Problem w/ Latest Firmwares > .178 (Daily Disconnects from Modem)

[Poseidon]

This is so frustrating. ANY firmware above factory 1.78 (including Asus and Merlin's) disconnects from my modem connection EVERY DAY.

A re-connect attempt through the router settings FAILS and the only thing that works is to shut off my PC; power off the RT-N66U router; disconnect the power from my modem (SB 6121) and power everything up again starting with modem, Asus router then PC.

When I go back to .178, this NEVER occurs.

Anyone have any recommendations? Are there any "new" SETTING FEATURES in the latest firmwares that might be causing this?

And if so, what is recommended to enable/disable in the RT-N66U gui?

Thanks.

 

[lfbb]

That's weird, I have an opposite opinion about the Merlin firmware. In the old versions my connection dropped (IP renewal) every 4 days and 6 hours, more or less! Now, with the latest builds, it gets renewed every 4 days (96 hours exactly) clockwork. I'm very pleased with it and I hope you can solve your problem.

- lfbb

 

[SoCalReviews]

The 3.178 firmware is 32k and every firmware after that release has been 64k. I believe Asus recommends that you do a hard button reset of the router after upgrading from the older 32k firmware to one of the newer 64k builds 4.220 or later. You will lose your customized settings and you should not re-apply any backed up settings from the older 32k firmware or it could corrupt the new firmware's settings. Therefore you will have to manually make note of your settings changes and manually apply them after the update to 4.220 or later. You can make new settings backup files after upgrading to the 64k firmware.

What I would recommend is manually writing down what your customized settings are. Download and save to your computer the proper file version of 64k firmware that you are going to flash the router with and have the file ready to access (4.220, 4.260, etc.). Then do a hard button reset of the router and go through just the basic settings procedure to re-establish your internet connection. Power cycle the router and then wait and confirm the router and your internet connection is working properly (power cycle modem if needed). Then flash with the newer 4.220 or 4.260 firmware (4.246 has been reported to have bugs). Then go through the basic start up again to make sure your internet connection works. Do another hard button reset to flush any leftover older 32k settings (hold reset button for ten to fifteen seconds). After the router reboots do the simple setup procedure. Confirm the router and internet connection work. Then power cycle the router one more time. After router is completely finished rebooting and you confirm your internet connection works then manually apply your customized router settings. Note that during the above procedures you may need to power cycle your modem in order to re-establish your internet connection after you reset or power cycle your router.

Once you upgrade to the newer 64k firmware and everything is working you shouldn't flash back to any firmware earlier than 4.220 or if you do then you will have to repeat the above steps. After flashing to any firmware after 4.220 you should not have to do the reset button procedure...which means your customized settings will be automatically preserved during future firmware upgrades. While you don't have to hard button reset the router once you apply the newer 64k firmwares I would still recommend power cycling before and after firmware upgrades. From the router settings make new backup file copies of your 64k firmware settings if you choose.

 

[Poseidon]

Thanks for the tip SoCalReviews. I followed your instructions and re-flashed Merlin's latest file (.19b).

Also worth noting that when my router loses connection with the modem, when I "troubleshoot" through Win 7 x64 'Diagnosis'......I get a Default Gateway is Not Available error message (which Windows immediately fixes and my internet connection is restored).

I have the "Speed and Duplex" in my NIC settings set to AUTO. Is this the correct setting?

 

[RocketJSquirrel]

Just as another random data point, I have never done a button-push reset or manually cleared nvram, either before or after upgrading firmware, even when going from 32k to 64k. My RT-N66U works perfectly in spite of my laziness through several upgrades.

 

[DaveMishSr]

Just as another random data point, I have never done a button-push reset or manually cleared nvram, either before or after upgrading firmware, even when going from 32k to 64k. My RT-N66U works perfectly in spite of my laziness through several upgrades.

You've just been lucky. Eventually, that luck will run out. I clear the NVRAM both before and after flashing and flash the router while in recovery mode with the firmware restoration utility.

 

[Poseidon]

You've just been lucky. Eventually, that luck will run out. I clear the NVRAM both before and after flashing and flash the router while in recovery mode with the firmware restoration utility.

Please explain how you do this. Thx

 

[guipel]

Maybe this could help: http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=8433

 

[lfbb]

That's weird, I have an opposite opinion about the Merlin firmware. In the old versions my connection dropped (IP renewal) every 4 days and 6 hours, more or less! Now, with the latest builds, it gets renewed every 4 days (96 hours exactly) clockwork. I'm very pleased with it and I hope you can solve your problem.

