VSS and NetGear DGND3700 - additional config required to router query

[Sjc67]

Hi, I've just bought a VSS box and connected it up to my DGND3700. So far I have a solid red light and then two flashing lights as if to suggest the unit was/is configuring itself. The question I have is that should these two lights still be flashing after 6+ hours or is there something fundamental I need to do to my router before it will work? I know some posts refer to having to wait at least 24 hours before the unit is ready to use but I'm not sure if I have even got a communication link to Vodafone. Having read various posts it seems like the Netgear needs a few tweaks but I wanted to ask if there was a definitive steer from Vodafone for this unit. Is it possible to check if my unit has registered with you? The serial number is 40114670736 My MAC@ is 0C4C3900D600 My broadband speed is currently at 12Mbps download and 1Mbps upload Thanks for any help. Stephen

[Sjc67]

Hi Nabs, still at it I'm afraid but my troubleshooting may be taking a slightly different direction. Whilst I was looking at the logs of the Netgear I noticed that, over the course of a 24-hr period, my DGND3700 lost its Internet connection and then automatically reconnects (saw a couple of these). I doubt the VSS gets fully updated if this has happened in the past. I have reset the VSS and reconnected overnight so will see if anything happens today. I have had problems in the past with the Netgear losing its connection and just not reconnecting but a firmware update seems to have improved its reconnect function. If this doesn't work I may have to unpack the BT Business Broadband Router I have and try it instead. I wanted the Netgear for the 802.11n coverage it provides but I don't really want to have to engineer an Internet-->BT-->Netgear-->Home LAN setup if I can avoid it. I suppose I could hang the VSS of the BT box in a DMZ role and route all outbound traffic via the Netgear and hope the BT box is better at the link reliability. . Something else that was a bit unusual was the link lights at the back of the VSS. Initially they appear as normal, left light indicates link connected and the right light flickers furiously indicating traffic to and from the port. After a while, however, both lights go solid. I waited a while and the green light started flickering again but then went solid once more. I'm not sure if this is significant or not but the only way I will be able to tell is if I try the BT hub box on its own plugged into the VSS and see if I get the same issue. I suspect this behaviour is probably normal but, to be honest, I'm not ruling anything out at the moment. I'll update this thread with any more news.....

[Sjc67]

Better news with the BT hub.  Its a more informative box and, whilst I put in the same port forwarding rules (50TCP, 123UDP, 500UDP and 4500UDP) I could also interrogate its NAT log and see the active sessions with the Vodafone servers.  Its only the System light that is flashing just now so I suspect this means it is updating its configuration. The phone light was on for a short time and has now gone off.  This is progress but not the kind of progress I really wanted as I want to keep the Netgear for its 802.11n wi-fi speed for around the house. The BT hub is only 54Mbps so is not really a viable choice to stream content to and from devices around the house.

I haven't given up on the Netgear just yet but at least I know that the VSS box is now behaving as it should do on initial startup.

I suspect there are other differences in the setup of the BT Hub and the Netgear so that's where I'll look next...but that's a job for tomorrow I think. 

[Sjc67]

Final update for tonight - Configuration complete...full 3G signal now in the house...hmmm...on the one hand I am grateful to get it working but I really wanted the Netgear to work. Unless I read that it doesn't work somewhere on the Netgear forums I'll not give up just yet...

[Sjc67]

Ok, final final update tonight. Redid my forwarding rules on the Netgear just exactly as I had done for the BT box and, hey presto, it's working through the Netgear now. Happy Days but alot of trial and error with the Netgear interface. They need to up their game in the diagnostic department!!

[Retired-AndyD]

Hi Sjc67,

Thanks for your post advising you've got your Netgear router working with the Sure Signal, it's great news

Should you have any questions in the future, you know where we are.

Thanks

Andy

Moderator

[Sjc67]

Thanks Andy and thanks to Nabs for helping me get to the bottom of this. I double checked my port forwarding rules on the Netgear prior to using the BT box but maybe there was a typo or something. Perhaps something happened whlst it was getting configured via the BT box that meant reconnecting to Netgear just worked. I think in general, the ports listed by Nabs is where its at in terms of a solution although I didn't need TCP port 8 myself.
Thanks again for providing this forum service...much appreciated.

Steve

[AndyT557]

Sjc67,

I've just configured the ports my DGND3700 manually, waiting on seeing if the VSS connects satisfactorily now.  Got a favour to ask, any chance you could post a screen shot of your Port Forwarding / Port Triggering page of your router.  Be handy to compare.

Kind regards,

Andy T

[TLMONKEY]

Been tryin to set this up on same router but everytime I put in the server ip(vodafone?) of 192.168.1.32 it keeps coming up

"The IP address should be the same as the LAN IP address" ??

[Retired-Wayne]

Hi TLMONKEY

Thanks for your post here.

There’s quite a bit of information on this thread so far so I just want to check you have been through everything?

Also, can you tell me where you are putting the server IP? If you’re talking about assigning a static IP address then you need to choose the IP address that you want the router to assign to the Sure Signal.

Please let me know and we’ll be happy to help you further.

Thanks

Wayne

[boe32]

Just a suggestion, if your with bt, then ring them and get your hub update to homehub 3, they should of already updated you without the need to ask, the homehub 3 is wireless n with smart wifi, 300mbps.