Communication between wired and wireless network on actiontec MI424WR

[MrtyMcSoFly]

I have an actiontec MI424WR-GEN3I.

Since the setup of my Verizon services I have been fighting with an issue that has me extremely frustrated. I can't stream media from my PC to PS3 or PC to Apple TV unless both devices are connected to the router in the same manor. If one device is connected wireless and the other is wired they will not see each other but once I change the connection type on either of the devices, they show up immediately.

I have found that toggling DHCP on and off in the routers advance settings or resetting the router will resolve the issue but only for a short time. Even in mid stream of a video the connection is lost and neither device sees each other until the DHCP toggle/router reset is done again. Since this is not a problem when both devices are connected in the same way it seems like there is firewall between wireless and wired but not everything is blocked. I can access shared folders between my laptop and PC and can RDP between the two but iTunes home sharing doesn't work between the laptop and PC either (unless a DHCP or Router reset are applied). I have tried all variations of the routers UPnP settings but still have this problem.

I've called Verizon and Apple support many times for help but feel like they are pointing the finger at each other and/or resolve the issue by resetting the router. Verizon has sent me a new router but the issue remains the same. There is a WiFi protected access button on front of my router but I can't find any setting in the menus that have anything to do with this option and the manual reads that it’s not even active.

I really don't want to settle for a work around. The connection types shouldn't matter as long as they are both on the same LAN. I don't want to hard wire everything and I for sure done want everything wireless. I'm just hoping there is someone who may know what is causing this problem because it is driving me crazy.

Also... I have disabled all firewalls on the PC. - Windows and Norton Internet Security v19.7.1.5... this is what Apple placed the blame on last time I called but didnt have a solution other than uninstalling (and get off the phone call). Norton network map doesnt specify connection type only categorizes as part of the LAN.

[ippenski]

Just to pile on, I am having the same problems and I believe they occurred when moving from a rev E to rev F router. I also sent a detailed description to Actiontec and they replied with the following:

Resolution:

=========================

No idea what would cause this type of behavior. Your router has no LAN firewall capabilities and no programming for file\printer sharing for computers connected in a LAN network topography.

There are no settings in the router that would be configureable or adjustable to allow one computer to share something with another computer.

=========================

[Hubrisnxs]

This is likely not a router issue.  

Can you post your ipconfig/all from both machines. 

Can you ping each machine from the other (i.e. pc 1 = can ping pc 2 and vice versa)

You might have to Repair Windows Firewall and possibly uninstall third party firewall's, test and reinstall.   (if you have any that you can think of, you should download the special uninstallers, for example symantec.com/nrt or McAfee Consumer Product Removal tool (MCPR.exe)

you might want to Run a couple tools. 

detect Possible Firewalls
This program will scan the registry for services from left over firewall software. When port forwarding,or sharing, if a firewall program wasn't uninstalled completely it can still block the ports and/or access. This tool will help check if any left over firewall service is still in the system.

you may even want to run this one also, sometimes a corrupt DNS cache can take out sharing.

Repair Network
This small app will repair your network.
I use this app when I need to renew my IP address, clear the DNS cache because a network share or webpage isn't loading (Because the DNS cache is either corrupt or outdated) and so fourth

[Mauser]

Just wanted to confirm for other readers of this thread that this absolutely IS a router issue.  I am having the exact same problem between my TiVo boxes and different PCs using TiVo Desktop.  I did NOT have this problem using MI424 rev. F routers (two of them), but I DO have this problem with a new rev. I router.

Just to recap my specific problem - I have 1 TiVo and 1 PC connected wireless to MI424, and I have 1 TiVo and 2 PCs connected wired elsewhere in my network. 

The two TiVo boxes can communicate just fine across the Wire/Wireless boundary (including sharing files), and all the PCs can communicate just fine across the Wired/Wireless boundary (including sharing files),   BUT, the TiVo Desktop application that transfers programs between the TiVo and the PC CANNOT communicate (or even see) a TiVo box that is on the other side of the Wired/Wireless boundary in this router..  Likewise, a TiVo box cannot see a PC on the other side of the Wired/Wireless boundary.  This is with all default settings in the new router.

So for some reason or another, it is not a general LAN problem, but seems to be specific to certain programs trying to share video files.

I cannot say if any configuration settings will affect this (such as IGMP suggested above), as I was not running defaults in the older routers.  But since the new Rev. I router is to solve chronic router reboot issues (and seems to be working there), I am waiting a while before i start changing settings.

[Mauser]

Update info that might help find solution:

At least for me, this problem is specific to the use of Bonjour service for network discovery, and from the other posts and threads I have seen, I suspect it might be the problem for everyone.

Thankfully for my troubleshooting, TiVo Desktop can use either Bonjour or TiVo Beacon  for network discovery.  As soon as I switched one PC to use Beacon, it was able to see across the Wired/Wireless boundary in this router.

Even though that solves my immediate problem, it does not explain why the MI424 router does not play nice with Bonjour.  I seem to recall something about the need for multicast with Bonjour, but that information escapes me at the moment, so I will keep looking.

For those of you who have not heard of Bonjour - it is a Apple product that is often distributed with various other hardware and software (even on the PC) for zero-configuration network discovery.  I think it is most common for print services with networked printers.  I guess Actiontec doesn't want their routers to work in the same environment the rest of the word lives in!  I personally hate Apple products, but there still is no excuse for this router to not work with them.

[unclegym]

I've been having this problem for several weeks now, as have many others.  There are other threads here and on other forums with wired-wireless issues on Fios w/Actiontec routers (AirPlay, DLNA, PS3, etc, etc).  I swapped my Rev F router over the weekend for a Rev E and the problems continue.  Some change had to have happened recently that started these problems, as I had no issues for months until now.  Actiontec plays dumb when I emailed them; Verizon is even dumber and unwilling to even consider helping unless I subscribe to their premium support.  Hope someone figures this out.

