Maestro lousy network connection via Ethernet and Wireless suddenly

KC9NRN

Tonight, no matter which way I connect my Maestro it has decided to stick to very poor connectivity. I can't ping the Maestro so I move on, I ping the radio at <1ms, I test network speed and my laptop is getting 124MBps and my desktop is seeing 225MBps. Latency and speed is awesome so I move on to wireless, my wifes little laptop hit 28MBps and <1ms.

Wireless is not polluted by surrounding AP's and every time I use the Maestro I see full signal everywhere in the house and using Ethernet has not been an issue.

Tonight it flat out refuses to go above 3 yellow bars but keeps dropping to 1 red one.

So knowing it's not the network and having removed the battery and power from the Maestro, then letting it sit, then powering it up with a reward of 1 red bar I begin with the network. I reboot each part and power on the Maestro to see if it improves beginning with my Ethernet switch, result, still one red bar.

Reboot the Netgear R7000 Nighthawk that has worked smoothly with the Maestro since I received the Maestro, result 1 red bar.

I let the Maestro run for a while I see 3 yellow bars and that's where it goes between, a few minutes at 1 red, then a few minutes at 3 yellow if I take it upstairs it stays at 1 red bar. My laptop sees 95% signal, low latency and forget using the Maestro.

It was a rough day at work today so I'm powering down the works and trying again tomorrow, it's like the **** at work followed me home and told the Maestro to be a pain as well. 

Some days you're the windshield and some days you're the bug, today was a bug day.

Awesome network speed (dual NIC Windows 10 PC going through the switch to my dual NIC Server).

UGH

Double UGH



PE3DON

hi

Does your maestro work with a UTP cable connection to the modem? ( this way circumferencing the wifi)

73, PE3DON

WX7Y

On your Router try changing your MODE to MANUAL so it is not changing  WIRELESS modes, I had to change my MODE to "N" Only, because in "AUTO" Mode it wasn't worth a darn on 5.8Gig and the 2.4 was much better on the Maestro, after locking the MODE everything is working great. 
your mileage may vary but worked here.

73's
Bret WX7Y

Rick Hadley - W0FG

I ran into the exact same problem today.  It apparently began after I'd rebooted the router to try to clear up a problem with my R6200 Extender which keeps dropping the 2.4G extended network.  When I fired up the Maestro following that, i was seeing the same problem with poor network signals even though the Maestro is hardwired to the R6400 Router.  I reseated the connection at the router, in case that was a problem and when I turned the Maestro back on it was indicating no wired connection.  I then removed and reseated the ethernet cable on the Maestro and after a moment showing a connection, but with a yellow warning flag, suddenly everything came back to life properly.  Apparently the Maestro was having to reacquire an address from the router and had defaulted to a WiFi connection (which is always lousy even withe the Maestro 2' from the router). I wish to heck I knew more about networks as I have frequent non-Flex related issues.  I have reserved addresses for 12 of the devices on my network...the Maestro is supposed to be 1.192.168.3, but now after getting things running again it's showing on the network maps as 1.192.168.17, even though the reserved address table still shows it as '.3'.  As I say, I'm sure it's because I'm such an idiot about network stuff, which is also why I've never been able to get a VPN set up.

Kevin

The only device on my network that I ever have problems with is the Flex. Unless it is directly wired to the computer it is always a poor connection (wired/wireless) prone to drops and non-connects.

So many times I've been told it is my router or my extender or my lack of static DHCP assignments or whatever. I'm told it is because of the high speed low latency streaming. Yet I believe all of that is really just a cop out for not really knowing what the problem is. The Flex doesn't even get a DHCP address properly.

The Flex (and from what I hear the Maestro) do not play well with others. A whole network redesign and repurchase should not be a requirement unless you are still running 10Base2 and your missing a terminators. So far Flex hasn't even been able to tell us exactly what specification we need to look for in new equipment. Just buy, try and return.

I stream music, participate in video conferences world wide, stream video from netflix and amazon, use voip all from my beat up old home network. Even gaming works flawlessly (unless I get killed - then I blame it on the network). I just can't use Flex. Because of the network?

Sorry. Old wounds. I know. The Elmers and old timers don't have these problems. I'll be looking for a Cisco ASR 9000 router on eBay. Maybe that will work.

