What's new

Need Advise

  • SNBForums Code of Conduct

    SNBForums is a community for everyone, no matter what their level of experience.

    Please be tolerant and patient of others, especially newcomers. We are all here to share and learn!

    The rules are simple: Be patient, be nice, be helpful or be gone!

anaron

Occasional Visitor
I was referred to this site by Windows 10 Forums. My ISP tells me I need to replace my Buffalo AC 1300 due to connectivity issues. I know nothing about routers or networking and definitely need recommendations as to the best route to go.
3000 sq ft single level home
8 teenage Grandchildren
Grandsons do a lot of gaming
Granddaughters do a lot of moving streaming
Wife binge watches Netflix
Can be as many as 15 to 20 devices in use at same time
Also have 8 wired connections to router and switch

Tried researching online but that only confused me as everyone has a different view and I was honestly a little skeptical as to many of the reviews. Simply do not know and want to know as to what is best for me to do.
Ron
 
Last edited:
Well the good news is you've a lot of choices, and, better, a lot of good choices. The downside is sorting through the multitude of choices. Give up on finding the absolute "best", settle for better than good : -)

My bias is check out ==> Asus.

You don't tell us much about your "connectivity" problem. I assume it's just with your wireless clients and not your wired clients? If it's wireless is it everyone / everywhere? Or, maybe, just some on the far from router locations?

I simply don't know enough to suggest a better (Asus RT-AC3100 comes to mind) router (Buffalo does have a decent reputation though), a tri-band router, a wired Access Point, a full fledged mesh system or to simply relocate your existing router.
 
Last edited:
It would also be useful to know the exact model of the Buffalo device you are currently using, what it is connected to (cable modem, ISP-supplied router, etc.) and your download and upload speeds.

EDIT: From the limited description of the Buffalo device you gave here and in the Windows 10 forum I'm suspecting it might be this. If that is true then the device is a wireless Ethernet bridge and not a wireless router. That would significantly change any potential recommendations.
 
Last edited:
Buffalo Airstation AC1300/N900 Gigabyte Dual Band Wireless Router WRZ-D1800H

The primary problem I am having is with the internet. Two or three times a day, I open the internet and get a message "cannot load this site". Will not load any sites but yet my network still says I am connected. Rebooting the equipment does nothing. After a while which sometimes can be as little as 15 minutes or as long as a full day, it starts working again. Been doing this for about a month. My isp have been monitoring my account and yesterday said they were showing a massive amount of errors that would indicate my router was the problem. Today, my network printer is no longer seen by any of the 4 computers. Not sure what the problem with that is.
 
It could well be that the hardware is failing. But as it's happening so frequently, before putting it in the bin, when the problem occurs;

1) Check internet connectivity from a PC by issuing a "ping 8.8.8.8" from the command line.
2) Log onto the router (192.168.11.1) and check the logs for helpful error messages (Diagnostic > Logs).
3) Check the status lights on the router (page 97 of the manual).
4) Check the cable modem for errors or a faulty Ethernet cable.
 
Check the AC adapter - this device has been around for a while, not sure how long you've had it in service, but typically I've found symptoms like what you report - the AC adapter is the prime suspect and replacing it cleans up a lot of problems.
 
It could well be that the hardware is failing. But as it's happening so frequently, before putting it in the bin, when the problem occurs
Hey, you're really good at this stuff Colin! I learn from you every day ...
1) Check internet connectivity from a PC by issuing a "ping 8.8.8.8" from the command line.
  • If that works then get a bigger sample size, e.g., "ping 8.8.8.8 -n 100"
    • If that works then try using a different name server, e.g., reconfigure your laptop to use 8.8.8.8 as your name server.
      • If that works then your ISP might have an intermittent name server. Try Google's "namebench" program or (new to me) GRC DNS Benchmark tool for more information.
      • (Not real likely since your ISP is seeing errors.)
  • If you can not ping 8.8.8.8 you're losing packets somewhere.
    • Try a trace route. From the command line "tracert 8.8.8.8"
    • Or load up "Ping Plotter" for a long term picture.
      • (This could help confirm that the problem is somewhere between you and your router or if it's elsewhere on the Internet.)
Keep us posted and good luck!
 
