Netgear Router WiFi trouble.

[mageej]

Guys, I have a Netgear MOCA network with 2 Netgear WiFi routers. One MOCA adapter and router upstairs connected to my Clear Internet modem. The other MOCA adapter and router is downstairs connects to my TV, STB, Blu-Ray, and Logitech Google TV unit.

My problems are twofold.
1st; I don't have enough bandwith to stream 1080 content;
2nd; The WiFi downstairs from the router seems slow.

Is there a conflict between the 2 WiFi routers?
The Cable connection is in the downstairs closet in a media connection box.
Maybe I didn't set up the downstairs router settings correctly. It's new.

By the way, the router upstairs is the WNR1000-2VCNAS, and the router downstairs is the WNR2000v3.

Thanks for the reply's!

 

[thiggins]

A diagram is always helpful for debugging problems like this.

I'll start by saying that 1080p streaming via wireless is possible only with very strong signals (same or adjacent room) and very little interference.

One of the routers should be configured as an access point. (How To Convert a Wireless Router into an Access Point) Otherwise, clients connected to a router won't be able to access clients connected to another.

Here's an article on configuring multiple APs (How To Add an Access Point to a Wireless Router)

You should have each router set to "Up to 130 Mbps mode" so that they don't hog spectrum and interfere with each other.

Your clients need to use WPA2/AES encryption or you won't get link rates higher than 54 Mbps (802.11g).

 

[mageej]

Actually, I'm streaming through my hardwired MOCA setup. I've heard that they only provide up to 70mb, which is more than enough for 1080. It'd be nice to test that somehow. Anyway, my router conflicts are the biggest problem. I have them both setup on default protocols. I was wondering if the WiFi slowdown downstairs was because of that.

Here's my setup:

Upstairs:
1. Computer
2. Router (connections=Clear modem, MOCA adapter, Clear phone box)

Downstairs:
1. MOCA adapter to STB, Google TV unit
2. Router (connections=Blu-Ray,TV, Google TV unit)

I'll try the suggestions for the Access Point. I'll check back. Thanks.

 

[mageej]

I think I need to clear something up. The 2 Netgear routers are 4 port ethernet with Wireless built in.

 

[RogerSC]

An easy way to test MoCA throughput is to simply transfer a large file from a wired desktop or laptop at your router to a hard-wired laptop connected a MoCA endpoint. I used a 6GB file (part of a VM image *smile*), and found the average transfer rate was about 85Mb/s for me. Did this a couple of times to make sure that I was getting a good average. I'm also using the Netgear MoCA adapters, and have 3 of them.

There is other software you can use to test network throughput, I found it convenient to use what I had.

 

[mageej]

Thanks RogerSC. I'll do that. I appreciate the input from you guys.

 

[rhombus]

Actually, I'm streaming through my hardwired MOCA setup. I've heard that they only provide up to 70mb, which is more than enough for 1080. It'd be nice to test that somehow.

When doing the file download test as has been recommended, you can open up Windows Task Manager and get a very accurate update and graph of throughput. This lets you see the numbers as well as how steady it is, all at a glance. Who needs IxChariot and fancy tools

The beauty of this test: you get throughput for a real-world application (downloading a file across your network from computer-to-computer).

The downside of this test: unfortunately its a step too far to translate this to guarantees about video streaming to another device. Even if you have a ruler-flat 70Mbps on a download test, the ability to stream video will depend heavily on the video content, the end-devices, the applications, the OS and all the bits inbetween (in this case MoCA). Once youve sorted out your router conflict, and checked the download speed, the only way to see if you can stream a specific video successfully is to try it out....

 

[mageej]

What's an Access Point, and what will that do for me? By the way, thanks rhombus!

Update:
I tried setting up the Access Point through the downstairs router and every thing got hosed. I messed up with the IP and DNS settings. Got a little confusing. I'm fairly new at networks.

 

[rhombus]

I tried setting up the Access Point through the downstairs router and every thing got hosed.

Don't worry - that happens to the best of us!

You can't connect two routers together directly. There needs to be only one router on your network giving out IP addresses and routing traffic (this includes internet traffic on the WAN port - therefore in your case, the upstairs Netgear device must take the role of router). Why can't we just connect two routers together? Think of an analogy: if you have two central sorting offices working to their own conflicting sets of addresses for the same buildings, mail is going to get lost all over the place.

So, we dont want the downstairs Netgear device to carry out these routing functions. Instead, we want it to just act as a single point remote from the router through which multiple wireless and wired devices can access the network. What do we call such a device? Yep, an access point. In our analogy, the access point is just a sub-office which all the local mail for a town passes through.

What does that mean for you? Well, out of the box, your two Netgear routers function as....yep, routers. Luckily, it is dead simple to configure your downstairs Netgear device to function as an access point instead.

1. Physically disconnect the two routers from each other.
2. Do a hard reset of the downstairs Netgear device. Plug in a computer, and in the Netgear homepage the settings we need are usually under Advanced>Lan Setup. Deselect "Use Router as DHCP Server" - this stops the device giving out IP addresses. Change the IP Address at the top of the page to 192.168.0.2 - this gives the device this static IP. Leave the IP Subnet Mask at 255.255.255.0. Under Advanced>UPnP, deselect "Turn UPnP On". Save the settings - this device can now function as an access point.
3. Do a hard reset of the upstairs Netgear device, and plug in a computer. Under the same LAN settings, check that the Router IP Address at the top of the page is 192.168.0.1, and the IP Subnet Mask is 255.255.255.0. Check that the option "Use Router as DHCP Server" is selected. These settings allow the device to function as a router and work with our downstairs access point. Change the starting IP Address to 192.168.0.10 and the ending IP Address to 192.168.0.240. We must do this because any devices with a static IP such as our access point downstairs must have addresses outside of this DHCP pool.
4. Switch both Netgear devices off then on. Wait a good few minutes for them to boot up fully. Only then connect them with a cable (via MoCA in your case). You must follow this procedure exactly if ever you reboot or switch off either or both of the Netgear devices. If you don't, and for example leave the cable connected, they might not function, or even worse, they might appear to function, but performance will be slow.

The MoCA and wired performance should now be optimised. The wireless performance may still be suffering interference from outside equipment, or from the other Netgear device, however. You may need to switch wireless off on one of the devices, and try checking/changing the wireless channels.

 

[mageej]

Someone suggested that I just use the same SSID on both, but separate channels. I'll follow your instructions and let you know how it goes. Thanks!

 

[rhombus]

Someone suggested that I just use the same SSID on both, but separate channels.

Separate channels sounds good.
Same SSID sounds a nightmare (if you want to do that, leave it till after you have confirmed problem-free wireless performance from each Netgear device separately).

 

[mageej]

Rhombus, I did exactly what you said, but my wireless devices won't connect. I'm sure I've done something wrong. Any advice?

 

[rhombus]

You mean Windows shows the wireless as disconnected?

For the Netgear, everything was reset to default settings, including all wireless settings and encryption keys, so you may have to re-enter these in your end devices? Windows 7 is especially fussy with its wireless connections, if the slightest thing changes it treats it as a new connection - you have to click on the wireless icon, disconnect, re-enter settings, and re-connect.

 

[mageej]

Yes. I did all of that.

 

[rhombus]

Sorry, I don't know.

Just work through the basics. The settings changed are independent of the ability to establish a wireless connection.