Nov 19 07:59:53 pppd[501]: LCP terminated by peer
Nov 19 07:59:53 pppd[501]: Connect time 5760.0 minutes.
Nov 19 07:59:53 pppd[501]: Sent 1025240778 bytes, received 951268983 bytes.
Nov 19 07:59:53 dnsmasq[526]: read /etc/hosts - 3 addresses
Nov 19 07:59:53 dnsmasq-dhcp[526]: read /etc/ethers - 4 addresses
Nov 19 07:59:53 dnsmasq[526]: using nameserver 192.168.1.254#53
Nov 19 07:59:53 dnsmasq[526]: using nameserver 192.168.1.254#53
Nov 19 07:59:55 WAN Connection: Fail to connect with some issues.
Nov 19 07:59:55 notify_rc : stop_nat_rules
Nov 19 07:59:55 stop_nat_rules: apply the redirect_rules!
Nov 19 07:59:56 pppd[501]: Connection terminated.
Nov 19 07:59:56 pppd[501]: Sent PADT
Nov 19 07:59:56 pppd[501]: Modem hangup
Nov 19 08:00:06 pppd[501]: PPP session is 1 (0x1)
Nov 19 08:00:06 pppd[501]: Connected to 08:76:ff:9a:b7:b9 via interface eth0
Nov 19 08:00:06 pppd[501]: Using interface ppp0
Nov 19 08:00:06 pppd[501]: Connect: ppp0 <--> eth0
Nov 19 08:00:06 pppd[501]: PAP authentication succeeded
Nov 19 08:00:06 pppd[501]: peer from calling number 08:76:FF:9A:B7:B9 authorized
Nov 19 08:00:07 pppd[501]: local IP address 85.243.X.X
Nov 19 08:00:07 pppd[501]: remote IP address 194.65.169.196
Nov 19 08:00:07 pppd[501]: primary DNS address 212.55.154.174
Nov 19 08:00:07 pppd[501]: secondary DNS address 212.55.154.190
Nov 19 08:00:07 dnsmasq[526]: read /etc/hosts - 3 addresses
Nov 19 08:00:07 dnsmasq-dhcp[526]: read /etc/ethers - 4 addresses
Nov 19 08:00:07 dnsmasq[526]: using nameserver 212.55.154.190#53
Nov 19 08:00:07 dnsmasq[526]: using nameserver 212.55.154.174#53
Nov 19 08:00:07 notify_rc : start_nat_rules
Nov 19 08:00:07 start_nat_rules: apply the nat_rules!
Nov 19 08:00:07 notify_rc : stop_upnp
Nov 19 08:00:07 miniupnpd[612]: received signal 15, good-bye
Nov 19 08:00:07 notify_rc : start_upnp
Nov 19 08:00:07 syslog: SNet version started
Nov 19 08:00:07 miniupnpd[2442]: HTTP listening on port 33611
Nov 19 08:00:07 miniupnpd[2442]: Listening for NAT-PMP traffic on port 5351
Nov 19 08:00:10 WAN Connection: WAN was restored.

5760/60=96 hours/24=4 days

I've never got the 4 days lease time with Asus or Merlin builds, until now. I don't know if this change has to do with my ISP or the firmware. When I used DD-WRT with my RT-N16 I got the 4 days lease.

- lfbb

 

[Poseidon]

It happened again today. Had to connect my modem directly to my PC and reset the LAN ip. This is so damn frustrating.

If I go back to firmware .178 - this does NOT happen.

I clicked the link to the other thread but it does not offer a solution.

Any ideas please?

 

[jerry6]

Do you have windows power saving turning off the wireless ? under power options

 

[Poseidon]

Do you have windows power saving turning off the wireless ? under power options

Yes, it's disabled.

My PC is wired-connected to the RT-N66U (not wireless).

I'm just baffled how any firmware post-178 is causing this issue for me. Has to be firmware related....but what exactly?

 

[KevTech]

Please explain how you do this. Thx

You can also flash through the miniweb server once in recovery mode.

http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?p=38375#post38375

 

[Poseidon]

Woke up this morning....SAME DAMN THING AGAIN!!! I Couldn't take this issue with this router any more so today I returned it and purchased an AC66U instead. Only $30 difference - so I figured it was worth it. I've had this issue with TWO different N66U routers (all with firmware versions post-178).

IF this happens again with the AC66U....then I'm officially done with Asus and will purchase a different router brand.

This is what a tech from my HSI company stated regarding the drop-out problem w/ the N66U:

What ended up happening is the router would start asking for a new IP address and then get stuck in a software loop. Instead of asking and then waiting for a reply it would send 100s of requests in a row, flooding Charter's servers. When this happens the server will automatically place the offending Mac address in a "timeout" of sorts. Basically will not respond back to it for a set period of time in hopes of stopping the flood of requests. This would explain why everything would work when you hook it up to your computer.

 

[xrecar]

I've had about 4 dropouts in the last hour. Wonder if I should do the same. I've noticed changing the Mac from what is cloned to empty and rebooting and vice versa seems to reconnect the connection?

Any ideas merlin?

 

[RMerlin]

I've had about 4 dropouts in the last hour. Wonder if I should do the same. I've noticed changing the Mac from what is cloned to empty and rebooting and vice versa seems to reconnect the connection?

Any ideas merlin?

This is something that is specific to your ISP or your modem, so I have no additional idea, sorry.

 

[xrecar]

Actually it must be a fw issue. Charter hasn't seen the cable modem disconnect all week. They have now passed me on to Asus tech support. I'm in the same boat, anything post 178 and I get daily disconnects. DHCP fails.

 

[Poseidon]

This is something that is specific to your ISP or your modem, so I have no additional idea, sorry.

This is definitely not ISP related and it has everything to do with the firmwares that Asus has put out lately. As previously mentioned, using firmware .178 and below - this issue is non-existent. Something changed with firmwares released after .178 that is causing the router to disconnect and fail to pick up the IP renewal. It is a firmware bug/glitch with the N66U that Asus support should really look into because its been a problem in the last several firmware releases.

Haven't seen it thus far with the AC66U but I've seen this with 2 different, brand new N66U routers - hence why it's firmware-related specific to the N66U.

 

[RMerlin]

The RT-AC66U uses exactly the same DHCP client code as the RT-N66U.

 

[Poseidon]

The RT-AC66U uses exactly the same DHCP client code as the RT-N66U.

Maybe it's hardware related then, I don't know but with the N66U I would get MULTIPLE disconnects per day, EVERY day.

Since swapping it out for the AC66U three days ago, NOT a single disconnect whatsoever.

Obviously the issue is related to the N66U somehow because it has happened on more than one N66U router.