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Russ
10-02-2009, 10:26
My parents keeping getting issues with their router. It happens every month or so, the the connection between their wireless computer and the router drops. When I find the signal again the web works fine, but it'll keep happening until the router gets reset. OK that's a temporary fix but is this a case of calling VM up and asking for a new router? The one they've got is the £49 jobbie.

Wicked_and_Crazy
10-02-2009, 13:33
Has there been a firmware update that can be applied?

MovedGoalPosts
10-02-2009, 13:49
If it's the VM supplier router, then contact VM for support on it.

Russ
10-02-2009, 14:04
I'm on to the phone to them right now, the agent reckoned her systems there told her the router has only ever been off once :confused:

She also said it's 'normal' for a wireless router to drop the signal to the computer 3 or 4 times a week - that's news to me.

It didn't explain why the signal has been fine for about a month or so but keeps dropping every hour or two in the last 24 hours.

Anyway they say they'll send a new one out.

MovedGoalPosts
10-02-2009, 15:01
Maybe a neighbour has a new wireless or similar which is causing interference that wasn't there before?

Russ
10-02-2009, 17:27
ok I'm getting seriously annoyed with the BS I'm getting from their Indian callcentre. i just called again and guess what? nothing was ordered. Spoke to someone in India about my connection problem. he blamed my p2p software (not running any), my antivirus (nice try but the problem happens on my laptop as well as my parents computer). also apparently my tcp/ip preferences are corrupted and it also might be ''the vista firewall''.

Honestly what sort of operation are they running out there?

Graham M
10-02-2009, 18:25
I had all that when my broadband kept going down, bloody nightmare, finally managed to get through to someone in Britain and it got sorted straight away!

Peter_
10-02-2009, 22:09
I'm on to the phone to them right now, the agent reckoned her systems there told her the router has only ever been off once :confused:

It can tell them about the modem losing connection but not the router so was it India talking porkies to you.:D

Milambar
10-02-2009, 22:14
It can tell them about the modem losing connection but not the router so was it India talking porkies to you.:D

Nothing new there then. India will tell you anything to get away with closing the call as "successfully resolved", including outright lies.

Russ
10-02-2009, 22:17
It can tell them about the modem losing connection but not the router so was it India talking porkies to you.:D

No, it was someone in Swansea. Problem is she was one of those agents who no matter what you tell them, they always know better. She reckons it's normal for wireless routers to drop connection several times a week. When I told her I'd had a BT wireless router for about 2 years previous to that which only dropped 5 or 6 times, she paused and claimed I must have been "very very lucky" :dozey:

Peter_
10-02-2009, 22:19
No, it was someone in Swansea. Problem is she was one of those agents who no matter what you tell them, they always know better. She reckons it's normal for wireless routers to drop connection several times a week. When I told her I'd had a BT wireless router for about 2 years previous to that which only dropped 5 or 6 times, she paused and claimed I must have been "very very lucky" :dozey:
I love that in a woman, never being wrong, my router has been up since August 2007 so definitely talking porkies.

Russ
12-02-2009, 23:17
OK the router arrived today, I plugged it and got it all running well....until that one started rebooting as weel. either that or it's losing the connection from the modem. VM reckon my modem hasn't lost the connection from the web this year so I doubt it's that.

The problem has only happening since I reformatted the other day. That can't have anything to do with it surely?

Horace
13-02-2009, 00:13
Unplug any computers from the router and see if still reboots, it shouldn't either way unless the router is faulty. Also if the router has any logging, check those to see if you can spot the problem.

Peter_
13-02-2009, 00:13
OK the router arrived today, I plugged it and got it all running well....until that one started rebooting as weel. either that or it's losing the connection from the modem. VM reckon my modem hasn't lost the connection from the web this year so I doubt it's that.

The problem has only happening since I reformatted the other day. That can't have anything to do with it surely?
They can check historical data so probably has a ring of truth about your connection.

Are you using the disk or windows to connect the router.

Russ
13-02-2009, 00:27
I've tried both but using Windows. I'd always been using Vista but it was getting buggy so I reformatted and reinstalled it and that's when the problems began.

I've gone back to XP and it's still the same. No other computers connected to the router.

Peter_
13-02-2009, 00:58
I've tried both but using Windows. I'd always been using Vista but it was getting buggy so I reformatted and reinstalled it and that's when the problems began.

I've gone back to XP and it's still the same. No other computers connected to the router.
Are you using the CD as a coaster then,

bopdude
13-02-2009, 01:01
As little as I know about this, if your wireless is dropping on the new box as well, then as someone posted, sounds like outside interference, a neighbours wireless or worse someone hacking into your folks ( maybe ) does the router drop the connection on a wired pc / laptop ?

