Netgear DG834PN (MIMO Router)

[rattyman]

Just go the new Netgear DG834PN (in the UK) and having real trouble with my v3 slim device! The slimdevice connects fine, signal strength is at 76% but I can't even play an mp3 file through it! Plays for about 3 seconds and then skips.

I have tried different channesl on the netgear, tried dropping it to 802.11b even, all the same! Anyone have any ideas??

[cbemoore]

Try the latest nightly 6.2.2 or 6.5 build. The SB3 firmware has just (yesterday?) been updated to v29, which fixes a number of problems with routers running in "turbo" or 108mbps mode.

Chris

[Michaelwagner]

Or if the function exists to do it separately, turn off turbo and leave mimo on.

Mimo is not the same as some of the other "turbo" schemes, and seems to have a better chance of working with SBs.

As a last chance, turn them both off.

[Michaelwagner]

If it's any consolation, we're working on updating some of the documentation in the wiki in this area.

But the facts change weekly, so it's hard to keep up. Slim in the last week released 2 new firmware images to solve some of these problems.

[Kyle]

Or if the function exists to do it separately, turn off turbo and leave mimo on.

Mimo is not the same as some of the other "turbo" schemes, and seems to have a better chance of working with SBs.

As a last chance, turn them both off.

I have a Belkin Pre-N MIMO router, and it works fine. I don't know if you can turn MIMO off because I've never had reason to check.

[rattyman]

Sorry, don't seem to be able to turn MIMO off. You can turn the device down to 802.11b, which I have done but that doesn't seem to help. I think it's got to do with the 6 antenas etc. but that's just a guess.

I want to try the 29 firmware, but don't want to use the 6.2.2 build as I use Gentoo and I would have to create a new ebuild! (paim) Is there a way of manually updating the firmware?

[Michaelwagner]

Well, the way MIMO works, rather than being discouraged by echos of (radio) hard surfaces, it incorporates them into it's algorithms. It uses the multiple antenae to set up what is essentially a phased array.

What a non-MIMO client experiences at the other end should be no different, since it's not a different data stream, it's just being "beamed" more effectively in the clients direction. So signal strength should be improved, but otherwise, nothing odd is happening.

I don't know how these things "learn" about where the echoes are in the room. I guess they could "map" the room when they first start up, but that's just a guess.

Not that this helps much, I guess. But it might come in handy in future debugging.

I don't know if there's a way to update the firmware without the server ... if you had a spare windows box around, you might be able to fire up windows long enough to upgrade the firmware and then switch back to your other server. But my understanding is that the "wrong" software image will "downgrade" the firmware before running with it, so that may not help you much.

I'm out of my depth here. I'm sure someone else knows more.

[Siduhe]

Slightly off topic, but thought this recent article on Netgear MIMO routers and the effect on a standard G network was interesting - particularly given you can't switch MIMO off.

One more potential variable to plug into the mix for people having problems connecting to their wireless networks...

http://www.tomsnetworking.com/Review...-WPNT834-1.php
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/01...logy_disaster/

[rattyman]

Ok, updated to the 6.2.2 build and the v29 firmware and ......it seems to be working! I will test further and post my results.

[Dave Bird]

I was having the sme problem with the same router, Network and Server were almost at idle, but the SB3 Buffer was always less than 1% full. It would play mp3 and wma but not flac. All working nicely now though ..