Configuring Wireless Router w/ Fibertel

[davonz]

Maybe the tech guy can get it working the usual way, i just do it like this because it saves me alot of time trying to get it to work on the WAN port (and sometimes it wont work) and at the end of the day it works.

Anyways hope he gets it sorted for you.

 

[Coco]

I really hate Fibertel. Does anyone else find that they have to renew their DHCP lease when using Skype or the voice function in Gchat? My connectivity drops constantly, even though I'm connected directly to the modem.

Relatedly, what sorts of service plans does everyone have? I'm slumming it on 3 megas and wonder if it's worth upgrading to the (seriously) more expensive 5M plan. Skype is critical for my business, so I need to solve this one quick.

Any suggestions?

 

[Sleuth]

I really hate Fibertel. Does anyone else find that they have to renew their DHCP lease when using Skype or the voice function in Gchat? My connectivity drops constantly, even though I'm connected directly to the modem.

Relatedly, what sorts of service plans does everyone have? I'm slumming it on 3 megas and wonder if it's worth upgrading to the (seriously) more expensive 5M plan. Skype is critical for my business, so I need to solve this one quick.

Any suggestions?

What brand and model wireless router do you have? If you can upgrade to D-WRT on it, it may make a huge difference.

 

[Coco]

I wish this problem was router related. In any case, I'll look into D-WRT. I've got a Netgear RangeMax (N). Thanks!

 

[dennisr]

Have you checked computer settings for network discovery? Cannot help but think if you are still dropping calls when wired directly to modem, the problem could be with your computer settings? Good luck.
Have Fibertel, use a slingbox, Skype, Scottrade and... and have not had that many problems. Only thing is at about 6:00PM the thing falls on its ass.

 

[Sleuth]

I wish this problem was router related. In any case, I'll look into D-WRT. I've got a Netgear RangeMax (N). Thanks!

Sorry, missed that you were connected directly to the modem. I have Fibertel 3 megas and have no problems with my Vonage (now). I had to upgrade my router and install DD-WRT so that I could set quality of service settings for Vonage traffic over other traffic.

I wrote a blog post on increasing Internet performance in BA that may help some (http://www.discoverbuenosaires.com/increasing-slow-internet-speed-buenos-aires), but the only thing I can think of now for your case is making sure you're getting the speed you paid for and using Google's DNS servers:

http://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/docs/using.html


You can see if your router supports DD-WRT by going to:
http://www.dd-wrt.com/site/support/router-database

 

[Coco]

Dennis, you'll have to forgive my ignorance: I've never done "network discovery" before. That said, I just pinged the broadcast address and this is what returned:

10 packets transmitted, 10 packets received, +9 duplicates, 0.0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 0.065/7.215/34.885/9.104 ms

I'm not a network guy, so I'm not really sure what to make of it. I'm running OS X Snow Leopard on a MacBook Pro and found the broadcast address by running the "ifconfig en0" command in terminal. I used the OS X network utility to ping the broadcast address.

Could you walk me through some diagnostics and tell me what I should be looking for? Thanks!

P.S. My other suspicion is that the firmware on the modem is not up-to-date or in conflict (although I wouldn't know how) with my default ethernet settings. Fibertel gave me a Motorola SB5101 (w/ USB port, although I'm using ethernet). Those using Fibertel, what modem did you get?

 

[Coco]

Thanks for recommending the DNS change, Dave! I do notice a difference

 

[dennisr]

I have probably confused the issue and what I know about Apple could be put in a thimble: I just think the lease is not renewing. Am out of my league here. Maybe it is something as simple as the firewall settings. Sorry.

 

[Coco]

No worries, Dennis. I think you're absolutely right; I just don't know how to address the issue other than manually renewing every time it goes out (which is often when using Skype or any other VoIP app). Since I do a lot of calls for work, this can be maddening. I appreciate your weighing in though.