Connection Drops: Lease does not renew (Manual reset required)

[Xruptor]

Hi all!

I've been having an issue and have exhausted several methods to try to fix it. I'm beginning to suspect it's the modem but I've really only had this issue since switching over to Asuswrt-merlin. This includes both my RT-N66U and RT-AC86U they both have the same issue. I never really had this problem back when I was using Tomato. So I'm thinking it's possibly just an option I'm not seeing or setting correctly. Though I'm not completely ruling out the modem since it's also was shared between both routers.

Basically what happens is that every so often my internet will go out completely. I'll go check the dashboard and get prompted with "Your ISP's DHCP does not function properly". No matter what I do, my internet will not be back unless I manually unplug the modem and plug it back in after about 1 or 2 minutes.

I believe it's tied with the lease from the ISP. For whatever reason the router never seems to properly renew the lease after it expires from the ISP. I will check the lease and see that it's expired. I've tried pretty much everything I can think of. Turning ON/OFF the WAN doesn't seem to work. Resetting the DHCP from SSH/SCRIPT doesn't seem to work. No matter what I do no amount of options will get the internet to work successfully with the router, unless I manually get involved. The only way I've got it to work properly and grab a new lease is by unplugging the modem completely and then plugging it back in. If I try to renew the lease via code or WAN it will just continue to renew indefinitely and never really acquire a new lease. On the modem the lights are all working properly and I would check the event log and see nothing on it. So it's either the ISP, Modem or Router.

BTW I've tried both Normal and Aggressive and it doesn't seem to make a difference.

RT-AC86U
Modem is Arris SB6190
Comcast Internet

Hoping some of you may have an idea on what it is or give some suggestions to fix it!

 

[scjr]

Check Merlin’s post in this thread, post #6. Turn modem off for longer period of time. Could be on ISP’s side?

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/rt-ac66u-your-isps-dhcp-does-not-function-properly.35837/

 

[Xruptor]

Check Merlin’s post in this thread, post #6. Turn modem off for longer period of time. Could be on ISP’s side?

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/rt-ac66u-your-isps-dhcp-does-not-function-properly.35837/

I've tried that before but it didn't seem to work. I'll try it again. It takes some time for the lease. Usually the disconnect happens right at the expiration. Normally requires a hard reset of modem.

 

[scjr]

I've tried that before but it didn't seem to work. I'll try it again. It takes some time for the lease. Usually the disconnect happens right at the expiration. Normally requires a hard reset of modem.

I would power down the modem and router. Then power up modem first and wait until all lights are lit and it’s completely booted up. Then power up the router. Have you tried it in that order?

Maybe call ISP and see if they’re blocking something? Wish I could be more help.

 

[Xruptor]

I would power down the modem and router. Then power up modem first and wait until all lights are lit and it’s completely booted up. Then power up the router. Have you tried it in that order?

Maybe call ISP and see if they’re blocking something? Wish I could be more help.

I'll give that a try as well. Worth a shot Thanks for the response scjr. We will see how things go.

 

[smak]

Just thought I would share to see if we could find a common theme. In the past week I have experienced this same issue twice.

Provider: Verizon Fios. I have Ethernet from the ONT to a RT-N66U running Firmware 380.69.

The internet just stops working. After researching I saw the "Your ISP's DHCP does not function properly". I was on the phone with Verizon for awhile but they were not able to assist. [Lots of interesting/funny quotes from that conversation.] I was able to plug the Ethernet directly into a computer and it picked up the IP address immediately. After sleeping on it for the night, everything was working the next day.

The second time was this afternoon. I unplugged the router for about 10 minutes and everything came back up.

I have noticed that the WAN IP addresses I have been receiving the last week are significantly different... 70.x.x.x, 181.x.x.x, 73.x.x.x.

 

[Xruptor]

Just an update to this. Its been sometime since this has happened. Ever since I did the reset and changed the renew to be "Aggressive" rather than normal. Supposedly, this has fixed the issue for now. I haven't had the issue come up since then. I'm going to assume it was a combination of the reset and or issues related to the ISP.

 

[Zonkd]

This issue started occurring intermittently on my AC86U since 384.7 and continues on 384.10. See attached screenshot. Router webpage shows WAN Lease expired but Lease time remains 5 minutes. It does not attempt to renew automatically. To fix I just manually toggle Internet Connection from ON to OFF to ON in router web UI Network Administration page (visible in the screenshot). Doing this instantly renews WAN IP lease and restores internet access. It's unnecessary to reboot router or modem.

