modem/router recommendation

What do you mean by offline?

Does you PC/Mac go offline at the same time?

Who's your ISP & why not use their supplied hub ???   

Agree the TP you have needs replacing, well past sell by date even when new.  

Huge posted:

What do you mean by offline?

Does you PC/Mac go offline at the same time?

N-serve reports that the US is 'offline' and it won't reconnect. Metadata cannot be edited. Happens at least once a day, usually overnight.

Sometimes the app sees the US and I can continue to play music, sometimes not.

I can still see the US folders on my Mac and drag music into the download folder. No other device is affected.

This is my second US and I had an identical problem with the first one. Naim advice is that it is network related. Everything is hardwired via a switch and an Airport Extreme.

Mike-B posted:

Who's your ISP & why not use their supplied hub ???   

Agree the TP you have needs replacing, well past sell by date even when new.  

I've been with the ISP a long time and, as I remember, no hub was offered. Any suggestions?

Richard Morris posted:

Mike-B posted:

Who's your ISP & why not use their supplied hub ???

I've been with the ISP a long time and, as I remember, no hub was offered. Any suggestions?

  OK,  but who is your ISP ???   Unheard (IME) of an ISP not having their own wireless hub in the contract,  time to give em a call & negotiate a new contract methinks. I got my HH6 for free with a new BT contract.      The best ISP supplied wireless hub at the moment looks to be the BT 'Smart' (HH6) hub. Very capable with 2.4 & 5GHz, easy set up & about as powerful as any.    A neighbour with Virgin had a few years of grief getting the TV service working reliably,  but the latest hub has sorted it out.    Sky seem to be OK & I haven't heard anything bad other than slower than advertised line speed.  Talking of which, In my area I pick on pub/club talk about line speed not meeting the contract spec.  I've always got what I pay for,  76Mb/s & I get 75Mb/s @ 0.5km from the FTTC point.

I'm sure some 3rd party hubs can out perform the ISP supplied ones, but the ISP hubs around today are a hell of a lot better performers than from just a few years back.  If you do end up looking into replacing your existing hub,  take a look at the latest mesh wi-fi systems,  undoubtedly better than a single hub & maybe OTT in a small house/flat,  but worth a consideration.   

Mike-B posted:

Richard Morris posted:

Mike-B posted:

Who's your ISP & why not use their supplied hub ???

I've been with the ISP a long time and, as I remember, no hub was offered. Any suggestions?

  OK,  but who is your ISP ???   Unheard (IME) of an ISP not having their own wireless hub in the contract,  time to give em a call & negotiate a new contract methinks. I got my HH6 for free with a new BT contract.      The best ISP supplied wireless hub at the moment looks to be the BT 'Smart' (HH6) hub. Very capable with 2.4 & 5GHz, easy set up & about as powerful as any.    A neighbour with Virgin had a few years of grief getting the TV service working reliably,  but the latest hub has sorted it out.    Sky seem to be OK & I haven't heard anything bad other than slower than advertised line speed.  Talking of which, In my area I pick on pub/club talk about line speed not meeting the contract spec.  I've always got what I pay for,  76Mb/s & I get 75Mb/s @ 0.5km from the FTTC point.

I'm sure some 3rd party hubs can out perform the ISP supplied ones, but the ISP hubs around today are a hell of a lot better performers than from just a few years back.  If you do end up looking into replacing your existing hub,  take a look at the latest mesh wi-fi systems,  undoubtedly better than a single hub & maybe OTT in a small house/flat,  but worth a consideration.   

ISP is Freedom2Surf which was taken over by Talk Talk. Maximum speed in my street is 16Mb/s. I don't want anything to to do with Sky, Virgin or BT unless absolutely necessary.

But that's not the issue. 16Mb/s is adequate for my needs. I don't have any problem with wifi around the house. I just want my US to work all the time so I'm looking for a good modem/router in the hope that will fix the problem.

Richard Morris posted:

I've had lots of problems with my US going 'offline' and have decided to replace my TP Link Archer D7 AC1750. Any recommendations?

Hi Richard, to answer this accurately one needs to know your ISP, and whether they piggy back on BT DSLAM/MSANs.. you might not know the latter.. so best ask Talk Talk what modem they recommend for your number... it's all to do with the matching chipsets and algorithms and they of course may be using BT to provide the access service.

if they can't answer then change ISP. BT will recommend Vigor modems if you are not using their modem/router bundle. With the correct modem and not using any advanced ISP service like TV, most quality broadband modems should function (needs PPP link connectivity)... However An Apple AirPort Extreme works well for a basic capable router connected to a modem. I would recommend BT's HH5 or higher if going with BT unless you specifically have a reason not to and you know what you are doing.

Finally check the protocols you are using... specifically whether it's ADSL or VDSL.. the later is for superfast and you need the appropriate modem. Many VDSL capable modems will also support ADSL but not the other way around.

So, when there's a problem,

1  The US is not visible from the N-Server App running on the Mac, but the file structure on the US is visible from the MAC.
2  No other device is affected, so the Mac can still connect to the internet (as can any tablet or any other device on your LAN).

