Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[TekSavvyTim]

Hello all

I work for the ISP TekSavvy in Ontario Canada. We have over 300,000 Internet subscribers and are having some trouble with DLINK products. Particularly in the Greater Toronto Area  and Ottawa area our customers are experiencing WiFi channel congestion when using DLINK products such as the DIR 600 and 800 series routers. This is expected as these are densely populated areas.

At current, we perform a wireless bssid scan to find a better channel and then help the customer turn off "Auto Channel Scan" in the router and switch to a cleaner channel for their location.

Can I ask, what logic do DLINK DIR series routers use to select a wireless channel on the 2.4Ghz band, how often, and is there something better TekSavvy can do to help these folks?

Thanks

[FurryNutz]

Link>Welcome!

While we don't have access the actual logic behind D-Link's Auto-Scan behavior, I presume D-Link has to meet with some policy items that the Official WiFi Cert organization puts forth for all Mfr WiFi routers.

We have seen in the past and present where congested areas wreak havoc on any Mfr WiFi routers and neighbors near by.

I recommend reviewing this for troubleshooting D-Link router issues:
Links>Router Troubleshooting Suggestions and Tips and Wireless Installation Considerations and Managing Signal Congestion and Good Neighbour Policy

I thing that I found on D-Link routers is that D-Link has some WiFi radio output power settings that can be adjusted to help in troubleshooting congestion issues. These power output settings can be adjusted from High, Medium and Low. Prior experience has showed that lowering the power output on the radios can greatly help in congested areas. We also try to recommend that users migrate to 5Ghz as best as they can to get away from the congested 2.4Ghz spectrum as well. We understand that not all devices can migrate. Best channels for use is 1, 6 11 or 13 in regions that support that channel. Yet those are the popular channels on the 2.4Ghz spectrum and can be congested.

Hope this information will be helpful. You and your users are encouraged to come to the forums for support and information needs. Here to help as best as we can.

[TekSavvyTim]

Hey thanks so much for the reply, and the extra info. We have been following this wireless theory to correct issues with wifi congestion on 2.4 and 5. I appreciate your help.

I have been doing some interesting testing here. I set this up on one desk:
1. SmartRG 505n, 2.4Ghz channel 1 (auto channel scan OFF)
2. TP-Link W8961ND, 2.4Ghz channel 1 (auto channel scan OFF)
3. DLINK DIR-605L, 2.4Ghz channel 1 (auto channel scan ON)
4. SmartRG 505n, 2.4Ghz channel 1 (auto channel scan ON)

I ran 'netsh wlan show networks mode=BSSID' to confirm all four devices were on channel 1.

I then wireless connected to device #1 and sent persistent pings (ping 192.168.1.1 -t).

Device #4, the second SmartRG 505n changed itself to channel 11 withing about a minute. Device #3 however, the DLINK DIR-605L is still on channel 1 after 12 minutes of pings so far.

I'm going to check for firmware updates on the DIR-605L right now.

[FurryNutz]

What FW version is currenly loaded on the 605L?

The 605L is getting to be a bit older now and less FW development has been seen on it. There any newer generation DIR series routers you can test with? As there has been changes in WiFi drivers and such since the 605L came out four years back.

Current FW version is:
Rev A v1.16
Rev B v2.07
Both from 2015.

[TekSavvyTim]

Hey sorry for the delay. It was 2.04 but I upgraded to the latest after my last message. It's a version B. I want to test with an array of products but this is the only one anyone here had on hand. I will get some other makes and models tomorrow. Anyway, with the new firmware the DLINK did change to channel 11 on its own after about 12 minutes of 5kb ping packets polluting it's channel. I then switched my interference device to channel 11 and started pinging again. It's been ten minutes or so and it hasn't switched yet.

Odd how it doesn't seem to have a set time. I wonder if there is anyway to see the script the auto channel scan uses?

Thanks again for the feedback.

Tim

[FurryNutz]

Ok, thanks for posting new info about the new FW results.

Ya, not sure what the logic is behind it.

You might see if there is GPL code for the 605L if your wanting to go deeper, Not sure if it's broadcom base or not, if' it's not broadcom then there wont be any GPL code to check out and maybe see what they are doing.

Any newer DIR-8 series routers are using Smart Connect are are broadcom based. The 868L is semi old now and is broadcom based however doesn't support Smart Connect on Rev A. Rev B maybe however I'm not sure as it's not marketed here in the USA. Is there in Canada.

The 880L and up model routers have Smart Connect now.

[TekSavvyTim]

Awesome Furry thanks! I will keep testing. I know the 24 band is super utilized in dense places. We're just looking for anything that will help these customers. We support the DLINK product line in that regard and DLINK is showing as 26% of the call volume involving channel congestion. The single largest one. TPLINK is second place. Oddly, the SMARTRG products jump channels withing minutes so we don't really see these problems. I am going to start on some Linksys/CISCO products as well. Not sure we will find a solution but at least we're trying

Thanks a lot for the input. I will make sure we frequent this forum and drive some customers here when needed. Cheers

Tim @ TekSavvy

[FurryNutz]

Glad to be of help Tim,
For congested areas, I would recommend trying the power output settings. A former co-moderator lived in a New York high rise years ago and we found out that by using Medium power help his router work way better than on High.  I would start there for D-Link routers in  heavy congested areas. Reduces the wifi foot print and seems to be less susceptible to external interferences.

Were here for support needs as best as we can. Glad to be of help.

Good Luck.

Furry.

[RYAT3]

You might see if there is GPL code for the 605L if your wanting to go deeper, Not sure if it's broadcom base or not, if' it's not broadcom then there wont be any GPL code to check out and maybe see what they are doing.

Looks to be Realtek

https://wikidevi.com/wiki/D-Link_DIR-605L_rev_B1

[FurryNutz]

Some of the low end routers are RT if not most.

You might see if there is GPL code for the 605L if your wanting to go deeper, Not sure if it's broadcom base or not, if' it's not broadcom then there wont be any GPL code to check out and maybe see what they are doing.

Looks to be Realtek

https://wikidevi.com/wiki/D-Link_DIR-605L_rev_B1