Streaming with Buffalo WBR-G54 and WBR2-G54 routers

[corgi1]

I have been using Buffalo WBR-G54 and WBR2-G54 wireless routers with my RTVs for the past few years. I record all shows at standard and streaming between my units has worked well. Until now, that is. This week when I try to stream a show from downstairs to the bedroom I get "hickups" every few seconds were the video jerks and the audio repeats itself, then plays normally for 15-30 seconds and hickups again.

I checked all my settings on the routers this morning. They have been setup exactly this way since moving into this house 2 years ago and worked well. Nothing has changed. I do nothave any wireless clients connecting to the network, just using the routers to bridge to each other. The majority of the streaming makes one hop as we watch mostly in the living room, but the bedroom RTV makes two hops for streaming from the RTVs in the Den. My layout is as follows:

Den WBR-G54<---bridged---> Living Rm WBR-G54<---bridged---> Bed Rm WBR2-G54

Two RTVs are wired to the 1st WBR which is located in the Game Room downstairs and is connected to the cable modem. One RTV is wired to the 2nd WBR in the Living room. One RTV is wired to the 3rd WBR2 upstairs in the bedroom.

I am running firmware v2.06 on the 3 WBR-G54 routers and fw v2.20 on the single WBR2-G54. I know that Buffalo released fw v 2.20 for the WBR and v2.30 for the WBR2 quite a while ago and I even downloaded them but never installed them since things seemed to be running well. Does anyone think installing the newer FWs wil help with streaming? Or should I be looking elsewhere for the source of the problem?

[JimWCB]

Is your wireless channel set to auto or a particular channel?

It could be someone near you has setup a new wireless system that is using the same channel as you.

[corgi1]

[QUOTE=JimWCB]Is your wireless channel set to auto or a particular channel?

It could be someone near you has setup a new wireless system that is using the same channel as you.[/QUOTE]Wireless channel is set to 11. That is a good point, I had tried 6 when first setting up two years ago and it seemed to have interference. I believe that I read that channels 1, 6 and 11 are the only ones that don't overlap. May have to try a different channel.

[corgi1]

Update: I took my laptop outside and used network stumbler to see if there were any new wireless networks in my neighborhood using the same channel. Appears that there are no new ones, just the one on channel 6 that I already knew about. I decided to try rebooting the cable modem and routers before making any changes to the current setup. It appears that streaming is back to working good after rebooting the routers. Not sure why that would really make a difference.

But I am still curious if anyone else using Buffalo routers saw any benefit going from v2.06 to v2.20 on the WBR-G54 and from v2.20 to v2.30 on the WBR2-G54?

[jdn]

I run the same two routers as you with my WBRS-G54 bridged to the WBR-G54. I did update the firmware to 2.20 and 2.30 respectively awhile ago and they work rock solid. I'm not sure what changes in firmware was made but I've had no problems.

[j.m.]

You could flash them both with DD-WRT and get a lot more features such as QoS, WDS with WPA, adjustable tx power, etc.

[corgi1]

I just flashed my WBR-G54 routers to FW v2.20 and my WBR2-G54 routers to FW v2.30. All appears to be good. Looking at the firmware settings before and after the flash I saw no difference between the WBR's v2.06 and the new v2.20. I did notice one difference in the WBR2's new v2.30, The wireless channel now has an Auto Channel setting that was not there in the 2.20 version. I wish Buffalo had produced a changelog for the new firmwares just to satisfy my curiosity.

I had considered trying the DD-WRT firmware on my Buffalos but I am not sure that I need or would use any of the additional features it offers. But it would probably be cool to play with and tweak more settings. I took a look at the DD-WRt website but did not see anything specific for loading it on a Buffalo router. It appears that the forums are down right now, that's probably where I would find the info needed. Will have to check back later.

Edit: According the DD-WRT Wiki page the firmware is available for the WBR2-G54 but not the older WBR-G54.

[Cutrock]

I was getting the same hiccup as you do from time to time. I have a similar Buffalo configuration as you do, too. My solution has always been to reset the router and bridges which usually clears things up. One potential cause of interference which hasn't been mentioned is the microwave oven. The microwaves can interfere with the wireless transmission and cause those hiccups. Only a reboot of the router and bridges will correct the problem for me.

By the way, I recently replaced my older Buffalo router WBR2-G54 with a new WHR-HP-G54, which has a built in amplifier ($39 at Best Buy). After performing the firmware updates for the router and my two wireless bridges (WBR2-G54's) things are streaming just fine.

[j.m.]

[QUOTE=corgi1]
Edit: According the DD-WRT Wiki page the firmware is available for the WBR2-G54 but not the older WBR-G54.[/QUOTE]

The same firmware binary runs on all supported models. The WBR-G54 is officially supported (the Wiki may be out of date). I have been using DD-WRT on my WBR-G54 for almost a year, going back to when it was only "unofficially" supported.

Keep in mind that if you do choose to use DD-WRT, you should use the latest "unstable beta" build of v23 SP2, as it is actually better than the final SP1 release.

[corgi1]

[QUOTE=j.m.]The same firmware binary runs on all supported models. The WBR-G54 is officially supported (the Wiki may be out of date). I have been using DD-WRT on my WBR-G54 for almost a year, going back to when it was only "unofficially" supported.

Keep in mind that if you do choose to use DD-WRT, you should use the latest "unstable beta" build of v23 SP2, as it is actually better than the final SP1 release.[/QUOTE] j.m. - I found these instructions for flashing the WBR-G54 with DD-WRT but it is a bit vauge and appears that you cannot use the web based flash untility. It that true? Is there a better source for flashing instructions?

WBR-G54 flash with DD-WRT (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Flash_Your_Buffalo_WBR-G54,_WLA-G54,_...)

[j.m.]

[QUOTE=corgi1]j.m. - I found these instructions for flashing the WBR-G54 with DD-WRT but it is a bit vauge and appears that you cannot use the web based flash untility. It that true? Is there a better source for flashing instructions?

WBR-G54 flash with DD-WRT (http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Flash_Your_Buffalo_WBR-G54,_WLA-G54,_...)[/QUOTE]

As the instructions note, you can flash via the web interface, but you will have to insert the Buffalo header at the beginning of the firmware file and adjust the filelen parameter in order to do so. You only have to do this the first time you flash DD-WRT. The reason is that the Buffalo software expects its firmware to have this header and won't flash if it doesn't. However, you can flash an unmodified file via TFTP, as it doesn't check for the Buffalo header when flashing.