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Author Topic: random loss of connection between repeater and router  (Read 13408 times)

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Offline DreamtunnelMan

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random loss of connection between repeater and router
« on: April 28, 2014, 10:42:25 am »
For the past few months I have had intermittent problems which are only rectified by doing a reconnect of my Almond repeater to my ASUS router.  The signal strength for the repeater is "full bars", and Windows says I have internet access, but no web page will come up.  Once I tell the Almond to reconnect, I am good to go ... for a while.  If I change my network connection to go directly to the router and not use the repeater, I can get out on the internet just fine.  My other devices in the house that go directly to the router also get out on the internet fine at these times.

Sometimes when I attempt to reconnect the repeater to the router the connection fails.  This is random, and independent of where in the house I place the repeater.  In fact, I have placed the repeater right next to the router and still had random problems getting the repeater to connect.

Any thoughts?  Have I got a defective unit?

Essoh

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Re: random loss of connection between repeater and router
« Reply #1 on: April 28, 2014, 02:36:57 pm »
I dont know if this is a defective unit, but I can suggest few ideas:

- You can check first the software version of almond in the last screen of the LCD in the "about" icon. You should see AL1... R196...Otherwise you have to update if you have some veersion like R195, R194 etc

- You can hard reset almond by pressing and hold the small button above the power cord for 5 to 7 seconds with a pen or pencil or a stylus. Then you can reconfigure again as Range extender

- After hard resetting you can use the icon "Wireless Wan" at the last page of the LCD, instead of "Range extender", to connect almond to your router. That can be more stable according to the signal received from the main router. You can call the support for a final help if the connection is still intermittent.

Offline Patrick Wilson

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Re: random loss of connection between repeater and router
« Reply #2 on: April 28, 2014, 11:58:27 pm »
For the past few months I have had intermittent problems which are only rectified by doing a reconnect of my Almond repeater to my ASUS router.  The signal strength for the repeater is "full bars", and Windows says I have internet access, but no web page will come up.  Once I tell the Almond to reconnect, I am good to go ... for a while.  If I change my network connection to go directly to the router and not use the repeater, I can get out on the internet just fine.  My other devices in the house that go directly to the router also get out on the internet fine at these times.

Sometimes when I attempt to reconnect the repeater to the router the connection fails.  This is random, and independent of where in the house I place the repeater.  In fact, I have placed the repeater right next to the router and still had random problems getting the repeater to connect.

Any thoughts?  Have I got a defective unit?

Unfortunately this is difficult to troubleshoot properly, because "Range Extender" mode is basically a "wireless bridge" between the radios in both the main router (Asus in your case),  and the Almond in it's Range Extender mode.  If there are wireless connectively issues between them you don't know which end actually failed.  Power cycling either device would probably solve the problem,  (even if only temporarily),  so using this as a troubleshooting step is somewhat inconclusive.

It you want to determine whether or not the Almond is the problem,  you might want to consider setting the Almond up as an Access Point instead of a Range Extender.  To operate your Almond as an Access Point you simply wire the WAN port of the Almond to one of the LAN ports of the main router.  This effectively replaces the "wireless bridge" provided by the Range Extender with a hard wired CAT5/6 cable.  If you do this you can review the Wi-Fi behaviour between the Almond and it's clients against the behaviour of the main router and its clients. 

You haven't identified your main router model,  but some Broadcom radio chips allegedly have issues with a "stuck beacon" which effectively stops all data traffic on an established connection.  Renewing the connection,  by reseting either device,  thus causing reconnect usually resolves it.  (I have even seen messages is some Forums recommending powercycling the Router daily to prevent the problem,  but I can not recommend this solution)

Check to ensure that you are using up to date Firmware on both devices,  this might improve the quality or your "Range Extender" connectivity, or simply try the Access Point feature so that the Almond can reserve it's radio for servicing Wi-Fi clients without needing to "bridge" itself to the main router.  (It really depends on how easy/possible/expensive it would be to wire them together,  you should also get better throughput to the Internet from your wireless devices, if the Almond doesn't have to "repeat" every packet.  Give the Access Point feature a try.  It works very well here,  and I never have to worry about the connection to my main router. 

   

To setup Access Point mode simply connect the WAN port of the Almond to one of the LAN ports on the Asus,  and follow the menus on the TouchUI.  It's two clicks to set it up.  The feature is positively brilliant.  In this mode the Almond will pick a LAN address for itself via DHCP on it's WAN port from your main router (so it joins your pre-existing network).  All DHCP for your network will be at your main router. 




 
« Last Edit: April 29, 2014, 12:11:49 am by Patrick Wilson »
Patrick Wilson
Victoria, BC Canada

Offline DreamtunnelMan

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Re: random loss of connection between repeater and router
« Reply #3 on: April 30, 2014, 09:38:06 am »
Thanks for your suggestions, gentlemen.  I'll give them a try.  Meanwhile, here are a few more notes on the behavior I'm seeing. 
1.  Any device connected to the Almond encounters this problem.
2.  No device connecting directly to the router wirelessly has this problem.
3.  Windows shows the Almond signal is strong.
4.  Resetting the connection this morning, several times, did not work.  I can't explain why it's working now.  When I do a reset, ordinarily at the "Waiting for the IP" step I see the progress bar move until the Almond gets its IP.  Now I'm not seeing any progress bar, and after a few moments at this step, the Almond simply returns to the "wireless diagram" screen it usually shows.
5.  The problem is independent of the browser I use.  I mainly use Firefox but switching to IE does *not* make the problem go away.

I'll keep you guys posted.  Thanks for the replies!

Offline DreamtunnelMan

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Re: random loss of connection between repeater and router
« Reply #4 on: April 30, 2014, 10:33:44 am »
Here's an update.

1.  The firmware is up to date on both the Almond and the router.
2.  Wiring the Almond as an Access Point instead of a Range Extender is not feasible.
3.  Since any device that *doesn't* use the Almond is able to talk to the router just fine, the problem can't be the router radio.

 

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