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[mtulley]

Hi there!

I've recently bought a DLink 868L for my University accommodation so my computer that runs through ethernet and wireless devices: Nexus 4, Asus MEMO Pad HD and Acer laptop can connect as well.

I am completely unsure as to why the connectivity is so bad; for instance right now with my Nexus 4 and tablet only 30cm away I have 1 bar or less signal and in general since I started using the router I have never reached full signal even with the phone or tablet placed right ON the router (the same can be said for my laptop). On the other hand my PC through the Ethernet switch works fine, but I bought this £60-70 router for its wireless and not to act like a switch . The devices are constantly dropping connection aswell and when it asks for the wireless password, what it really wanted was the WPS key :s?

Running Firmware 1.09
Hardware Version A1

Thanks!

[FurryNutz]

Link>Welcome!

• Did the router come with v1.09 or did you load it? What site did you get v1.09 from if you loaded it?
• What region are you located?
• Are you using 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz
• Has a Factory Reset been performed?
• Was a Factory Reset performed before and after any firmware updates then set up from scratch?

FW Update Process

• Was the router working before any firmware updates?

Internet Service Provider and Modem Configurations

• What ISP Service do you have? Cable or DSL?
• What ISP Modem Mfr. and model # do you have?
• Is ISP Modem/Service using Dynamic or Static WAN IP addressing?
• What ISP Modem service link speeds UP and Down do you have?

Wireless Configurations
Links>Wireless Installation Considerations and Managing Signal Congestion and Good Neighbour Policy

• Ensure the default (dlink) SSID name is changed. Can be anything and not something that's already in use by any neighboring WiFi routers. Under Setup/Wireless/Manual.
• What wireless modes are you using?
• 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz routers: Try single mode G or N or mixed G and N on 2.4Ghz and single mode N or AC on 5Ghz?
• Channel Width set for Auto 20/40Mhz or try 20Mhz only.
• Try setting a manual Channel to a open or unused channel. 1, 6 or 11. 11 for single mode N if the channel is clear. 13 for EU regions. Try channel 48 or 149 on 5Ghz.
• What security mode are you using? Preferred security is WPA-Personal. WPA2/AES Only. Some WiFi adapters don't support AES, so you might want to try TPIK only or Auto TPIK and AES.
• Any 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz cordless house phones or WiFi APs near by?
• Any other WiFi routers in the area? Link> Use InSSIDer to find out. How many? Use v3, its free.
• If you have any of these options, Try turning OFF or ON Short GI, WLAN Partition, Extra Wireless Protection and HT 20/40 Co-existence if you have it. Also testing with HT20/40Mhz Co-existence enabled will impact results as well. I prefer to use this option OFF. Recommended settings are default. Under Advanced/Advanced Wireless.

Router Placement
Forum User - "Well I feel really dumb. After moving the router away from other electronic devices my speeds are back to normal. Just a heads up for anyone experiencing slow speeds, you might want to move it away from other electronics and see if that helps."
3-6' feet minimum safe distance between devices.
Placement on main level floor and central in the building and WELL ventilated is preferred. Not in basements or closets as building materials, or near by electronics devices could interfere or hinder good signal propagation.
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-basics/31083-smallnetbuilders-wireless-faq-the-essentials

[mtulley]

Loaded the 1.09FW through the router update
Factory reset has been done after the 1.09 update
Router was working before and after update just an extremely poor connection
Using both 2.4GHz and 5GHz

The accommodation im in is a block of flats (private student accommodation) with our ISP being ASK4, In my room I basically have an ethernet port saying "internet" which I use and all the other students use to connect to their routers so im not sure. Im 99% sure we have Fibre as we can upgrade to 100Mb connections, currently im 30Mb down 3Mb up.

Name is changed
Gone through all combinations of modes N G A AC etc with no change in signal strength
Tried changing channel width 20/40 or 20 changed nothing
There are alot of routers in this block of flats, probably 10+ although I have the only 5GHz capable router and the wireless signal is still very poor (same as 2.4 band)
Using WPA-personal on WPA2
10+ routers in area see above
Tried WLAN partition, dont have extra wireless protection, tried HT 20/40

My ethernet cable only goes so far and so does the power adapter so im very limited to where I can place it, either way it didnt make a change. To put it into perspective on channel 6 there are 4 routers each full signal where as I am the only router on 13 with 30-40% signal and remains the same for all channels. Have tried increasing the signal strength to high and it doesnt change .

[mtulley]

Using the Wifi analyser app on android my friends router which is about 10-15m away is -60dBm and mine less than a meter away is -90dBm if that means anything.

[cable2]

HI,
-50dBm or lower is excellent, fully saturated, the higher you go,-60,-70,-80, the poorer your signal, by  -90dBm it is extremely poor as your results indicate.  If possible, I would consider temporarily just moving your router to almost any place where you could power it up in the absence of other wifi signals and then testing your signal strength, if it still reads that poor, I have to think it is a hardware issue.  I get excellent coverage in my home (1700 sq. ft.) with the 868L in a far corner and through several sheetrock walls, although, it often reports say only 3 bars, until I actually make the connection when it jumps up to 4-5 bars.  I attribute this to the "Beam Forming" stuff, but that's just a guess.  Anyway, if you can easily return it and swap it for another one, I would consider this asap.  Oh yeah, use the 5GHz as much as possible in your congested location.

[FurryNutz]

What region are you located?

[mtulley]

The connection drops all the time and on all devices is very very rarely 2 bars with sub-par speeds aswell

Im in Loughborough in the UK atm

[FurryNutz]

Please download v1.08 from here:
http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?topic=60520.0

Do a factory reset before and after sending the FW .bin file then set up from scratch. Set manual channel to 13 for 2.4Ghz.

v1.09 is not released for your region and last release is v1.08.

Let us know if v1.08 works any better. You maybe in a Wireless congested area.

• Try setting Medium or Low power output settings and test again Under Advanced/Advanced Wireless.

[mtulley]

Going to return the router, tried everything to no avail. Never had/seen such a poor performing router; perhaps its a hardware fault im not sure. The way it performs is as if its some crappy £5 router. Having friends with much worse wireless routers than this and having great signal with no problems has done it for me.

Appreciate the help.

[FurryNutz]

I presume that there is either a environment condition, mis-configuration or the router is faulty. I would try another 868L out as you may have a faulty router. These are good solid router and do work well for me and others.

Good Luck.