Starting a couple months ago, my Obi 110 will effectively kill my network. My internet connected devices will lose internet connectivity, my main switch port lights will go nuts, and the LED on the Obi will show red. If I unplug the Obi then plug it back in, it will reset, and my network will return to normal.
Any ideas of what would cause that, or any ideas on a fix?
The OBi defaults to 10 mb/s half-duplex on the Ethernet port. That shouldn't be a problem, and it's a shot in the dark, but you might try changing the OBi to 100 mb/s full-duplex:
1. Dial *** 0
2. Enter option 27 and press #
3. Press 1 to set a new value
4. Enter a value of 1 and press #
5. Press 1 to confirm/save
6. Hang up
7. Wait for the OBi to reboot
Thanks for the fast response. I've made the change. If it doesn't happen again, I'll know it works! Thanks.
Just curious, trying to draw a conclusion from what RonR said: if the default connection of 10base-T caused a problem, wouldn't that indicate a limitation or problem with the router/switch not being able to negotiate a different speed on each port? I'd expect that to be truly rare for any products of recent design.
This is a very interesting post. I had the same problem a few months back when I bought a new router. It was a Buffalo N300 router, fairly high end newish $65 802.11n & gigabit router. Whenever I plugged the Obi110 in to it, all speed between ports & wireless dropped to around 10 Mbit. I thought the router was bad at first but quickly discovered that the Obi110 was making all its ports slow down. Buffalo blamed the Obi, I questioned this as one would think that a gigabit router would properly do port negotiation as not everything plugged in will be gigabit! But perhaps they just didn't test 10 Mbit half duplex. Anyway, I returned the router for one that switches ports properly and haven't had a problem. But I didn't realize that the Obi110 could change to 100 Mbit full duplex. Is there any disadvantage to doing 100 Mbit full duplex on it, or why isn't that the default?
Quote from: DarkNova on March 01, 2012, 11:42:49 AM
Is there any disadvantage to doing 100 Mbit full duplex on it, or why isn't that the default?
There should be no disadvantage, and like you, I wonder why it isn't the default.
I've never encountered a problem with 10 mb/s half-duplex, but I routinely reconfigure all my OBi's to 100 mb/s full-duplex.
Is there a means to change it through ObiTalk Expert or the direct Web interface? It seems out of place to have to use the attached phone to change such a fundamental thing.
Quote from: RonR on February 22, 2012, 03:51:15 PM
The OBi defaults to 10 mb/s half-duplex on the Ethernet port. That shouldn't be a problem, and it's a shot in the dark, but you might try changing the OBi to 100 mb/s full-duplex:
1. Dial *** 0
2. Enter option 27 and press #
3. Press 1 to set a new value
4. Enter a value of 1 and press #
5. Press 1 to confirm/save
6. Hang up
7. Wait for the OBi to reboot
Regarding changing OBi 110 to Full 100 mb/s full-duplex.
Great info RonR!
I can understand why the default is 10 mb/s half-duplex as it makes it backwards compatible, but I would have thought the unit auto-senses what the port is capable of and it was automatically adjusted.
******************
Q: Where did you find the info documenting changing the port speed?I don't see anything in the OBiDeviceAdminGuide.pdf , nor the online version of the OBiDeviceAdminGuide that documents the above.
When I log into the OBi 110 from a web-browser directly - I see NO options for changing the port speed?
Which section is it in, is it hidden?
OBiDeviceAdminGuide.pdf
CRC32=A2A581BD
(Version 28.09.11: 28 September 2011
This Revision: Revised for firmware version 1.3)
Q: Would you happen to know offhand the command line - or app within Windows (7) /XP, 2000 which allows you to check speed of the port?
(Task Manager?... (I'm running Process Explorer-Sysinternals.com and I haven't found the option within it that shows speed of port/how much bandwidth is being used.)
.
Quote from: DarkNova on March 01, 2012, 11:42:49 AM
This is a very interesting post. I had the same problem a few months back when I bought a new router. It was a Buffalo N300 router, fairly high end newish $65 802.11n & gigabit router. Whenever I plugged the Obi110 in to it, all speed between ports & wireless dropped to around 10 Mbit. I thought the router was bad at first but quickly discovered that the Obi110 was making all its ports slow down. Buffalo blamed the Obi, I questioned this as one would think that a gigabit router would properly do port negotiation as not everything plugged in will be gigabit! But perhaps they just didn't test 10 Mbit half duplex. Anyway, I returned the router for one that switches ports properly and haven't had a problem. But I didn't realize that the Obi110 could change to 100 Mbit full duplex. Is there any disadvantage to doing 100 Mbit full duplex on it, or why isn't that the default?
RE: Buffalo N300 router, fairly high end newish $65 802.11n & gigabit router. Whenever I plugged the Obi110 in to it, all speed between ports & wireless dropped to around 10 Mbit.
Q: You stated you returned the Buffalo N300 router, fairly high end newish $65 802.11n & gigabit router and replaced it with one that switches ports properly and haven't had a problem.
Curious, What router did you replace it with?
QuoteIs there any disadvantage to doing 100 Mbit full duplex on it, or why isn't that the default?
I would assume 10 mb/s half-duplex is the default to ensure backwards compatibility.
Quote from: WeAreNotAlone on March 09, 2012, 07:13:32 PM
Q: You stated you returned the Buffalo N300 router, fairly high end newish $65 802.11n & gigabit router and replaced it with one that switches ports properly and haven't had a problem.
Curious, What router did you replace it with?