Last edited:
1) Check internet connectivity from a PC by issuing a "ping 8.8.8.8" from the command line.
Pinging 8.8.8.8 with 32 bytes of data
Reply from 107.182.102.119 Destination host unreachable
Request timed out
Request timed out
Reply from 107.182.102.119 Destination host unreachable
Ping stats
Packets: Sent=4, received=2, lost=2

2) Log onto the router (192.168.11.1) and check the logs for helpful error messages (Diagnostic > Logs). This site can’t be reached it took too long to respond

3) Check the status lights on the router (page 97 of the manual).
All solid blue

4) Check the cable modem for errors or a faulty Ethernet cable.
All appears good

tracert 8.8.8.8
1 thru 8 timed out
9 62ms 54ms 112ms 209.85.143.31
10 133ms 52ms 109ms google-public-dns-a.google.com [8.8.8.8]

Finally found a usb/printer cable. Plugged the printer to the computer and it immediately went back online. Reconnect the printer to the router and it goes offline.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the info.

Regarding the USB printer, I'd suggest you leave that unplugged from the router for the time being in case that is causing the problem.

The rest of the information is rather confusing. On the one hand your initial ping got as far as your ISP's gateway device 50% of the time. And in step 4 the tracert was able to successfully contact 8.8.8.8.

The router lights don't seem to match the description in the manual:
• Check that the status LEDs of your AirStation are lit as below:
Buffalo White light is on
LAN Green light is on or blinking
Internet Green light is on or blinking

As for logging onto the router. I'm assuming that 192.168.11.1 is the actual address of the router? It must come back online at some point, can you log into it then to look at the logs?

I'm tending to think it's a drop in service on your ISP's side. Can you tell us more about your internet connection. I was assuming you had a cable modem connection but judging by the IP address it looks like a Zeecon wireless link.

EDIT: Can you issue the following command from your PC's command prompt and post the output please. Thanks.

