WLAN Problem

[Achim]

My wireless network at home is very slow at transferring files and I cannot figure out what the problem is. This used to work fine. I can't pinpoint when the problem started or what caused it, but it was probably after a Windows update .

To give you an idea: this morning I transferred 19 photos from my new digital camera (Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS5) to my external HD (a 250GB Freecom Classic SL Network Drive running firmware 3.10.1226, formatted in NTFS).
Transfer time of the whole lot (76.4MB):
wireless: exactly 20 minutes
via USB: exactly 4 minutes

I'm using an IBM T41 Thinkpad, XP Pro SP3, Intel Pentium M 1600MHz, 1.5GB RAM. AVG 8 (latest version). It makes no difference to the transfer times whether AVG is running or not (I uninstalled it to check).

The strange thing is that when I try to edit pics saved on the HD and access them wirelessly, the first one is accessible and saved quickly, any other one thereafter takes ages to be processed. Again, whether AVG is running or not makes no difference. No problems editing & saving when using the USB connection.

This leads me to believe that the problem lies with the router, an older (4yrs?) Netgear DG834G v1. Netgear stopped firmware upgrades for this puppy quite a while back and mine's running on the latest firmware for v2 (3.01.38). It occasionally drops the connection briefly. I've tried just about every channel but cannot eliminate the drop-outs completely.

I'm using both the XP firewall and the one in the router. Turning them both off has not made any difference, nor has using only one of them.

Lest I forget: it makes no difference whether I use Windows Explorer, Nikon Transfer, Irfan View, Photoshop Elements 7.0, Gimp, Picasa, or FujiPix Viewer to effect the file transfer.

I'm at a loss at what to check or do next. Before I throw in the towel and buy a new router, does anyone have any ideas what else I might check?

Many thanks,
Achim

 

[franco]

Hmm

Does the network wok ok otherwise? IE for browsing, and external connection?
Go onto a site like http://www.speedtest.net/ and check your connection speed. Sounds more like a PC/HD problem than a router problem..

I'll have a think later, gotta go watch rugby onyack

 

[Buttso]

router

Hi Achim

I had the same router (v1) and had a lot of problems with the new firmware.. I run VOIP over it, and every now and again it would drop, then the router would lock up and sometimes would need to be rebooted

so.. I downgraded the firmware to this version

DG834 and DG834G Firmware Version 3.01.31UK & 3.01.32WW

this sorted out all my probs.. VOIP hang went away... no more lockups

I had to search around on the web to find that firmware... got an error from netgear site..

 

[Achim]

Does the network wok ok otherwise? IE for browsing, and external connection?

Yup, works fine:

<table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="3"><tbody><tr><td width="50%">Modem Status</td> <td width="50%">Connected</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="50%">DownStream Connection Speed</td> <td width="50%">7706 kbps</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="50%">UpStream Connection Speed</td> <td width="50%">883 kbps</td></tr></tbody></table>
The Downstream Connection Speed at the moment actually is lower that it normally is.

I've found the v3.01.31 firmware on the net but I'm really reluctant to go back 7 generations of firmware updates. Is this really "A GOOD IDEA"?

 

[Buttso]

stability

hiya

well it depends on if you think having a stable router is a good idea

my router is now stable, no lockups.. no hanging... no issues

my missus was on the VOIP phone tonight for 1.5 hours... no issues. no drops.. perfect call quality.. all the time that I was downloading a file at 300kbps

I dont personally think it matters how far you go back as long as the router doesnt loose functionality... do a listing on what the latest firmware actually fixes in the FAQ.. I think you will see its not all that much

to each his own..

 

[Achim]

I hear you...

Off to Germany this evening. I'll install the older firmware when I get back.

Many thanks!

Achim

 

[Achim]

RESULT! The "old" firmware works. No more drop outs, much faster file transfers.

Many thanks for the tip! Shame on Netgear for rolling out firmware with a bug.

Achim