Wireless internet goes walkabout

I am using ATT DSL through the ATT wifi/modem combination at a condo I am renting. Quite often when I am using the Internet the browser makes contact and indicates that the site is about 1/2 downloaded and then stops. It doesn't pick back up again and complete the download. Sometimes I need to resend the address 2-3 times before it finally takes. No particular website as I have had it happen with Facebook, Yahoo, my home page at earthlink.net, racer.com and others. I have problems believing that all are that busy. Happens across browsers (Safari, Firefox, Sea Monkey), and across different things (my MacBook Pro, iPhones and iPads) and even when a brower isn't directly involved such as when I check the temperature on the furnace app at home or my wife uses her slot machine app. I also plugged the MBP directly in through the Ethernet connection with the same behaviors. I have unplugged and plugged back in the wifi, which pretty much exhausts my skills in this area. Any other suggestions?

Reply to
Kurt Ullman
Loading thread data ...

If you are seeing the same thing happen with a direct Ethernet connection to the DSL modem/router, then it pretty much rules out the WiFi aspect.

You might try running something like PingPlotter to see when things get weird. I have left it running on a connected laptop continuously with 2.5s Pings.

I have seen the Pings run fine - but the ATT Domain Servers serving slowly, so anytime a DNS lookup happens - things just stop -

Reply to
ps56k

Is there some reason you have to use the AT&T DNS? I use the openDNS. The fastest DNS is usually google, but then again, that means the google 'bot is spying on you. If you want to geek out, there is a program that flogs all the free DNS and finds the fastest for your location.

formatting link

The openDNS unfortunately goes into a search mode if the address is not found. I rather it just 404. but it doesn't get too obnoxious.

Apple products are well known for wifi deafness. Do iphones and ipads support an ethernet driver over usb like the rest of the industry? If so, you could rule out the processor and basically blame it on the wifi. You do need to insure you don't have your device in the mode where the usb port looks like a usb drive.

Reply to
miso

Basically this is a rental (otherwise I wouldn't be 100 miles of either DSL or ATT) and I don't want to mess with things too much for a few weeks. It is very annoying, but that is all at this point.

Don't know right off since I don't need them elsewhere. However, if they do I don't have the connector and it isn't worth the money for a few weeks.

Reply to
Kurt Ullman

Is the AT&T modem/wi-fi/router box a Motorola NVG510? Is so, the problem you describe is caused by a broken DNS relay client in the router section. There are also other problems. The problem has been around for at least a year, probably more, during which time AT&T has ignored it. In my opinion, there's probably nothing wrong with the router hardware, just the stock AT&T configuration. If it were your router, I can offer some suggestions, but since it's a rental you're stuck.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

It says 5031NV.

I
Reply to
Kurt Ullman

Why "stuck"? Why not just use another DNS?

I haven't been following closely, so I assume I missed something.

Reply to
Char Jackson

That's a different box, made by 2-Wire (Pace), not Motorola.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

The DNS relay features is broken in the NVG510. You can either fix it by hacking the router, or setting all your PC's to bypass the relay server in the router, go directly to the ISP's DNS server, or point it at one of the public DNS servers (OpenDNS, Google, etc). Please read the above URL for details.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Thanks, but you've already answered my question. The OP wouldn't be stuck at all. There are several very viable options available.

Reply to
Char Jackson

There are other problems, but they're minor. The good news is that unlike many other router/switch/wi-fi conglomerated products, the Motorola NVG510 doesn't seem to hang or lock up. The bad news is that there seem to be other minor problems that have to do with configuration. For example, I'm having problems staying connected with several iPad 2 tablets. The iPad 3 and various iPhones work fine, just the iPad 2. There were a bunch of other mior oddities that I can't seem to recall right now. It would be nice if the NVG510 router section could be disabled and the device used only as a DSL modem and wi-fi bridge, but that requires jailbreaking the modem. In my never humble opinion, it's easier to just get a DSL modem (from AT&T) and be done with it.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Kurt Ullman wrote in news:CYWdnUIb7MoiqnTPnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.com:

Get rid of ATT, they are spies.

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: snipped-for-privacy@netfront.net ---

Reply to
l

I'm using an AT&T branded 2wire dsl modem/router, though I am not on AT&T. I just DMZ it into a DD-WRT router.

I'd love to get a DSL modem where it was totally dumb and used open source firmware. That doesn't seem to be in the cards.

I still have my Telocity DSL modem stashed away somewhere.

Reply to
miso

Cabling-Design.com Forums website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.