Bought new router - not sure "where to plug it"

[Pedro Saraiva]

Sorry if it sounds stupid, it's mostly because English is not my primary language so I'm having a hard time explaining myself.

I live/rent a room in Lisbon-Portugal, and for ages the internet sucked during peak times, mostly because (IMO) we live in 6 people and the wireless router is a THOMSON TG799vn. So during this black friday season I've decided to buy a new router myself (a D-Link DIR-882) instead of waiting months until my landlord do something.

The thing is, the current "setup" going on here was originally provided by the ISP, and as you guys can imagine by the THOMSON TG799vn, it's a pretty old one. So far I saw three different "devices", the first been what I believe is just a plastic box to protect the fiber cable from breaking (it keeps it in circles and avoids bending), the second one I'm not sure what it is, but the fiber connects to it and from it goes an ethernet cable into the THOMSON TG799vn WAN port.

So finally, my question: can I take the THOMSON TG799vn completely out of the picture and plug the "second device" directly to the new D-Link DIR-882 WAN port? I believe that would be the best because (again IMO) the fewer the number of devices, the faster my connection to the actually internet would be. But I don't have the kwoledge to understand if the THOMSON TG799vn does any kind of routing per se or if it works only as a wireless transmiter in this particular "setup".

Thanks in advance for any help.

Cheers.

 

[degrub]

The TG799vn is your current router.
You should be able to replace it.
You can just unplug the cable from the TG wan port and plug it into the Dlink and see what happens.
However, if the ISP expects the same MAC address of the TG you may have to use MAC address cloning in the Dlink. Just log into the TG and write down the MAC address of the device.

Another solution would be to change the configuration in the TG to "bridge mode". This will turn off all routing functions and just pass the ethernet packets to the next router, the DLink.

You will have to log into the Dlink and go through the setup configuration.
You may want to consider a different brand router if you are having throughput issues.
What is your current nominal speed from the ISP ?

What are the users doing when things get slow ?

 

[Pedro Saraiva]

What is your current nominal speed from the ISP ?

I'd say 100Mb/20Mb but can't say for sure. As I've never had the opportunity to do a wired test, I'm going for the default speeds for fiber connections here in Portugal.

What are the users doing when things get slow ?

Pretty much all students, so Netflix?

You may want to consider a different brand router if you are having throughput issues.

Well, I was looking for a ASUS RT-AC66U B1 for several weeks, but this Black Friday the D-Link got a nice discount and as the SNB review was favourable, I went for it.
I'd think the throughput issues are related to the number of devices connected simultaneously because multiple times when it was pratically refusing to work, I just disconnected my phone from the router and it got better instantly. In that perspective, the DIR-882 having both a 2.4Ghz and a 5Ghz networks, I hope it will perform considerably better, being able to split the devices between them, right?

 

[degrub]

If you set up separate SSIDs for the 2.4 and 5, yes, and you force the users to use that SSID.
Otherwise, the user device will select whichever band it can and prefers. You can set up several SSIDs in each band if the AP config allows it, but don't go crazy since sometimes this will slow the overall throughput.

What is the wireless environment ? Are there other wireless systems close by ?
If so, your issue may be interference from other APs being on the same channel. Have you looked at the channels being used ? Sometimes you can solve this type of issue by moving to less used channel within the band. In the US we have channels 1 through 11 on 2.4. Best allocation is channel 1 or 6 (default on all APs) or 11. Moving to 1 or 11 usually clears up many throughput issues.

In your case moving form N standard to AC will help by itself if the user devices support AC.

5GHz will not penetrate much more than one wall, so if you have a choice on location, place the wireless router in the common area so more users can get on the 5 GHz band. Save the 2.4 for the remote areas with multiple walls to pass through. If the users need to roam away from the common area, they will have to manually switch between SSIDs to get on the 2.4 Ghz band.
Otherwise, with the same SSID for the two bands, it will be up to the device to to drop off and switch. Many devices will try to hold on at all cost even if there is a stronger signal on the other band.

 

[Pedro Saraiva]

If you set up separate SSIDs for the 2.4 and 5, yes, and you force the users to use that SSID.
Otherwise, the user device will select whichever band it can and prefers. You can set up several SSIDs in each band if the AP config allows it, but don't go crazy since sometimes this will slow the overall throughput.

What is the wireless environment ? Are there other wireless systems close by ?
If so, your issue may be interference from other APs being on the same channel. Have you looked at the channels being used ? Sometimes you can solve this type of issue by moving to less used channel within the band. In the US we have channels 1 through 11 on 2.4. Best allocation is channel 1 or 6 (default on all APs) or 11. Moving to 1 or 11 usually clears up many throughput issues.

In your case moving form N standard to AC will help by itself if the user devices support AC.

5GHz will not penetrate much more than one wall, so if you have a choice on location, place the wireless router in the common area so more users can get on the 5 GHz band. Save the 2.4 for the remote areas with multiple walls to pass through. If the users need to roam away from the common area, they will have to manually switch between SSIDs to get on the 2.4 Ghz band.
Otherwise, with the same SSID for the two bands, it will be up to the device to to drop off and switch. Many devices will try to hold on at all cost even if there is a stronger signal on the other band.

Will take that into consideration.
Thank you for the input

 

[Datalink]

For what its worth, I think you're doing well for a second language

To have a look at your wifi environment to determine who you're competing with for wifi channels, and determine if there are better choices in terms of the available wifi channels, have a look at the following post for wifi scanners. I'd load both inSSIDer and the Lizard systems scanner:

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/a...-but-250-mpbs-over-5g-wifi.49965/#post-444768

 

[psychopomp1]

Well, I was looking for a ASUS RT-AC66U B1 for several weeks, but this Black Friday the D-Link got a nice discount and as the SNB review was favourable, I went for it.

Excellent choice going for the D Link DIR-882, its far better than the Asus RT-AC66UB1 for wifi performance and comparable to the Netgear R7800.

Going by your setup, it seems you have a FTTH/P connection. Based on your descriptions, the first box will be a Customer Splice Point (CSP) to which fibre is blown to: (mine is outdoors but yours may well be indoors)





The second box (to which your existing router is connected to) will be the fibre Optical Network Terminal (ONT). Think of this as the fibre 'modem', though technically its not a modem:



Now, in theory you should be able to swap out the Thompson with the D Link (ensure it goes in same ONT port), however you may need to enter PPPoE login details in the new router if your existing router is using PPPoE authentication. You may need to contact your ISP for these credentials as I magine the PPPoE password field on the Thomson will be hidden. Of course if your ISP doesn't require PPPoE authentication then its not an issue but just something to bear in mind. In the UK, all Openreach based FTTH lines require PPPoE authentication.

 

[Pedro Saraiva]

Hey guys, just a quick update.

First, thank you for all the responses.

The setup ended being a lot easier than expected. I just finished installing the DIR-882 and after connecting everything by cable (the router itself and my laptop) the speed and response times were so great that I didn't even care that much about setting the WIFI networks in an optimal way. I ended setting the main dualband 2.4Ghz/5Ghz as a hidden network for us only and the guest 2.4Ghz for guests, haha.

Everything is working as a peach, and I'm glad to say that I've discovered our internet connection is a symmetrical 100/100mbps and I'm able to reach those speeds even in my phone.

Cheers for all and happy holidays!