HG659b - just not reliable enough!

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › HG659b - just not reliable enough!

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meow
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#1572367 15-Jun-2016 13:16

mattyb:

Yes, so far the HG659b is great on a wired connection. Absolutely solid. It's the wifi that seems poor.

But it's 2016, smartphones/tablets are everywhere. I would think good wifi performance is a must.

Good Luck... Even with my expensive enterprise grade router, access point etc I don't expect the full 200/200Mbit over my WiFi. I use Ethernet where possible and things like my Chromebook are connected via WiFi with good performance. But, I've invested around $600 on my home network only because Internet is my main form of entertainment. You can't expect your provider to give you the absolute best router for free, the fact they give you a Wireless AC router for free is great however you can still opt for a better router again if you're willing to spend some extra coin.

But, even if you do you will not get guaranteed results. The fact that you've said that Ethernet performs fine means that your problems are solely with WiFi so read that BigPipe page. Then, you can look at spending some money on something like a Xclaim XI-3 which will offer you the absolute best WiFi but still, this is not a solution to your problem.

1) Ensure your devices are connecting to 5GHz WiFi only and are not hopping back to 2.4GHz.
2) Ensure that your router is central to your house. No, the "WiFi bars" on your devices mean nothing.
3) Ensure you're using a clean channel with the least interference.

That is all.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
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frankv

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#1572370 15-Jun-2016 13:22

mattyb:

NonprayingMantis:

If the modem is faulty, they've offered to replace it.

How much did you pay for the modem? probably $0. So should they credit your account for $0?

have you tried other modems to figure out if it will actually be better to switch? Most wifi issues are related to wifi congestion, NOT the modem itself.

Where could I get a modem to 'try'? I'd need it for a week or so to check stability.

From Spark. My reading of the OP is that they offered you that.

One question... are you seeing the same issues on 5GHz? The HG659B has that built-in, and it's likely to be less congested than 2.4GHz.

sbiddle

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#1572374 15-Jun-2016 13:29

mattyb:

I'm really just trying to gauge people's opinions here. My perception is that good wifi performance is part of the Spark service. Maybe I'm wrong. But if I'm right, surely some help other than, 'we'll replace the modem' could be forthcoming.

Without knowing the EXACT design of your house, what it's made of and what sources of interference you have, and the type of devices you are using it's not possible to answer that question. The harsh but very real world reality these days is that a single AP/router is not sufficient for many houses. The solution is to move towards multiple access points, particularly as 5Ghz becomes so important if speed is required.

It's safe to say there are plenty of people in NZ using a 659b that have no issues at all with the WiFi performance. There is also no guarantee that replacing your device with something else will actually make the performance any better because we don't know the exact issue you're encountering. Are you suffering from poor signal? Are you on 2.4 or 5GHz? There are so many variables..

Jedsdad

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#1572384 15-Jun-2016 13:44

I too have had wifi issues on my HG659b 2.4Ghz band though not for some time now.

It would happen very intermittently, unfortunately also when my wife started using the laptop....damn (Note no 5Ghz on the laptop)

I did note at the time that though the wifi channel was there and both the laptop and HG659b both showed the wifi up I did not have an internet connection when checked on the laptop.

An analyser also showed the wifi levels were ok

I had tried changing channels but that made no difference, I then ended up restarting the HG659b and the internet on the laptop started working again.

I also made sure I had the latest firmware update on the modem, ok.

Note that my desktop internet using a wired connection was ok at the time.

I have been trying to isolate the issue since but being so intermittent it is difficult.

So I can sympathise with Mattyb.

In my case I cannot ask for a replacement from Spark, I bought it on Trademe and I am with Compass

mattyb

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#1572389 15-Jun-2016 13:49

Thanks everybody - some very good info here.

One other point... the problems have only been since upgrading to Fibre in January and before that we had VDSL with the HG630. The VDSL/HG630 was great over wifi - rock solid. Nothing else changed during the changeover. Router position in the house is exactly the same. No walls have moved. We use our wifi devices in the same parts of the house. So any interference issues (over 2.4GHz) should be the same between the two routers. Is that a fair assumption? Or not?

mattyb

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#1572391 15-Jun-2016 13:52

Jedsdad:

I too have had wifi issues on my HG659b 2.4Ghz band though not for some time now.

It would happen very intermittently, unfortunately also when my wife started using the laptop....damn (Note no 5Ghz on the laptop)

I did note at the time that though the wifi channel was there and both the laptop and HG659b both showed the wifi up I did not have an internet connection when checked on the laptop.

An analyser also showed the wifi levels were ok

I had tried changing channels but that made no difference, I then ended up restarting the HG659b and the internet on the laptop started working again.

I also made sure I had the latest firmware update on the modem, ok.

Note that my desktop internet using a wired connection was ok at the time.

I have been trying to isolate the issue since but being so intermittent it is difficult.

So I can sympathise with Mattyb.

