DI-614+ drops long-term connections

[stitch]

I grabbed a DI-614+ to network our house (was using internet connection sharing from both Linux and windows but frequent reboots to/from OSs disrupted things, plus I wanted wireless for a future multimedia PC).

So far, works like a champ, easy to set up, great logs, etc. Super.

Unfortunately, it seems to be kicking me offline when it renews its DHCP address. Only momentarily, for a second or two, but if it happens during gameplay and I go linkdead, it's quite irritating.

I can work around it to a point by forcing a renewal before I start playing, but for long sessions it gets really frustrating (like--ugh--Everquest... don't ridicule me too much, only way to keep up with some old friends).

I've tried opening port triggered ports for the UDP recommended ports in EQ to no avail. I can't just simply forward all UDP ports to my system because my wife plays too (at the same time).

Anyone know anything I don't about the DI-614+? It's a great little product so far, so I don't want to abandon it without giving it more tries, but it's getting tiring.

:Stitch:

 

[riser]

I was having a similar problem with my Linksys router. I was trying to play BF1942 and I would get disconnected. Turns out it was my ISP (Adelphia) was reassigning the same IP to me, not renewing it, every 15 minutes. Check that part first to make sure they're registering your connection properly. If your IP is not changing constantly or is getting reassigned the same address, you'll need to contact them and ask to have your information ripped from their router and reloaded.
Now, if your d-link wireless is set up as a DHCP server, check to see if you can extend your lease times on it. Extend that to 24 hours or so. Your best chance is to assign a static IP address to your gaming computer. Ex. If your router is using DHCP, it is probably assigning itself 192.169.1.1 with an IP address range of 192.169.1.2-192.169.1.254. This means you can set your IP address of your machine to anything in that list. Use 192.169.1.10 if you want to keep it simple.
In the simplest form: Give your machine a static IP so it won’t need to renew, keep your router the same with no changes. If your ISP does not like you using a router, try having your router spoof your computer’s MAC address. Be warned, some ISPs lock your MAC address and only send to that NIC, so you may need to contact them to have the router’s MAC wiped out so it will pick up the newly spoofed one.
Hope that helps you out,
Riser

 

[stitch]

Riser:

This is an interesting response in that we are using the same provider (Adelphia). I was in fact doing static assignments for my local computers, but this part is what puzzles me:

> If your ISP does not like you using a router, try
> having your router spoof your computer’s MAC address

I did this because Adelphia does index by MAC addresses, but...

>Be warned, some ISPs lock your MAC address and only send
>to that NIC, so you may need to contact them to have the
>router’s MAC wiped out so it will pick up the newly
>spoofed one.

That bit confused me. If I'm cloning the computer's MAC address, is there any need to have the ISP clear its local copy of the MAC?

Basically, what I did was

1. Disconnect old MAC
2. Connect router and clone old MAC
3. Start usin' that router

Now I will say that the router began getting new and different IP addresses from DHCP, which was a confusion (it had kept the same IP address when it was a direct connection for quite some time). I had attributed this to a peculiar router setup.

Any assistance in diagnosing this? I am returning my D-Link router until I get this working with a borrowed router (I have heard too many stories of DI-614+ firmware instability, and it was mailorder, so I wanted to return it and buy locally so returns are easier).

Thanks-->Stitch

 

[riser]