John W9KXQ

Kevin, I have an ASUS RT-AC66U router that works fine for my Flex.  I purchased and installed it after having trouble with Nest Thermostat. It works without issues, however, I still experience occasionally the power signal/ dropouts on the Maestro which is hard wired to the Router as is the Flex. (purchased it on Amazon)

Kevin

Thanks John but that's kind of the issue. I'm using a Netgear R7000 router. The extender I was using was returned because it was a complete failure and was only bought to support the Flex.

The R7000 is less than a year old and I don't understand what about Flex or some new hidden networking  standard has made it obsolete. Did you get lucky with the ASUS RT-AC66U or does it meet some sort of standard or specification that is needed to support Flex?

If Apple came out with a computer that required everyone to change their network infrastructure (business and home) I think it might not go over so well. Well, probably.

And it is not about being unwilling to do upgrades. I'm constantly buying new things around here (Flex!). It's just that there is no clear explanation of why the Flex acts so differently from any other network device that it needs special wireless or wired routers or special DHCP handling. If it were an issue of latency or dropped packets then any WAN or Internet access to the Flex would fail.

I think, if we polled other users, we'd probably find terribly inconsistent results. Some would say their R7000 is working perfectly while others would say they had to replace it. There's something going on with the Flex network and it hasn't been characterized enough to allow me to go out and buy the components I'd need without trial and error. That's the cop out. Give me a specification that I can compare with manufacturers specifications so I know I'm getting something that will work. 

Again... apologies. This is a sore point with me concerning the Flex. The only real complaint (almost) that I have left. I'll try not to get started on the other one.

Back to happy-flex-user mode.

KC9NRN

Sorry for the late reply and the length of this post but I went through a few sessions of trying to get this thing back to where it was 2 days ago. I let the Maestro sit overnight unplugged and no battery. I just turned it on and it's still not a happy camper from the get go.

Kevin, I agree, I'm not sure why the Maestro is so suddenly finicky (it wasn't finicky pre 1.9.9 for me) when all other gear is perfectly happy. As I sit here typing, it's back to 1 red bar and staying there. Connectivity has not been an issue, perhaps something with 1.9.9?

I just ran tests on everything and all other devices are happy, full signal, ROKU 4 on the 2nd floor is running full signal, no weirdness just an awesome picture watching VUDU HDX (higher requirements than the Maestro and it gets everything over the Internet) movie for 10 minutes, no wavering of signal.

On Ethernet which is how it's connected right now the Maestro is showing 1 red bar, makes no sense. I'm not going to tear a network apart for one device suddenly acting funny, I turned off the R7000 and my switch, no change, it's as if something within the Maestro is causing an issue with however it connects, there is no excuse for Ethernet connectivity to be this wishy washy.

I've now been watching it, it will go full green for 10 seconds, then drop all the way to red, then 10 seconds later 3 yellow, then 10 seconds later all green. It's almost as if it's doing something in the Maestro causing an issue with its networking.

I just set a static IP for the Maestro, so now with static IP set the boot time is much longer, it crashed during boot up giving a Windows Explorer crash window and doesn't connect to the radio even though it's selected. Reboot again.

Ahhhhhh I see, it didn't save the mask setting, why wouldn't it save that?? Now I have to reset the radio?!? Why is the advanced setting grayed out?? Go for a quick walk and come back with a cooler head.

Ok, I unplugged the Ethernet cable, reboot Maestro, go into Network menu and the advanced option is now available, woot woot! No radio reset! I set it back to DHCP (seriously, why is this a big deal??) and rebooted, it sees the radio but the connect button is still grayed out when I select the radio. 30 seconds later the connect button appeared, I touched 8 times before it took. Finally I'm connected and can see a normal screen so I did another reboot to see if it can boot clean or not now.

By reboot I mean as far as it can be done on the Maestro, shut down, then power on. Power it on and It now connects directly to the radio and it's green, then red then yellow, rinse repeat. Since I'm a glutton for punishment I wait another 5 minutes.

Now I power down and insert the Ethernet cable, power it back up, it selects Ethernet and is back to being all over the map. So of course now I go power all network equipment down and start over. After all equipment is back online I begin my tests again, every device on the network be it Ethernet or WiFi is happy as a clam, except for the Maestro.

Power everything back on, wait a few minutes, power on the Maestro and I may as well be connecting from dial up.

I have better results from my iPad on VPN than I do with the Maestro on Ethernet right now. Considering how well it was working up until Tuesday this makes no sense, the only change has been an upgrade in software to 1.9.9.

