Netgear WRG614: Hang during large file transfer

Hi,

I'm have a slight problem with my netgear wrg614: the wireless
functionality seems to hang during large file transfers. Typically,
it the problem will appear after transferring a couple of hundred
megabytes (either a few tens of mp3 files or a third of a 700MB divx
movie).

-- I'm not bashing netgear. Overall, I really like the kit, but... --

I have the wrg614, a dm602 modem, a desktop with the wg311 pci card
and a laptop with the wg511 pc-card adaptor. I use 128-bit WEP and
the mac-address access control. The cards and the router are in the
same building, typically reporting good signal strength.

Everything will stay up for hours (days) at a time if all I'm doing is
internet access, copying small files, running terminal server, etc.
When I try to copy large files between machines the wireless
functionality of the router hangs after about 100MB. I can still
access the router (and the internet) through the cat5 ports, but the
wireless features are gone until I restart it.

I tried the 1126 firmware, but that seemed to make things worse.

What also definitely made things worse was stacking the modem and the
router. In that configuration, they got _very_ hot and the router
would frequently 'out'. Placing the modem and the router vertically
in the little rubber stands helped a bit.

Any comments, suggestions or simlar complaints anyone? I confess that
I haven't bothered calling the NetGear support line yet - I'm not sure
that they'll be a great deal of help. I've tried emailing them, but I
got an automated response, to which I replied, then nothing further.

Thanks,


James

Hi James,

Exactly the same thing for me. i have the 614 and 511 pc card. can play
streaming divx's perfectly with full signal then nothing.

reset the router and all is back to normal. i have upgraded firmware etc.

one tip i read and tried (made a little bit better i think) was to allocate
a static ip address to the wireless card.

NRJ

-- I'm not bashing netgear. Overall, I really like the kit, but... --

Don't feel bashful, just reading this and other newsgroup for a while you
will realise that Netgear gets more complaints then any other make. I was
lucky, mine didn't work at all, so I could return it !
And in case you do ring them up, their support is in India...
Regards,
Martin

"Martin²" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:4dPrb.6659$(E-Mail Removed)...
> -- I'm not bashing netgear. Overall, I really like the kit,
but... --
>
> Don't feel bashful, just reading this and other newsgroup for a
while you
> will realise that Netgear gets more complaints then any other make.
I was
> lucky, mine didn't work at all, so I could return it !
> And in case you do ring them up, their support is in India...
> Regards,
> Martin

When you say large files how large? as I have one of these and want to
try it out?

OK. It would be very interesting to know whether this affects all
614's.

1, 5 or 10MB doesn't seem to cause a problem. Things go wrong at
about 100 to 200MB into a large transfer (either one large divx file
or three to four 128kbps mp3 albums, for example).

Actually, it's not file size alone that's the problem - I downloaded a
650MB CD image over the weekend and that came through the router fine.
It's only when I try to transfer large amounts of data from my
desktop to my laptop that the problem occurs. I suppose that's the
situation in which the router is the limiting factor.

"Automated Zero" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:<booonl$cjo$1$(E-Mail Removed)>...
> When you say large files how large? as I have one of these and want to
> try it out?

Navin,

Good to know someone else is experiencing the same problem. Although
- I seem to suffer less when streaming divx than when copying it. I
think the problem is more likely to arise when the router is the
limiting factor...?

I tried giving my desktop and my laptop fixed IPs and switching off
the router's DHCP option. I then tried to copy a 700MB file but the
results were the same -- the router hung a minute or so into the
transfer.

Perhaps it's just a hardware fault, or perhaps I should just send the
router back and buy another brand. I'd rather fix the problem.


James

"Navin Johnson" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:<3faf872a$(E-Mail Removed)>...
> Hi James,
>
> Exactly the same thing for me. i have the 614 and 511 pc card. can play
> streaming divx's perfectly with full signal then nothing.
>
> reset the router and all is back to normal. i have upgraded firmware etc.
>
> one tip i read and tried (made a little bit better i think) was to allocate
> a static ip address to the wireless card.
>
> NRJ

In message <(E-Mail Removed) >, James
Arthur <(E-Mail Removed)> writes
>OK. It would be very interesting to know whether this affects all
>614's.
>
>1, 5 or 10MB doesn't seem to cause a problem. Things go wrong at
>about 100 to 200MB into a large transfer (either one large divx file
>or three to four 128kbps mp3 albums, for example).
>
>Actually, it's not file size alone that's the problem - I downloaded a
>650MB CD image over the weekend and that came through the router fine.
> It's only when I try to transfer large amounts of data from my
>desktop to my laptop that the problem occurs. I suppose that's the
>situation in which the router is the limiting factor.

Last time this happened to me it turned out to be my switch overheating
under heavy load, moving it to increase ventilation fixed the problem.
Worth a try.

--
Paul Shirley: email anti-spammed

Paul Shirley <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:<utCeY7Ec8Os$(E-Mail Removed)>...

> Last time this happened to me it turned out to be my switch overheating
> under heavy load, moving it to increase ventilation fixed the problem.
> Worth a try.

OK. I've moved the router and the modem so that both have lots of
ventilation (they're running lukewarm to the touch).

When I watched the signal strength observed by the desktop for a
length of time, I noticed that it was quite variable - rising and
falling for some reason. To try to address that, I adjusted the
position of my desktop PC so that the signal strength is improved
(basically, I've turned it round a bit so that the case isn't
obstructing the line between the PCI card antenna and the router).

These two things (individually or together) _seem_ to have solved the
problem. I've been streaming video over the link this evening and
I've copied four gigs of music and video back and forth across the
router. No crashes so far.

[Out of interest, I also experimented a bit with switching the
microwave oven in our kitchen on and off. While this certainly
degraded throughput, it didn't seem to cause any instability. Not an
extensive test, but reassuring.]

Thanks for reading.


James

In message <(E-Mail Removed) >, James
Arthur <(E-Mail Removed)> writes
>Paul Shirley <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:<utCeY7Ec8Os$(E-Mail Removed)>.. .
>
>> Last time this happened to me it turned out to be my switch overheating
>> under heavy load, moving it to increase ventilation fixed the problem.
>> Worth a try.
>
>OK. I've moved the router and the modem so that both have lots of
>ventilation (they're running lukewarm to the touch).

My Kingston switch was too hot to hold when it crashed (it runs
extremely hot most of the time anyway - good as a hand warmer) and I had
it in a really silly place. If you can confirm its a heat problem you
should probably try for a replacement router, lukewarm shouldn't cause a
problem, maybe a heatsink is badly installed?
--
Paul Shirley: email anti-spammed