NETGEAR DGND3300

[wecpcs]

I have just come across another problem with this router with remote access to a Windows Home Server. Today I noticed that when I tried to test the remote internet access to my server, I was given a certificate warning and when clicking on continue I was then told to to click on add an exception which I did and now it only takes me to my router login screen . The same problem occurs also if I try remote access on my wife's Acer laptop. So I reset the router to factory defaults and tried again with the same result. I then reconnected my Netgear DG834Gv4 and it connects remotely perfectly with no certificate (which free from MS and GoDaddy) errors. I then reconnected the new router and tried a neighbours PC with remote access and it was perfect with no certificate errors at all. So the problem is obviously only LOCAl with the new router but I have compared both menu's and they are virtually the same with just a few additions on the new one, but nothing that is obvious. Obviously I do not need remote internet access to my server when it is sitting right next to me, but it was certainly handy to test out the procedure if any problems developed. As Gary has the same router, I thought he might have some suggestions as to the solution.

Colin

[Rik]

Gary hasn't been in todaay, Colin, but hopefully someone else will have an answer for you.

[wecpcs]

Gary hasn't been in todaay, Colin, but hopefully someone else will have an answer for you.

I have had an answer from the Windows Home Server forum and it is suggested that maybe the new router does not support loopback connections. So I have some more research to do with Netgear.

Colin

[dujas]

I'd be interested in owner's feedback of the Netgear DGND3300.

[Steve]

Can I suggest that you check port forwarding is ok i.e if UPNP is not working correctly for the WHS do it manually and have you tried adding the WHS IP address to your host file on your local machine.

[wecpcs]

Can I suggest that you check port forwarding is ok i.e if UPNP is not working correctly for the WHS do it manually and have you tried adding the WHS IP address to your host file on your local machine.

I have just found another problem with this router, in that the UPNP does not work properly either, as a few minutes after setting remote access in the WHS console, I get a message saying that the port forwarding has failed. Every time I reset it, the same problem occurs, so I have now turned off the UPNP and configured it manually as I had to do on my previous router, a Billion and now the port forwarding stays put.

Back to my previous problem, now that I have done the port forwarding manually, I now longer get the certificate error when trying remote internet access LOCALLY, instead the connection just times out.
Why is it that a number of routers all have a problem with UPNP, as my first Netgear DG834v4 I had to do the port forwarding manually as the UPNP did not work, although my replacement v4 with newer firmware was OK, then the Billion 7402 I had briefly before it failed, had the same problem and now the DGND3300 is added to the list.

I am afraid I cannot recomend this router at all, with all the problems I am finding with it, as even the wireless 'N' will still not work at all on our Acer laptop, at least the Billion did, although it kept dropping the wireless signal every other day until it failed totally wireless and wired..

Regarding adding the WHS IP address to the hosts file, would that not just do the same thing ie block it.

Colin

[Steve]

The implementation of UPNP in the WHS is unreliable and I think from my experience depends on the router, The latest official firmware for the DG834N seemed much improved and if I recall the DGTeam was o.k I have tried in the past editing the WHS registry to add the UPNP settings but unfortunately they don't seem to stay there after a restart/hibernation. Manual port forward is obviously the most reliable method.

With regard to the other issue does this article shed any light? http://www.dyndns.com/support/kb/loopback_connections.html

[Gary]

I get full speed over 5ghz, you have to have two separate ssid on this router and you cannot use the same one for both 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz, the default is for 802 n over 5Ghz and 802g over 2.4Ghz. With my old acer laptop and my DG834N I could not get above 65mbps I had to as I posted earlier change the intel 5100 driver settings to 40MHz or auto to get 130mbps try that on your acer. UPNP works fine on mine, but I always reinstall the firmware when new, then reset it before setting things up, as I have had buggy firmware installs on routers before. You can set the router to use abgn over 2.4ghz as well. Make sure you have the latest driver updates for your network card as well, and not from the acer website but from Intel if it's a 5100 or such like. My Dg834N just packed up, that's the second one sadly and Netgear Support is horrid. As a after thought don't have the 2.4 On auto use 1  6 11 as these will give the best results, don't change the frequency for 5Ghz leave it on 36
Above all remember this is the first firmware of the router, for my needs it's great but bugs will get ironed out, with upnp try turning it off and on, it used to fail on the Dg834n untill the last version of firmware. Being at the bleeding edge can be painful 

[wecpcs]

The implementation of UPNP in the WHS is unreliable and I think from my experience depends on the router, The latest official firmware for the DG834N seemed much improved and if I recall the DGTeam was o.k I have tried in the past editing the WHS registry to add the UPNP settings but unfortunately they don't seem to stay there after a restart/hibernation. Manual port forward is obviously the most reliable method.

