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[mabar1]

I'm starting to think the same thing Patrick.

Ugh.

Well the system froze up again today with bittorent disabled.

My 802.11N adapters arrived.. but my bad.. I made an assumption that it was a 5ghz adapter.. but it was 2.4Ghz... so the idea of swapping over to 5ghz is out for now.  I looked with new detail in mind to find inexpensive 5ghz N adapters.. they look much more expensive than 2.4ghz ones.

I don't think I can return it to the retailer at this point.  I bought it at officemax.  I think they only allow returns for 14 days.. I'll check their policy.

Does anyone have a suggestion on another product that they think is better.   Either some crazy wifi interference is happening that I can't control, or I bought a bum router.

[mabar1]

I broke out my old linksys WRT54G to see if it will work in place of this frustrating little device.

I have unplugged the dir-825.  I will let you know if I run into any problems with the old girl.

[FurryNutz]

An this was on Single mode G or Mixed G and N? I would try Single mode N too to be sure.

It's possible that you might want to do a factory reset, test again.
Or Factory reset, reload FW. Factory reset after FW is loaded, test again.
I'm currently using v2.03 that came with mine. Seems to be very stable right now.

So far I just set up the Internet and networking like it's currently on my DGL-4500. I was able to add my xbox and game some. Added QoS rule for the xbox and 2 PCs. I turned off Protected WiFi and Short GI. uPnP and DNS relay is enabled. Advanced DNS Services are disabled. Manual DNS IP addresses are filled in under Setup/Internet/Manual. Set Firewall to Endpoint Independent for both TCP and UDP. Wireless is set for Single G on 2.4 and Single N on 5Ghz. Auto Scan and Auto 20/40. I only use iphones and an LT on the WiFi mainly. Everything else is wired. I've got to test out Netflix on the Xbox and Boxee next and stream from my server.

Possible that we could team viewer in and have a look at your router settings.

[Patrick533]

The only product I could recommend is the Actiontec MI424(). But the DIR-825 is really heads and shoulders above that! I have tried Cisco, I was not happy with their lack of support, much worse then D-LINK, the firmware was wide open, as in no firewall and they were not going to fix it, back to best buy Cisco went!

I don't know if D-LINK has a swap program like Linksys/Cisco, you call and jump through all the hoops the foreign tech support makes you do then they offer an exchange, you still have to give them a credit card but after you return the old router, they credit the charge back. I believe these come with a 1 year warranty, so they proably have something in place similar, I just did this with Western Digital. You may even be able to get away with telling them you have tried everthing on the forum and would just like to exchange it.

Just out of curiosity, is daylight saving time checked? This used to be a problem on another model.

Lastly I had huge problems with the new firmware, tried EVERYTHING. Have you tried doing a 30/30/30 reset? Basically this seems to wipe the router clean and then you reload your routers firmware, that is what I had to do to get 2.05NA working on mine. I tried a full day (that would be 12 hours for me) trying to get 2.05NA to work on this router, with no luck. After I did the reset, it is perfect, it took me 90 minutes including resetting all the options and reinstalling all the firmware. My droid WiFi speed test on 2.4Ghz used to be around 8 x 1, now, after the reset and install, 19 x 1 is normal, not sure if the Droid will go any faster?

It seems all the router manufacturers are having problems with the firmware and honestly, having retired from Electronics Engineering (I am not that old, just got burnt in my mid 30's), the firmware has ALWAYS been the bigest challenge for almost any product, thus the flash memory invention......

For a 30/30/30 reset:

1. Download the firmware you want to run before the reset, this is very important because you will NOT have access to the internet until you reload the fresh/new firmware. I can personally vouge for 2.03NA and 2.05NA, but 2.05NA is 2 files, but well worth it, once you load the first 2.05NA file, you will change to a normal user interface, just make sure you load the 2nd 2.05NA file!

2. Press and hold the reset button on the back of the router for 30 seconds while it is plugged in, while still holding the reset button on the router, unplug the router, keep holding the reset button. After 30 seconds keep holding the reset button and then plug the router back in, hold the router reset button for 30 more seconds then release.

3. In the above procedure you have held the reset button for a total of 90 seconds without releasing it, unplugged it and plugged it back in, the router was ON and plugged in when you started.

4. Once you release the reset button the router will boot into a recovery mode, the only option you will have have is to install firmware.

5. From the machine you have downloaded the firmware to, goto 192.168.0.1 from your browser, I used Firefox, you will see a couple of soft buttons, one is browse for firmware and the other is send file (maybe upload file), choose the firmware you have decided on via browse and upload it.

This has reset your router and WIPED the old Firmware and ALL settings from the router, thus when you install the new Firmware, the settings will be BONE stock. You could back up your current settings and reinstall them after the new Firmware is installed, but I did NOT because I did not want to take the chance of corrupting the new firmware. Once the new firmware is installed, you will have internet access again, the first couple of things is to reset the passwords (for the router and the wifi) and take care of of the QOS setting, and maybe set the time. I got this from the DD-WRT forum, please try it at your own risk. I forgot you said you installed DD-WRT, if you have already done this procedure, it is hardware!

About half way through I remembered that you said you installed DD-WRT, but maybe someone else can use this. I know it turned my DIR-825 into a keeper..........    

[FurryNutz]

Other BT info:
http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?topic=38084.0

Might help.

[mabar1]

Well.. I gotta tell ya.. the old linksys router has held strong for 72 hours.  I was never able to  get the 825 to hold steady for that long.  (no matter what version of firmware. Original/DD_WRT etc)

I started with the stock firmware 202 I believe, upgraded with the 2 file upgrade to the latest available.  I have done the 30/30/30 reset.