ipconfig
 
Last edited:
My manual and router has blue led lights instead of green. The Buffalo light is white.
Just got into the router log. This is the only recent entries (other entries for 2016):
2017/12/05 20:18:35 DHCPS sending OFFER of 192.168.11.4 Hopper2-br0
2017/12/05 20:18:35 DHCPS Request incoming from Hopper2-br0(len:11)
2017/12/05 20:15:27 DHCPS sending OFFER of 192.168.11.5 Joey-stbmoca0
2017/12/05 20:15:27 DHCPS Request incoming from Joey-stbmoca0(len:13)
2017/12/05 20:11:45 DHCPS sending OFFER of 192.168.11.5 Joey-stbmoca0
2017/12/05 20:11:45 DHCPS Request incoming from Joey-stbmoca0(len:13)
2017/12/05 20:11:08 DHCPS sending OFFER of 192.168.11.5 Joey-stbmoca0
2017/12/05 20:11:08 DHCPS Request incoming from Joey-stbmoca0(len:13)
2017/12/05 20:10:35 DHCPS sending OFFER of 192.168.11.4 Hopper2-br0
2017/12/05 20:10:35 DHCPS Request incoming from Hopper2-br0(len:11)
2017/12/05 20:10:31 DHCPS sending OFFER of 192.168.11.5 Joey-stbmoca0
2017/12/05 20:10:31 DHCPS Request incoming from Joey-stbmoca0(len:13)
2017/12/05 20:09:57 DHCPS sending OFFER of 192.168.11.4 Hopper2-br0
2017/12/05 20:09:57 DHCPS Request incoming from Hopper2-br0(len:11)
2017/12/05 20:09:54 DHCPS sending OFFER of 192.168.11.5 Joey-stbmoca0
2017/12/05 20:09:54 DHCPS Request incoming from Joey-stbmoca0(len:13)
2017/12/05 20:07:26 DHCPS sending OFFER of 192.168.11.5 Joey-stbmoca0
2017/12/05 20:07:26 DHCPS Request incoming from Joey-stbmoca0(len:13)
2017/12/05 20:06:49 DHCPS sending OFFER of 192.168.11.5 Joey-stbmoca0
2017/12/05 20:06:49 DHCPS Request incoming from Joey-stbmoca0(len:13)
2017/12/05 20:06:15 DHCPS sending OFFER of 192.168.11.4 Hopper2-br0
2017/12/05 20:06:15 DHCPS Request incoming from Hopper2-br0(len:11)
2017/12/05 20:06:12 DHCPS sending OFFER of 192.168.11.5 Joey-stbmoca0
2017/12/05 20:06:12 DHCPS Request incoming from Joey-stbmoca0(len:13)
2017/12/05 20:04:21 DHCPS sending OFFER of 192.168.11.5 Joey-stbmoca0
2017/12/05 20:04:21 DHCPS Request incoming from Joey-stbmoca0(len:13)
2017/12/05 20:03:49 DHCPS sending OFFER of 192.168.11.4 Hopper2-br0
2017/12/05 20:03:49 DHCPS Request incoming from Hopper2-br0(len:11)
2017/12/05 20:03:44 DHCPS sending OFFER of 192.168.11.5 Joey-stbmoca0
2017/12/05 20:03:44 DHCPS Request incoming from Joey-stbmoca0(len:13)
2017/12/05 20:03:07 DHCPS sending OFFER of 192.168.11.5 Joey-stbmoca0
2017/12/05 20:03:07 DHCPS Request incoming from Joey-stbmoca0(len:13)
2017/12/05 20:02:32 DHCPS sending OFFER of 192.168.11.4 Hopper2-br0
2017/12/05 20:02:32 DHCPS Request incoming from Hopper2-br0(len:11)
2017/12/05 20:02:30 DHCPS sending OFFER of 192.168.11.5 Joey-stbmoca0
2017/12/05 20:02:30 DHCPS Request incoming from Joey-stbmoca0(len:13)
2017/12/05 20:01:53 DHCPS sending OFFER of 192.168.11.5 Joey-stbmoca0
2017/12/05 20:01:53 DHCPS Request incoming from Joey-stbmoca0(len:13)
2017/12/05 20:01:16 DHCPS sending OFFER of 192.168.11.5 Joey-stbmoca0
2017/12/05 20:01:16 DHCPS Request incoming from Joey-stbmoca0(len:13)
2017/12/05 20:00:41 DHCPS sending OFFER of 192.168.11.4 Hopper2-br0
2017/12/05 20:00:41 DHCPS Request incoming from Hopper2-br0(len:11)
2017/12/05 19:56:20 DHCPS sending OFFER of 192.168.11.5 Joey-stbmoca0
2017/12/05 19:56:20 DHCPS Request incoming from Joey-stbmoca0(len:13)
2017/12/05 19:55:43 DHCPS sending ACK to 192.168.11.4
2017/12/05 19:55:43 DHCPS Request incoming from Hopper2-br(len:10)
2017/12/05 19:55:43 DHCPS sending OFFER of 192.168.11.4 Hopper2-br
2017/12/05 19:55:43 DHCPS Request incoming from Hopper2-br(len:10)
2017/12/05 19:55:43 DHCPS sending OFFER of 192.168.11.5 Joey-stbmoca0
2017/12/05 19:55:43 DHCPS Request incoming from Joey-stbmoca0(len:13)
2017/12/05 19:55:08 DHCPS sending ACK to 192.168.11.4
2017/12/05 19:55:08 DHCPS Request incoming from Hopper2-br(len:10)
2017/12/05 19:55:08 DHCPS sending OFFER of 192.168.11.5 Joey-stbmoca0
2017/12/05 19:55:08 DHCPS Request incoming from Joey-stbmoca0(len:13)
2017/12/05 19:55:08 DHCPS sending OFFER of 192.168.11.4 Hopper2-br
2017/12/05 19:55:08 DHCPS Request incoming from Hopper2-br(len:10)
2017/12/05 19:55:08 DHCPS sending OFFER of 192.168.11.5 Joey-stbmoca0
2017/12/05 19:55:06 NTP SUCCESS: set time : Tue Dec 5 19:55:06 2017
 
The entries for 2016 are probably just the default values after the router has been powered on and before it's been able to correct the time from NTP.

