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Tuesday, 10 November 2009

Netgear DG834GT router - 1.03.22 firmware released

Netgear DG834GT ADSL wireless routerThe latest firmware version 1.03.22 has been released.

The previous firmware version 1.02.19 was an important release since it provided important new functionality like VPN (virtual private network) and WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access Version 2) wireless encryption BUT that version was very unstable and quite frankly a nightmare, as discussed in a previous blog post so this latest release is long overdue.





Problems with version 1.03.22

DHCP problem

Some people are still experiencing DHCP errors even after upgrading from 1.02.19 to 1.03.22. Quite unfortunate since it therefore appears as if Netgear did not bother to fix all the issues that came with the previous 1.02.19 firmware version!

Since I have a small home network and use assigned internal IP addresses, I don't experience this problem but anyone with a bigger network where the DHCP server needs to automatically assign random IP addresses to the connected devices, may experience issues. It also appears as if the DHCP issue only arises when people connect wirelessly to their network?

I suggest you push Netgear support by logging an official ticket, informing them that the issues still exist when using 1.03.22.

Administrator time-out not working in Google Chrome

In the router admin interface at 192.168.0.1, I clicked on "Set Password" and set the "Administrator login times out after idle" to 5 minutes and saved it. However, in Google Chrome (version 3.0.195.33), this setting seems to be ignored! I left the browser window open displaying the router admin interface at 192.168.0.1 and returned after 15 minutes and when I clicked on the router interface menu options, it did not ask me to login again (it never logged me out as it should have). This can obviously lead to security problems. You have to shutdown the browser and re-open it for the username/password to be requested again.

It works fine in Firefox and Internet Explorer (i.e. it automatically logs you out after 5 mins and you have to re-enter your username and password if you want to continue working on the router interface).

General

I've been a Netgear fan for a while but this constant reluctance (or ignorance?) of Netgear support to fix well-reported problems of previous firmware versions may force me to eventually switch to a different networking manufacturer altogether.

LATEST UPDATE - 16 March 2010

Netgear has released the latest firmware version 1.03.23 which according to Netgear, resolves the DHCP and reserved IP address issues.

See related blog post.


Related links
108 Mbps Super Wireless ADSL Router - Official product page
DG834GT firmware version 1.03.22 - Netgear forum
New firmware for Netgear DG834GT 1.03.22 - DSL ZoneUK

20 comments:

  1. I still see the same DHCP service issues (server not pushing addresses over wireless network or pushing adresses but not the ones that have been reserved) with 1.03.22 than with 1.02.19.

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  2. Seb, thanks for the comment. I've noticed that others have also complained about the DHCP issues still existing in the new firmware. See 'Related links' section.

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  3. DHCP also has an issue on the LAN side. I have a Windows 95 PC that fails to renew its statically reserved IP from a router running the 1.03.22 firmware once the lease expires. My work-around is to stop and start the router's DHCP function, whereafter manual renewal of the lease works. It does not seem to affect a Windows 2000 PC running on the same network. This behaviour started with the last two or three versions of the router firmware.

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  4. I just installed firmware 1.03.22 and I'm experiencing a new problem: can't anymore see admin login. It seems that internal http server isn't working (i tried "telnet 192.168.0.1 80" and obtained a no connection result). Since internet is working i'm afraid to try a reset (wouldn't like to have no internet and router locked)
    Any advice, please?

    ReplyDelete
  5. MAU,
    I have not seen this problem myself where the admin login page does not show.

    As for TELNET, remember that you must first enable debug mode on the router before you can use TELNET:

    To enable debug mode on the router, enter the following link in your browser: 192.168.0.1/setup.cgi?todo=debug

    Now you just open up a regular telnet session, which on windows you can do by:
    Start --> Run --> telnet
    A telnet session should then start.
    You then type open 192.168.0.1 and away you go.

    Debug mode will be cancelled when you reboot the router.

    Remember that you do it at your own risk of course. I probably would have just rebooted the router and tried to go to the admin page again at 192.168.0.1 and see if it worked.