Working from point 2, the network isn't offline to the internet so the terminal adapter (aka modem) in the router or it's connection to your ISP isn't the problem.
This strongly suggests that the problem is in your internal LAN.

Do you use DHCP for all devices?
Have you tried adding a separate switch between the Mac and the US, then taking a LAN cable from that to your broadband router?

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

Richard Morris posted:

I've had lots of problems with my US going 'offline' and have decided to replace my TP Link Archer D7 AC1750. Any recommendations?

Hi Richard, to answer this accurately one needs to know your ISP, and whether they piggy back on BT DSLAM/MSANs.. you might not know the latter.. so best ask Talk Talk what modem they recommend for your number... it's all to do with the matching chipsets and algorithms and they of course may be using BT to provide the access service.

if they can't answer then change ISP. BT will recommend Vigor modems if you are not using their modem/router bundle. With the correct modem and not using any advanced ISP service like TV, most quality broadband modems should function (needs PPP link connectivity)... However An Apple AirPort Extreme works well for a basic capable router connected to a modem. I would recommend BT's HH5 or higher if going with BT unless you specifically have a reason not to and you know what you are doing.

Finally check the protocols you are using... specifically whether it's ADSL or VDSL.. the later is for superfast and you need the appropriate modem. Many VDSL capable modems will also support ADSL but not the other way around.

 

Thanks, I'll ask the question.

Huge posted:

So, when there's a problem,

1  The US is not visible from the N-Server App running on the Mac, but the file structure on the US is visible from the MAC.
2  No other device is affected, so the Mac can still connect to the internet (as can any tablet or any other device on your LAN).

Working from point 2, the network isn't offline to the internet so the terminal adapter (aka modem) in the router or it's connection to your ISP isn't the problem.
This strongly suggests that the problem is in your internal LAN.

Do you use DHCP for all devices?
Have you tried adding a separate switch between the Mac and the US, then taking a LAN cable from that to your broadband router?

 

DHCP: used by MacBook and iMac, I think - I can see it in Preferences.

There is a switch between the Mac and the US.

I should add that adding /removing the switch and/or the Mac makes no difference, nor does turning the TP-Link wireless on and off.

Knowing nothing about this I find it interesting that this is an intermittent problem - I have gone up to 3 days without having to reboot the US, this week its been twice a day. I'm also curious as to why the US won't automatically reconnect to the network.

It seems that something may be missing from the description of the problem.

What device(s) is N_Serve running on and how are they connected.

When the problem occurs please could you tell us exactly what doesn't work - you need to list everything that doesn't work as we'll assume anything you don't list is still working.

After getting through 6 BT Smart Hubs in as many months I took my dealer's advice and went for a Draytek 2860. It's rock solid and provides better wireless coverage. I also invested in a Draytek switch.

I ordered mine from the BT shop as it was marginally cheaper than elsewhere.

Ravenswood10 posted:

After getting through 6 BT Smart Hubs in as many months I took my dealer's advice and went for a Draytek 2860. It's rock solid and provides better wireless coverage. I also invested in a Draytek switch.

I ordered mine from the BT shop as it was marginally cheaper than elsewhere.

 

Thanks, I'll have look.

Huge posted:

It seems that something may be missing from the description of the problem.

What device(s) is N_Serve running on and how are they connected.

When the problem occurs please could you tell us exactly what doesn't work - you need to list everything that doesn't work as we'll assume anything you don't list is still working.

Will do, once it goes offline again.

Richard Morris posted:

Huge posted:

It seems that something may be missing from the description of the problem.

What device(s) is N_Serve running on and how are they connected.

When the problem occurs please could you tell us exactly what doesn't work - you need to list everything that doesn't work as we'll assume anything you don't list is still working.

Will do, once it goes offline again.

N-Serve is running on a MacBook an iMac and an iPad, all connected wirelessly.

Just happened again. Used the app (on an iPhone) to play some music. Music finished, I tried to play something else but the Naim app reported 'no results' when I looked at albums, artists, etc. Rebooting the app has no effect. Only solution to playing ripped music is to reboot the US. However I can still use the app to play internet radio through my Mu-so without a reboot.

All other devices in the house are able to access the internet with no issues.

When the US goes 'offline' that message appears top left in the N-serve window (MacBook and iMac). Manual connection using N-serve settings does not work, nor does closing and reopening N-serve.

On the iPad N-serve won't connect to the US which stays greyed out in settings.

I can still mount the Downloads folder in Finder and can drag to it. When I reboot the US I get a 'server connection interrupted' message on my MacBook.

This behaviour first appeared on immediately after I set up the US, over a year ago. Naim replaced that machine with my current one and the problem has persisted.

An impression: the problem is getting worse in that it is happening more frequently.

Mike-B posted:

Who's your ISP & why not use their supplied hub ???   

Agree the TP you have needs replacing, well past sell by date even when new.  

Because ISP supplied hubs are generally garbage. 