The N adapters I ordered are 2.4ghz.. and I don't want to invest $60+ to test the 5Ghz band.  Good money after bad in my opinion.

I agree that the unit has great options.. it simply can't sustain a "G" connection for any extended period of time.     My issue is obviously not interference... as far as I can tell. I'm using the same channel and same frequency on the old linksys as I was on the 825.   I haven't been running bittorrent via Lan for about a week.. didn't seem to matter.

My guess here is that I got one of a bad batch.. or my circumstances don't play well with this router.... or Dlink took a product to market that wasn't even close to fully baked.  If my time is worth $20/hour.. I have spent more time on this little turd that it's worth.

The WRT54G with Tomato on it offers most of the features I wanted to use on the 825.  The WRT54G has got to be at least 6 years old or more!

In general I'm willing to jump through a lot of hoops to figure out a problem.  I work in IT, I deal with routers/firewalls/general networking every day.  I've been paid well for my technical services for 15 years. My frustration outweighs my willingness to invest time and energy into this thing.

If anyone want's to buy this little goody off me, let me know.  I'll cut you a deal..   Otherwise I may save it for 4th of July to blow it up/melt it.   

Dlink.. if any of you are listening or care.. I intend to set this AP/Router on fire rather than deal with your tech support, or try any further to make this thing work.

If you have some new firmware to offer I will consider it.. other than that.. keep an eye on Youtube for my video.. and note that I intend to tell others not to buy your products.


sigh.... I must be getting old.. I don't care to work on this anymore.  

Thank you to everyone willing to offer assistance and help.  I respect and appreciate teamwork in trying to solve problems. 

Specific suggestions on solid, well-made wireless routers ...other than Dlink will be gladly reviewed.

Rock on..     Mabar1

[FurryNutz]

Have you tried to take this router to a different system or house and see if the issue tracks?

I would have bought it however just got one from here. Working great with v2.03NA.
I'd be interested in testing it for you if you don't have an option to take it else where to see if the issue tracks.

You put WRT on it and it still didn't work for you? Possible it could be just a bad unit if OEM and WRT FW had the same results.

[Patrick533]

Hardware issue, needs to be RMAed. Would love to have another as a bridge, but if it has a hardware issue, it would be of no use to me either.

As I said before, electronics engineer, too much experience to go on about. When the EU forced ROHS on us, they forced us to solder all of our chips at 200F higher temperatures, don't matter who makes the chips, some will NOT withstand that much heat, others will work great for a while and just die, while other will work for years and be fine. Glad I left manufacturing as this was being implemented. Something as little as a change in humidity the day the device was soldered can cause the chips to be damaged if they were NOT properly handled before soldering at the new ROHS temps (Company I worked for paid thousands in replacement chips because of this, plus rework, the surface mount chips we were using were $1200 each).

There have been many studies on this, I am just relating what I know, not an opinion, but I do know one thing, the US government refuses to use ROHS manufactured items for our soldiers in mission critical applications.....

Good luck to you.

[mabar1]

Well.. I'm not as grumpy as I was when I wrote my little rant     If I can make the time, I may RMA the thing.  Maybe while I'm at work!

I'd hate to go through the process of getting a replacement and have the same issues...

I'll post back when I self medicate and get on the phone to get this RMA'd.

[FurryNutz]

He'll lets all go out and have a drink and have fun while we wait huh? hehe.

[Patrick533]

Few years back I got what was considered a "fast" internet connection. It was 15x1, I went and purchased a NEW Linksys router, I did NOT know about the speed increase until TWC's tech support made me bypass my old Linksys for testing. Fixed my cable problem and then played with the router, no way it would go over 8Mbps, so I called Linksys/Cisco, they told me no problem, go buy this router and you will have full speed. Wrong! That router maxed at 10Mbps with the firewall turned on, full speed with it off. I called Linksys/Cisco back and told them the router would not do the speed they claimed. They transfered me to business support and offered to swap my new router for one that would handle the speed and would not have buggy firmware, after the trade in of the new $150 router, my price would be a cool $1000.00. Then the salesman at Cisco said there was no way I had that kind of speed at home, I e-mailed him a copy of my speed test, I guess LA was one of the first to get these new speeds and Cisco had NOT got the memo, like I said, this was a few years back.

At the time, the only one with CRAZY (LOL) speeds was FIOS, so I looked over the Actiontec and purchased one off of E-Bay for $25, thing worked GREAT. I kept an eye on the Cisco forum and the router I had first bought from them, I could NOT post because I was banned from their site for making everyone aware what a POS that router was, they never fixed it, just reved it out of existence. So a whole bunch of people got stuck with these POS routers, should have been a class action lawsuit. The funny thing, the mods never said smack untill you broke a rule, never offered ANY assitance, just banned me and i did not even threaten to blow the router up, just pointed out the routers probelms, over and over, after I had already taken mine back and got a refund and was using the Actiontec.

Been using D-Link since I upgraded all my hardwired connections to 1Gbps, routers, switches, cards. Have NOT had a problem yet, except with the last firmware upgrade, fanboy? Not really, I will throw them under the bus just as quick as I did Cisco. Small net builder is a good resource for network hardware feedback. If Actiontec ever catches up, I might go back. But I can see the DIR-825 being around for a few years after the Cisco junk fiasco, D-link 8 port switch W/ Jumbo frames and 2EA Gigabit cards I bought work good too, one was PCI and the other is the PCI express.

Seems you NEED to self medicate to work with this hardware, been doing it since 4.77Mhz XT's and it never seems to get easier.