The Problem
One month ago, I upgraded from Singtel ADSL broadband to 100mbps fibre plan. And ever since they changed the router, I had nightmares everyday.
On average once a day, the router (aka the Residential Gateway, supplied by ZTE, rebranded to Singtel PACE) will automatically reboot!
Rebooting disrupts all Internet devices, including my mio TV and mio phone! It’s especially frustrating when you are watching soccer, and the router takes 3 minutes to restart.
The Solution
I think I found the solution. My router has not restarted for 10 days.
Interestingly, and embarrassing for Singtel personnels, I got useful help from HWZ Forums. VideoOne2 gave some good advice, and one of which eventually helped.
Set Wireless Mode manually to either 802.11n/g/whichever
Just don’t set to Auto. I also set the channel manually (tip: do a Wifi scan), which might have helped.
Lesson Learnt
One lesson that I have learnt is that I should not assume Singtel CSO, or even their Technicians, are the most capable to solve your problem.
For the first 3 weeks that I had the problem, I called them and together we attempted to identify the problem. It wasted a lot of my time, and also their time.
- Every call to 1688 I have to put on hold for more than 10 minutes
- When I get through to a CSO, they follow a SOP to restart router, reset router, check Internet speed, change power supply, change router..
- For every change, they will ask me to monitor for a few days, then ask me to call back if the problem arises again.
- Eventually they run out of idea, and the CSO said I have an isolated case, and they will get a technician down.
- The technician told me:
“Frankly, I have friends who encountered the same or even weirder problem with this PACE router. We probably can’t solve even if I change the router and the ONT for you. You just got to wait for firmware upgrade, or when Singtel change to Aztech router.” - I was convinced there is nothing I could do after what he said. Singtel knows the problem and is engaging to use Aztech instead of this ZTE router.
But not giving up, I gave HWZ Forum a try, and the advise there was much faster and more useful.