Wireless Problem

[Mike Arrison]

Howdy,
Just got the new SqueezeBox2 (with wireless) and it works great when
plugged in via ethernet. But I can't seem to connect to my 802.11b
network. The SSID is found, and the signal strength is fine, but when
trying to connect using either WEP or no security, it fails out with the
message "Problem connecting to wireless network", or something to that
effect.
When I look at the bottom of the device, it lists a MAC address for
the ethernet card, but not one for the wireless. Shouldn't there be two
MAC addresses? The "view current settings" menu doesn't mention a
wireless mac address either. Do you think my card could be rattled
loose, or is there some other issue?

-Mike Arrison

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[Ben Sandee]

On Apr 5, 2005 9:42 AM, Mike Arrison <arrison (AT) graphcalc (DOT) com> wrote:
> Howdy,
> Just got the new SqueezeBox2 (with wireless) and it works great when
> plugged in via ethernet. But I can't seem to connect to my 802.11b
> network. The SSID is found, and the signal strength is fine, but when
> trying to connect using either WEP or no security, it fails out with the
> message "Problem connecting to wireless network", or something to that
> effect.

What access point do you have? The shipping firmware had troubles
with the Linksys BEFW11S4 Rev 4 router which have been fixed in the
nightly builds (updated firmware).

Have you tried a nightly and updating the sb2 firmware (hold brightness).

Ben

[John Rakestraw]

I received my SB2 yesterday and had similar problems. I was going to
post tonight after more investigations, but I'll piggyback here.

I'm running two wireless networks, both with Linksys APs. My SB1 has
been running consistently (and, I'll say, with no drops) on an 801.11b
network dedicated only to the squeezebox. The AP is on the second floor
and the SB1 is in the basement. I stream FLACs with no problem.

I'd assumed that I'd pick up the same wireless connection using the SB2,
but I've not been able to do that. I see the same symptoms described in
the message below:

> The SSID is found, and the signal strength is fine, but when
>> trying to connect using either WEP or no security, it fails out with the
>> message "Problem connecting to wireless network", or something to that
>> effect.

I moved the new SB2 so that it's right next to the AP, and still get the
error message. However, I noticed that in the network setup routine
there's an option to display current settings. I scrolled through that
option, and was surprised to see that it indicated that the connection
strength was at 97%. As I watched it, it bounced from 97 to 95 to 98 and
then to 0. (It changed every second or so.) The numbers varied, and the
0 showed up every 5 seconds or so.

My other access point is an 802.11g. The SB2 connects to it just fine. I
have another problem with syncing the SB1 and SB2 that might be related
to this, but I'll raise that one in a different thread after I have more
information.

At different times, the SB1 has worked just fine with the Linksys
802.11b AP (I don't have the model number here) and the Linksys 802.11g
AP (WRT54GS). The SB2, so far, will work only with the 802.11g AP. So
right now they're both working, but accessing different APs. I'd like
them to be on the same network. (I know that bandwidth concerns might
mean I'll need to switch them both to the 802.11g AP, but I'd like to
try the 802.11b first.)

After writing this message I noticed this one:

> What access point do you have? The shipping firmware had troubles
> with the Linksys BEFW11S4 Rev 4 router which have been fixed in the
> nightly builds (updated firmware).

I saw that announcement when it came through, and I'm almost certain
that I verified that that's not the Linksys AP I have. But I'll check
tonight. Perhaps the problem extends to other Linksys APs?

--John

[Mike Arrison]

Nope,
It's a netgear wireless router, but I'll give the fireware upgrade a
try anyway.

-Mike Arrison

On Apr 05 09:51, Ben Sandee wrote:
> On Apr 5, 2005 9:42 AM, Mike Arrison <arrison (AT) graphcalc (DOT) com> wrote:
> > Howdy,
> > Just got the new SqueezeBox2 (with wireless) and it works great when
> > plugged in via ethernet. But I can't seem to connect to my 802.11b
> > network. The SSID is found, and the signal strength is fine, but when
> > trying to connect using either WEP or no security, it fails out with the
> > message "Problem connecting to wireless network", or something to that
> > effect.
>
> What access point do you have? The shipping firmware had troubles
> with the Linksys BEFW11S4 Rev 4 router which have been fixed in the
> nightly builds (updated firmware).
>
> Have you tried a nightly and updating the sb2 firmware (hold brightness).
>
> Ben
>

[kdf]

Quoting John Rakestraw <lists (AT) johnrakestraw (DOT) com>:


> I saw that announcement when it came through, and I'm almost certain
> that I verified that that's not the Linksys AP I have. But I'll check
> tonight. Perhaps the problem extends to other Linksys APs?
>

it was more than just one. I think there was an SMC listed in there too. There
may be others that haven't yet been tested, so if you are having trouble with
WEP on a given router, or really ANY trouble with a given router, please always
include the make and model with your post, or have that info handy when you
tech support.

