Issue with Dlink DIR-827

[Markardi]

Hi,

(TLDR: 827 keeps rebooting/dropping internet connection.)

Our office wireless/wired network has been running through a Dlink DIR-825 (B1) for almost 2 years without any real issues. However, because a certain coworker was having wireless issues with her Macbook (I hate Apple just fyi), I thought maybe a firmware update might help. It was running on Ver. 2.03 and I followed the instruction to update to 2.06. I only managed to get as far as 2.05_1 which seems to have bricked it.

As such, I went out and grabbed a DIR-827 so at least we have something.

When the 827 is working, it's working great. The wireless coverage is much stronger and I no longer need an additional access point. However, we've only had it for two days and it seems to reboot on it's own quite often. I've entered the settings exactly as they were on the 825 but I'm wondering what my issue might be?

We have about 18 wired computers, 4 wired IP cameras, a Qnap NAS, and about 10 wireless devices. Is that too much for the 827? The only problem we really had with the 825 was wireless coverage area and it was slow when there was large amounts of network usage. Mostly email and web traffic normally.

I'm going to make another post asking what equipment I should be using for a proper small business network, but this is what I'm working with for now.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[Markardi]

If it helps any, here is the message I'm getting from the logs when it reboots:

[ 95.749255] module arch cleanup sch_ubicom_streamengine: OCM instruction memory free of 0 @(null)

Most forums related to that message deal with the DIR-655 and most people say that it's caused by poor hardware and it should be exchanged.

Anyone else have experience with that problem?

 

[thiggins]

The original A1 DIR-825 used a Ubicom IP5170U. TheB1 uses an AR7161 processor. The 827 uses a Ubicom IP8000AU, which is pretty powerful.

I suspect the issue isn't the processor itself, but firmware related and also due to your heavy traffic load.

You could try disabling the automatic QoS feature and see if that stops the rebooting.

 

[Greg_Elite]

The original A1 DIR-825 used a Ubicom IP5170U. TheB1 uses an AR7161 processor. The 827 uses a Ubicom IP8000AU, which is pretty powerful.

I suspect the issue isn't the processor itself, but firmware related and also due to your heavy traffic load.

You could try disabling the automatic QoS feature and see if that stops the rebooting.

What he's saying makes sense. I'd try making sure your running the latest firmware. Or you can always buy a Asus RT-N66u. All I hear is good things about it.

 

[thiggins]

What he's saying makes sense. I'd try making sure your running the latest firmware. Or you can always buy a Asus RT-N66u. All I hear is good things about it.

If you are looking for stability, I would look for products that have had time to get the bugs worked out via firmware updates. I know ASUS has released a few updates for the 66. But that just reinforces the point to let things stabilize.

 

[Markardi]

Turning off the QoS hasn't stopped the rebooting.

And the 827 has the latest firmware (1.01), but as you mentioned Tim, that doesn't say a lot as it is a new product so the probability of a bug is high.

I'm reading the articles on building a UTM as it was suggested I use from my other post:
http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=6671

Maybe you can respond there as it further explains my setup, but as I'm researching UTM appliances, are there commercial solutions you have experience with? My boss has this idea that a home build UTM will take up more of my time and won't be as reliable as an off the shelf product. I can't argue with the former point, but I have no idea about the latter.

 

[thiggins]

I have no ongoing experience with anything other than consumer routers. YeOldeStoneCat would be the go to guy for DIY UTM. I see you're already in contact with him on another thread.

I would try another router like a Cisco E4200V2 or NETGEAR WNDR3800 before I went that route, though.

On DIY or serious UTM, you'll definitely have a learning curve. You might also consider RouterBoard's "integrated" solutions to save some time. But again, there is the learning curve... and support, or lack thereof.

 

[Markardi]

I'll look into the WNDR3800, but what about the 4500, or is that too new as well? They don't seem to sell the Linksys E4200 V2 in Canada, just the original. Same for the Asus RT-N66u, just the 56u.

For the RouterBoard products, they list different byte frame sizes and corresponding throughput, is that something I set or something determined by other equipment or the ISP? I'm looking at the RB1100AHx2 for reference.

On the Dlink 827 side, I checked the status this morning when I got in and it was up for 19 hours without issue, so from about 2pm yesterday. As of 9:30am today though it's rebooted twice.

 

[thiggins]

I didn't recommend the 4500 because it's more expensive and you're paying for three-stream N, which I don't think you need.

Standard frame size is 1518.

 

[Markardi]

Alright, I missed the three-stream N and you're right, we don't need it.

I'll look into getting the 3800 so things are stable for now, but I'm exploring the UTM options more.

Thanks.