With regard to the other issue does this article shed any light? http://www.dyndns.com/support/kb/loopback_connections.html

Thanks for the reply, I was given the same link from the Netgear forum and I have tried to do what was stated but to no avail, I think I need a simple step by step process to get it sorted. They also stated that most Netgear routers along with a large number of other manufacturers do not support or claim support for loopback as most users would not require it. I think I will have to get my replacement DG834Gv4 fault sorted out yet again with support as it is still under guarantee and stick with that and sell the DGND3300v2 as it has of no use to me, too many problems.

Colin

[wecpcs]

I get full speed over 5ghz, you have to have two separate ssid on this router and you cannot use the same one for both 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz, the default is for 802 n over 5Ghz and 802g over 2.4Ghz. With my old acer laptop and my DG834N I could not get above 65mbps I had to as I posted earlier change the intel 5100 driver settings to 40MHz or auto to get 130mbps try that on your acer. UPNP works fine on mine, but I always reinstall the firmware when new, then reset it before setting things up, as I have had buggy firmware installs on routers before. You can set the router to use abgn over 2.4ghz as well. Make sure you have the latest driver updates for your network card as well, and not from the acer website but from Intel if it's a 5100 or such like. My Dg834N just packed up, that's the second one sadly and Netgear Support is horrid. As a after thought don't have the 2.4 On auto use 1  6 11 as these will give the best results, don't change the frequency for 5Ghz leave it on 36
Above all remember this is the first firmware of the router, for my needs it's great but bugs will get ironed out, with upnp try turning it off and on, it used to fail on the Dg834n untill the last version of firmware. Being at the bleeding edge can be painful 

I have set up the two separate SSID on the router, but unfortunately my Acer has not got the Intel wireless card but an Atheros AR5B91, for which I have installed the latest drivers and according to its specifications I googled for, it supports dual band 5Ghz/2.4Ghz wireless 'N', but refuses point blank to work on 'N' full stop with the DGND3300 and only works on the 'G' band at 54Mbps. The Billion 7402NX I had briefly did work on the 2.4Ghz 'N' band on the Acer, before it packed up totally, so the problem must be with the DGND3300 or its firmware. I know that Netgear is not very good with its firmware and the same applies to many other manufacturers, as I had many problems with the Netgear EVA8000HD Digital Entertainer, but now it is finally OK for me now but still lacking Windows 7 support, but that does not affect me with the WHS.

Colin

[Steve]

Found on Toms hardware not sure what the router was though

I have since been able to get my Acer 5535 with the Atheros ar5b91 to connect at N speeds.

1. change encryption to none or WPA2
2. change router to broadcast at 20 mhz not 20/40
3. change router to broadcast at N only.
4. remove the old connectoid and start a new connection
5. create new connection with the settings that you know that the router is set for.


Below is a copy of my WHS Host file which only has one entry. If I am correct from reading the article you add the local address of your WHS i.e 192.168.0.4 and then its www address i.e www.santaclaus-homeserver.com to the host file of the local machine you are using. Sorry cant pull up one as using a Mac and I need root access to show ( sudo nano /private/etc/hosts) hence the WHS one shown as example.


Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
#      102.54.94.97     rhino.acme.com          # source server
#       38.25.63.10     x.acme.com              # x client host

127.0.0.1       localhost

[Rik]

Thanks, Steve. 

[Steve]

::1 is localhost IPv6,

[wecpcs]

Found on Toms hardware not sure what the router was though

I have since been able to get my Acer 5535 with the Atheros ar5b91 to connect at N speeds.

1. change encryption to none or WPA2
2. change router to broadcast at 20 mhz not 20/40
3. change router to broadcast at N only.
4. remove the old connectoid and start a new connection
5. create new connection with the settings that you know that the router is set for.


