Intermittent Connection Issue.

[IsLNdbOi]

I guess this could have gone in the Routers forums, but it could go in here too.

We just moved into a new home. It has a networking closet and almost all the rooms are wired with an ethernet port.

Cox technician setup the ethernet cables in the networking closet and tested the connection in each room to make sure they were working and they all do work.

Now, I've put the cable modem and a Cisco E4200 in the closet.

It's wired like this:
E4200
- Port 1: bedroom 1 - a Cisco SE2500 5-port gigabit switch with a PC and networked printer attached to it

- 2: bedroom 2 - a PC

- 3: bedroom 3 - a second Cisco E4200 w/ DHCP server disabled, NAT disabled and RIP enabled (using this as a second access point since the signal from the E4200 in the closet is very weak. It's configured LAN to LAN according to the instructions on Cisco's site)

- 4: Cisco SE2500 5-port gigabit switch - two other rooms connected to this switch



I've set the SSID, WPA2 + AES encryption and all other wireless settings in both E4200s identically. Same SSIDs, same passwords.

To the wireless network I have a Cisco WET610N w/ an attached SE2500 as well. This SE2500 has a PS3, XBOX360 and Smart TV attached to it.

The problem is that the internet connection and connection to the local network on every PC and networked device works erratically. Sometimes it's working, sometimes it doesn't. We've called Cox to monitor our cable modem for problems and in the past week, there haven't been any problems with the connection from Cox to the cable modem.

I've tried removing that second E4200 in bedroom 3 entirely and it didn't fix the problem.

Anyone have any ideas on what's going on?

 

[thiggins]

Does the internet connection work intermittently from a wired machine or wireless?

 

[overdrive31]

Swap the two E4200 locations, put the AP back into router mode and place it where the current main router is to rule out a possible problem with the main one. Why WEP, seems a little steep a price for just 802.11g speeds and shouldn't roaming wireless use separate channels?

 

[IsLNdbOi]

Does the internet connection work intermittently from a wired machine or wireless?

The intermittent connection is on both wired and wireless.

Swap the two E4200 locations, put the AP back into router mode and place it where the current main router is to rule out a possible problem with the main one. Why WEP, seems a little steep a price for just 802.11g speeds and shouldn't roaming wireless use separate channels?

Sorry, it's WPA2 + AES, not WEP. I've already tried swapping the E4200s.

So I should set the channel manually on both E4200s' 2.4GHz and 5GHz radios?

Also, not sure if it helps, but everything is on the latest version of the official Cisco firmware.

 

[overdrive31]

Did you swap power supplies? What channel are they each using, you said identical settings?

 

[IsLNdbOi]

I did swap power supplies and ethernet cables (from modem to E4200). When I mentioned identical settings, I forgot to mention that the channels for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz radios on both are set to auto.

 

[thiggins]

I would strip the network down to just one computer connected to the cable modem. Or if you can't stand that, just one router.

You need to determine for sure whether the problem is with the Internet connection or something in your setup. The only sure way to do that is to have one computer connected to the cable modem and to get wireless out of the configuration.

The proper way to set up multiple access points is to put them on different channels using 1, 6 and 11. Security key can be the same, but you also might want to set different SSIDs so that you can be sure that clients are connected to the best signal AP.

 

[IsLNdbOi]

I've already done that as well. Had one of my laptops connected directly to the cable modem for a day and it worked just fine.

Then I hooked up just one of the E4200s directly to the cable modem and ran that for a day as well. Did that for both E4200s and wifi worked fine with both.

 

[overdrive31]

What IP address does each device use, any conflicts?

 

[IsLNdbOi]

E4200 #1: 192.168.1.1
- DHCP server and NAT enabled

E4200 #2: 192.168.1.2
- DHCP server and NAT disabled. RIP enabled.

WET610N: 192.168.1.168

 

[overdrive31]

Disable RIP - take a look here

 

[IsLNdbOi]

Ok so earlier I tried connecting just the E4200 to the modem and again, intermittent connection issue.

Removed the E4200 and connected my old WRT54GL. Same problem.

Called Cox again and explained what is happening. I told them that I think the problem is with the modem, but the technician I was talking to said he was looking at my modem's status and everything checked out.

So they're going to send a technician out to my house tomorrow to check on it.

 

[thiggins]

I've already done that as well. Had one of my laptops connected directly to the cable modem for a day and it worked just fine.

Then I hooked up just one of the E4200s directly to the cable modem and ran that for a day as well. Did that for both E4200s and wifi worked fine with both.

But you earlier said "The intermittent connection is on both wired and wireless."
Please explain.

 

[IsLNdbOi]

My mistake. They didn't work right at all. They were picking up a neighbor's open wifi.