 

[Gitsum]

I too am having problems with my DIR-827. My problem is I can't set my upload speed in the QOS settings. I have a 5mbps upload connection but the router won't let you enter anything higher than 2mbps. The automatic detection doesn't work either so I am left with the router not knowing my upload speed and I believe that the "Stream Engine" is not working as it should. I have tested by monitoring online gaming ping times while uploading with bittorrent from another computer. Game ping times go from 20-30ms to over 110ms when the torrent kicks in. I've tried emailing D-Link tech support but they don't seem to get it.

 

[Markardi]

So I have a correction to make.

I reported that turning the QoS off didn't stop the rebooting issue. Looking back at the settings in my router I did turn "Enable QoS Engine" off; however, I forgot to turn "Enable Traffic Shaping" off.

It's been up for over an hour now without issue, but I'll post back once more time has elapsed.

Gitsum - I looked back at my settings because of your comment. We have 15Mbps up here and as most home level ISP packages don't offer anything past 1Mbps upload, maybe the QoS wasn't planned for anything past 2M.

 

[Gitsum]

Well I hope d-link will figure this out and release a firmware update to fix it, otherwise, this router is useless to me. My old dir-655 with a ubicom chipset and nearly identical web gui for setup allows you to enter whatever upload speed you want. I've posted this problem on the d-link forum as well and someone told me d-link was looking into it. We'll see.

 

[Markardi]

So it's been just over a week since I turned traffic shaping off and things have improved, but there are still some issues. The 827 still reboots about once a day which is better than every hour it was before. The longest up time I've seen during the work week was 1day, 23hours.

As I posted above, I'm looking into a UTM appliance so until then, the 827 is tolerable. As in, someone isn't constantly knocking on my door to say the internet is down. It does seem to reboot fast enough that no one is complaining too much.

Once we have a UTM, I may try this router at home as my service there is 24M down and only 1M up.

 

[runun]

Markardi -

A user posted a topic about configuring the DIR-827 at the D-Link Beta support forums here http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?topic=45096.0. I'd recommend trying out the settings suggested to improve stability.

 

[Markardi]

Hey Runun - Great link, hopes this helps others having issues with their router.

I do have an update of my own though. We switched all of our office equipment with Netgear's ProSecure line, including the UTM50. It was substantially more and the home grade stuff, but we're looking at it as an investment and everything is running solid.

I've taken the 827 home, updated the firmware to 1.02 which was just released, and it seems to be performing fine. Over 11 days of uptime so far with features enabled. Whether that's a result of fewer clients, a lower upload speed, or the firmware changes, I'm not sure, but it is working well in a home environment ... which I guess is what it was designed for.

 

[runun]

Markardi - I'm glad your having success at home, at least. Gitsum and myself both have upload connections well past the 2 Mbps limit imposed by the QoS of the DIR-827. Gitsum has 5 Mbps and I have 4 Mbps. I've been through every level of D-Link tech support and just received a phone call from one of their senior level engineers "native English speaker" who said they will conduct lab tests next week to analyze the functionality of the QoS with upload speeds past 2 Mbps. Gitsums QoS issues are gaming related and mine are VoIP. However, I've got the Ooma VoIP phone system that has a fully functional QoS, so I've modified my home network setup to use the Ooma and a D-Link unmanaged gigabit switch until the engineers solve the QoS issue.

 

[runun]

Well, I just received a phone call from a D-Link engineer who basically confirmed my suspicions. Any uplink speed above 2 Mbps effectively disables the QoS engine in the DIR-827. He was aware that the ageing DIR-655 never had that limitation, and agrees that the speed limit could be much higher. He said he has a 25 Mbps up and down FiOS connection at home and his DIR-827 QoS doesn't work and probably never will. He said that while the 2 Mbps limit is definitely restrictive, he believes it could probably handle 10-15 Mbps up before the Ubicom chip in the DIR-827 started to reach its limits for prioritizing packets. He also said that they have been aware of this for some time and apologized that I wasn't made aware of this sooner. He also said that this could be fixed with a firmware upgrade because this limit is imposed by the software in all of their Amplifi line (DIR 657, 827, and 857). However, for whatever reason, he said that this is an uphill battle.

 

[TonyH]

Hi,
If you can, try another AC power adapter. Wondering how the older router got bricked updating f/w.

 

[alternety]

I am sure glad that the QoS problem was posted here. I have been waiting for the Asus RT-N66U, but the firmware for that seems ranter sadly incomplete. I was about to post a question about waiting for the Asus or getting a DIR-827. Mt primary reason for replacing my router is to see if it helps my Ooma VOIP. My original idea was to get a router with this chipset, but the Asus seemed better to me overall.

Hence, the 827 is off the plate until the QoS gets fixed.