-kdf

[Mike Arrison]

On Apr 05 09:51, Ben Sandee wrote:
> On Apr 5, 2005 9:42 AM, Mike Arrison <arrison (AT) graphcalc (DOT) com> wrote:
> > Howdy,
> > Just got the new SqueezeBox2 (with wireless) and it works great when
> > plugged in via ethernet. But I can't seem to connect to my 802.11b
> > network. The SSID is found, and the signal strength is fine, but when
> > trying to connect using either WEP or no security, it fails out with the
> > message "Problem connecting to wireless network", or something to that
> > effect.
>
> What access point do you have? The shipping firmware had troubles
> with the Linksys BEFW11S4 Rev 4 router which have been fixed in the
> nightly builds (updated firmware).
>
> Have you tried a nightly and updating the sb2 firmware (hold brightness).
Updated firmware did not fix the problem. My access point is a Netgear
MR814v2 that has no problems with other devices.

Among the weirdness I've noticed is that I can't seem to find the
wireless nic's MAC address. The sticker on the back only lists one MAC
address. Is this correct?

Does anybody think that getting 802.11g access point would help?

-Mike Arrison

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[seanadams]

>>
> Updated firmware did not fix the problem. My access point is a Netgear
> MR814v2 that has no problems with other devices.

No ideas OTOH - we will need to get one and do some tests.

>
> Among the weirdness I've noticed is that I can't seem to find the
> wireless nic's MAC address. The sticker on the back only lists one MAC
> address. Is this correct?

Yes. Squeezebox2 shares one MAC address between the wired and wireless
interfaces. The dual MAC addresses on Squeezebox1 turned out to be
unnecessary.

>
> Does anybody think that getting 802.11g access point would help?

Yes, but we still want to fix whatever's wrong with the MR814v2. That
may take us a little while if it's no longer in production, or not
readily available.

[John Rakestraw]

I updated to the latest nightly (slimserver-2005_04_05-1.noarch.rpm),
upgraded the firmware and my SB2 will now connect to the 802.11b AP.
BEFW1154 ver 2. Connection strength varies for the most part between 70%
and 90%, with occaional drops to 50% and peaks at 97%. So far so good.

However, music streaming isn't consistent, with drops. I set the "now
playing" information to show buffer fullness. I watched the player for
several minutes, and the buffer would fill up to 100%, hold between 95
and 100% for part of a song, and then start a gradual descent all the
way to 0. At 0 (predictably), it would start dropping. After a few
seconds, it would start to build again, going gradually but steadily
back to a peak at 100%. It would hold there a while, and then start to
fall again. I only had about 10 minutes to watch this, but there seems
to be a pattern, moving up to 100 and then back to 0. I never saw it
reverse itself without hitting either 100 or 0. I moved back and forth
between "now playing" and connection strength, and didn't see any
obvious connection between the strength and the drop/rise of buffer content.

I saw this pattern with only the SB2 running -- the SB1 was turned off.
Once I get them both working consistently, then I'll deal with the
challenge of synchronizing them.

My music files are FLAC -- the only FLAC boxes checked on the file
format conversion set-up are "FLAC FLAC (built-in)" and "FLAC WAV flac."
(I left both checked because I have both an SB1 and an SB2.)

Running FC3, the 2005_04_05-1 nightly.

--John

[Dan Sully]

* John Rakestraw shaped the electrons to say...

>I saw this pattern with only the SB2 running -- the SB1 was turned off.
>Once I get them both working consistently, then I'll deal with the
>challenge of synchronizing them.
>
>My music files are FLAC -- the only FLAC boxes checked on the file
>format conversion set-up are "FLAC FLAC (built-in)" and "FLAC WAV flac."
> (I left both checked because I have both an SB1 and an SB2.)

John - can you make sure that you don't have bitrate limiting turned on?

It will be under your Player Settings -> Audio, and down at the bottom.

Thanks.

-D
--
<faisal> my life is collapsing to what will soon be NEGATIVE INTEGER degrees of separation.

[Jack Coates]

On Apr 5, 2005, at 6:36 PM, Sean Adams wrote:

>>>
>> Updated firmware did not fix the problem. My access point is a
>> Netgear
>> MR814v2 that has no problems with other devices.
>
> No ideas OTOH - we will need to get one and do some tests.
>
>>
>> Among the weirdness I've noticed is that I can't seem to find the
>> wireless nic's MAC address. The sticker on the back only lists one
>> MAC
>> address. Is this correct?
>
> Yes. Squeezebox2 shares one MAC address between the wired and wireless
> interfaces. The dual MAC addresses on Squeezebox1 turned out to be
> unnecessary.
>
>>
>> Does anybody think that getting 802.11g access point would help?
>
> Yes, but we still want to fix whatever's wrong with the MR814v2. That
> may take us a little while if it's no longer in production, or not
> readily available.
>

want mine? It will save me the trouble of running it over with my
car... Seriously, the MR814v2 that I have is junk, very prone to
crashing.
--
Jack at Monkeynoodle dot Org: It's a Scientific Venture...
"If this is Paradise, I wish I had a lawnmower." -- Talking Heads