collegea
join:2007-01-10
 ·RoadRunner Cable
 ·Vonage
·QuantumVoice
·ViaTalk
| Wireless Roadrunner Problems in Whitestone, Queens
I have been a Roadrunner customer since the service began in my area in March 2000. Over the past 4 years I have been using the wireless Roadrunner service. At first, it was good. The first modem lasted almost 2 years. Since then, I've never had a wireless modem last more than 6 months. It works fine if I use the ethernet cable, but the wireless signal deteriorates and eventually doesn't work at all. I then do a swap for a new wireless modem and everything works fine for a few months till the wireless signal deteriorates again. I'm on my 4th wireless modem over the past 2 years now. This morning I began to lose my wireless signal every 5 minutes or so. The signal would come back a half minute later then i would lose it again. When I called customer support, I was told that "my modem was rebooting more than it should and that my Flaps was 616 and should be 100 or below." I was then referred to level 3 support, who said "he changed the channel and no longer saw a problem". I am seriously considering downgrading to the standard Roadrunner modem (no wireless) and buying my own router. I did use a D-Link router (624) for 2 years before it broke down and then couldn't connect wirelessly with any other router on my Windows 98 machine so I opted for Wireless Roadrunner, which amazingly worked. I now use Vista Ultimate OS, with a Dell 1720 and Dell 1520 high powered laptops.
Since the level 3 tech changed the channel, the cable modem signal is green and I'm not losing the wireless signal.
My experience with Wireless Roadrunner is that it is highly unreliable. I currently have the SMC 8104WG-SI.
Do you guys have any better wireless alternatives? Or, should I switch to FIOS? I know from experience that Roadrunner does not take well to other Routers. Any suggestions? I don't like swapping my modem every 4-6 months. I understand that the FIOS router is not good. |
|
collegea
join:2007-01-10
·RoadRunner Cable
·Vonage
·QuantumVoice
·ViaTalk
| I got rid of Wireless Roadrunner today. I swapped it for the regular cable modem (RCA) and bought a Belkin Wireless G router at Staples for $39.99. I was so shocked that I was able to set everything up in 2 minutes, literally speaking. It runs so much smoother than the Roadrunner wireless SMC. Time Warner should really get out of the wireless business. The Belkin router just destroys that cheap SMC piece of junk.
In some ways, Roadrunner is a rip off. But Verizon is just as bad, if not worse. |
|
brooklynman4
join:2004-09-07
Brooklyn, NY | reply to collegea
Make shure u secure ure wireless signal. |
|
collegea
join:2007-01-10
·RoadRunner Cable
·Vonage
·QuantumVoice
·ViaTalk
| said by brooklynman4  :Make shure u secure ure wireless signal. I went back and put in a wep key (128 encryption). I couldn't do better than that (WPA) because my Nokia internet tablet (N800) doesn't support stronger security than that. I even tried to eliminate SSID broadcasting, but my Nokia wasn't able to connect when I did that.
For you guys, the security isn't strong enough here, but it has worked for me for the past 6-7 years and I did change the SSID name. At least my neighbors, who aren't vicious, won't be able to use my wireless connection. I use Kapersky antivirus, which is very powerful and prevents any malware from getting on my system. I disabled all security features on Vista Ultimate when I first bought my laptops. Anyway, the Belkin Wireless G Router has a much better Wireless signal and is faster than Roadrunner Wireless at a cheap price. |
|
mikeurl
join:2002-06-26
Whitestone, NY
| reply to collegea
I use a WRT54g v1.2 with Tomato running on it. One REALLY cool feature is that I can go into the router interface and check how many devices are using the same frequency as me.
Another thing to consider, aside from other APs, is that cordless phones can cause interference as well. They really shouldn't but, in my experience, they sometimes do.
However, if none of that made sense then you're in luck. The tech was able to reach right into your router and check all that for you and put you on a frequency that works. To me that sounds like mission accomplished. You'd probably be WORSE off if you were running your own router because, technically, you're not supposed to and even though they aren't Nazis about it they aren't going to help you troubleshoot it. |
|
