Connection problems with TP Link VR1600

[bencampz]

Ive got the TPG supplied TP Link VR1600.

I have the modem/router set up in the loungeroom and 2 X ethernet cables running from a wall outlet to the two bedrooms (wifi doesnt reach well through double brick walls).

So - the modem connects fine usually if i just have 1 laptop running off the 1st ethernet port - or wifi.

But as soon as i connect the two bedrooms up to either a laptop / pc each (or wifi repeater) then the main connection just stops working.

Example - 2 bedrooms have no connection then the laptop works fine on wifi or ethernet.

As soon as i connect the 2 bedrooms, the wifi from the TPLink just comes up in windows as "connected - no internet"   

Yet both the wifi repeaters in each bedroom still maintain full internet connection - the main wifi signal from the TP link just stops supplying internet.

Example 2 - laptop connected via ethernet. working fine, full speed, and ill have xbox sometimes connected under port 2.  both working fine - full speed. As soon as i connect a laptop to the other bedroom or turn on the wifi repater in each bedroom, then both the xbox and the laptop cease recieving an internet connection. 

Tried rebooting and swapping ethernet cables around a hundred times. As soon as 3 or 4 devices are connected it seems to be unable to handle it. Modem doesnt appear to be overheating as far as i can tell - its a little warm but nothing to major.

Im using one of those black boxes from HUAWE that takes the FTTB signal from down stairs up to my apartment through the old copper phone cable, and converts it to an ADSL signal that then is fed into the TP link.

i usually end up having to unplug all other connections and leave just the laptop connected to get anyhing to work in the living room.  and then at night, unplug the laptop and re-plug in the bedrooms to have them work independently.. which as you can imagine doing every day is extremely annoying.

Is it the router?  overloaded? faulty?  any way i can run a test to find out or does it seem that the simple answer is just to buy a new one?  Would TPG be responsible for it? Since they supplied it to me in the first place?

Its a few years old now - and while i think the problem was ther from the beginning, i never had more than 1 device connected for the first few years until i ran ethernet to the bedrooms due to weak wifi signal, so the problem never presented itself until just recently.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[david64]

Hi @bencampz . The description of your layout is not clear. You're in an apartment with FTTB. My understanding is that the NBN signal comes up the phone line to your unit as VDSL2 and connects to DSL port on Archer.  (ADSL was the old method. There is equipment in the building comms room to interface the phone line to the NBN network.)

Are there ethernet outlets in the rooms of your unit? These normally are connected to a patch panel near the main telephone outlet. This is the normal place for the wifi router.

Where are the 2 ethernet cables run from? Are they just laid across the floor to the bedrooms?

What are the model numbers of the wifi repeaters? How are they configured regarding SSID names and channel numbers? There's a chance that their wifi swamps the wifi from VR1600.

When you say "But as soon as i connect the two bedrooms up to either a laptop / pc each (or wifi repeater) then the main connection just stops working", do you mean the laptop on port 1 or the whole internet connection?  What happens to the DSL and Internet lights on the VR1600?

The VR1600 does run warm to the touch. It is out of warranty. 

Do you use the VOIP phone function with the VR1600? If you do, you have to use a TPG router. If not, nearly any other model as long as it has a DSL port. But there is something else to be fixed before that.

[bencampz]

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@david64 wrote:

Hi @bencampz . The description of your layout is not clear. You're in an apartment with FTTB. (YES - TPG FTTB not NBN FTTB) My understanding is that the NBN signal comes up the phone line to your unit as VDSL2 and connects to DSL port on Archer. (not directly to the archer - but it first comes out of the wall phone line to a black box, which is then powered and then the line comes out of that and into the back of the archer TP link)   (ADSL was the old method. There is equipment in the building comms room to interface the phone line to the NBN network.)

Are there ethernet outlets in the rooms of your unit? These normally are connected to a patch panel near the main telephone outlet. This is the normal place for the wifi router.

(yes - i had 2 CAT6 lines run up through the roof from where the modem is situated, to both bedrooms. So each bedroom has a single port ethernet, and the lounge area near the modem has a double port ethernet. i live in a double brick building and the bedrooms are not close to eachother) 

Where are the 2 ethernet cables run from? Are they just laid across the floor to the bedrooms?

(in the roof)

What are the model numbers of the wifi repeaters? How are they configured regarding SSID names and channel numbers? There's a chance that their wifi swamps the wifi from VR1600.

(1 is a WAVLINK wifi repeater set to "access point" mode and the other is a kogan wifi repeater. - but - let me stress the issue is NOT brought on by the wifi repeaters. . . i.e. if we take them out of the equasion all together and replace each access point with just say a laptop directly connected to the ethernet - the same problem arises. 1 device connected  no problem, 2 connected, no issue, as soon as 3 or more devices are connected then things start going haywire and either everything stops working or the 1st and 2nd devices stop working)

When you say "But as soon as i connect the two bedrooms up to either a laptop / pc each (or wifi repeater) then the main connection just stops working", do you mean the laptop on port 1 or the whole internet connection? (sometimes the laptop on port one continues working - for a litlte while, then it will stop, and lose internet, sometimes everything drops out except for wifi, sometimes wifi drops out except for ethernet, or just everything..  then i have to unplug all 3 ethernet connections and just reconnect number 1 and 1 starts working again.)

