the same network as the rest of the devices? Do they need internet access?

I’d suggest segregating them off onto their own subnet if they don’t need internet access.

ED E

Vronsky wrote: »

The connection is relatively slow at 4mbps - but I don't think the speed to the internet is relevant. The network crashes when 30+ devices are connected.

Yeah, it is.

If you're at 4Mb down thats 0.3Mb up. Or 37KB/second. Devices just pinging Google/Facebook/Instagram/Whatsapp to say "Hey, any changes?" is enough to DOS your network.

shinju

Perhaps look at upgrading your "router" to a firewall gateway and attach managed wireless access points.
That way you could have QoS, multiple SSIDs for different device types, firewalling, rate limiting, web filtering and other security functionality.

Something like Ubiquiti would provide the necessary functionality.

You could look at placing your dsl modem into bridge mode so that it simply becomes a pass through device with no IP address (if possible).
The Ubiquiti security gateway will obtain the Public IP address instead and would do all the security processing, Routing etc.

Just make sure that the Throughput figures for the model of security gateway you purchase is sufficient for the bandwidth you have.

shinju

On another note:
What is your current setup?
Do you have separate WiFi access points?
Or are you using the inbuilt WiFi on the Huawei modem/router?
How are the cameras connected? Wired or wireless?
How many cameras?
How many other wired and wireless devices?

Even with commercial AP's i normally don't recommend more than 30-40 devices connected to an AP. That's on a dedicated AP rather than the radio built into a soho device.

Vronsky

Thanks everyone for all your input. I really didn't think that the connection speed to the internet would matter but ED E makes a valid point.

The network has the following fixed devices:
1 No. PC
3 No. UBNT APs
2 No. Smart TVs
5 No. CCTV Cameras
1 No. Network Video Recorder
2 No. Wireless links (for remote site)
2 No. Set top boxes
1 No. Games Console
2 No. IP phone
1 No. Network printer
1 No. Huawei Router/modem - wifi enabled

It also has a 16 port Gbit switch and fiber optic media converters for a third remote site. I've given the majority of the fixed devices static IP's in an effort to lighten the load on the DHCP server but that didn't work.

Wireless typically:
4 No. Android handsets
2 No. Windows laptop

When the extended family comes to visit and the network locks up the following are also looking for IPs
3 No. iPhone
2 No. Windows laptop

I was beginning to think that I was getting close to enterprise levels of number of devices that was killing the network, but if its outgoing speed that the issue here then its not fixable until rural fibre gets to us. Oh well, another Christmas of moaning it is so...

shinju

Still, the whole network should not collapse.

You have Ubiquiti APs. Get a Ubiquiti security gateway and have it manage the APs.
You will also get better visibility of the traffic flow to the Internet,
You should also be able to implement QoS or reserve a certain amount of bandwidth for certain devices.

On the APs, ensure that there are no overlapping channels being used and no conflict with IP addresses being handed out.

There is certainly something wrong with your configuration though.

ED E

The two things are Broadcast storms and outbound traffic queuing like bejaysus.

Run Wireshark for 10 mins and you'll see if Bonjour on your Apple devices is spamming the sh1t out of things (it can be a little prone to that). If not, then you have your answer.

ED E

Its worth noting I've seen an F2000 (HG659) with 180 devices leased from it. Not fast, but working away just fine.

shinju

Also, create different SSSIDs for your guests/guest devices. Keep them to their own network/vlan and only allow them outbound access.

In doing this you could also reserve a certain amount of bandwidth for them (e.g. 1Mbps or 0.5Mbps etc)

Vronsky

ED E wrote: »

The two things are Broadcast storms and outbound traffic queuing like bejaysus.

Run Wireshark for 10 mins and you'll see if Bonjour on your Apple devices is spamming the sh1t out of things (it can be a little prone to that). If not, then you have your answer.

Its funny you should say that - its when the iPhones connect that things go downhill pretty quickly. The network hums away nicely (well as nicely as 4mbps/0.4mbps allows you to) when our visitors log in with their android phones, I thought that perhaps was a coincidence though.

I hope I haven't come across as dismissive to anyone here - rereading my posts it might seem like I was. I'm taking all advice here on board, for I'm only an amateur at this.

It is disappointing that it looks like its fundamentally an outbound bandwith issue which is unsolvable at present. I'll have to set up the guest networks on the APs and limit guests available bandwith. To be honest, they should have been on a guest network anyway.