I use excellent quality Cat5e cables, the same ones connect everything, a high quality Gigabit Switch. No other wired equipment is on right now save for my server which is idle/bored and my PC. I have used the Maestro when extended family is over and the signal strength never wavered and everybody brought laptops, tablets and of course phones.

I have to go to a clients office right now. I'll bring the laptop and use the Flex via VPN, I have a feeling it will work fine that way. I'll call support tomorrow.

KC9NRN

When it comes to networks, I qualify as an old timer Elmer. There is no excuse for how this Maestro is now working when it was working great 2 days ago.

I could see it if the server lost bandwidth through the switch or I had dropouts in file transfers or maybe high latency but the network screams in all respects.

I may just go direct to the radio next to see how that works but I have to work tonight.

KC9NRN

Quick update, PC sees no changes in signal, always green, laptop is the same on WiFi. Leaving for client office now where I'll have it on VPN for 3 or 4 hours.

KC9NRN

Plugging an Ethernet cable and selecting Ethernet as the connection bypasses the WiFi.

KC9NRN

I'm not having a wireless issue (not that I see anyway), this problem started Tuesday, I have split the 5GHz and 2.4GHz into two wireless networks. Either way, at least Ethernet should be rock solid.

John W9KXQ

Kevin,
I had to buy the ASUS Router for my NEST Thermostat as their equipment doesn't work well or at all with Netgear.  Netgear worked fine for Flex.  When I changed so that my $200 NEST Thermostat would work, my Flex still worked just fine.
John

Jay -- N0FB

Nordic....you may want use a WiFi network tool like inSSIDer to show you all the WiFi routers on the air in your area. It shows graphically, in real time, the relative signal strength and channel being utilized. You could have a neighbor who has just introduced a new router operating on the same or adjacent channel that your router is on and it's causing collisions. The tool will help you decide what channel you should set your router on to get best performance.

This may not be the root of the issue you are experiencing, but if nothing else, it could help you improve your overall WiFi performance at your home.

Burch - K4QXX

Just to add my 2 cents.  I also have issues with the wifi on the Maestro.  I have an old Netgear 6300 and the Maestro works great.  I have a newer Asus router that the Maestro won't work with.  Just too many dropped packets.  All wifi devices in my house work fine with both routers with the exception of the Maestro. 

EA4GLI

Try Forgetting the WiFi Network in the Maestro and connect with wired ethernet and see what happens.

Steve K9ZW

Is SmartSDR 1.9.9 and your Radio 100% from your station PC?

You may have answered this somewhere in the thread, but I didn't catch it.

73

Steve K9ZW

KC9NRN

Jay,

Nothing new has been added, I scan daily because I have 3 security cameras and nothing has been added in the area lately. Thankfully the distance between houses helps keep this from being an issue. WiFi performance is stellar and every device that uses it does so with no problems, if I can watch VUDU HDX movies from upstairs with full signal reported throughout, it's working fine.

Heck, my wife could be watching Netflix HD on the TV, HD videos on Youtube with her laptop and I can be downstairs watching VUDU movies and using the Maestro at the same time and there has never been a hiccup.

Also, the issue is on both Ethernet and WiFi, I got home late last night so didn't check it out however from my clients office via VPN and either my iPad Pro or Laptop, it performed no problems and signal stayed green the entire time.

The 6300 is connected to the Gigabit switch with 3ft of Cat5e, the Maestro is connected to the switch with 3ft of Cat5e with <1ms latency and hardly anything going on last night both WiFi and Ethernet were horrible via the Maestro while the iPad Pro was fine, green all the time as was the PC and Laptop.

Ever since I upgraded to 1.9.9 the Maestro is not playing nice with either connection.

KC9NRN

Yep, anything else, including an old iPad 2 shows perfect signal, the PC, iPad Pro, Laptop even via VPN from work and a clients office all show fantastic.

I'm going to call support after lunch and see if changing it back to the last version works then moving forward from there.

KC9NRN

I've posted how on Ethernet it's as bad as WiFi, when you connect via Ethernet and check network settings it shows nothing via WiFi because it's not connected that way and yet, it's still bad. I actually turned off WiFi and tested the same.

This isn't an issue with the network, if it was then other devices using the same method for connecting would have similar issues. I have benchmarked and tested latency from Ethernet and WiFi and the network tests out fine in both wired and wireless testing.

Jay -- N0FB

Have you opened a ticket with FRS?  That's your next step...no one here is going to be able to affect your outcome.  The horse is dead.

EA4GLI

I was having a similar issue on the maestro and Forgetting the WiFi network so it couldn't connect solved it. That is why I suggested it. 

