Wireless "swamping" when streaming device (TVPad) is on

[Crackerbear]

First and foremost, I'd like to say that I am no expert on network stuff in general so any terminology that I use is likely to be wrong.

I own a TVPad which streams TV over my wireless network. However the problem is that when the device is streaming, no other wireless device can access the internet, I get 3000ms pings to my own router.

If I plug an ethernet cable to from the TVPad to my router, things are completely fine, which indicates that my internet speed is fast enough. So it appears that the device is "swamping" the wireless signal (is there a proper technical term for this?) to the degree where other devices can't use the wifi.

I currently own an old Netgear DG834Gv2 and all devices use 802.11g and my Internet speed is 20Mbps Down, 1Mbps Up (1.6mb/s Down & 130kb/s up real world speeds).

My question is this: would a new router rectify this problem?

I'm currently considering getting an ASUS RT-AC68U, but I have no idea if it'll fix my issue and if that particular router is overkill for my needs and requirements. Also sadly, Homeplugs and leaving an ethernet cable plugged in are out of the question.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[stevech]

Their web site says not much.

Could it be that their product streams a huge number of packets per second on WiFi and uses most all of the available capacity? Video streams like Netflix from the web use about 1-3Mbps which is a small percentage of a decent wifi connection speed.

It could also be that their product uses IEEE 802.11 CTS-to-self in attempt to 'own' the WiFi channel to reduce dropped video data. It might just be a poorly designed product.

Suggestion to deal with it:

Install a dedicated WiFi Access Point (AP) that is on a different channel (1, 6 or 11 of 2.4GHz), and has a different SSID. An AP can be any WiFi router, re-purposed by doing a simple/special configuration. Or you can purchase a product with an AP mode. Change the product's settings to use the new SSID.
Separate the AP and WiFi router as much as possible to reduce mutual-interference, even with different channel numbers.

I recommend and use an ASUS RT-N12/D1, $30 at Newegg.com.

The above will get the video streaming off of the WiFi service used by people in the home.

 

[Crackerbear]

Thanks for the reply Stevech, I omitted some information as I thought it was necessary and would add to confusion, but I actually use 2 routers.

I have a Thomson TG585v7 from my ISP that acts as main router/modem and the Netgear DG834Gv2 as a wireless AP. The reason have I this setup is because the Thomson router, for whatever reason, can't utilise my full net speed (20MBps) it seems to cap out at 8Mbps over wireless. I can't just use the Netgear on it's own however due to ADSL2+ problems I believe.

Would it be possible to somehow use my existing routers to act as independent wireless APs, having the TVPad connect wirelessly to the Thompson router (since slower speeds isn't really that big of an issue to this device) and have the Netgear act as the main wireless internet provider to all other computers to the house?

From some Googling, would I be right that I need to bridge the routers rather than purely having the Netgear act as a Wireless AP?

 

[stevech]

Why not discard the Thompson since it's WiFi is not right.
Then buy a new router for $30-50 to replace it.

Jargon: If you have a WiFi router reconfigured to be an AP, then call it an AP rather than router, since it is not doing routing functions. Right? You don't have two cascaded routers (double-NAT). That's most undesirable. The WAN port on the "AP" should be unused.

 

[Crackerbear]

Well initially I thought it was due to the age of my Netgear router that was the cause of the problem so I'd hoped I could just buy and use a single new router to resolve the TVPad issue.

However, yes, assuming a new router on it's own doesn't fix anything, I can see that I can use the Netgear as a secondary wireless AP to which the TVPad could use on it's own.

I'm not exactly confident I can set it up correctly, but I'll give it my best shot.

Thanks again

 

[htismaqe]

The WAN port on the "AP" should be unused.

That's not necessarily the case with newer Netgear devices running the Genie-generation firmware. They have a new "AP Mode" setting that basically 1-click disables all router features. When using it, Netgear suggests using the WAN port rather than one of the LAN ports.

 

[stevech]

That's not necessarily the case with newer Netgear devices running the Genie-generation firmware. They have a new "AP Mode" setting that basically 1-click disables all router features. When using it, Netgear suggests using the WAN port rather than one of the LAN ports.

I'd avoid using the WAN port to remind me that this is not a router. Or tape-label WAN as LAN.
On my reliable ASUS N12-D1 (11n) I have one used in AP mode and just two ethernet cables connect - both to LAN ports just so I know the hardware switch between the LAN ports is used, and the port marked WAN might move packets to the LAN ports via firmware. One does not know if the switch in these boxes can make the WAN port (5th) become a real hardware LAN port.

 

[htismaqe]

I'd avoid using the WAN port to remind me that this is not a router. Or tape-label WAN as LAN.
On my reliable ASUS N12-D1 (11n) I have one used in AP mode and just two ethernet cables connect - both to LAN ports just so I know the hardware switch between the LAN ports is used, and the port marked WAN might move packets to the LAN ports via firmware. One does not know if the switch in these boxes can make the WAN port (5th) become a real hardware LAN port.

I understand what you're saying but some of the newer Netgear devices don't work that way.

 

[sfx2000]

Going back to the original post - yep, it's probably time to switch out the old 802.11g router - the RT-AC68U might be overkill, but it would do the job...

Basically any 802.11n router N300 class and above would be a much better experience than what you're seeing at the moment.

 

[stevech]

I understand what you're saying but some of the newer Netgear devices don't work that way.

If a multi-purpose router/AP has 4 LAN ports and one WAN port, perhaps in the AP mode only the WAN port is enabled? In bridge mode, at least the 4 LAN ports should work.

I confused myself: I was thinking client bridge mode, where the WAN port is ill-advised.

The ASUS RT-N12/D1 can operate as router, AP or bridge.

 

[Crackerbear]

I've been running a little experiment for the past week by enabling the wireless on the Thomson TG585v7 and letting the TVPad connect to that, whilst leaving the Netgear DG834Gv2 as a secondary wireless AP that's on a different channel and SSID for other computers and devices to connect to. It seems to have completely fixed my initial problems and as suspected, the "wireless swamping" was the issue.

However I now run into a different problem where the internet on the computers (via Netgear) completely stop sometimes and the only fix is to manually reboot the Thompson. From what I can gather, they're still connected to the Netgear, but cannot get an IP. Devices connected to the Thompson still work fine though. So it seems after a while, the Thomson's DHCP to the Netgear crumbles under the pressure after too much work.

These cheap ISP provided routers really are atrocious. I'll probably get some sort of new router to replace the Thompson in the near future