Running a FVS318v3 with 3_0_28 firmware. DHCP range 192.168.20.2 thru 192.168.20.253. I seem to be able to only configure 24 reserved IP addresses. When attempting the 25th reserved address the FVS318 remains in TEST mode when restarted. It works as expected at 24 reserved addresses.
Is there a limit on the capacity of reserved IP addresses? I have been unable to find any limit or configuration item needed to increase the capaicty.
Tested and can not reproduce. I was able to do 30 reserved addresses(got bored so I didn't go any further).
What else do you have configured? Firewall rules, if so how many? VPN tunnels, if so how many? What is the size of your DHCP pool?
Also this device is designed for a network of no more than 10 users...that would be 10 very low traffic users. Any more than that you're really pushing the limits of this unit and probably will be experiencing problems.
Thank you for the comments and testing. I agree the testing can be very boring.
We have three FVS318v3 devices running the latest firmware and all show the same issue with reserved IP addresses. My test unit was on the bench and only connected to my laptop, so a single user. The Netgear data sheet states that up to 253 users can access the WAN at the same time so I do not understand the 10 user limit. In any event, the actual systems that use the FVS318v3 amounts to only 4 at a given time.
There are no VPN connections configured. For my tests only the basic WAN and DHCP configurations were changed from factory default. The DHCP mapping was 192.168.20.2 thru 192.168.20.253. The FVS318v3 IP address was 192.168.20.1. It not active on the bench at this time but I cannot recall any other configuration changes. Nothing fancy was done and no rules or services configured.
While loading reserved IP addresses all looked well until the changes are applied. Once the APPLY button is selected and the device restarts it would hang up, with the TEST LED lit. Through trial and error I found that 24 was the limit. Again this is common to all three units we have.
I would be most happy if a simple configuration item would do the trick. The FVS318v3 has been a very stable device in our systems. All in all the Netgear product line has done a great job for us.
The 253 users that is listed in the data sheet is pertaining to stating the device is capable of doing a class C subnet. Which in turn can easily be misinterpreted. If you look at the NETGEAR product catalog located here: http://www.netgear.com/images/NETGEAR_SMB_Catalog_Spring_2011_US18-19465.pdf you'll see that the device is ment for a 15 user network.
This device is the lowest end of all NETGEAR business products. From what I have seen generally using more than 15 low traffic computers tend to either cause the device to lock up or go so slow you want to through it out of the window. I said 10 because generally you wont run into a business that is producing low amounts of traffic from all computers.
Either way when I tested this I did it with default settings, not even the LAN was changed. I'll try it again tomorrow if time permits with the modifications you mentioned and see if I experience any problems. If anything there could be an over all issue with the hardware of all 3 devices.
If there is a suspected hardware issue NETGEAR will most likely be willing to replace 1 for testing purposes, but not all 3. If the problem persists with the replacement they'll request for you to send one of the devices to their support center for further testing by one of their support personal.
Thanks again for the input and useful information and the link to the 2011 catalog.
The only weakness we are seeing with the FVS318v3 is with the DHCP. We had hoped to use it as the DHCP server for a small LAN. There are only 4 users that would access the WAN and of those only 2 active at a given time with little activity. The DSL WAN is only 256kbs so not pushing things in that area.
At this point the DHCP issue is mostly one of curiosity. I get the feeling the trusty FVS318v3 product might be near the end of its life anyway. My background is in telecommunications and when I see an issue like this I hope to find out why it happens.
As is usually the case, the networks that use these units have grown larger than originally planned. It is probably time to look for something newer, bigger and better. The 2011 Netgear catalog will probably be of help.
Tested and can not reproduce. I was able to do 30 reserved addresses(got bored so I didn't go any further).
Just FYI, I purchased a FVS318v3 a week ago. Right out of the box, I tried to set up about 60 reserved IPs. After 30, it wouldn't accept any more. So I went to another project. I came back two hours later when some staff were complaining that "the internet is down", to find that it was stuck in TEST mode. I had to reset to factory defaults and re-enter the IP information. I didn't re-enter the reserved IP info because it was rather time consuming and I had other projects to do. Nice to know that I'm not alone in feeling rather gimped by that.
Also nice to know that my trusty old FVS318v1 might be the cause of network sluggishness. I work with a network of between 40 to 150 computers, depending on how many people are accessing our wifi.
I'm pretty close to the point of disabling DHCP on the routers and using other software for DHCP; we have a static-assigned server and might as well use that as DHCP server since software can generally be far more configurable than "business class routers" (aka home routers with more ports), especially when you're capable of writing software such as myself.
One thing to keep in mind about the FVS318 is that it was manufactured and designed in about 2002-2003. The hardware is very much so out of date and only supports 5,000 concurrent sessions at any time. In a network that size I highly recommend getting a newer router such as the FVS338 or FVS336gv2 which would be able to handle what you're trying to do much better
