Posted: Wed Jun 21, 2017 23:59 Post subject: RT-N66U Will dd-wrt firmware solve bufferbloat?
Let me start by saying I'm not a network tech, just a home user who had managed to patch her own 5GHz wifi together and keep it working for a few years. I hope I'm still welcome here, as much of this looks to be above my head.
I'm in the Denver area and we've had Comcast HSI 25 meg service for years. 3 years ago, I decided to quit paying $120 a year in rent for their equipment, and bought the above mentioned router and emta for myself. I'm not a network tech, but managed to get it all working with help from nice folks in forums like this. I'm a senior and usually have scattered sleep at night. ( Don't know if any of you follow "Turn" where they depict first sleep, second sleep etc. ) So every once in awhile when I've been up around 5:40 on Saturday mornings, and watching something on Netflix or Hulu Plus, suddenly the cable would drop out, for just about an hour, then come back on again.
I figured they must be doing service or updates at that hour. But a little over 2 weeks ago, that happened, and then the streaming video became horrible - buffering all the time. I ran speed tests and found that our "25 meg service" was more like 4-6 megs. I had the Comcast techs over twice in the past 2 weeks, and AS USUAL, they push that their equipment is wonderful, and this is happening because I refuse to rent theirs and installed my own evil stuff. Right...
I bought the RT-N66U because my bedroom is at the far end of the house - about 40 feet from the router which is on a high shelf in the kitchen, and I needed more power. SO they want me to revert to their low powered stuff now, AND pay for it.
The other thing I just discovered, and never knew what it was before, was bufferbloat. I tried the DSLREPORTS speed test and it's been rating that an "F" - horrible. ( see above ) I told this latest tech about it, and he never heard of it before and has talked to his supervisor. He said he'd get back to me, but all they seem to offer is their own rental!
So I'm stuck here now, with service that sometimes drops to 560 or so KB down speed, and horrible buffer bloat.
Did something happen on that Saturday outage and update 2 weeks ago? Any other reports in the Denver area?
I heard they were going to DOCSIS 3.1 and am wondering if my TM822 got botched up by an update then, and they have no idea, because it's not their cherished rental equipment and they won't support it?
Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2017 13:13 Post subject: Re: RT-N66U Will dd-wrt firmware solve bufferbloat?
MamaBear2017 wrote:
So every once in awhile when I've been up around 5:40 on Saturday mornings, and watching something on Netflix or Hulu Plus, suddenly the cable would drop out, for just about an hour, then come back on again.
I figured they must be doing service or updates at that hour. But a little over 2 weeks ago, that happened, and then the streaming video became horrible - buffering all the time. I ran speed tests and found that our "25 meg service" was more like 4-6 megs.
If you connect a PC directly to the modem, what speeds to you get? I had intermittent issues for months a few years ago; one day a Comcast tech knocked on my door, having spare time before the end of his shift, he found my node was very noisy. Like the lottery, ya know?! :-\
Turned out my line was connected to the wrong socket, thru two filters, and the old cable line was saturated with water. They replaced it and voila! ...been getting 90-95 Mb/s from my 75 Mb/s service ever since.
Then I had lightning strike that same node last year and it took out my N66U's LAN port (WAN is still fine though?), PC's internal NIC (losing its Win10 Digital Entitlement...), and making my SB6141 modem not work for schit with a gigabit connection (and Merlin AsusWRT doesn't let you change it), but fine with a 100 Mb/s connection (after swapping to an old test router). I then got a DOCSIS 3 modem (which also helped the speed a little actually, since it had twice the channels; letting the modem pick the highest S/N ones).
Bufferbloat is only a problem if your internet is saturated, which it wouldn't be if you're only getting 1/5 of your tiered bandwidth. So there's clearly an issue somewhere since Speedtest is still failing it. QoS is used to improve it; did you enable QoS in the stock firmware? I'd first suggest trying Merlin over DD for the N66U, but it sounds like your issue isn't with the router. Did the techs actually run their own tests, to verify you're getting the expected speeds?
Lastly, anytime I've tried changing advanced wireless settings it made my transfer speeds go to schit (I only change the Ack Timing). And make sure you're using Mixed-NA mode.
Point is, things can get messed up for many obscure reasons, just keep that in mind. _________________ #NAT/SFE/CTF: limited speed w/ DD#Repeater issues#DD-WRT info: FAQ, Builds, Types, Modes, Changes, Demo#
OPNsense x64 5050e ITX|DD: DIR-810L, 2*EA6900@1GHz, R6300v1, RT-N66U@663, WNDR4000@533, E1500@353,
WRT54G{Lv1.1,Sv6}@250|FreshTomato: F7D8302@532|OpenWRT: F9K1119v1, RT-ACRH13, R6220, WNDR3700v4
Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2017 17:25 Post subject: Re: RT-N66U Will dd-wrt firmware solve bufferbloat?
Quote:
If you connect a PC directly to the modem, what speeds to you get?
The tech tried and couldn't get it to work.
