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Plusnet Fibre - Technicolor 582n wireless N

DinglyDel
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎07-02-2013

Plusnet Fibre - Technicolor 582n wireless N

Hi all,
My first post here so please be gentle!
I recently moved house and have just had Plusnet unlimited fibre installed and get more than satisfactory internet/LAN speeds and reliability with the supplied Technicolor router when using ethernet connections to devices.  However, who uses hard wire these days?  Grin
When using wireless N with the default settings as supplied by Plusnet (using auto setup) I have nothing but trouble.  On first device use, the 130Mbps connection drops to below 5.5 Mbps with a wireless connection that frequently drops - so frustrating that it is effectively unusable.  Sometimes freezes the laptop too and have to crash the system.
I tried to diagnose myself, then reported to the support centre and was directed by them to perform more tests.  To date I have tried all combinations of:
* 2 Openreach modems (irrelevant but tried anyway)
* 2 new technicolor routers
* 4 new ethernet cables for modem to router
* 4 different laptops with wireless N (2 x new HP with intel centrino wireless adapter and 2 x older Acer with broadcom) - each tested in isolation.  Never had a problem with them before on other wireless networks.
* 2 mobile phones (Galaxy S2 & S3) - tested in isolation
* wireless channels - turn off automatic selection and try 1, 6 & 12
* used inSSIDer to identify any potential channel clashes (but looks OK)
* security - limit to WPA2
* and for the record tried PlusNet Assist  Wink
Suspiciously, if I use my older CISCO (ADSL2+) WAG320N with the first ethernet port set as WAN (modem function disabled) I have no problems with wireless at all, enjoying a full reliable 130Mbps (although I don't enjoy the full fibre experience as download speeds are limited with a router designed for ADSL2+, but still respectable!)
Has any other technically minded forum member any advice or had similar experiences with this router?  I'd like to try just one more time before I toss the damn thing in the trash and go buy something half decent!
Thanks people  Wink
7 REPLIES 7
ejs
Aspiring Hero
Posts: 5,442
Thanks: 631
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎10-06-2010

Re: Plusnet Fibre - Technicolor 582n wireless N

This won't be much help, but some 582n units have been tested: http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,110884.0.html
tijara33
Pro
Posts: 1,360
Thanks: 50
Fixes: 6
Registered: ‎22-06-2012

Re: Plusnet Fibre - Technicolor 582n wireless N

I tried 2 of the Technicolor routers & then bought an Asus RT-N56U with which I'm very pleased. I didn't have your troubles with the PN router but I wasn't happy with the wireless speed.
DinglyDel
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎07-02-2013

Re: Plusnet Fibre - Technicolor 582n wireless N

Thanks for the replies, and particularly the link...makes interesting reading.  I wasn't sure if I just had two sent from a bad batch and maybe I should just try one more, but by all the comments I read in the forums I think I'll just save myself the time and frustration and go buy myself a decent one Smiley
Thanks again
adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 16,871
Thanks: 882
Fixes: 221
Registered: ‎27-04-2007

Re: Plusnet Fibre - Technicolor 582n wireless N

Thanks for the feedback, just out of interest I'm wondering a few things about the environment you've used the router in, don't worry not trying to pry! Smiley what was the distance between the routers and the devices, where they in separate rooms or on separate floors perhaps?
If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Adam Walker
 Plusnet Help Team
DinglyDel
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎07-02-2013

Re: Plusnet Fibre - Technicolor 582n wireless N

Hi there, thanks for your interest.  If it helps eliminate issues with the router and so helps other users then by all means pry away! Cool
At first it was 10ft away horizontally from front door (modem/router) to living room sofa with a stud wall inbetween.  Then I tried sitting on the stairs 3ft from it.
On the support ticket someone suggested a possible incompatibility with Intel Centrino wireless and to try reducing the wireless to G or B, but the problem was the same for Broadcom wireless and after all, why have a wireless N and be able to use it?!  Grin
I am in a detached house so don't suffer from strong neighbour signals, although I used inSSIDer to confirm.  i also ensured all other wireless devices were off (inc mobiles/Wii/PS3) so limiting the test to one device only, and noone was using microwave, DECT phone...
My only other thought is that the router settings need tweaking from the defaults (or new firmware).  I work in IT but not in comms so here I'm out of my depth.
dick:quote
DinglyDel
Newbie
Posts: 5
Registered: ‎07-02-2013

Re: Plusnet Fibre - Technicolor 582n wireless N

UPDATE: SUCCESS! ... of sorts
One last ditch attempt as prompted by customer support - try each and every wireless channel!
I started from the default (1) and meticulously tried and tested each channel...and FINALLY channel 13 appeared stable!  It's been behaving all day, even with my son playing online games on and off.
Lesson I learn from this - the technicolor appears particularly sensitive to external wifi, since my older CISCO has no problems over numerous channels.
At least I know what the problem was...so now I can go buy a higher spec router!  Grin
Bright
Grafter
Posts: 363
Registered: ‎02-02-2013

Re: Plusnet Fibre - Technicolor 582n wireless N

@DinglyDel
Thanks for the update. Interesting thread and good to know what has finally resolved your problem (or at least got you a low enough level of interference to be usable).
I live in an older house (~1900) with nice thick brick walls, it's deep front-to-back (so potentially up to 5 walls between the router in the office at the back and the furthest room), and it's in a sub-urban street with a small block of flats next door and lots of other neighbours - I can usually see up to 18 neighbouring wifi networks, all in the 2.4GHz band and many of them quite strong. So it's quite a challenging environment for wifi.
My Plusnet TG582n was usable in the next room on wifi but not beyond that. It replaced Be's TG585 v7 which managed to get through a couple of extra walls, but still couldn't cover the whole house. I've replaced the TG582n with an Asus RT-N66U. This provides a usable wifi signal throughout the whole house - good enough to stream iPlayer to the furthest room. So, like tijara33, I can strongly recommend the Asus routers if you have a difficult wifi environment.
My conclusion from this is that the TG582n doesn't perform well in difficult radio environments. I suspect that the (internal) antenna configuration is the real issue, and that it can't handle higher levels of multi-path and co-channel/adjacent channel interference.