BrianBergstrom's profile

Tutor

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5 Messages

Wednesday, February 26th, 2014 2:34 PM

Wireless Dropping when STB Connected

Recently had a tech come out to fix an issue with a poor signal to our main STB (the DVR box).  It was running through coax but he changed it an now it is running through my Netgear N600 RangeMax router.  Basically the flow is UVerse (2Wire) box --> Netgear Router --> STB.  The TV works flawlessly but whenever I have the STB connected the wireless on the Netgear stops working completely.  I have tried a couple of different things and the latest was to disable the Netgear's DHCP and reenable the DHCP on the 2Wire box.  I was going to just hook the TV back up to the coax but the tech disabled the port near the TV.

 

Any suggestions?  My skill level with networking stuff is so-so.

 

Thanks.

EDIT: Wanted to add that I tested it again and it's not just dropping the wireless but the wired as well.  Basically the TV will work but all internet connections to the N600 are lost as long as the STB is connected to the wireless router.

Accepted Solution

Official Solution

Expert

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9.4K Messages

10 years ago

Yes, the problem is that the IPTV packets that are sent on the Ethernet wire are multicast. Multicast is treated as broadcast by all consumer switches and routers. The flood of multicast traffic overwhelms the switching processor inside the NetGear. Than makes it so that the NetGear has no processing overhead left to switch packets on other interfaces (like for other wired computers or wireless).

The following solutions are available:

1. Run a separate Ethernet wire for the STB that goes all the way back to the 2Wire.

2. Use VLAN-capable switches on the link between the 2Wire and the NetGear. The least expensive VLAN-capable switches that will work in this situation are the NetGear GS-108T switches (note: MUST be 108T. Not 108E, 108, etc.) You will then need to configure both NetGear switches for proper VLAN tagging. ( http://www.amazon.com/Netgear-GS108T-NAS-Prosafe-8-Port-Gigabit/dp/B003KP8VSK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393548992&sr=8-1&keywords=GS-108T )

3. Use the Ethernet wire for the STB, and run the NetGear off of Ethernet-over-home-power adapters like the TP-Link TL-PA4010 adapters. ( http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-PA4010KIT-Powerline-Adapter-Starter/dp/B00AWRUICG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393548870&sr=8-1&keywords=ethernet+over+power )

Tutor

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5 Messages

10 years ago

Nothing?  

Expert

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9.4K Messages

10 years ago

What is the location of these components inside your home? i.e. are the 2Wire and the Netgear next to each other? STB next to the NetGear?

We will need to rewire this, as having the IPTV signal go through the NetGear is not going to work correctly.

Tutor

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5 Messages

10 years ago

They are on different floors of the house.  2Wire in the basement and the Netgear on the first floor.  Interesting about it not working in the current config as I asked the tech that and he said there would be no problems.

 

 Forgot to add that I did a test yesterday with a gigabit switch I have and it did not make a difference.  I tried routing it this way:

 

2Wire --> Switch -->TV

2Wire --> Switch --> Netgear

 

Same result.

Tutor

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5 Messages

10 years ago

Thanks for all  of the help.  Based on the current locaions of my gear I will probably have to have the tech use coax again for the STB until I can redo my home network once it gets warmer out.

ACE - Professor

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5.8K Messages

10 years ago

Wouldn't AT&T fix the wiring at no charge since the tech did it incorrectly? Either move the RG to where the other router is or run another cat5 cable from the RG to the STB for TV service only.
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