Quote:
I had intermittent issues for months a few years ago; one day a Comcast tech knocked on my door, having spare time before the end of his shift, he found my node was very noisy. Like the lottery, ya know?! :-\
Turned out my line was connected to the wrong socket, thru two filters, and the old cable line was saturated with water. They replaced it and voila! ...been getting 90-95 Mb/s from my 75 Mb/s service ever since.
Then I had lightning strike that same node last year and it took out my N66U's LAN port (WAN is still fine though?), PC's internal NIC (losing its Win10 Digital Entitlement...), and making my SB6141 modem not work for schit with a gigabit connection (and Merlin AsusWRT doesn't let you change it), but fine with a 100 Mb/s connection (after swapping to an old test router). I then got a DOCSIS 3 modem (which also helped the speed a little actually, since it had twice the channels; letting the modem pick the highest S/N ones).
Bufferbloat is only a problem if your internet is saturated, which it wouldn't be if you're only getting 1/5 of your tiered bandwidth. So there's clearly an issue somewhere since Speedtest is still failing it. QoS is used to improve it; did you enable QoS in the stock firmware?
I tried a suggestion that I found on the web, for that - enabling it and setting it below speed, but it didn't work. Besides, speed is horrible right now.
And as far as signal strength, my bedroom is the furthest from the router. I woke up at 4:30 this morning and watched some Netflix streaming just fine, and then at 6:40, when people start waking up, it went to hell and started buffering every 15 seconds and I had to stop.
Quote:
I'd first suggest trying Merlin over DD for the N66U
I have Merlin now.
Quote:
, but it sounds like your issue isn't with the router. Did the techs actually run their own tests, to verify you're getting the expected speeds?
They get hung up on the fact that I didn't want to pay $120 a year in rent for their mediocre equipment that wouldn't have worked in this house anyway, because of the distance to my bedroom, and I bought my own a few years ago - the RT-N66U and TM822G. "Oh, it must be using your own equipment! You need to rent ours! We won't support this!" I keep pointing out that this equipment has worked fine for 3+ years! Now I'm wondering if their recent switch to DOCSIS 3.1 may have botched my modem. Not sure. But people have told me in the forums that the TM822 is good for all the latest.
Quote:
Lastly, anytime I've tried changing advanced wireless settings it made my transfer speeds go to schit (I only change the Ack Timing). And make sure you're using Mixed-NA mode.
Where is that setting?
Quote:
Point is, things can get messed up for many obscure reasons, just keep that in mind.
Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2017 17:39 Post subject: Re: RT-N66U Will dd-wrt firmware solve bufferbloat?
MamaBear2017 wrote:
Where is that setting?
Sorry, that was DD-specific. Don't recall if AsusWRT has Ack Timing, but the Mixed mode just means b/g/n for 2.4 GHz and a/n/ac for 5 GHz; aka 'Legacy'.
Connecting directly to the modem should only require ensuring the PC is set for DHCP, and then rebooting the modem. That sux about the techs there though. I had a couple guys do some extensive tests (with some cool equipment) after the lightning situation, and they paid no mind to my (non-Comcast-provided) equipment. That said, I know that the Comcast tech quality here varies -widely- based on coworkers' stories. _________________ #NAT/SFE/CTF: limited speed w/ DD#Repeater issues#DD-WRT info: FAQ, Builds, Types, Modes, Changes, Demo#
OPNsense x64 5050e ITX|DD: DIR-810L, 2*EA6900@1GHz, R6300v1, RT-N66U@663, WNDR4000@533, E1500@353,
WRT54G{Lv1.1,Sv6}@250|FreshTomato: F7D8302@532|OpenWRT: F9K1119v1, RT-ACRH13, R6220, WNDR3700v4
Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2017 17:53 Post subject: Re: RT-N66U Will dd-wrt firmware solve bufferbloat?
jwh7 wrote:
MamaBear2017 wrote:
Where is that setting?
Sorry, that was DD-specific. Don't recall if AsusWRT has Ack Timing, but the Mixed mode just means b/g/n for 2.4 GHz and a/n/ac for 5 GHz; aka 'Legacy'.
I recall that somewhere, but not where.
Quote:
Connecting directly to the modem should only require ensuring the PC is set for DHCP, and then rebooting the modem. That sux about the techs there though. I had a couple guys do some extensive tests (with some cool equipment) after the lightning situation, and they paid no mind to my (non-Comcast-provided) equipment. That said, I know that the Comcast tech quality here varies -widely- based on coworkers' stories.
I'm hearing that they've over-sold bandwidth, but it cant have happened THAT fast?
Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2017 19:39 Post subject: Re: RT-N66U Will dd-wrt firmware solve bufferbloat?
MamaBear2017 wrote:
I'm hearing that they've over-sold bandwidth, but it cant have happened THAT fast?
All depends on their network setup and how many users are on your node (if it is setup that way).
Try to test a direct connection thru the modem. Then I'd suggest you reset the N66U and test the bare minimum settings: SSIDs, WPA2 and p/w, WPS off.
Once you've tried both of those, try QoS, per Per.