    Another possible cause to the problem:
    Are you perhaps running a PROXY server?
    If you have a proxy server enabled in the browser connection settings, then 192.168.0.1 will not work because it will try to look for that address as a public internet address when of course it's a local internal address.
    You must go to the proxy settings page in your page, if the proxy settings are enabled, you must put the 192.168.0.1 address on the exclusion list. It will then treat that address as a local address which will solve the problem.

    If nothing works, it could also be that your router is broken? :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. "Are you perhaps running a PROXY server?"
    Just to clarify, I meant: "Are you perhaps connected to a PROXY server?"

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  7. GlobetrotterSA,

    thank you for answering so quickly.
    I agree when you advice me to reboot my router.

    I didn't dare do it, as everything is working in my home lan (router stand-alone and 2 desktop PC's + 1 portable connected via wifi).
    Actually my portable could not get ip address from DHCP: I think so as it should be 192.168.0.5 but it was setted to 169.254.112.171 (???). I had to manually set ip mask and dns and connection came back.
    Of course I have no proxy, I disabled windows xp firewall, too. I tried direct connection to router via cable, and all recomendations about cookies and browser settings. That's why I tried to access http admin pages by telnet on port 80 (but it's closed!).
    I know I must enable debug mode to access router, but I can't do that, as I have no access to admin pages.
    I think router is not broken (I'm reading and posting to you :-) ): my next step will be trying to reset the router. I will do that if I lose my internet and lan connection, as i don't want to figure out what can I do if, resetting, I cannot access router, and simultaneously loose my actual (working) configuration.
    If you want I'll keep you updated.
    Thanks
    mau

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  8. Mau,

    I've had the problem before where my network printer got a 169.x ip address instead of 192.x
    I setup IP address reservation for all devices on the router. I just switched the printer off and back on again, then it got the correct 192x IP address. I had to reboot the router too.

    However, the DHCP problem, as indicated in my blog post is a known problem with the latest 1.03.22 firmware version for this router. There are several people complaining that the DHCP server does not assign an IP address.

    When I said your router is perhaps "broken", I was referring to the software on it. :)
    The firmware version which has no known DHCP problems, is version 1.02.16. Hopefully when they bring out a new version after the problematic 1.03.22, then just upgrade the firmware again?

    Or just assign the IP addresses, as you said, manually in LAN properties in the meantime.

    Yes, post here what happens after you eventually reboot your router, to see if you could access your admin page afterwards. Maybe other readers here can learn from it.

    Good luck. :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Netgear DG834GT router - 1.03.23 firmware released

    Modifications and Bug Fixes
    1.Fixed a problem where DHCP times out with certain ISPs after 24 hours, requiring a reboot to refresh.
    2.Fixed a problem where IP addresses were not reserved properly in some cases.

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  10. Othman, the release of 1.03.23 was already mentioned in the blog post on 16 March.

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is a good case to know. I will try it myself.
    Thanks for sharing the experience.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Also just did the upgrade myself due to the DHCP issue.
    The 1.02.xx version I had been running not only did not allocate wireless addresses properly, but it would not allocate DHCP to a Sony Bravia. The upgrade has, sadly, not only not fixed the problem, but has introduced a new one. I can no longer delete Trusted Wireless Stations. I click delete and get presented with a blank white frame where the list, and options to delete, etc, once was.
    I've never really been a fan of Netgear, their business routers were hopeless. If there's not a fix for this in the near future I shall be retuning to Linksys. Their kit is fantastic :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Sorry, that was for 1.03.23.

    However, it you backup the config, edit that and reload it, it does indeed issue the correct DHCP Addresses (lets hope it stays like that).
    There is a VERY anoying delay before you can reconnect to the router admin page after you do this though. Much longer than the progress/reconnect routine suggests. It had me rather worried for a couple of minutes.

    Another bug that still persists is that it doesn't correctly show the Attached Devices, they still appear and dissapear at random. But at least the DHCP is now working correctly (shame it has to be done manually offline!).

    ReplyDelete
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