So I guess that means you have powered off/on the router? (Of course if it wasn't you power cycling the router then that's your problem right there.)
 
Last edited:
OK. Small sample shows high packet loss. Where?
tracert 8.8.8.8
1 thru 8 timed out
9 62ms 54ms 112ms 209.85.143.31
10 133ms 52ms 109ms google-public-dns-a.google.com [8.8.8.8]
Trace Route is seeing a problem starting at hop 1 ==> Your Router. But hops 9 and 10 worked? I dunno. High but not 100% packet loss? Short of you and Colin fixing the router (someone suggested power supply, Ethernet -WAN- cable) I vote Asus RT-AC3100 : -)

I am surprised your current router covers a 3,000 sq. ft. house for WiFi. Since it does I assume the new one will too.

On the off chance the new one doesn't fix it, well, it's a rather expensive way of catching your vendor's ear. Which reminds me, have you ever failed long enough to plug directly into your ISP's device and watch it fail without any of your equipment attached?

BTW: You and Colin make a great team!

PS I assume that everything was working for some time before you started having all these problems? Was there some event, some change that occurred about the time you went from happy to grumpy?
 
Last edited:
The router is in my office which is located in the center of the house and is sitting 6' off the floor next to the office door which is open all the time. Worked great for 5 years but did not notice any issue until about a month ago and even then I thought it was an isp issue. Got them involved and that's where I am today! I have not tried plugging directly into the isp radio as too many other things have been going on that required the use of the router. Will try that as soon as possible.

Would not say that Colin and I make a good team as I am simply following instructions. Collin and the rest of ya'll are the team. That's why I am here!
 
Last edited:
Given all your problems with the printer and being unable to access the router's interface when the "problem" occurs it does look like the router's failing. As mentioned before you could try to find a replacement power supply and see if that fixes it.

As far as recommendations for a replacement router are concerned I can only suggest you read some of the recent reviews on the main SNB site.

You don't say what your download/upload bandwidths are, but if you're doing a lot of simultaneous streaming (Netflix, Twitch, etc.) that could be the limiting factor rather than the router itself. A router with QoS can help prioritize traffic there. Also verify that the router has USB printer support if that's important to you.

If you're currently having problems with Wi-Fi coverage you might want to consider a wireless router plus an extra Wi-Fi access point (assuming you can run a cable to it).

Medium to top-end routers from Asus and Netgear are generally held in high regard, but check the SNB reviews as there's the odd turkey.
 
Would not say that Colin and I make a good team as I am simply following instructions. Collin ...
<LOL> You are the heart of the team. Many don't follow suggestions much less offer feedback. But you're right, this Collin guy is top shelf!

Here's hoping things turnaround for you soon!
 
My isp have been monitoring my account and yesterday said they were showing a massive amount of errors that would indicate my router was the problem.
Could also indicate that their modem is the problem?
 
read some of the recent reviews on the main SNB site
Started that process last night as SNB appears to be one of the premier networking sites.

You don't say what your download/upload bandwidths are
Yep! Missed that one! fairly consistant ave 34 ping, 5mbps down and 2.5 up

Could also indicate that their modem is the problem?
Maybe, but I don't think so because I contacted them about a month ago and they are using their system to monitor the issues. They are pretty good about taking care of issues and would have change the modem if they were concerned.
 

Latest threads

Sign Up For SNBForums Daily Digest

Get an update of what's new every day delivered to your mailbox. Sign up here!
Top