Linksys router problem

I've got a Linksys RV082 router connecting my network to the internet
(via cable modem). There are several things happening in various
applications that I have a hunch could all be traced back to some
setting or configuration issue in the router, because all of these
things work perfectly on the same computers (and on other computers)
when connected directly to the internet, bypassing the router.

Here's what's happening:

-Outlook Express begins downloading the list of newsgroups from the
nntp server and it hangs after downloading only ~4000 entries in the
list. Eventually it gives a server timeout error.

-Streaming audio to Windows Media Player plays for 10-30 minutes and
then the stream cuts out and the audio stops. The player status says
"buffering" but you have to click Stop and then Play to get the stream
started back up.

-Often times when signing into AOL Instant Messenger it will either
hang during connect -- in which case I click Cancel and then sign on
again -- or it will connect and then not display the full buddy list.
In that case I have to sign off and sign back on and then the complete
list of online buddies is displayed.

As I said, these issues only happen from behind this router. Does
anyone have any suggestions for what specifically to look at or what
to do to fix this?

Thanks in advance!

Sumner <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> I've got a Linksys RV082 router connecting my network to the internet
> (via cable modem). There are several things happening in various
> applications that I have a hunch could all be traced back to some
> setting or configuration issue in the router, because all of these
> things work perfectly on the same computers (and on other computers)
> when connected directly to the internet, bypassing the router.

Have you tried upgrading it's firmware?

Yousuf Khan

"Yousuf Khan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:<RsEGc.79668$(E-Mail Removed) able.rogers.com>...
> Sumner <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> > I've got a Linksys RV082 router connecting my network to the internet
> > (via cable modem). There are several things happening in various
> > applications that I have a hunch could all be traced back to some
> > setting or configuration issue in the router, because all of these
> > things work perfectly on the same computers (and on other computers)
> > when connected directly to the internet, bypassing the router.
>
> Have you tried upgrading it's firmware?
>
> Yousuf Khan

Yes, it's been upgraded several times, and these problems have
persisted. The firware version we're using now is 1.1.5.

Sumner <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> "Yousuf Khan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> Have you tried upgrading it's firmware?
>
> Yes, it's been upgraded several times, and these problems have
> persisted. The firware version we're using now is 1.1.5.

How old is this device? I've noticed that there is a major difference in
reliability of old routers vs. new routers. New routers are much more
reliable. Judging by the picture of the Linksys RV082 router, it might be at
least four years old right? I have noticed that old routers simply didn't
have powerful enough processors onboard, therefore they sometimes got
overwhelmed by the network traffic. This usually can't be solved by firmware
upgrades since the basic computing power within the router itself is
insufficient -- no amount of reprogramming the firmware will make it run any
faster.

Your best bet might be to retire this router and go with a newer router.

Yousuf Khan

"Yousuf Khan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:<4lMGc.82495$(E-Mail Removed) able.rogers.com>...
> Sumner <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> > "Yousuf Khan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> >> Have you tried upgrading it's firmware?
> >
> > Yes, it's been upgraded several times, and these problems have
> > persisted. The firware version we're using now is 1.1.5.
>
> How old is this device? I've noticed that there is a major difference in
> reliability of old routers vs. new routers. New routers are much more
> reliable. Judging by the picture of the Linksys RV082 router, it might be at
> least four years old right? I have noticed that old routers simply didn't
> have powerful enough processors onboard, therefore they sometimes got
> overwhelmed by the network traffic. This usually can't be solved by firmware
> upgrades since the basic computing power within the router itself is
> insufficient -- no amount of reprogramming the firmware will make it run any
> faster.
>
> Your best bet might be to retire this router and go with a newer router.
>
> Yousuf Khan

Actually this router is only 4-5 months old... and the product itself
hasn't been on the market much longer than that. And the review at
tomshardware.com or tomsnetworking.com praised the product for having
a pretty powerful processor... Any other ideas?

Sumner <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>> Your best bet might be to retire this router and go with a newer
>> router.
>>
>> Yousuf Khan
>
> Actually this router is only 4-5 months old... and the product itself
> hasn't been on the market much longer than that. And the review at
> tomshardware.com or tomsnetworking.com praised the product for having
> a pretty powerful processor... Any other ideas?

Don't trust Tomsnetworking? :-)

Actually, you could try exchanging this router for another one of exactly
the same model, just in case it's just a flakey individual product.

Recently a friend of mine went through 3 different routers in a month. First
had a Netgear router, then he exchanged that for a Microsoft router, and now
finally he's into a D-link router. So far, the D-link seems to be
satisfactory to him. The others would lock up inexplicably, even though they
were the latest generation products.

