D-Link Forums
The Graveyard - Products No Longer Supported => Routers / COVR => DIR-655 => Topic started by: jpm67 on September 03, 2009, 04:06:16 PM
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Here are some changes to make if you are having difficulty with wireless disconnects, video streaming problems, reboots, etc.
Updated operating system files and network card drivers are important. Go to www.windowsupdate.com (http://www.windowsupdate.com) and download and install all available updates. Reboot and do it again until no more updates are available. In particular, look for available network card drivers and check those in the hardware section.
Make these settings on the router
Under Advanced --> QOS engine --> QOS engine setup
Uncheck "Dynamic Fragmentation"
http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?action=search2;params=&search="Dynamic%20Fragmentation" (http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?action=search2;params=&search="Dynamic%20Fragmentation")
Advanced --> Firewall Settings
Uncheck "Enable anti-spoof checking"
Under Advanced --> Advanced Wireless -->Advanced Wireless Settings:
Uncheck "Short GI"
http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?action=search2;params=&search="Short%20GI" (http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?action=search2;params=&search="Short%20GI")
Under Advanced --> Secure Spot
Uncheck "Enable Securespot services"
http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?action=search2;params=&search="Securespot%20services" (http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?action=search2;params=&search="Securespot%20services")
Under Setup --> Internet --> Manual Internet Connection Setup:
Uncheck "Enable Advanced DNS Service"
http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?action=search2;params=&search="Advanced%20DNS%20Service" (http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?action=search2;params=&search="Advanced%20DNS%20Service")
Under Setup --> Network Settings --> Router Settings:
Uncheck "Enable DNS Relay"
http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?action=search2;params=&search="dns%20relay" (http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?action=search2;params=&search="dns%20relay")
Under Setup --> Network Settings --> DHCP Server Settings:
Check "Always Broadcast"
http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?action=search2;params=&search="Always%20Broadcast" (http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?action=search2;params=&search="Always%20Broadcast")
Under Setup --> USB Settings:
Set "My USB type" to WCN Configuration
http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?action=search2;params=&search="shareport" (http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?action=search2;params=&search="shareport")
Under Setup --> Wireless Settings --> Manual Wireless Network Setup:
Set 802.11 Mode to Mixed n,g,b
Check "Enable Auto Channel Scan"
Set "Transmission rate" to Best (automatic)
Set "channel width" to 20
Set "Visibility Status" to visible
Be sure to reboot your router, then all of your clients after making these changes.
If these settings fix your problem you can undo the changes one by one until it breaks to determine which one is causing your problem.
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I would suggest NOT using Windows Update for hardware drivers. Go straight to the manufacturer to get the latest drivers.
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Hi,
The USB item can vary based on your use... I have mine set to use a USB printer...."Network USB"
I have my channel set to specific one.... My thinking is that anything that might cause the router to change channels (other than a reboot) would likely cause a disconnect to the wireless clients.
I have my Visibility Status set to be invisible....makes it that much harder for anybody to try and connect that isn't allowed,....
I have Router QOS engine turned off....
In fact if you are trying to diagnose wireless disconnects....turn everything off that might affect your wireless signals and clients..... See if you can be stable in a wide open mode of operation..... .11G only...etc.... Then add stuff back one at a time,...if you have to take the slow route....do so.
Try to get stable on pure .11G if you can.... Then go about adding any .11N stuff....
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@OP: I want some back up for your ideas of what to turn off. For example, why turning of Dynamic Fragmentation, is that enough or turning off QoS entirely better? Issue with WPS, I haven't heard too. So give some reason please so ppl can check what is the most likely culprit for their unstable DIR-655.
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@OP: I want some back up for your ideas of what to turn off. For example, why turning of Dynamic Fragmentation, is that enough or turning off QoS entirely better? Issue with WPS, I haven't heard too. So give some reason please so ppl can check what is the most likely culprit for their unstable DIR-655.
Turning of Dynamic Fragmentation fixed some streaming issues I was having with XBMC. It's better than losing the QOS feature entirely.
I removed the WPS recommendation.