The issue usually happened after 24-48 hours router uptime. Syslog reveals nothing helpful however it does let you estimate the time when internet access was lost because Skynet stops logging any inbound or outblock blocks. Dnsmasq logs also show SERVFAIL for every request.

Please mention me if anybody discovers a proper fix.

 

[DAVID LONG]

Same thing on mine.

 

[Zonkd]

Same thing on mine.

It’s been driving me crazy because I can’t find a way to reproduce it, nor prove it to anyone. (Basically nobody else seems to have the problem). I now doubt it’s related to any scripts I run (diversion, skynet, stubby). It happens unexpectedly. Could be 11pm. Could be 5am. A few days ago I decided to schedule a weekly reboot using amtm script. No luck. It happened five hours after the reboot. Totally unpredictable. It hasn’t happened in a few days now but I know it’ll be back.

 

[DAVID LONG]

Mine usually happens overnight. I wake up to find it like that.

And I have security cameras running at night, so that sux.

 

[temujin]

I am experiencing almost same issue, my lease is stuck on renewing.... but internet is still connected and everything seems to be working as normal?
Regards

 

[L&LD]

I am experiencing almost same issue, my lease is stuck on renewing.... but internet is still connected and everything seems to be working as normal?
Regards

Have you tried what is suggested in post 7 above?

 

[temujin]

Have you tried what is suggested in post 7 above?

I am reluctant to do any more reboots/factory resets/modem resets as i have only recently had things settle down and working after upgrading to 384.10 firmware and then changing VPN provider,this router seems to be very temperamental. As long as i can get online and view my set top box i think i will let sleeping dogs lie.
Regards

 

[Zonkd]

I am reluctant to do any more reboots/factory resets/modem resets as i have only recently had things settle down and working after upgrading to 384.10 firmware and then changing VPN provider,this router seems to be very temperamental. As long as i can get online and view my set top box i think i will let sleeping dogs lie.
Regards

Agree it’s a waste of time repeating the same actions expecting a different result, everything suggested has been tried and failed to solve the issue. Did you use the router built-in VPN client to connect to the VPN provider? Did the issue mostly occur during periods of heavy data usage or while VPN was connected?

 

[temujin]

Agree it’s a waste of time repeating the same actions expecting a different result, everything suggested has been tried and failed to solve the issue. Did you use the router built-in VPN client to connect to the VPN provider? Did the issue mostly occur during periods of heavy data usage or while VPN was connected?

Yes i used the router`s built-in Vpn client to connect to the provider, my issue is there all the time, i am not a heavy data user streaming mainly either UFC or Premier League football along with general internet usage, but not simultaneously.
Regards

 

[L&LD]

Agree it’s a waste of time repeating the same actions expecting a different result, everything suggested has been tried and failed to solve the issue. Did you use the router built-in VPN client to connect to the VPN provider? Did the issue mostly occur during periods of heavy data usage or while VPN was connected?

It doesn't seem this would be a case of repeating anything though, the order of actions may be the crucial difference?

 

[Zonkd]

It doesn't seem this would be a case of repeating anything though, the order of actions may be the crucial difference?

Nah I’m very familiar with this and tried everything and more across many clean firmware upgrades. There’s nothing unusual about my config. It’s just a rare intermittent issue that can’t be solved by a simple wipe. It’s possibly my ISP. It’s been four days uptime without net drop thankfully. You can see from his screen that “Lease time = renewing” so his problem is different to mine, at least his is attempting to renew. My screenshot shows it’s not even attempting to renew my expired IP because “Lease time = 5 minutes”. That’s abnormal.

 

[beboptrumpet]

I have a ac5300 that had been getting since I updated firmware around January. Using sb8200 modem with Xfinity.

Just want to note that it still happens with a factory reset & updated fw, so it’s not related to add ons.

I also had so many issues with the 384.9 firmware that I went back to 384.8_2. Spent 12 hours trying to get the 384.9 working smooth & just gave up.

Also, If I plug in another router with Merlin from 6-12mo ago, this issue doesn’t happen.

Having Xfinity’s reset the modem brings it back quick.

To get it workable, I powered down my router & unplugged. I used a paper clip to hold the reset button on my modem. By pressing & holding this, It clears the provisioning on the modem. The modem contacts the isp & downloads new provisioning & updates firmware. When I do this, the modem will reset itself an extra time or two over 10 min—this is to load the fw & provisioning. After 15 min, plug the modem back in.


I wish the firmware would keep track of its connection history over the past month or two. Would be nice to have a calendar with the times that the connection was down...that way I can use it to get a refund from my isp for that time.
Just something that showed all the times when the connection was down.

 

[Zonkd]

It happened again after 5 days uptime.