WRTP54G and Livebox Modem connection drop

Posts: 10 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: May 21, 2006 Posts: 10

1. France
2. Orange ADSL
3. Upload and download speeds
4. Sagem Livebox Fast 3203
5. WRTP54G
6. Modem-->Laptop via wireless, Vonage router via ethernet-->phone
7. Loss of service

I set up my WRTP54G router connected to a Sagem Livebox modem here in France in the middle of April. Everything worked fine until about the 15th of May. France Telecom re-branded from Wanadoo to Orange and there may have been some platform changes. Since that time whenever the router is connected via ethernet to the modem my ADSL sync drops. I have been going back and forth with Vonage customer care and have gotten nowhere. I have reset and power-cycled both devices, connected my laptop directly via ethernet to the modem and connected a ethernet switch to the modem in place of the router. The ethernet switch caused the same failure. What happens is about 7-10 seconds after the two devices are connected the sync is lost. I have exchanged the modem and that has had no effect. Vonage has indicated that they have bumped me to Tier 2 but that gets me the same kind of response. I have not been able to find anyone at Orange who can help either.

Posts: 4777 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Aug 30, 2005 Posts: 4777

Have you been able to get your computer to work when it's hooked directly to the modem? If not, can Orange help you with that?

My guess is that you're correct- something has been changed with the service. If you can find out how to set up a computer to work with it, then that may tell us how you need to set up the router.

Posts: 10 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: May 21, 2006 Posts: 10

Thanks for the response Steve. I have seen your post and you seem to have a good handle on things. I can connect and administer either device either WiFi or through the ethernet ports. I have followed all of the directions for resetting, cloning MAC addresses etc. that I have received from Vonage and LInksys. There is something about attaching the a router or a switch that causes the drop. The laptop connected via ethernet through the same modem port does not have the same effect. Both devices are set to DCHP with the Modem at 192.168.1.1 and the router at 192.168.15.1. Any other ideas? Vonage support wrote that they had made some changes at their end including assigning the Voip number to the second port on the WRTP54G but that did not change a thing.

Posts: 10 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: May 21, 2006 Posts: 10

Since I had not posted it earlier here are the results of my speedtest.

My Results
Download 1,030,816 bps
Upload 78,472 bps
QOS 99%
RTT 148 ms
MaxPause 43 ms

Posts: 4777 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Aug 30, 2005 Posts: 4777

I'm afraid I don't have any other ideas. If I understand you correctly, the computer is set up to get its IP dynamically and everything works well with it plugged directly into the modem. When you set the Vonage WRTP54G up to get its IP dynamically and to act as the DHCP server for its subnet, then things won't work. Is this all correct? You're plugging the WAN port of the WRT into the modem and connecting the computer to one of the LAN ports?

I'm concerned about your speeds. I don't know if it explains the problem, but that upload speed isn't really good enough to support a Voip line. Has it always been that low or is that new with the change in the internet service? Are you getting the bandwidth for which you're paying? How does a Voip test call at www.testyourvoip.com look?

Posts: 10 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: May 21, 2006 Posts: 10

Steve48 wrote:

I'm afraid I don't have any other ideas. If I understand you correctly, the computer is set up to get its IP dynamically and everything works well with it plugged directly into the modem. When you set the Vonage WRTP54G up to get its IP dynamically and to act as the DHCP server for its subnet, then things won't work. Is this all correct? You're plugging the WAN port of the WRT into the modem and connecting the computer to one of the LAN ports?

That is correct. It worked perfectly with that configuration at first.

Quote:

I'm concerned about your speeds. I don't know if it explains the problem, but that upload speed isn't really good enough to support a Voip line. Has it always been that low or is that new with the change in the internet service? Are you getting the bandwidth for which you're paying? How does a Voip test call at www.testyourvoip.com look?

I ran the test as suggested with a simulation of San Jose at 8:30 am France time. I got a score of 3.8 so it is enough. That is using the laptop WiFi to the modem if that were to make a difference. The call quality was better when I was using the phone rather than a softphone. I am also in a small village 50 miles from Paris so the fact that I am getting the bandwidth at all impressed me.

Posts: 4777 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Aug 30, 2005 Posts: 4777

You've done the right things and it still doesn't work. I don't suppose there's a cordless phone somewhere in the picture? A 2.4 GHz cordless can cause all kinds of fun with your wireless router.

Posts: 10 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: May 21, 2006 Posts: 10

I do have a cordless phone so I will check that out and see if there is a change. It is the phone I used when I first had things working. I am unable to determine what frequency it operates on but it does meet CE standards. I will let you know what happens.

Posts: 10 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: May 21, 2006 Posts: 10

I tried powering down the phone but the modem behaves the same when the router is attached. Last night I was experimenting and I confirmed that the "click" I hear is the line being disconnected. I unplugged the phone line from the router and it took about 3 seconds to recognize that the link was lost and make the "click" and start to flash. The only two explanations I can come up with are:

1. The load from anything other than a single port device (switch or router) places too much demand on the circuit and it cuts out as a safety or
2. The software at the other end recognizes that a "network" is being created beyond the modem and disables it.

I don't know if either makes sense but that is all I can think. I have also pasted the ADSL statistics from the modem below.

ADSL line status Operational
ADSL standard G992_1_A
Upstream rate 160 Kb/s (Intlv[LP0])
Downstream rate 1216 Kb/s (Intlv[LP0])
Attenuation Near End : 18.0 (dB)
Far End : 31.5 (dB)
SNR margin Near End : 31 (dB)
Far End : 11 (dB)
HEC count 10
Firmware 0xe200314
15 min ES counter 0
CRC errors 3
1 day ES counter 0

Posts: 10 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: May 21, 2006 Posts: 10

I finally resorted to purchasing a D-link VTA through Vonage and having that shipped. It does work with the Sagem Livebox modem. I am guessing that the firmware on the modem does not allow something to be attached via the ethernet ports which creates a subnet. Since the VTA is not a switch or a router but a dedicated device it seems to work well. However neither Vonage or France Telecom were able to provide any usable support. If anyone has any ideas regarding the matter I would love to hear them. I would like to be able to revert to the WRTP54G since that provides the wireless network in other locations.