Random reboots and wireless lockout

[Andrei]

My problems started 2 months ago when my old Linksys e4200 needed to be replaced. It worked great for almost 6 years but it started having problems so I decided to replace it.

My first choice was Asus RT-N66U. Easy setup, great speed. But after a day or two it started. First, almost daily reboots. Not often, once or twice a day. Then, wireless lockouts. All devices got disconnected, I could see the SSID, so the networks (both 2.4GHz and 5 GHz) were up but no matter which device I tried to reconnect (Windows, Android) it just gave me an error that it cannot connect to that network. Rebooting the router fixed that issue.

My first thought: overheating. I placed the router on a laptop cooler and checked the external temperature with an IR thermometer. It never went over 40 degrees Celsius so no, not overheating.

I sent the router to be checked (it was obviously under warranty) and they just gave me my money back. So I guess they were unable to fix it.

I decided to purchase another Asus model, the RT-AC66U.

Same thing. Setup super easy, great speed but… same issues as the other model. I thought that maybe there are problems with the electrical power (unstable) so I connected the router to my UPS.

It didn’t help.

I decided to try the Merlin firmware. I installed it yesterday. No issues until last night. At 4 AM (so with no heavy load or anything) the router decided to reset again. No wireless lockouts yet...

So I am out of ideas… Any suggestions?

 

[Andrei]

I discovered something very strange. I did a factory reset on my router but, this time, I did not activate IPv6.
All problems disappeared!
I thought about this because I have an older router (I use it as an emergency replacement device), that has no IPv6 support and with that one I never had any issues.
If I enable IPv6 it works, testing IPv6 on http://test-ipv6.com/ gives me a score of 10/10, so technically IPv6 works, but if I leave it enabled, all the issues described in my post appear.
And even stranger, the problems appear exactly the same way with the RT-N66U router...

 

[vanic]

You can try to disable NAT accelerator, maybe ctf can't support IPv6 due to RT-N66U is too old.

Thanks,
Vanic

 

[Andrei]

You can try to disable NAT accelerator, maybe ctf can't support IPv6 due to RT-N66U is too old.
View attachment 8495

Thanks,
Vanic

Yes, I am going to try that and see what happens.

Thanks.

 

[Andrei]

Yes, it looks like this is the problem. IPv6 and CTF don't work together. Having them both one causes instability and issues (wireless lockout and random reboots). It is curious that nobody noticed this problem until now.
I prefer the accelerated NAT so IPv6 stays off for now.
Is there a place where I can report this as a firmware bug/issue?

 

[vanic]

You can report it via feedback mail.

Thanks,
Vanic

 

[KevTech]

Seems like you are in the minority with this issue.

Myself I never had this issue with RT-N66U or RT-AC68U.

 

[Andrei]

Seems like you are in the minority with this issue.

Myself I never had this issue with RT-N66U or RT-AC68U.

Yes, it is strange... maybe it could have something to do with the ISP also? I am going to contact them and see...
I don't remember having such problems with my old Linksys e4200. And it had IPv6 support also and it was enabled. And CTF was ON by default...

 

[Andrei]

Looks like other people have problems with the IPv6 - CTF combo:

https://www.google.ro/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=CTF+and+ipv6+issues

 

[KevTech]

Looks like other people have problems with the IPv6 - CTF combo:

https://www.google.ro/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=CTF+and+ipv6+issues

Looks like most of those are with DSL modems and others are using tunnels not native IPv6.

 

[Andrei]

It could be related to my ISP. I am going to talk to them.