---------- Post added at 00:01 ---------- Previous post was at 00:00 ----------

Are you using the CD as a coaster then,

:D

Russ
13-02-2009, 01:03
I've tried changing the channel on the router so inteference is unlikely to be the issue but something odd is happening if the new router is getting this trouble.

The router isn't close enough to a pc to try it.

Peter_
13-02-2009, 01:05
This is the best way of connecting the Virgin router without using the disk.

-----------------------------------------------

First you need to fully uninstall the software from your computer, by first going to the system tray by the clock on desktop and exiting the wireless manager, then go to start > control panel >unistall programs> now unistall the wireless manager from here then exit .

Next ensure the router is on and take a pen or a paperclip and look on the back of the router and you will see a small round hole big enough for the pen to go into press the reset button in this hole for approx 10 seconds then switch off the router and modem

------------------------------------------------------------

Quick router set up for the Virgin netgear wgr614

connect your laptop direct to the router in port 1to 4>open internet explorer>in the address bar put http://192.168.1.1/ when the login screen appears put in the username : virgin and the passphrase : password> the Netgear router page will now appear, down the left side click on Wireless settings>now name your network, something you remember and replace the passphrase with a new one at least 8 characters long and click apply, wait for it to finish updating and close the page.

disconnect cable from laptop and router, ensure inbuilt wireless switched on, go to system tray and look for connect to a network icon ( not the virgin icon ) click it and find your network name, click connect put in your passphrase and when it says connected open a browser page and you should be connected.

If you have a PC try using a laptop to run the above set up even if you need to borrow one to do it.

Russ
13-02-2009, 10:05
I tried all that about 5 times yesterday and the connection still drops....

Peter_
13-02-2009, 10:30
I tried all that about 5 times yesterday and the connection still drops....
You have had a replacement as well from them, sounds like the firmware may be conflicting even without using the disk, if you called in they would start talking about getting the dongle from them which should not really be required.

bopdude
13-02-2009, 10:42
Try plugging your laptop into it, a wired connection, see if it drops on wired as well as wireless :shrug:

Russ
13-02-2009, 10:43
So what's the score? I've tried changing the channel on the router in case it's interference but if it's not, where then?

bopdude
13-02-2009, 10:45
So what's the score? I've tried changing the channel on the router in case it's interference but if it's not, where then?

Just a daft thought, have you seen it lose connection and reconnect or are you going by something else, it isn't something daft like the router loosing power intermittently for some reason, possible to swap sockets over.

Russ
13-02-2009, 11:12
The router is in another room so I can't see it when the problem occurs but I was walking past it the other day and saw some orange lights flickering on it, when i went to the computer the connection had dropped.

I just rang tech support in India.

The pondlife I spoke to blamed a local outage for why I "couldn't browse" :banghead:

bopdude
13-02-2009, 11:22
What make and model is it ? Orange lights sound like power to me :shrug:

Russ
13-02-2009, 12:24
It's the Netgear one that VM send out. I called them back and spoke to the team leader and suggested I use channel 10 which apparently doesn't get used often. I had been using 6 or 11 and he reckoned they are the most common so it's possible interference was the problem as the connection is holding well * for now*.

Peter_
13-02-2009, 12:26
It's the Netgear one that VM send out. I called them back and spoke to the team leader and suggested I use channel 10 which apparently doesn't get used often. I had been using 6 or 11 and he reckoned they are the most common so it's possible interference was the problem as the connection is holding well * for now*.
Probably a good idea to go through the channels to find a clear one, how many other routers can you see locally.

Stuart
13-02-2009, 12:57
It can tell them about the modem losing connection but not the router so was it India talking porkies to you.:D

Indeed. For them to know that the router was losing the wireless connection, the router itself would need to be able to detect that. It would be able to detect if it rebooted itself. It may also be able to detect interferance from neighbouring networks, but it while it would be able to detect a wireless connection dropping, it would not be able to ascertain if that was due to an actual problem, or just somone simply switching the computer off.

Ignitionnet
13-02-2009, 13:15
http://www.netstumbler.com/ is your friend to track wireless interference and find unused channels.

Stabhappy
13-02-2009, 15:11
The orange light, eh? Symptom we've had on both our netgears supplied by virgin.

No fix as far as I can tell, waiting for a compatible DD-WRT flash.

Peter_
13-02-2009, 15:15
The orange light, eh? Symptom we've had on both our netgears supplied by virgin.

No fix as far as I can tell, waiting for a compatible DD-WRT flash.
I have read somewhere that flashing the Virgin router can be done but with a 50% chance of bricking it thanks to the embedded software.

Russ
13-02-2009, 17:31
Well it was great while it lasted, it stayed up for 6 hours until the connect went again :afire:

Russ
13-02-2009, 23:00
OK for the last 4 hours I've been using the AOL wireless connection here with no trouble at all.

When I switched to the VM connection, the router dropped after 10 minutes :grind: