Router issues; Steam/HL2

Josh86Josh86 Join Date: 2010-12-06 Member: 75513Members
edited August 2011 in Off-Topic
<div class="IPBDescription">What I tried and where I'm at.</div><a href="http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2007866" target="_blank">http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/show...d.php?t=2007866</a>

You can check this link for some detail. In general:

I got a Linksys WRT54GL (and hating it so far). It works fine with everything except for Steam/HL2 (HL2.exe and it's derivatives, I assume) for some reason. I flashed the router with the open source DDWRT firmware (mini) originally meant for these routers (what does that tell you...) and the issue went away. Unfortunately now our HP wireless printer doesn't work. The woman in the house needs it for business so I reverted back today -- to my despair, the issue with the games persists again.

Anyone else have this router or think they can offer some insight?

I may try the DDWRT one more time and see if I can get the printer issue resolved. HPs drivers are a real pain -- I've been hating HP and this router for the past month, basically. Otherwise if I can't make it all work, I'm just going to pick up a new router. I used someone else's Apple Airport Extreme before this, a cheap D-Link before that, and a Netgear before that, many, many years ago. Never had issues with those (except for port forwarding on the Airport).

Comments

  • RichardRahlRichardRahl Join Date: 2011-06-15 Member: 104594Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1867043:date=Aug 6 2011, 07:25 PM:name=Josh86)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Josh86 @ Aug 6 2011, 07:25 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1867043"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><a href="http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2007866" target="_blank">http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/show...d.php?t=2007866</a>

    You can check this link for some detail. In general:

    I got a Linksys WRT54GL (and hating it so far). It works fine with everything except for Steam/HL2 (HL2.exe and it's derivatives, I assume) for some reason. I flashed the router with the open source DDWRT firmware (mini) originally meant for these routers (what does that tell you...) and the issue went away. Unfortunately now our wireless printer doesn't work. The woman in the house needs it for business so I reverted back today -- to my despair, the issue with the games persists again.

    Anyone else have this router or think they can offer some insight?

    I may try the DDWRT one more time and see if I can get the printer issue resolved. HPs drivers are a real pain -- I've been hating HP and this router for the past month, basically. Otherwise if I can't make it all work, I'm just going to pick up a new router. I used someone else's Apple Airport Extreme before this, a cheap D-Link before that, and a Netgear before that, many, many years ago. Never had issues with those (except for port forwarding on the Airport).<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Hm, I never had an issue with my 54g when I had it, i think it might have less to do with the router possibly.
  • Josh86Josh86 Join Date: 2010-12-06 Member: 75513Members
    edited August 2011
    <!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Hm, I never had an issue with my 54g when I had it, i think it might have less to do with the router possibly.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    What else do you think it could be? Someone mentioned my modem -- but I don't think that's the case. I'm also using the same wireless receiver/card/dongle as I did previous to this router. Remember that changing the firmware solved my issue with the game problem -- I attribute the printer problem to the custom firmware not quite supporting HP wireless printing. I used the mini version but I may try DDWRT standard -- perhaps it will work under that.

    I've seen a couple other people say they've never had issues as well. Contradicting that though, I find many posts online with the same issue I have (minus the printer thing under custom firmware). Some of these posts were on G models as old as 2006. Mine is a GL v1.1. It has the updated (Jan '11) Linksys firmware.
  • RichardRahlRichardRahl Join Date: 2011-06-15 Member: 104594Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1867050:date=Aug 6 2011, 07:36 PM:name=Josh86)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Josh86 @ Aug 6 2011, 07:36 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1867050"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I've seen a couple other people say they've never had issues as well. Contradicting that though, I find many posts online with the same issue I have (minus the printer thing under custom firmware). Some of these posts were G models as old as 2006. Mine is a GL v1.1. It has the updated (Jan '11) Linksys firmware.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Strange, i'de be interested in finding out what the cause was. I personally never had any issues with it, so i'm sorry it's causing you so many problems :(
  • duxdux Tea Lady Join Date: 2003-12-14 Member: 24371Members, NS2 Developer
    The issue I have with steam / source games is the server browser will never refresh. It just floods out and stops responding. Meh.
  • DiscoZombieDiscoZombie Join Date: 2003-08-05 Member: 18951Members
    I have no constructive advice other than to say I have had bad luck with routers also. I bought a nice single-band one when I moved to my current apartment. I found out there was too much 2.4 GHz traffic and it was knocking our wireless connection off frequently, so I switched it to 5GHz mode. Then it worked great for my wife's laptop, but the xbox can only see the 2.4GHz band, so that wasn't any good either. So I bought a dual band router, and now my wife connects at 5ghz and the xbox can connect at 2.4ghz... but the thing randomly stops working once or twice a day and I have to turn it off and on to get it to work again... it certainly doesn't help that I have comcast internet, which itself is crap and since it's a monopoly, I have no competitor to switch to. About half the time I get 1mbps download speeds from my cable internet. I might as well be back in 1995.
  • autograderautograder Join Date: 2011-06-24 Member: 106181Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1867043:date=Aug 6 2011, 07:25 PM:name=Josh86)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Josh86 @ Aug 6 2011, 07:25 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1867043"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->...

    I got a Linksys WRT54GL (and hating it so far). It works fine with everything except for Steam/HL2 (HL2.exe and it's derivatives, I assume) for some reason. I flashed the router with the open source DDWRT firmware (mini) originally meant for these routers (what does that tell you...) and the issue went away. Unfortunately now our HP wireless printer doesn't work. The woman in the house needs it for business so I reverted back today -- to my despair, the issue with the games persists again.

    Anyone else have this router or think they can offer some insight?

    ...<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    I purchased this router about a month ago (Newegg had some great deal) and installed: DD-WRT v24-sp2 (07/22/09) min, which is the recommended build, the first day.

    Since then I haven't restarted the router once (36days strong), and have nothing but great things to report. I've set my dedicated server on the MAC Priority setting (under QoS) and did see server improvement.

    I'm a big fan of setting all the default settings - from the modem, to the router, to any switch, to your PC - and let things sit for a day or two. If you still have an issue go from there.
  • autograderautograder Join Date: 2011-06-24 Member: 106181Members
    Just read your linked post, you're using the wireless for gaming.

    Sounds like you have changed:<ul><li>Physical Location</li><li>Internet Provider</li><li>Internet Modem</li><li>Router</li></ul>

    That is a lot of changes, it will be hard to pinpoint the cause.

    Since you are using wireless you need to scan for nearby routers using the same channel, frequency, etc. You want to isolate your router on a different channel (atleast) running a different frequency is out of the question given the router only supports B/G. Are you running G btw?

    If you run DD-WRT (cannot recommend it any higher) you can also check the wireless transmission receive/loss count. If alot of packets are getting lost this tells you something.

    Do your issues show up at a similar time (ie- heavy traffic times when your neighbors are on, etc).

    You can always run a 75' CAT cable after you see the issue arise, to see if it goes away. I won't tell you not to use wireless, but you need to understand the limitations and rule those out first. Could also be a faulty router or modem though!
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