Yousuf Khan

After many hours of screwing with this RV082, I finally found the
problem with performance and stability - I hope.

The thing was unstable, hanging, rebooting, very slow throughput, and
cold eggs. With TimeWarner and RoadRunner, I can get 360-370kB
(k-bytes) without the router. But, with the router, I was only
getting 160-180 (less than half).

I upgraded the frimware to the latest (multiple times). We are now
using the 1.1.5 level. Turned every knob I could, and finally
discovered that the FIREWALL option made a difference. If I turned it
off (and everythign with it), I could get nearly the same throughput
as without the router. (had to save and reboot each time to test it).

Finally, I reset and retried each and every option trying to find the
missing link, And, finally discovered it.

It seems that if MTU is set to AUTO (which, by the book, defaults to
1500), the router speed is cut in half. However, if I set it to 1500
manually, it magically worked at nearlt full speed.

I'm now wondering if that's the same issue with the other BFRx41
routers that I could never make stable......

So,MTU "AUTO" and "MANUAL 1500" are "NOT THE SAME". Even though the
manual and web doc say it is.

I tested this repeatedly, and verified it each time.

Lone Stranger <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> Finally, I reset and retried each and every option trying to find the
> missing link, And, finally discovered it.
>
> It seems that if MTU is set to AUTO (which, by the book, defaults to
> 1500), the router speed is cut in half. However, if I set it to 1500
> manually, it magically worked at nearlt full speed.
>
> I'm now wondering if that's the same issue with the other BFRx41
> routers that I could never make stable......
>
> So,MTU "AUTO" and "MANUAL 1500" are "NOT THE SAME". Even though the
> manual and web doc say it is.
>
> I tested this repeatedly, and verified it each time.

Good for you, and it's useful information for future troubleshooting.

Yousuf Khan

Lone Stranger <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:<(E-Mail Removed)>. ..
> After many hours of screwing with this RV082, I finally found the
> problem with performance and stability - I hope.
>
> The thing was unstable, hanging, rebooting, very slow throughput, and
> cold eggs. With TimeWarner and RoadRunner, I can get 360-370kB
> (k-bytes) without the router. But, with the router, I was only
> getting 160-180 (less than half).
>
> I upgraded the frimware to the latest (multiple times). We are now
> using the 1.1.5 level. Turned every knob I could, and finally
> discovered that the FIREWALL option made a difference. If I turned it
> off (and everythign with it), I could get nearly the same throughput
> as without the router. (had to save and reboot each time to test it).
>
> Finally, I reset and retried each and every option trying to find the
> missing link, And, finally discovered it.
>
> It seems that if MTU is set to AUTO (which, by the book, defaults to
> 1500), the router speed is cut in half. However, if I set it to 1500
> manually, it magically worked at nearlt full speed.
>
> I'm now wondering if that's the same issue with the other BFRx41
> routers that I could never make stable......
>
> So,MTU "AUTO" and "MANUAL 1500" are "NOT THE SAME". Even though the
> manual and web doc say it is.
>
> I tested this repeatedly, and verified it each time.

I'd already made this change on mine and I still get the symptoms I
described. It's too late to return it for a different one... :-(

(E-Mail Removed) (Sumner) wrote:

>Lone Stranger <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:<(E-Mail Removed)>. ..
>> After many hours of screwing with this RV082, I finally found the
>> problem with performance and stability - I hope.

>> Finally, I reset and retried each and every option trying to find the
>> missing link, And, finally discovered it.
>>
>> It seems that if MTU is set to AUTO (which, by the book, defaults to
>> 1500), the router speed is cut in half. However, if I set it to 1500
>> manually, it magically worked at nearlt full speed.
>>
>> I'm now wondering if that's the same issue with the other BFRx41
>> routers that I could never make stable......
>>
>> So,MTU "AUTO" and "MANUAL 1500" are "NOT THE SAME". Even though the
>> manual and web doc say it is.
>>
>> I tested this repeatedly, and verified it each time.
>
>I'd already made this change on mine and I still get the symptoms I
>described. It's too late to return it for a different one... :-(

You really should test your system out to see what MTU your network is
using. Then set your system to use the right value so you get the best
performance. One place that lets you test for free is over on DSL
reports.

If you go to http://www.dslreports.com/tools you can run the tweak
tests to see what values are likely to work better for you, and even
download a utility to set the values for you, Doctor TCP. Give that a
try and I think you may solve many of your problems. If you try a use
a MTU that's too high for your network connection then every large
packet has to be broken into two packets which can slow things down
quite a bit.