MAC broadcasting enabling

[TerryRF]

  I am trying to find out how to enable MAC broadcasting on my router. Ocassionally I lose the Host Connection to AH and get switches from TCP/IP to UDP.

   In the System Information tool I see that my DHCP Lease shows it expires in 24 hours after I turn on my pc. Wondering if the lease expiring causes the above issue. So...how do I find my router on my machine to see if MAC broadcasting is enabled?  I've looked for my router, a Netgear WNDR3700, but cannot locate on my pc.

                                     Thanks for any help all.

[Zener]

The manual for your Router is here.  See page 15 for how to access the router's admin functions.  Whether what you are suggesting as a possible fix will work or not, I'm not sure.

[The Fugitive]

It would more likely be a bad hop in the run to the servers at HTC. Go here...

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,68316.msg637923.html#msg637923

and Skuzzy explains about connection issues. Download the "pingplotter" program and in stall it and then run a ping plot to the game server 71.252.137.153

Let it ping once a second for a few minutes after you get a disco/lost UDP error. Any "red" in the ping is bad. take a screen shot and post it here to get more help about what it all means.

[TerryRF]

  Thanks for the replies!

  I downloaded Ping Plotter. Started AH > Melee Arena >Alt Tabbed to minimize. Then I ran Ping Plotter for the first time and took a snip. AH was running, however I was in the tower the entire time, and the game ran with no problems.

   I have no clue what the info means. Maybe you can see something. I will read the manual later.

   Fugitive...not sure if you meant to start up Ping Plotter after a disco/lost UDP error or start up P.P. > minimize it then start AH with the plotter running in the background.


 

[The Fugitive]

Yes it is better to run it just after n error so you might capture the issue.

Those two red bars are bad news. The first/top one is your router modem setup I think. Have you power cycled them recently? turning off the power and letting them sit a minute and then starting the modem, wait 3-5 minutes for it to boot all the way up, then start the router and give that a few minute to boot all the way back up. Run ping plotter again and see if it clears up.

The second red bad is a bad hop (hop 10). It is a Level3 server in Washington. According to Skuzzy lev3 hops are the most over sold servers on the internet which means they get a ton of traffic and some just don't get through. The packet loss (PL%) column points out that your packets are not getting through and that is where you get the "switch to UDP" error. Enough packet loss and you get the error.

[TerryRF]

     Ok...will do it now.  I'll get back with the results later.   Thanks !

[TerryRF]

 Hello Fugitive.

    Attached are two pingplotter snips from this morning. One was taken while in game with plotter running in background. Everything was fine.

     The other shows the lost connection as the DHCP Lease expired. The ping also shows the lost UDP just before the lease expiration.
                                    Thanks ...<S>.                   

[The Fugitive]

It looks to me that your router is the one dumping you. Did you try resetting it and the modem? (power cycle it)

Also how old is the router? I know I have to get a new one every few years. My linksys seem to hold up the longest. The netgear I had I think only lasted 18 months before I started having trouble with it.

[TerryRF]

   I got the router about 3 1/2 years ago when I built my machine.  At first I did wonder about the router when the problems started.  You may be right.

[TerryRF]

 Oh...forgot...yes I did reset the router as you suggested.

[TequilaChaser]

Terry, when was the last time if ever? That you updated the firmware for your 3 1/2 yr old router?

I recommend that you look through your admin controls for your router and see if there might be several newer firmware versions....

I personally manually set my lease time for my router.... I've been using it for over 6 years

Hope this helps

TC

[Zener]

Terry something appears to be wrong in your setup if the DHCP lease simply drops out like a disconnect.  It's not supposed to do that.  You might try contacting your ISP support folks and asking them what settings you should be using to optimize connection to their system with that router.  All that lease does in the communication stream between you and your ISP is sort of tie you to a fixed network address for the purposes of routing traffic to you (and from you) from/to them.  When that expires, it should seamlessly assign you another one without a hiccup at all.  If it's not doing that, the most likely cause is something in the router setup options is set wrong or a network setting needs tweaking.

[TerryRF]

 Thanks TC & Zener.

  I just updated the router firmware and will see how that works out before I try Zeners' ideas. Also looking for my router login info I saw that I installed it in 2010. Amazing how fast time flies.

                  Thanks again.

[The Fugitive]

When I have issue with my connection dropping out and they are frequent, like 3-4 times a week, I look at rebooting the router. If it clears up and works great..... nice pings to a number of sites and fast loads and so on.... I start looking for a new router.

Good luck with the other suggestions, and I hope one of them solves it, but my guess would be its time for a new router.

[TerryRF]

  Fugitive...I ordered a new router. The firmware update did not help. I'll let you all know if it helps.

   That level 3 hop looks like that is a big problem for everyone.

                               Thanks again.