I replaced it with a Asus RT-N16 running the Toastman build of the Tomato firmware. Much better router anyway, and it does the port switching properly so even with the Obi set to 10 Mbit it doesn't have any problem. Definitely recommend this router, expensive but I think its worth it.
Just to follow up from my Feb 22 post (154 days ago): No issues whatsoever since making the change! I haven't modified my network since making the change, so I can only conclude RonR's suggestion did the trick. Thanks again!
So glad I found this thread. Been having the same problem myself for months. Only fix was to reboot the Obi110 every other day. But after doing RonR's fix, things have been rock solid again for a week.
I'm using a ZyXEL GS105S that normally goes on sale for $18.99 shipped on Newegg.com. This Gigabit switch has five 10/100/1000Mbps half duplex/full duplex auto speed negotiation ports with a high priority port for the VoIP ATA. I connected this switch to 1 of the LAN ports on the router then the OBI110 & the MagicJack Plus dongle to the high priority port on the GS105S (via another 5 port Gigabit switch with auto speed negotiation connected to the GS105S high priority port). That has worked great for me.
There is a more expensive version GS108S with 8 ports instead of 5.
Having a 4 port switch did not solve the problem, it was effecting all other switches at home, util I changed it to 100 Mbs, thanks to RonR response.
FWIW I have been having this problem for a few months and it has gotten very bad...Linksys wrt54g has been solid and I've had 3 Obi's on the system for a few years with no problem but of late something was taking the network down on a regular basis with symptoms like what is described above. My Obi 100 still was set to 10 mb so I reset that and hopefully this clears things up.
"The OBi defaults to 10 mb/s half-duplex on the Ethernet port. That shouldn't be a problem, and it's a shot in the dark, but you might try changing the OBi to 100 mb/s full-duplex:"
Wouldn't 100 mb/s be the greater bandwidth and therefore be more problematic for the rest of the network? And, if the Obi doesn't have enough bandwidth at 10 mb/s, why would the problem not occur only within the Obi connection?
IF this is indeed the problem, the issue isn't bandwidth. In super-oversimplified terms, think of it more like talking vs listening speed. One device is trying to talk/listen at 10 times the rate of the other device. The switch should auto-detect and adjust accordingly, this doesn't always happen as well as one might like.
My problem has appeared to have cleared up. Things got really bad after I rewired the LAN and moved a switch to handle all the Obi devices and maybe the Asus switch didn't like the Obi @ 10 half duplex....I cannot say BUT the problem is gone.
EDIT: 10/21...Problem is GONE!
Quote from: RonR on February 22, 2012, 03:51:15 PM
The OBi defaults to 10 mb/s half-duplex on the Ethernet port. That shouldn't be a problem, and it's a shot in the dark, but you might try changing the OBi to 100 mb/s full-duplex:
1. Dial *** 0
2. Enter option 27 and press #
3. Press 1 to set a new value
4. Enter a value of 1 and press #
5. Press 1 to confirm/save
6. Hang up
7. Wait for the OBi to reboot
Thank god i found this thread. After months of troubleshooting, this might've narrowed it down. I'm praying this works !!! I know it can't be my new Airport Extreme but i need to know for sure cuz my warranty expires soon. Thanks & i'll try to update in the near future
Update: So after altering to full duplex, my connection still dropped off but it WAS less frequent. 1 last thing to try... completely disconnect my Obi100. I've been monitoring my connection with EasyNetMonitor ever since i disconnected, & I've currently been online for 5+ hours now w/ NO drop-outs. No more land line for me....
Quote from: willmw on October 16, 2013, 08:04:10 PM
IF this is indeed the problem, the issue isn't bandwidth. In super-oversimplified terms, think of it more like talking vs listening speed. One device is trying to talk/listen at 10 times the rate of the other device. The switch should auto-detect and adjust accordingly, this doesn't always happen as well as one might like.
Most (especially, cheap consumer) switches have a small shared buffer for traffic between ports. If enough traffic (broadcast, multicast, unknown destination) comes in before it can get out, the buffer is filled, and everything is slowed down to the slowest port, because the new data cannot fit, so has to be thrown away. All too many consumer devices and their apps broadcast and multicast "crap" (that is a technical term) all the time, and can add to the overloads. So one "slow" port can impact traffic if your network is filled with certain types of traffic. The real fix is to fix the devices and the apps that are sending out the "crap", or to isolate them on their own network, but often that is easier to say than to do.
Well designed networks with appropriate network isolation (separate voice vlan, for example), and well designed switches (usually the enterprise, managed, variety) which have larger and per queue, or per port, buffers, may not experience the same issues under the same load (you can overwhelm pretty much any switch, but the enterprise ones are designed to move the bar quite a bit higher), but those are not going to be found in most electronics stores.
As an aside, wireless access points can experience some of the same issues. Some types of network traffic, and some types of radio clients, force sending the packets at very slow speeds, and if there is enough of it, everything can slow down.
Have a new Obi, just reading the forums to try to get up to speed. Great piece of information; thanks RonR for posting the answer. Not yet having this problem, but I sure want my device running at the faster full duplex speed.
I have an obi110 and I've made the change to 100mbps full duplex, but I still have trouble with it poisoning the network.
I find if I disconnect the power for more than a few seconds, when I power it back up, within a few minutes to a few hours, the network activity light on the obi110 goes nuts and I can no longer access its webpage or even ping the device. I don't know what it's doing.
At this point, I have to unplug it or pull the network cable for about 10 seconds until it reboots, and then before it breaks again, do a factory reset and restore my settings. Then it seems fine again until it loses power. Warm reboots are fine.
I've noticed this for a few years now. I also have an obi100 and don't experience this problem with it.