In my case I cannot ask for a replacement from Spark, I bought it on Trademe and I am with Compass

Thanks for the support. Yes, it is intermittent so incredibly frustrating.

mattwnz

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#1572393 15-Jun-2016 13:55

You wouldn't happen to be using an iphone with it and dropbox? I found that big problems with this model dropping the internet, and it looks like it was due to the size of the packets dropbox sends files in.

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mattyb

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#1572397 15-Jun-2016 13:59

mattwnz:

You wouldn't happen to be using an iphone with it and dropbox? I found that big problems with this model dropping the internet, and it looks like it was due to the size of the packets dropbox sends files in.

Wifi devices are:

Samsung Galaxy S5
Nexus 9
iPhone 5C
iPad Air 2
HP laptop
IP camera

All experience same issues.

huckster

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#1572405 15-Jun-2016 14:03

mattyb:

Thanks everybody - some very good info here.

One other point... the problems have only been since upgrading to Fibre in January and before that we had VDSL with the HG630. The VDSL/HG630 was great over wifi - rock solid. Nothing else changed during the changeover. Router position in the house is exactly the same. No walls have moved. We use our wifi devices in the same parts of the house. So any interference issues (over 2.4GHz) should be the same between the two routers. Is that a fair assumption? Or not?

From memory, the HG630 can do Fibre. So you could put that back in place and test that for a week. Your overall speed may drop as the HG630 can only handle 100 down I believe.

1101

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#1573399 15-Jun-2016 14:23

mattyb:

... the problems have only been since upgrading to Fibre in January and before that we had VDSL with the HG630. The VDSL/HG630 was great over wifi - rock solid. Nothing else changed during the changeover. Router position in the house is exactly the same. No walls have moved. We use our wifi devices in the same parts of the house. So any interference issues (over 2.4GHz) should be the same between the two routers. Is that a fair assumption? Or not?

In a perfect world, all wifi routers would have the same wifi performance. But they dont .

- be realistic about wifi limitations.
assuming you did the obvious such as trying different wifi channel no's..
If the new routers wifi performance is poor, chances are its your home environment as much as the new router thats the issue
- some wifi routers will of course be better . Not alot but perhaps enough to make it usable (just) . Clutching at straws sort of thing.
- could it be that the devices are connecting on 5.8Ghz . try turning off 5.8 on the router & see if that helps

so, either buy a new wifi router, buy just a wifi access point, or use the old router as a wifi access point (its do-able , not the best way though)
The ISP router is a freebee. Dont be too surprised if its performs like a freebee . Want hi-end performance , spend some $

Jedsdad

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#1573441 15-Jun-2016 14:40

As I now recall at the time I was having the issue I checked the wifi performance using an analyser and that looked ok

I then used the One Key Diagnostics in the HG659b

Maintain/One Key Diagnostics Ensure "Wlan Advanced is ticked by clicking "More"

The click Diagnose and wait for the results, on ly a few seconds

Then expand Wlan Advanced by clicking the icon and you should see the results.

I had noted at the time I was getting a very low rate from the laptop (under 2Mbps I think) whereas today on the same laptop in the same place I get 39Mbps

It may be a clue!

I am still waiting for it to fail again here its been ok for a month or more now

stevenz

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#1574450 15-Jun-2016 15:10

FWIW I've found the HG659b to be the most reliable router I've ever owned other than my Asus RT-AC68U (which is now just a wireless AP), and I've owned a few.

@KnightNZ

andrew027

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#1574515 15-Jun-2016 16:28

NonprayingMantis: let me give you an analogy a little different from the water/kettle one used in that article:

you buy a ferrari from your local dealer. It's advertised as having top speed of 300kph.

sweet!

you take it out on the southern motorway at 8.30am on a monday morning and find that the fastest you can go is 30kph because of all the traffic clogging up the road.

Is that because the ferrari is bad?

or is it because of the road you are trying to use that happens to be full of other cars?

If you called your ferrari dealer do you think they should give you a refund because of this?

And to continue this (actually pretty damned good) analogy: if you went back to the dealer and bought a Bugatti that's capable of doing 450kph, seats more passengers and has a fuel tank that lets you go 150km further between fills, you still wouldn't be going any faster on the Southern motorway at 8:30am next Monday.

1eStar

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#1574521 15-Jun-2016 16:36

And to continue the analogy, of you wish to get to work fast, use the motorbike you have at home in the garage and lane split.

Your motor bike is the 5GHz band. It doesn't have the same range, but mighty quick over short distances.

shk292

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#1574524 15-Jun-2016 16:40

mattyb:

Thanks everybody - some very good info here.

One other point... the problems have only been since upgrading to Fibre in January and before that we had VDSL with the HG630. The VDSL/HG630 was great over wifi - rock solid. Nothing else changed during the changeover. Router position in the house is exactly the same. No walls have moved. We use our wifi devices in the same parts of the house. So any interference issues (over 2.4GHz) should be the same between the two routers. Is that a fair assumption? Or not?

I'd recommend connecting the HG630 as a second access point. I'm using my old HG659 for this purpose and it's a good way to fill in any areas of mediocre coverage in the house

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