[ippenski]

Well, I thought i had tried this before, but I followed another board's suggestion of turning of IGMP proxy and it is now working. I can see my iTunes server which is wired on my wireless devices.

[Hubrisnxs]

great fix.   do you have a link to that other forum post that suggest igmp?

[hracer]

For anyone that is looking for the location of the "IGMP Proxy" It's under the Advance Tab. I am looking at a Rev I. It is showing disabled now. Are you referring to enabling it or disabling it?

[Mauser]

I can confirm that disabling the IGMP Proxy in my Rev. I router solved the problem with Bonjour and TiVo - at least is has for the first hour!

The default setting was for IGMP protocol to be checked and the IGMP Proxy enabled.  I only disabled the Proxy.

The documentation on this router about multicasting is just terrible, so I really have no idea if this was the right solution - couldn't figure out all the mumbo jumbo about multicast group addresses, etc., and I haven't seen that garbage in other high-end routers from Netgear and Linksys.  Maybe this thing has lots of great capabilities and features that other consumer-grade routers don't have - who knows?  But if they are so incompetent that they cannot or will not document it for their customers, it's kinda tough to set up properly.

[dturkel]

Wow, IGMP Proxy -- I would never have figured that out.  Thanks!  What's the downside of having IGMP Proxy turn off?

[fpbegin]

Thanks - it works - now if actiontec could only fix the problem for everyone.

[esmoger]

Wow! I cannot thank you enough for posting this.

For the past few weeks my local DLNA server(wireless) had dissapeared from my Xbox's (wired) menus, and I was convinced that they removed DLNA support in their recent update. Tonight another user of the same software I use confirmed that he could still use it, so I started trying to find a solution.

I spent about 4 hours tonight tweaking settings on the Xbox, then my PC, and finally convinced myself that the router was at fault.

I was SO CLOSE to giving up completely on the problem when I stumbled onto this thread.

Disabling the IGMP proxy solved the problem immediately.

The weirdest thing about this is that everything had worked fine for about 2 months after getting FiOS, and when it broke, I was literally in the middle of watching a video through the server. The video froze, and I never saw the server listed in the Xbox again (until tonight)

I'm the only one with admin access to the router so it's not like someone randomly turned that on.. I don't get it.

Ah well.. all good now. All that's left to do is recreate port forwarding rules for a few things since one of the things I tried in vain was resetting the router to default settings.

Thanks again!!

[Stevesvp]

Thanks so much for posting this tip!

I disabled the IGMP Proxy in my Rev. I router and that solved the problem with Bonjour.

Now my Documents To Go syncs with my iPhone.

Too bad I did not find this tip 3 hours ago- but it is working fine now!

[gwilson4151]

I was having trouble getting the home sharing from my IPhone to work with my new Pioneer stereo reciever.  The reciever is plugged in to the Fios router directly and the IPhone via wifi.  I could never get the home sharing icon to show up on the IPhone when playing music.  I disabled the IGMP option in the router under Advanced configurations and, after about a minute or two, the home sharing option showed up again.  This HAD worked previously with another wifi router before I switched to Fios, so I figured that the router had something to do with the issue.

[gs0b]

Fantastic fix!

First, I recently noticed my WiFi connected Epson Artison printer / scanner stopped being able to scan to non-WiFi computers.  Then, I discovered my Apple iThings (iPod, iPhone, ...), could only see home sharing shared libraries on WiFi computers.  I spent hours trying to figure this out - reinstalling drivers, resetting iPods, Windows 7 firewall settings, and barking at the moon (okay, maybe not the last one).  I finally decided this had to be a router issue, but nothing obvious jumped out at me.  Then I found this thread.  Then I remembered I upgraded to a MI424WR rev I a few months ago.  Then I disabled IGMP as described, and now everything is happy.

[FrancAcavano]

Thanks for the posting - this has solved many of my problems as well.

Has anyone else had challenges talked to the DVR from their computer?

[ChrisTO4]

Perfect. It worked. Thank you for taking  time to describe the solution on this this thread.

[pgf1]

I was having the same problem.

I spent an hour in a chat with Fios support, who swore it could not be the router but then

offered to send me a new one.

I had tried disabling IGMP proxy with no effect (though I did not reboot the router after the change).

I did see somewhere that someone found that resetting to factory default cured the issue.

I saved the config file and reset.  After restoring my SSID and admin account, the issue was gone.

I saved the new config in a file with the intention of looking at the diffs but found that the files are encrypted.

So I may try going back to the original config to see if it breaks again.

Verizon, why don't you read these threads and educate your tech support?

🙂

[ghost57]

It worked for me.

First I thought it was my OS and I had installed something that was causing a problem, so I did a clean installl and started build in system to point were I installed serviio. Still I wasn't able to connect.

Next I got Verizon involved, but they couldn't help me.

Lucky enough I knew I couldn't be the only one that was having this problem. Lucky enough I find this page because there are other Verizon pages out there that said disable igmp proxy but my option wasn't available.

A big thank you to BIGDADDY of DSL Report.

-ghost057

[chuie1221]

Thank you so very much for the helpful information. I've been having this problem for over 4 months now with my iTunes / Apple TV / iPad / and iTunes Match. I've talked to Apple customer support multiple times before I finally gave up. This fixed most of my problems with Home Sharing between my products and iTunes. I am still having 1 problem though. My iTunes match and Genius results never finish updating. They get stuck on step 1 "gathering information about your iTunes library" and never finish the process. I guess I have to do some more searching on a fix to this problem but once again, thanks for the IGMP proxy solution. It worked like a charm several minutes after I shut it off.