Cisco RV180W WAN Traffic Meter

[Rich FSomething]

Hi folks.

Just looking at the WAN Traffic Meter Settings, it is highly restrictive. Is there any way I can request a firmware update on the following:

- My ISP has a 400 GB monthly limit.  The counter only goes up to 99,999 MB.  24.5% of my monthly limit.  Can this be raised?

- My ISP also has a gateway overnight where downloads shouldn't count.  Can I request a window so that those numbers don't apply?

Cheers

[Rich FSomething]

Well, several days later, and a handful of Youtube videos, my WAN Traffic Meter hasn't noted a single MB of download traffic.  Not sure what to do here.  

[Rich FSomething]

It would be nice to buy something, and have it working and up to date.  Who counts monthly traffic amounts in Megabytes?  

[SamirD]

I agree, but at what price point?  I'm sure if you want to spend $1000-2000 on an entry level enterprise grade router you'd have everything you want.  This is where the smb router market shines--if it does what you want, you're paying pennies on the dollar for functionality.  If it doesn't, well then you end up where you are.

The only thing I would think of trying is different firmware versions, specifically older ones.  Usually the first version doesn't have any major bugs since the core functions all need to work.  As bugs get 'fixed', they break other things, some of them core functionality (like the feature you want).

[Rich FSomething]

Samir, let's talk about business.  You don't sell someone something that states that it does A, B, and C, when it actually doesn't.  You don't negotiate pricing after the customer's purchase, on just making things work.  It isn't about what I want.  It's about what functionality they list on the unit they sell, and having it work properly in 2015, not 1995.  There are groups and laws that keep companies from lying about what they sell.  It's not a complex subject at all.  They don't put on their boxes "If you want this thing to work, buy something 10x the price".  

The feature I want is firmware with a number in it.  That stems from an OS that actually is a single variable.  Having written software since the early 80's, I know this is absolutely minuscule and reasonable.  It doesn't matter anyway because the thing doesn't even work.  

[SamirD]

I completely agree with you, and it's sad that these type of third-world techniques are creeping into the western world.  You see crap like this all day long in the third-world and people can't do anything about it.  We can, and yet we don't because it costs 10x to get something that does the job right, so you 'get by'.  In this day and age, it's not about doing it right but just getting it done, who cares about tomorrow.  I blame the iphone kids and instant gratification.

Yep, I agree with you it's a simple fix.  And it's almost irresponsible to not have quality control for the coders since they're in the third-world getting paid pennies on the dollar.  Hell, have three of them code the same thing and a 4th one check which one works right.

But everyone in this router space does this (except zyxel)--netgear, dlink, cisco/linksys--everyone.  I have several products from each and there's always something like this.  If it's critical, I usually get a box from a different company that has a bug in another feature I'm not using.  That's always the cheapest solution.  Otherwise, I try to find used enterprise gear that was only taken out of service because of an upgrade.  But then there's service contracts attached to most of those that cost more every year than the rv180.

[Rich FSomething]

Yeah I was thinking about going down that route as well.  Enterprise routing and wireless would have been two items I think.  

I also don't like it when I'm spending time trying to see if something works when it doesn't.  I'd happily pay $50 more for something that works.  If I got their attention, I'd say "don't sell me a $20 router that can't do anything".  

[SamirD]

It's a bit of a pain to wiggle around the different firmware bugs, memory leaks that lead to lockups, and other misc issues in this market segment.  But once you get through those, you're sailing with something that is significantly cheaper and doing the same job.  Hell, I have a rock solid 2Mbps tunnel to a site hundreds of miles away on an old netgear fvs114 connected to a rebooter.  Some say it's crazy, but for under $150 for the whole setup, I say it's a good enough for now.

All of our rv series have daily reboot scripts to keep them running perfect.  Once we put the scripts in place--no problems of any sort.  And many of these are keeping up more than a single tunnel as well as managing dual wan.

It's a matter of finding the right tool for the job.  Some people want to go to sears and buy the fancy $100 tool that's stamped 'for taking out 1/2" long screws'.  Others will go through the screwdrivers pile and find the one they need for $10.  You either have a lot of time or money--you have to use both wisely to solve the issue with the least effort.

[Rich FSomething]

It's working, but there's a tool in there that I could have used.  I lose all faith in Cisco when stuff like this happens.  It's so simple.  

[SamirD]

Don't confuse the real Cisco routers with the rv series.  This division was the linksys business division and is a completely different product than real Cisco gear.  I know it leaves a bad taste in peoples mouth than then they swear off Cisco.  But once they're into enterprise gear (if they get that far), they realize real Cisco is a different animal and is a cornerstone company when it comes to routers.

[Rich FSomething]

And I was afraid that this would bring confusion to the marketplace.  So I have bought yet another Linksys.  I avoided those ages ago.  

[SamirD]

Pretty much my friend.  At least Cisco still uses 'Cisco Meraki' for the Meraki acquisition so its clear, but probably more because Meraki has a solid following.

[rockysfng]

I get angry with Cisco RV, because I found a $32 router can do

• more accurate WAN and individual IP statistic, seems RV doesn't
• CPU will not overload solely when traffic volume is only 80Mbps, whereas RV got overload if QoS is turn on
• GUI runs smoothly even when handling busy traffic.

the same $32 router, if loaded with custom firmware,  also

• PPTP
• run scripts on console
• can cap bandwidth of individual IP
• schedule reboot that I believe that would reduce risk of "memory leaks that lead to lockups"

[SamirD]

I'm glad you were able to solve your problem so cheaply!  Please share the make and model because I want to check it out too!

[SamirD]

I wouldn't expect a firmware update for your request.  And it's strange that it it isn't even counting...