Btw, you can usually check your signal quality and status/error log info in your modem at its LAN address; usually 192.168.100.1 (or 10.1). _________________ #NAT/SFE/CTF: limited speed w/ DD#Repeater issues#DD-WRT info: FAQ, Builds, Types, Modes, Changes, Demo#
OPNsense x64 5050e ITX|DD: DIR-810L, 2*EA6900@1GHz, R6300v1, RT-N66U@663, WNDR4000@533, E1500@353,
WRT54G{Lv1.1,Sv6}@250|FreshTomato: F7D8302@532|OpenWRT: F9K1119v1, RT-ACRH13, R6220, WNDR3700v4
Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2017 21:49 Post subject: Re: RT-N66U Will dd-wrt firmware solve bufferbloat?
jwh7 wrote:
MamaBear2017 wrote:
I'm hearing that they've over-sold bandwidth, but it cant have happened THAT fast?
All depends on their network setup and how many users are on your node (if it is setup that way).
Try to test a direct connection thru the modem. Then I'd suggest you reset the N66U and test the bare minimum settings: SSIDs, WPA2 and p/w, WPS off.
WPA2? The encryption? WPS is off now. Should it be on or off? SSID's? I know what they are, but the only settings I see naming and not hiding them. p/w? Keep in mind, I'm a novice here.
Quote:
Once you've tried both of those, try QoS, per Per.
Btw, you can usually check your signal quality and status/error log info in your modem at its LAN address; usually 192.168.100.1 (or 10.1).
Joined: 10 Jan 2015 Posts: 270 Location: Minnesota
Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2017 19:04 Post subject:
MamaBear2017 wrote:
Let me start by saying I'm not a network tech, just a home user who had managed to patch her own 5GHz wifi together and keep it working for a few years. I hope I'm still welcome here, as much of this looks to be above my head.
I'm in the Denver area and we've had Comcast HSI 25 meg service for years. 3 years ago, I decided to quit paying $120 a year in rent for their equipment, and bought the above mentioned router and emta for myself. I'm not a network tech, but managed to get it all working with help from nice folks in forums like this. I'm a senior and usually have scattered sleep at night. ( Don't know if any of you follow "Turn" where they depict first sleep, second sleep etc. ) So every once in awhile when I've been up around 5:40 on Saturday mornings, and watching something on Netflix or Hulu Plus, suddenly the cable would drop out, for just about an hour, then come back on again.
I figured they must be doing service or updates at that hour. But a little over 2 weeks ago, that happened, and then the streaming video became horrible - buffering all the time. I ran speed tests and found that our "25 meg service" was more like 4-6 megs. I had the Comcast techs over twice in the past 2 weeks, and AS USUAL, they push that their equipment is wonderful, and this is happening because I refuse to rent theirs and installed my own evil stuff. Right...
I bought the RT-N66U because my bedroom is at the far end of the house - about 40 feet from the router which is on a high shelf in the kitchen, and I needed more power. SO they want me to revert to their low powered stuff now, AND pay for it.
The other thing I just discovered, and never knew what it was before, was bufferbloat. I tried the DSLREPORTS speed test and it's been rating that an "F" - horrible. ( see above ) I told this latest tech about it, and he never heard of it before and has talked to his supervisor. He said he'd get back to me, but all they seem to offer is their own rental!
So I'm stuck here now, with service that sometimes drops to 560 or so KB down speed, and horrible buffer bloat.
Did something happen on that Saturday outage and update 2 weeks ago? Any other reports in the Denver area?
I heard they were going to DOCSIS 3.1 and am wondering if my TM822 got botched up by an update then, and they have no idea, because it's not their cherished rental equipment and they won't support it?
You should do the steps we've suggested there (which are pretty much the same suggested here) to see if its a router or modem issue for your bufferbloat value first.
DD-WRT is a good firmware for preventing bufferbloat. However you need a good router (which a RT-N66u should handle your 25mb service) and the knowledge to setup for it. Like I and the other's above have said, you want to have a way to limit both directions of bandwidth just below the rate you pay your ISP for bandwidth (80-95%)
Ok, well I guess this is over my head, as I don't know how to get a wired connection working ( and the Comcast tech wasn't doing so well with it either, then went back to blaming our equipment ).
Joined: 10 Jan 2015 Posts: 270 Location: Minnesota
Posted: Fri Jun 23, 2017 21:09 Post subject:
MamaBear2017 wrote:
Ok, well I guess this is over my head, as I don't know how to get a wired connection working ( and the Comcast tech wasn't doing so well with it either, then went back to blaming our equipment ).
Thanks.
Have you tried directly plugging a computer/laptop into your modem and see what kind of values you get? Don't give up yet...
If you are stating that your wired connection doesn't work by doing this, then there is some configuration issue on the modem or computer (or even the cable you are using is bad).
You say you can get internet by wireless, so i don't think the issue with getting a wired connection lies with your modem. You need to be more specific of what you've tried so we can help further... _________________ LATEST DD-WRT FW IS LOCATED HERE: https://dd-wrt.com/support/other-downloads/?path=betas%2F
