Billion UK Forum

Hi.

I have two issues for which I plea for help.

I very recently bought a 7800n (1.06d) after seeing glowing reports. It was destined to replace a Sky router (Sagem 2304) which has been a blight since receiving it.

The first and most pressing problem is with the LAN. All Ethernet connections sever after 2 - 30 minutes and can only be restored by restarting the router, whereupon it once again disconnects after the same time frame. The ADSL and wi-fi connections remain stable throughout but only a router restart can bring back the Ethernet.

The 7800n is sited in a location successively served by two previous routers without issue (from a network perspective). I was unwilling to consider the 7800n was faulty and tried my best to use various configurations to get it operating normally but alas could not. The vendor agreed an exchange (Amazon) and I was sent another, the original is being returned tomorrow.

Regrettably the replacement behaves exactly the same as its predecessor. I have tried 1.06d and 1.06e in both. I don't understand what is going on here and would value some help, please?

I have the following arrangement (ignoring the wi-fi):

Standard broadband connection comes into the 7800n. One of my kid's PC's is connected directly by cable to one Ethernet port. The second Ethernet port goes to a Billion BiPAC P108 (1 x 2075) powerline adapter. There are three other 2075's distributed around the house serving two more PC's. The final 2075 feeds D-Link DAP 1522 serving as an unmanaged switch, serving an AV 'station' with Sky+, a DuneBD network player, Zyxel NSA220 NAS.

When the 7800n gives up, all devices on the wired LAN lose connection, even my son's PC connected directly by a 1.5m CAT5e to the 7800n. If I reinstate either the Sagem or my D-Link DIR-855 the network runs smoothly with no disconnects (previously running months without issue). As soon as the 7800 is put back in place of either of the above two, I guarantee LAN disconnect in under half an hour. I am close to returning the 7800 as unfit for purpose.

The second issue is much less pressing but deserving of attention. I have managed to get it working on Sky (PPoA) however I was hoping to get it working by RFC1483 since PPoA will soon be unavailable here - (my exchange due for upgrading this month). I have spoofed the MAC but still I am unable to effect a connection. Is there a coming fw which can address this - I see there has been previous discussion about this?

TIA for any help.

Hi

Can you try a quick test to see if we can pin point the issue.

1. Disconnect all devices from the 7800N execpt your sons laptop.
2. Now check to see if the same issue occurs with only your sons laptop connected.
3. If everything is fine please connect another device to LAN one by one leaving a half an hour between adding devices so we can then pin point which connecting device is causing the LAN issue.
4. Also when the issue occurs have you tried a connection via the EWAN port?

Regarding the SKY MER authentication, we already have a thread up and running relating the SKY's new authentication, but the information available on the internet is limited, so it is hard to find away to connect to Sky using MER.

As far as I know, only offical Sky routers with firmware upgrades (firmware written for Sky) can support this function, so it sounds like another way for Sky to tie you down to using their router.

Here is a link to the Sky thread on our forum.

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=16

Thanks for the reply.

The methodology for sourcing the fault will take a little time to organise but I will report back with my findings, probably Thursday I can do it. Would you suggest treating the powerline network and the unmanaged switch as separate entities for this (with their respective clients disconnected)?

Thanks for the link for MER. Is there any way I can help out with this problem? Feel free to PM me if it is more pertinent to discuss off-list.

Nige.

Yes I would disconnect all devices first, then see if you can replicate the issue, then add the powerline devices, and wait to see if you can replicate the issue, then finally add the hub switch and see if you can replicate the issue.

I will keep you in mind for further testing with MER authentication, I will PM you if needed.

Keep me posted on your tests.

Cheers

Shouldn't be too concerned just yet about MER when your exchange is ungraded as PPoA is likely to be around for a while yet as there are loads of users with the older non-MER capable Netgear routers which Sky are unlikely to replace. At least that's my hope as I don't want to revert to my crappy Sky Dlink router.

OK, sorry for the delay.

I regret to report that all attempts to overcome this have failed. I disconnected everything except for my son's wired connection. The LAN remained stable. One by one I reconnected the devices, leaving around 30 minutes between items, right down to individual powerline adapters. about 90% complete I found an old WRT610 which I bricked a couple of years ago but was serving as an unmanaged switch in another kid's bedroom, for his PC and other LAN related stuff. Adding this to the LAN quickly dropped all LAN connections in just a few minutes. Case closed or so I thought...

Congratulating myself I restored everything else (just the TV stuff, NAS etc) and all was well with the world. Two hours later I was flamed by an irate kid with no internet. Once again the wired LAN was dead. I reset the router and put it down to one of those things. In under two hours the LAN was dead again, and again and again.

Filled with disdain I removed the 7800 from service, annoyed by the fact that this unit singlehandedly solved my wi-fi woes of range and throughput... I recovered the Sky router and turned it into a broadband modem and re-established my DIR-855 as the DNS and wi-fi master - with horrendously reduced wi-fi range compared to the 7800.

What now? Do I return another unit as not fit for purpose? I have had a total of three other routers in this arrangement, serving the house network and none of them have ever shown any propensity to drop a wired network. Ever - with months of continuous service between manual reboots. I really want to keep this 7800 because it has shown itself to be truly superior in the wi-fi department. Frankly it's a waste to deploy it solely for this quality, with another router serving as master.

I'd appreciate any input that might shed light on this problem.

Does your router assign IP addresses via DHCP or are the individual devices set to static IP Addresses?

If by DHCP are they as "fixed" addresses by MAC address or just out of the DHCP range?

I didn't see a notification that there had been another post, sorry. I had originally set IP's for most items as I often connect to them from memory but in the interest of completeness all items on the LAN were set to auto to ensure the 7800 wasn't being thrown by this, although I this is unlikely. I'm very disappointed since the 7800 offers all the functionality I need (this is why I bought it!) but it is now in the attic along with all the other relics which are not in service for an assortment of reasons.