These are just a few quick fixes I have discovered to correct problems I have had, and a few others I noticed many people using.
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I have my channel set to specific one.... My thinking is that anything that might cause the router to change channels (other than a reboot) would likely cause a disconnect to the wireless clients.
In a neighborhood with several close APs, this will eliminate some interference issues by automatically finding the channel with the least interference. I think many APs choose the channel on boot, so random disconnects are unlikely due to a channel change. Anyone know how automatic channel selection works on the DIR-655?
I have my Visibility Status set to be invisible....makes it that much harder for anybody to try and connect that isn't allowed,.....
An invisible SSID really provides very little security protection. You're better off leaving visibility on and using WPA or preferably WPA2 for security. Some wireless clients don't handle a hidden SSID well.
I have Router QOS engine turned off.....
I originally turned QOS off too, but discovered the problem I was having was with Dynamic Fragmentation.
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An invisible SSID really provides very little security protection. You're better off leaving visibility on and using WPA or preferably WPA2 for security. Some wireless clients don't handle a hidden SSID well.
I setup all wireless manually with static IP's and never have a problem with any of them.
Clients do not need to "see" the SSID if it is already in their configuration.
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IMO you should add your experience and a short description to the first post, as I said it would help ppl to debug.
I wanna add a few things:
- Checking Advanced DNS Service is like typing other DNS servers into the DNS server list instead of using the default ones assign by your ISP or whatever running the DHCP server upstream. So unchecking this only solves your DNS issue not the router unstability.
- SecureSpot: I don't think it has anything to do with this router stability but it's an unnecessary feature to a lot of ppl, myself included so I uncheck it.
- ShortGI: uncheck this of your environment is noisy, read the included help in the router web interface.
- Switch USB port to WCN Configuration: I do this too, I don't use Shareport and never will, it's a flawed concept, and can cause stability according to threads on this forum. (Additional stuff: The latest IpOS, the core of this router firmware, has support for SMB/CIFS, if it is included instead of Shareport I'm all for it but I guess at that time I will hate the speed, my self built NAS runs at 100MB/s peak (without cache effect) on my gigabit network).
- DNS Relay: this is mixed bag, it has worked for a lot of ppl and has a sticky thread for it, for me it made my line slow down a lot, don't know why, your mileage may vary.
- NTP time server: I had problem with this feature when I use certain NTP servers on 1.31/1.32NA firmware, it cause the router to constantly resetting after synchronize with the NTP server. You may either find a compatible server, use the Dlink one or disable it.
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I setup all wireless manually with static IP's and never have a problem with any of them.
Clients do not need to "see" the SSID if it is already in their configuration.
Well it might make brute force attack a little harder (add another step) to guess the SSID but not impossible, in fact if you use WPA, we over here, some staff at a CSE faculty at a university, can crack it in one or two hours (depending on network traffic) without using brute force attack. It has a way. The recommended method to secure wireless network is WPA2 with AES with suitable long pass-phrase (haven't found a way to crack this without brute force). I use a 63 long key which you can get from https://www.grc.com/passwords.htm and use WPS with PIN to register clients.
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I setup all wireless manually with static IP's and never have a problem with any of them.
Clients do not need to "see" the SSID if it is already in their configuration.
I run a wireless network of over a hundred access points. Because it is a college, the wireless clients range from one end of the spectrum to the other, various laptops, netbooks, cell phones, PDAs, PSP, etc. One of the biggest problems I have had was finding settings that would allow everyone to connect. I started out with hidden SSID and eventually changed to a broadcast SSID in order to allow certain clients to connect. Hiding has very little security benefit and causes problems for some.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=hidden+ssid+problem&start=10&sa=N
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I use a 63 long key which you can get from https://www.grc.com/passwords.htm and use WPS with PIN to register clients.
I use KeyPass (http://keepass.info/) to create better passwords than you can at the GRC site as you can specify what elements are in the password. This also allows me to have a list of what key(s) (and what it is) goes to what router(s).
Hiding has very little security benefit and causes problems for some.