Hi Richard, thank you.  I think we can establish a few things now.

Firstly when the problem occurs, the router is still working...  You can still connect devices to the internet and you can still connec the computers to the US file system (acting as a NAS).  This means that the WiFi, LAN service components of the router, its firewall, router and terminal adapter are all working OK.

Next the US itself (and it's operating system) are still running as you can access it's file system as NAS.

So the most likely thing to be not working properly is the Media Server / Media player application and service on the Uniti Serve.

I think it's unlikely that this is a problem with your router's hardware, and my guess would be that it's a configuration problem.

This could either be a configuration problem in the network services of the router
         > have you tried turning off IGMP snooping?
         > have you looked for a DLNA setting you can turn on?

It could also be a problem in the US itself, and in this case my guess would be that it's a software configuration or data problem.

One final point (and this is clutching at straws as the WiFi seems otherwise OK) have you tried fully a wired network configuration i.e. a wired connection from the router to the the US and from the router to the Mac?

WilcoFT posted:

Mike-B posted:

Who's your ISP & why not use their supplied hub ???   

Agree the TP you have needs replacing, well past sell by date even when new.  

Because ISP supplied hubs are generally garbage. 

and if you think ISP routers are so bad what makes you think consumer routers from the likes of Apple, Linksys, Asus, Netgear and any other consumer brand you want to throw out there aren't equally generally as bad??  

Huge posted:

Hi Richard, thank you.  I think we can establish a few things now.

Firstly when the problem occurs, the router is still working...  You can still connect devices to the internet and you can still connec the computers to the US file system (acting as a NAS).  This means that the WiFi, LAN service components of the router, its firewall, router and terminal adapter are all working OK.

Next the US itself (and it's operating system) are still running as you can access it's file system as NAS.

So the most likely thing to be not working properly is the Media Server / Media player application and service on the Uniti Serve.

I think it's unlikely that this is a problem with your router's hardware, and my guess would be that it's a configuration problem.

This could either be a configuration problem in the network services of the router
         > have you tried turning off IGMP snooping?
         > have you looked for a DLNA setting you can turn on?

It could also be a problem in the US itself, and in this case my guess would be that it's a software configuration or data problem.

One final point (and this is clutching at straws as the WiFi seems otherwise OK) have you tried fully a wired network configuration i.e. a wired connection from the router to the the US and from the router to the Mac?

Thanks for the advice. I'l have a look at the router settings. I don't think (hope) that it is a US problem as:

it's occurred on two machines

neither Naim or my dealer are aware of the issue and

Naim's advice is that it is a network problem.

<looks at heap of current isp supplied routers>

nope, they are not all garbage. far from it

Nope, they are remarkable pieces of electronic engineering; but they are produced in a 'down to a price' manner!

And most (all?) of them aren't optimised for DLNA media steaming.

They are produced and engineered to be cost effective and optimal for the given the network/broadband service provided. They are  designed to be relatively reliable with often remote diagnostic capability so as to keep support costs down, and they are designed to support special services that your ISP  may provide such as IP TV - which some off-the-shelf consumer routers may otherwise struggle with.

Broadband routers typically interface between your home network and the internet - and such local network services such as DLNA media streaming are not affected by consumer routers. However your wifi access point and any switchports do need to manage this and are typically  bundled  modules that are  bolted onto the home network side of your broadband router - sometimes collectively called a 'hub'.

Interestingly increasingly more and more applications use elements of UPnP now - I was doing a WireShark trace yesterday to help our friends at Naim and I saw my Sky Q STBs are busy using certain UPnP methods as well - so I would say these days if your home network didn't support SSDP (which is the part of UPnP that some home networks appear to have trouble with) you are going to be crippling far more than your Naim streamer......

Further to this I updated the firmware on the Archer D7. The app now sees it at the top level as a UPnP server, along with the US. It's also seen by Finder on my MacBook.

Maybe a coincidence but the app has not gone 'offline' since. Previously it would stop showing artists/tracks etc. Typically this would happen some time after N-serve reported that the US was 'offline'.

N-serve continues to report that the US is 'offline'. Not such a big deal since my metadata is now organised and I don't need to use it.

Richard Morris posted:

Huge posted:

What do you mean by offline?

Does you PC/Mac go offline at the same time?

N-serve reports that the US is 'offline' and it won't reconnect. Metadata cannot be edited. Happens at least once a day, usually overnight.

Sometimes the app sees the US and I can continue to play music, sometimes not.

I can still see the US folders on my Mac and drag music into the download folder. No other device is affected.

This is my second US and I had an identical problem with the first one. Naim advice is that it is network related. Everything is hardwired via a switch and an Airport Extreme.

That happened when I owned a uServe.  I had to power cycle it every few days, as it kept going 'offline' in both the iPhone app and using n-Serve for OS X.  I never identified any 'network issue' at fault, and now using a Synology or qnap nas, everything works quite well.  If this is your only "issue," I suggest that you might chase ghosts in your network forever and never solve it.