It wouldn't hurt to have Adelphia clear your MAC address out of your system and have them pick up the router's MAC address instead of spoofing it. In all honestly I haven't tested that concept out to its full extend during gaming but it sounds like it could pose a potential problem with gaming or streaming information.
I would remove the masked MAC address from the router, contact Adelphia to have them remove the current indexed MAC and start fresh with the router. I do believe Adelphia claims to support routers but only the Linksys brand as they seem to be fairly easy to setup and consistent with one another.
Another step would be to check your firmware version on the router (assuming you have not returned it yet, but if you have, keep this thought in mind). I did update my linksys to a newer firmware when I was using DSL because the PPPoE wasn't functioning properly, but did work. That seemed to help out and I think it even increased my data throughput slightly (?) - I don't have much hard data on this as I have since switched my ISP provider after that firmware update-.
Being that it is wireless, I'm starting to wonder if the router was consistent in its broadcasting to your machine? Could it be possible that the signal may have been fading in and out slightly, enough to drop during gameplay but not noticable when surfing?
I've had adelphia for around 3 months now and I'm almost certain my IP address stays the same, the lease is only renewed instead of switching my so-called dynamic IP address on me.
A few months ago THG ran an article on wireless routers, their consistency and quality. I believe they ranked a NetGear model and a Linksys (802.11b for both) as their top two picks for best performance. You may want to look up their article and review what they had to say about each brand. A few years ago (I know this being a long time in terms of wireless technology) I had worked with two D-Link APs and I could only get a connection within 8 feet of the APs and nothing else. Since then I have not been fan of D-Link or find their equipment to be reliable. Then again I haven't tested any of their equipment out within the last year. I try to aim safe with Linksys equipment. I've heard their wireless routers tend to perform nicely. I don't know if you had a certain reason you were working with D-Link or thats the one recommended or you found for a descent price.
Always remember you get what you paid for. The 40 dollar router will work the same as the 150 dollar router, but the chipsetin the 150 will out perform and be worth it in the long run.
My last thought I had right now would be to use another computer as a dedicated game server, connect in and play. See if you disconnect there, which would mean you're losing a connection on your LAN and not your ISP/WAN. I'm assuming you'll want to put the highest strain on your LAN connection due to get as close as possible to simulating network traffic and game play. Even download a file on your machine while gaming. Yeah it'll slow your game down but it'll put heavier traffic on your network which may cause a connection drop from your wireless router, just enough to boot you from your game.
Hopefully something in my babbling will help you out or assist you in finding another solution. Don't forget to check out D-Link's website, technical support and FAQs. I don't think port forwarding is the answer to your problem either seeing as most routers open the ports necessary when requested from a game.
Good luck on this and keep posting if I can be of any help to you.

Riser

 

[stitch]

Riser:

Thanks for the insight. I've already requested an RMA for the D-Link and may just return it anyway.

It turns out that the REAL problem may be one of those coincidences that happens once in a blue moon: my cablemodem began dying about the same time as I switched to a router.

Now, I don't trust coincidences. But what is happening (I finally made it over in time to look at the lights when I started going linkdead and before it reset) is that the router is fine, but the modem itself is losing its cable connection for about 20-30 seconds. I spoke with Adelphia and after spending quite some time convincing the support tech to keep looking for a problem ("Sir, I think things look fine, your modem is showing 99.75 percent uptime for the past three weeks"), we finally did find something ("Oh, it looks like your max uptime during that time frame was 14 hours, usually about 6 hours, and your modem has disconnected and reconnected 70 times in the past 18 days"). This was talking about the modem losing signal connection with the net, not about computers (or the router) behind the modem establishing DHCP leases or anything. They will be replacing the modem on Thursday, and hopefully that will fix my problem.

So it's not the router after all. Maybe. It seems very fishy that the modem would magically begin to go bad about the same time, but this would account for the problem persisting over two different routers, and Adelphia has been doing maintenance in the area, so maybe things were altered such that a going-bad modem finally showed its faults. I don't know.

>I don't know if you had a certain reason you were working
>with D-Link or thats the one recommended or you found for
>a descent price.

Various reviews actually, and user comments from NewEgg, CNet, and some other areas. It was going to be a tossup between the D-Link DI-614+, the Linksys BEFW11S4, and the NetGear MR814, and user comments seemed to favor the D-Link. I'm pretty torn. I'm currently borrowing the Linksys, the D-Link is in the car awaiting return, but I can't decide if I should return it or not. But I may just punt and get the NetGear, or at least buy it locally and try it out just to try a third option (heard a lot of good things about NetGear routers).

AFTER the modem is replaced, of course (this should happen on Thursday).

Thanks for the pointer to the Tom's guide. Their second-place recommendation (the Linksys BEFW11S4) is the router I'm borrowing now. It does at least seem slightly more stable than the D-Link, but I have heard some differing opinions, thus my idea of trying the NetGear. We'll see how it goes.

-->VPutz