I don't hide it for security but to reduce the number of "hits" on the network.
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I have had my router stable on 1.31NA for about 3 days now after tweaking setting mentioned in various threads. For me it seemed like 1.31 is better than 1.32. Does anyone else think the same?
Now I really just need them to solve the throughput and signal on the router. They are obviously not as good on these firmwares. I have seen anywhere from 54-162mbps on an all wireless N network. It is mostly hovering around 108-162mbps as of now. I have only seen ~2mb/s max in vista over the network. What did you all see and what are you seeing now on the new firmwares?
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Well that depends on your environment and the luck you get with quality of your wireless client and router I guess. With my DIR-655 and the DWA-140 client. I got highest 14-16 MB/s with Vista file copying over network, but it was like a one time thing only, in fact that was yesterday. It has a problem when it is that fast though. It seems like the DIR-655 is overwhelmed and I can't surf the net with torrent on at the same time when wireless speed is that fast. If I turn off torrent, it works but quite slowly. Typically I get around 8-12MB/s
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Bigeyes...
Sorry to be the grammar police, but you said 12-14 MBps (MegaBytes per second)....did you mean MBps or Mbps (megabits per second) ??
If you mean MegaBytes, then that really so bad over a network, as it translates to 92 Mbps+ (approx)... Which is well past normal real world .11G speeds (approx 18 Mbps+) and is right in the approx 1/3 of advertised speed of .11N (300 Mbps / 3 = 100 Mbps) for a real world scenario, at least as I have seen wireless play out over the past number of years.
SD1
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According to international standard (JEDEC) MB is Megabyte (or 1048576 bytes not 1000000bytes in SI) and Mb is Megabit. The correct notation I should use is IEC 60027-2 MiBps or MiB/s, but I use Windows notation.
I'm in N mode for these number. WPA2 with AES encryption. And what you see is standard .11N network speed, not worse or better. 300Mbps is only advertised speed.
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By experimenting with the orientation of the three DIR-655 antennas I found the optimal position of the antennas to be with the middle one straight up and the outside ones diagonally opposite to one another at about 45 degrees. This seems to be especially true for the more distant clients.
This is an example.
(http://images.dlink.com/new/products/ANT24-0230/ANT24-0230_front.png)
You can optimize the signal strength of the various wireless clients by going to "Status --> Wireless" and position the antennas so that you maximize the wireless signal. This is displayed as "signal %."
My signal increased from 60 to 72 just by making this change.
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I think D-Link beat you to it.
Amazing what you can find in the FAQ's.
Go HERE (http://www.dlink.com/support/faq/default.aspx?question=antenna)
On the right side click Read next to the question:
What is the best way to position the antennas on my DIR series router for optimal performance?
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Yeah, the FAQ is kinda good. At least I know how to position my DIR-655 antennas when I put the router vertically from it.
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Assuming you're looking at RSSI from a client, your figures represent a 12dBm signal LOSS not gain. A few of you need to take RF101 (ASAP ;)) Goto this wiki and carefully review the unit conversions tables http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DBm
So you are saying that D-Link does not know the best antenna orientation for their own routers?
From the FAQ's I linked to in my previous post:
Question: What is the best way to position the antennas on my DIR series router for optimal performance?
Answer: The following image illustrates the configuration of each DIR series router antenna on both recommended positions:
(http://support.dlink.com/faq/faq_images/dir625/3015/1.jpg)
(http://support.dlink.com/faq/faq_images/dir625/3015/2.jpg)
These positions will allow for optimal transmission to and reception from, your wireless clients.
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You just gotta play around with it with someone on a cell phone in the other room. :)
It doesn't show how they should be if it is hanging on the wall.
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I think D-Link beat you to it.
Amazing what you can find in the FAQ's.
Go HERE (http://www.dlink.com/support/faq/default.aspx?question=antenna)
Thanks for the reference to the FAQ. I couldn't find that diagram you posted. I figured if I made a mistake with antenna orientation, others probably had too. I was surpised at the difference it made. This router is pretty good once you find the right settings to make.