Kevin

Hi Elmer Jay. The horse isn't dead. I hear him neighing from miles away. He's just resigned to the fact that he's part of an idiom that won't go away. 

If NordicPC decides to open a ticket I hope he'll keep the community up to date with the outcome.

73,
Kevin K4VD

KC9NRN

I submitted a ticket, I'll update the resolution when there is one.

Jay -- N0FB

Wireless connectivity to the Maestro has been a problem from the outset.   It was rumoured early on that a driver update might fix the issue.  I have never heard anymore about that.  If there is one disappointment on the Maestro as it sits right now, it is the system's ability to maintain a good wifi signal quality...and that is nothing new with 1.9.9.

GM4WCE

It is this issue alone that has put me off purchasing a Maestro. The thought of spending a significant sum and it not working on my home WiFi is not encouraging.

Steve K9ZW

Frustratingly the issues seems to be harder than expected to diagnose, as the Maestro by design keeps the Maestro user a few steps away from the tools to do a comprehensive analysis.

Then the problems are not ubiquitous nor always repeatable. 

We have learned as users that the Maestro in order to perform needs great network performance.  The actual numbers don't seem to ne need to be stunning, but consistency, reliability and stability exceed casual use.

Have I been lucky working through a handful of different WiFi with three different Maestros, including VPN by Raspberry Pi?

I don't think luck has had as much to do with my success as my being methodical and by being more committed to the Flex-6700/Maestro pairs at each QTH than legacy hardware.

Consumer network hardware is messy, has a shelf-life, and is less predictable than one would hope.  After finding that same model and case of certain routers can contain distinctly differing hardware, as well as different firmware and software, well I gave up on consumer level gear and moved the radios over to affordable light-commercial products for networking.

It will be interesting to learn what is amiss in terms of interconnectivity with NordicPC's Maestro.

73

Steve K9ZW

EA4GLI

If I can run SmartSDR in a laptop on the same network with WiFi with the same router..... will then not be a Maestro issue? I am not sure we can categorically state that we need professional level routers in order to use the Maestros.
I would like to know. Who is the maker of the Maestro WiFi adapter? And the Maestro ethernet adapter? Maybe that also sheds some light into the issue.

I have spotty WiFi performance, I can only use reliably the maestro while tethered to both a 12v power supply and ethernet... And even on ethernet in a smart switch in a gigabyte networks with better than average network gear I get Maestro disconnects.

EA4GLI

Furthermore... if it is hit and miss on local networks.... planets will need to be aligned for Maestro to work reliably on WAN on v.2.0

KC9NRN

This is what I replied to Tim with tonight.

I made no changes to the network or equipment since I powered down last night.

I got home about an hour ago. I plugged the power into the Maestro along with the Ethernet cable ready to change versions when the radio booted to the version screen. I selected 1.9.9 even though it didn't say required, it took 3 taps to get "Run" to take, it quickly went through what looked to be like a faster install.  About 20 seconds later it was fully up, it didn't do anything with the radio that I could see. 

In the time it has been up (about an hour or a tad less), 0 dropped packets out of 886000 Network Status: Excellent with no change at all over the time period. Latency 1ms, max 1ms.

I figure what the heck, why not power it down and see how it comes back up this time on WiFi. On the power up since the Ethernet cable is unplugged I guess it booted to the "Select Radio" screen, I selected my radio, the version screen came up, I selected 1.9.9 and "Run" and we're off to the races.

Solid green signal while writing this email (maybe 15 minutes). 2 dropped packets out of 115600, Latency 1ms Max 3ms.

I guess case closed unless something else crops up, I ran my other tests for latency and performance and the network tests the same, very fast, which it always does.

I'll keep track of how clicking connect and run performs, usually it was available to select right away, now it seems to take a few seconds before I can tap them.

Simon Lewis

I am afraid I have given up on wireless on the Maestro - likewise every device, PC and connection in the house is fine - my desk tops are on 24/7 and never loose a packet - even the wired maestro - PC looses packets - I'm sick of being told its my network when no other devices struggle this way - I work in IT and if my team churned this out I'd be embarrassed. I gave up chasing support only to be told its your network, try this and that,  well I am pretty sure its not and if its that sensitive to network issues then something is flawed and hardly robust enough to cope with real life as we can see   - I know 3 people who have maestros and everyone one of em has wifi issues - so I know it's not 'an odd issue'  -  WIFI has been a flop on the Maestro for me