Bizarre Problem - RT66ACU loses WAN connection every 15 mins

[Hevelius]

Hi.

I have a brand new ASUS RT-AC66U router but the problem I have is that every 15 minutes EXACTLY I lose access to the internet. This occurs across all the devices on the network simultaneously so I know it's related to the router somehow.

This happens either using Wi-Fi or with a direct ethernet connection. Like clockwork, internet access disappears every 15 minutes and then about 60 seconds later it comes back. Even the Apple TV which is connected via Ethernet loses connection also.

Even though WAN access disappears on my network for a minute or so, LAN access generally remains fine. This would normally suggest a problem at the head end (i.e. with the ISP) or with my Thomson cablemodem but when I connect to the CM router it works fine and the old linksys router works as well.

I've also tried both the latest stock and merlin firmware but I get the same problems with each one. Changing from ASUS to Merlin firmware didn't even alter the frequency of dropouts - it's still exactly every 15 minutes.

I tried a factory reset and it didn't make any difference.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what might cause this weird behaviour?
Do I have a duff router which needs sending back?


NOTE: I posted originally that this was a Wi-Fi problem but in fact it occurs with a direct connection (w/ WiFi switched off) in the exact same manner. Mods are welcome to delete the other thread under my name as the subject heading is inaccurate.

 

[john9527]

A guess, but on the main WAN tab, check that DHCP query frequency is set to Normal mode.

 

[Hevelius]

Thanks for the tip, John.

I tried setting DHCP query to Normal and I rebooted the router and also did a reset of the CM but the problem returns exactly the same.. in precise 15 minute intervals.

I think I'm going to have to return this router soon if I can't get a fix. :-(

 

[john9527]

One last thing to try....sometimes the ISP can get 'out of sync' with the attached hardware and cause problems and you need to get it to rediscover things correctly.

Unplug (power down) your modem for about 30 minutes
After the 30 minutes, Power off the router
Re-apply power to the modem and wait for it to sync
Power on the router

 

[Hevelius]

Unfortunately, I left home to return the router a few minutes before your last post so I didn't have chance to try that out. Today was the last day I could return it to the store for a straight refund without having to go through some warranty claim and I didn't want to take the risk.

Maybe, I'll try again when the AC68U becomes available here (I live in Poland) but that AC66 router had manifested this problem since taking it out of the box.

 

[Hevelius]

I'm going to sound a little stupid admitting this but it turns out that the previous (Linksys) router *does* suffer the same WAN dropouts at 15-minute intervals but in this case it only lasts for a few seconds, whereas the ASUS would lose connectivity for around a minute each time.

It's because it's only a momentary dropout for the linksys that I never noticed it before. The underlying problem became obvious with the ASUS because of the much longer time the WAN disappeared for (icons for cloud services would grey out, etc. and Skype would keep disconnecting). When the dropout is only a few seconds the cloud icons don't show any sign of interruption and Skype doesn't disconnect.

BUT when I connect directly to the ISP-provided CM/router (ethernet or Wi-fi) it *doesn't* ever drop the WAN! Unfortunately, this is an obscure Thomson router which doesn't work with Airplay and has v. limited configuration abilities (the only manual I could find on the internet was via a Romanian forum).

So it seems there is some unknown issue on the ISP end (which a factory reset of the CM didn't fix) that regularly kills WAN connectivity for third party routers connected to the CM, and which affected the ASUS much worse than the linksys.

Thanks for the tips so far. It's sad to have had to return the router because of some weird piggery on the head end. I'll have to get on to my ISP support about this (unfortunately their customer support is terrible).

 

[john9527]

Thanks for taking the time to post this update. Unfortunately, one of the side effects of packing more and more features into the router is that it can take longer to recover in the event of an error. Previously unseen errors can become an issue.

If you find out anything else in your work with the ISP, please continue to update this thread so others may benefit.

 

[sfx2000]

If it's recently started happening, might not be your router, it could be the cable modem itself, or the connection to the cable modem..

Most (not all) have a diagnostic page at http://192.168.100.1

See what's happening with the modem...

I had issues a few days back - the WAN connection would drop - looking at the diag page indicated that I had a number of problems with the receive side, various DOCSIS timeouts, etc - called Customer Care (Cox HSI), and we found problems with the drop on the curb going into the house (did need a truck roll at the end of the day to fix things).