Below is a copy of my WHS Host file which only has one entry. If I am correct from reading the article you add the local address of your WHS i.e 192.168.0.4 and then its www address i.e www.santaclaus-homeserver.com to the host file of the local machine you are using. Sorry cant pull up one as using a Mac and I need root access to show ( sudo nano /private/etc/hosts) hence the WHS one shown as example.


Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.


#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
#      102.54.94.97     rhino.acme.com          # source server
#       38.25.63.10     x.acme.com              # x client host

127.0.0.1       localhost

Thanks Steve, I am already using WPA2, but there is no setting for changing the broadcast to 20, but I have just tried again to broadcast on 'N' only and now it works. It seems that since I turned UPNP OFF in the router yesterday and configured my port forwarding manually for my WHS, when I just now tried the Acer laptop again, with a setting in the router of upto 270Mbps @ 2.4Ghz it is now running on wireless 'N' and giving me a speed of 150mbps, which is better than the 54mbps it was running at. It does mean that with that option selected I have no 'G' band available, but as I have nothing else that uses it apart from my PC (which is turned off anyway), is no problem. But the strange thing is that I had tried all previous settings before with no luck, but since turning of the UPNP it now works.

Regarding the HOSTS file change, I have already tried that, but no change, it just seems like I am just going to have to live with that minor problem, at least 2 major problems have been resolved.

Thanks again

Colin

UPDATE: Hi Steve, I just tried the HOSTS edit again as I see that you added the www part of the address which I did not and now as long as I use the https://www.xxxxxx.homeserver.com in the address bar, it now works. It always used to work with  https://xxxxxx.homeserver.com as it was still there in my favorites (IE8) and bookmarks (FF), which I have now corrected. Maybe it was a change in Windows 7 64bit because it used to work in Vista 32bit. Although it works in IE8 it does not in FF where I still get an invalid certificate warning, but at least I can now get full use out of this router which was getting me down after all the hassle I have had.
Thanks yet again

[wecpcs]

UPDATE: Hi Steve, I just tried the HOSTS edit again as I see that you added the www part of the address which I did not and now as long as I use the https://www.xxxxxx.homeserver.com in the address bar, it now works. It always used to work with  https://xxxxxx.homeserver.com as it was still there in my favorites (IE8) and bookmarks (FF), which I have now corrected. Maybe it was a change in Windows 7 64bit because it used to work in Vista 32bit. Although it works in IE8 it does not in FF where I still get an invalid certificate warning, but at least I can now get full use out of this router which was getting me down after all the hassle I have had.
Thanks yet again

UPDATE 2: Now working in Firefox, at last everything is sorted, taken a great deal of time and help from others such as Steve and Gary, but I got there in the end.

[Rik]

Well done, Colin.

[wecpcs]

Here is a for Steve and a  for Gary for all their help.

[Steve]

Thanks Colin, sounds like progress. I like the dual band N routers the 5GHz band allows me to isolate my N device (macbook) from the rest of the legacy devices, as I understand it a combination of G and N devices connected on the 2.4GHz band will only work as fast as the slowest .

[Gary]

Thanks Colin, as steve says mixed N and g products on 2.4ghz cause lower speeds and the network is hampered by the g products, like Steve, I have my Mac isolated on the 5 Ghz spectrum. Glad things are working, you mayfind a firmware update will sort the loopback situation out, the V2 (outside US) is only the first incarnation of the firmware, so there are bugs to fix, happy Christmas and thanks for the Karma 

[dujas]

Something of a thread necro, but Broadbandbuyer has a listing for the Netgear DGN3500 due for release on 03/02/2010. It's essentially the 3300 with Gigabit Ethernet ports, but only 2.4Ghz band wireless.

Perhaps they'll release an ADSL version of the WNDR3700, which basically has every current feature (dual-band wireless, Gigabit Ethernet and USB) in a swanky "piano black" box.

[Rik]

I want one.

[Steve]

My Draytek Vigor 120 modem is rock solid with an Apple Airport Express, its a bit of a faff to get the line stats but by no means impossible ,so I would not be put off by the WNDR3700 not having a adsl modem.