Dynalink RTA1025w with DD-WRT in half-bridge mode. Any issues?

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Dynalink RTA1025w with DD-WRT in half-bridge mode. Any issues?

spacedog

482 posts

Ultimate Geek

#70038 17-Oct-2010 14:37

So I'm trying to improve my network performance and get some new functionality.

So I've bought an Asus RT-N16, loaded up DD-WRT and hooked it up to my RTA1025W that is connecting to my Telstraclear ADSL.

I've done the half-bridge PPPOA thing to make it work and it seems functional.

However, I think I'm having some issues with packet loss or poor ping response with VoIP applications over this type of setup.

I'm not entirely sure though because today I also seem to be seeing some packet loss even if I go back to my original configuration of letting the RTA1025W handle everything. So maybe today is just a bad day for Telstra's network?

Has anyone else here in New Zealand done a similar setup and, if so, how has it performed for you? Especially in regards to VoIP applications like Skype or Ventrilo?

billgates

4705 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#392841 17-Oct-2010 14:52

same setup as you but running tomato instead of dd-wrt on the same asus router. all running very nicely on vodafone broadband.

Do whatever you want to do man.

spacedog

482 posts

Ultimate Geek

#392845 17-Oct-2010 15:20

I didn't realize that tomato supported this router. Might have to try that.

I'm still seeing packet loss...not sure what's up with that.

ben28

190 posts

Master Geek

#392883 17-Oct-2010 18:02

i'm using a 1025W for everything, voip and internet on slingshot, no issue, so suspect its not the router causing your issues.
are you on latest firmware? no house wiring issues, interference from garage door openers, microwaves, plasma tvs ...flaky power supply, the list goes on and on??

spacedog

482 posts

Ultimate Geek

#393408 19-Oct-2010 00:51

billgates: same setup as you but running tomato instead of dd-wrt on the same asus router. all running very nicely on vodafone broadband.

Well...I swapped over to tomato to see if that had any effect and it has not helped.

After tedious diagnosis I've pretty much identified that I'm suffering from what seems to be two different issues.

One, my Telstraclear connection is really struggling. I'm seeing packet loss in the 2-4% neighborhood even if I remove the router entirely and ONLY connect via half-bridge or regular NAT setup on the RTA1025W (I have a ticket open with Telstra on that matter now).

HOWEVER...further testing shows that I'm getting another 6% packet loss simply trying to ping between my Asus RT-N16 (on dd-wrt or tomato) and the RTA1025W. So, what the heck is up with that? Why would I be losing packets between these two devices? I have tried different ethernet ports and tried two different ethernet cables and I still have the issue.

Would this be a hardware fault in my RT-N16? Seems unlikely to me....

Or is there some compatibility issue with the RTA1025W?

Ragnor

8223 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#393986 20-Oct-2010 13:55

Dodgy network adapater or drivers in the PC? Can you try another machine?

spacedog

482 posts

Ultimate Geek

#394051 20-Oct-2010 16:37

well...after some real painful troubleshooting, it looks like the issue was a failing RTA1025W.

Fortunately, I buy the same routers, modems, etc... and use the same ISP for deployment at work, home, and family members. So I took my RTA1025w over to my family's house that is also on Tesltra DSL where they have an RTA1025W that get's a rock solid 14mbps(I'm so jealous as my cabinet upgrade is damned near the very last cabinet to be upgraded in all of New Zealand). Firmwares are identical so I copy over the config from there's to mine and swap it. The modem synchs perfect at 16000/945, but lo and behold...every single test and it can only manage 3-7mbps and averages 4mbps. I swapped them back and forth and tested them over an hour and it was 100% repeatable 14mbps on the good one and 2-7 mbps on mine.

All I can figure out it is that the DSL chipset in my RTA1025W was OK, but maybe some other part of it's CPU was failing...and thus it could not sustain/manage it's true line synch potential.

I've now just installed a Draytek Vigor 120 ADSL modem so I can leave half-bridging behind and use PPPOE on the DD-WRT to connect. All seems good so far....bandwidth is back up to a consistent 4.2mbps (about the best I ever get) and packet loss seems to be under control.

I tell you there is NOTHING I hate more than a 'partial' failure. I'd just as soon had smoke and flames pouring out of the RTA1025W rather than intermittent packet loss and reduced data throughput....would have saved me 8 hours of mucking about...

Ragnor

8223 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#394130 20-Oct-2010 20:28

Yeah intermittent issues are the worst to pinpoint.