  What happens to the DSL and Internet lights on the VR1600? (DSL and internet lights remain constantly on the whole time)

The VR1600 does run warm to the touch. It is out of warranty. (it was supplied by TPG when i moved over from ADSL to FTTB - probably 2 or 3 years ago now so id say yes out of warranty - but the problem probably was there from the beginning as ive never until recently used any more than just 1 connection (or wifi only from the TP link)

Do you use the VOIP phone function with the VR1600? If you do, you have to use a TPG router. If not, nearly any other model as long as it has a DSL port. But there is something else to be fixed before that. (yes i have a phone connected to the TP link for VOIP )

(what else is to be fixed before that??? seems like your message got cut off before you finished your answer?)

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[bencampz]

P.S thank you for your response and information thus far 

[david64]

@bencampz . I stopped there coz I'd run out of questions. By something else, I mean don't dash out and buy another router first. It may be that the Archer is faulty. Since you use VOIP phone, you need to arrange with TPG.

I'm curious about the purpose of the black box. I've not heard of this with FTTB.

Have you ever done a factory reset of Archer? You would need to do basic config plus redo your own settings.

You can run 2 laptops ok and 3rd one causes problem. Is that on one specific port or one specific laptop or just the 3rd laptop on any port?

How does the problem show itself? Timeouts in browser? Slow response?

Any change in the ethernet port lights?

Can you ping the router? Can you get the router admin login screen?

Can you ping tpg.com.au?

Do this command on 2 laptops:    ping -t -l 65000 192.168.1.1

Use Control C to stop. Response time is about 5 ms.

It puts a load on router. Then try adding the 3rd laptop.

[bencampz]

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@david64 wrote:

@bencampz . I stopped there coz I'd run out of questions. By something else, I mean don't dash out and buy another router first. It may be that the Archer is faulty. Since you use VOIP phone, you need to arrange with TPG.

I'm curious about the purpose of the black box. I've not heard of this with FTTB.

Have you ever done a factory reset of Archer? You would need to do basic config plus redo your own settings. (no i have not - but it would be worth trying??  - how do i do that?)

You can run 2 laptops ok and 3rd one causes problem. Is that on one specific port or one specific laptop or just the 3rd laptop on any port? (any port - so i could have laptop plugged into either of 1, 2, 3, or 4, and it works fine without a hitch for days on end. And sometimes even with a 2nd etherned plugged in, again into either of the 4 things will run ok ... sometimes...  but as soon as i have a 3rd device connected - either a 3rd laptop / pc or a wifi extender, then everything goes down. I end up with either the wifi crashing or the ethernet crashing (not usually both)   for example - last night i plugged in the 2 extenders so we could have internet in the bedrooms, and the wifi in the loungeroom crashed on the TV and laptop in lounge. in adition to that the 2 extenders lost wifi too.))

How does the problem show itself? Timeouts in browser? Slow response? (shows itself in 1 of 2 ways - either the ethernet connection will just stop working - say on the laptop ill just get the little zero internet connection coming from the ethernet port to the windows laptop.  OR - phone devices will show "wifi - no internet" up the top on the phone screen wifi connection icon.    

Any change in the ethernet port lights? (no - lights all stay on even when theres no internet connection running through)

Can you ping the router? Can you get the router admin login screen? (router login screen works fine - dont know how to ping the router sorry )

Can you ping tpg.com.au? (dont know how to ping)

Do this command on 2 laptops:    ping -t -l 65000 192.168.1.1

Use Control C to stop. Response time is about 5 ms.

It puts a load on router. Then try adding the 3rd laptop.

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(question - if i bought a new modem/router off the shelf without a VOIP port - could i just plug my archers "wan" port into one of the 4 ports on the new router and still connect my telephone to the archer ??  does it work that way or am i way off?

Essentially use the archer as a switch purely for the phone connection while using the new modem/router for the internet connection and ethernet for other rooms?   would that work?

[david64]

@bencampz . Are you able to disconnect the black box while you do testing? Eliminate it as possible cause.

To use the VOIP phone, the VR1600 has to be the main router. Any other device can only be an access point secondary to VR1600.

What speed plan are you on? (NBN25, NBN50, NBN100?)

Login to router and go to Advanced, Bandwidth Control.

Is it enabled and is there a value in the Upstream Bandwidth?

To do factory reset, login to router admin, go to Advanced, Network, DSL. One interface will show Connected. Click the Modify icon. Note down the settings. The router is supposed to auto-config after reset but if it doesn't after 30 minutes, you can do it yourself.

To reset the router, use a paper clip in the small hole at the back of router, right hand side above On/Off button. Push in until the lights flash.

[bencampz]

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@david64 wrote:

@bencampz . Are you able to disconnect the black box while you do testing? Eliminate it as possible cause. (the internet connection comes out of the phone socket on the wall, and into the black box, and then out of the black box and into the router.    if i disconnect the black box then the whole internet connection is severed)

To use the VOIP phone, the VR1600 has to be the main router. Any other device can only be an access point secondary to VR1600. (i see ok thank you)_

What speed plan are you on? (NBN25, NBN50, NBN100?) (im not on NBN plan at all, im on FTTB - which is set up as an alternative to NBN in our complex) 

Login to router and go to Advanced, Bandwidth Control.

Is it enabled and is there a value in the Upstream Bandwidth?

To do factory reset, login to router admin, go to Advanced, Network, DSL. One interface will show Connected. Click the Modify icon. Note down the settings. The router is supposed to auto-config after reset but if it doesn't after 30 minutes, you can do it yourself. (ill try this and get back to you)

To reset the router, use a paper clip in the small hole at the back of router, right hand side above On/Off button. Push in until the lights flash.

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