RT-AC86U drops WiFi calls after 10-15 seconds

[cal1319]

Hey everyone. I have the strangest issue that I can sort out! I have a RT-AC86U with the latest firmware. For the last month or so my wife and I have noticed our wifi calls will drop after a few seconds. It shows enabled on our iPhones. If we turn on airplane mode we can make and receive calls they just drop right away. I know it is the asus router. We have ATT Uverse internet and when I turn the radio on for that modem wifi calling works perfectly fine. Its one of those Pace DSL modem modems. I have set up for the modem to be in DMZplus mode to the Asus. I have tried port forwarding and made sure that the NAT accelorator is turned off. I have no idea what else to try. If anyone has an suggestions that would be awesome thank you!

 

[OzarkEdge]

Hey everyone. I have the strangest issue that I can sort out! I have a RT-AC86U with the latest firmware. For the last month or so my wife and I have noticed our wifi calls will drop after a few seconds. It shows enabled on our iPhones. If we turn on airplane mode we can make and receive calls they just drop right away. I know it is the asus router. We have ATT Uverse internet and when I turn the radio on for that modem wifi calling works perfectly fine. Its one of those Pace DSL modem modems. I have set up for the modem to be in DMZplus mode to the Asus. I have tried port forwarding and made sure that the NAT accelorator is turned off. I have no idea what else to try. If anyone has an suggestions that would be awesome thank you!

Doesn't Airplane Mode disable WiFi? And then you still drop calls, or can't make calls due to no cellular coverage? Point being... are your phones dropping cellular calls at home, too?

OE

 

[cal1319]

Yes it does disable WiFi cellular and Bluetooth. I just turn on airplane mode to disable cellular and then turn WiFi on to make sure it’s not an issue of the phone trying to switch from WiFi call to cellular. No the phones do not drop calls at home on cellular. Also I have ATT and my wife is on TMobile so I think I can rule out a network issue as well.


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[ApexRon]

Its one of those Pace DSL modem modems. I have set up for the modem to be in DMZplus mode to the Asus.

DMZ is a bad idea. I am assuming you are referring to the Pace 5268ac.

I have the same router as you and AT&T iPhones. My WiFi calls never drop but then I have Spectrum internet service (cable) with a Netgear CM600 cable modem between the router and Spectrum.

Prior to my current setup I had AT&T internet with a Pace 5268ac and never had iPhone WiFi call disconnects. However, my ASUS was Ethernet connected to Pace as a downstream device, no DMZ. Since I cancelled my AT&T in June, I understand that AT&T upgraded the firmware in their Pace 5268ac which created additional challenges for some users. AT&T is very protective of their fragile, neighborhood network. I tried to put my ASUS in DMZ but found it slowed my connection down because the neighborhood AT&T router kept re-establishing the connection.

So my suggestion is for you to install the ASUS as a device downstream from the Pace.

 

[cal1319]

I we never had any issues at all until about a month ago and that’s why I’m trying to hunt down the issue. The only change I can think of was possibility a firmware update caused an issue. I changed it to DMZ to see if that would fix the issue it has not so I guess I’ll turn that off. Thanks for the heads up! Still trying to see how the router could be the culprit. It allows WiFi Calling (I see a lot of people say they can’t even get that far) but just can’t use it since it drops every single time.


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[ApexRon]

... never had any issues at all until about a month ago ...

AT&T updates their firmware by region, so not everyone gets it at once.

Suggestion: Using a speed app on your phone that is not AT&T specific, see what your internet speed it when connected to the ASUS and then when connected to Pace. There should be only an extremely minute difference. Anything greater means that there is something going on between the ASUS and Pace. Additionally, the resulting speed measured should be at or better than the speed you are paying for if it is DSL or as much as 10% less if you're paying for fiber. I have never known anyone to get speed they're paying for on fiber.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Yes it does disable WiFi cellular and Bluetooth. I just turn on airplane mode to disable cellular and then turn WiFi on to make sure it’s not an issue of the phone trying to switch from WiFi call to cellular. No the phones do not drop calls at home on cellular. Also I have ATT and my wife is on TMobile so I think I can rule out a network issue as well.

I see. Here with Google Fi on Android, we don't do anything. The phone just automatically uses WiFi for everything, when available. And calls always work.

Have you disabled Airtime Fairness on the router?

Here's an old discussion on iOS WiFi calling.

OE

 

[cal1319]

Ok so I did a few tests. Wired to the Pace I can pull around 30, same as if wired to the Asus. Wifi on Asus is areound 25ish whereas wifi on the Pace is only giving me 3-5. Even though the speed is so much less on the Pace wifi calling never fails! However, based on that I a thinking maybe the modem is having some issues.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Ok so I did a few tests. Wired to the Pace I can pull around 30, same as if wired to the Asus. Wifi on Asus is areound 25ish whereas wifi on the Pace is only giving me 3-5. Even though the speed is so much less on the Pace wifi calling never fails! However, based on that I a thinking maybe the modem is having some issues.

Or something upstream. What ISP speed is your service provisioned for?

OE

 

[cal1319]

payment plan says up to 45

 

[OzarkEdge]

payment plan says up to 45

If it's DSL over copper into the home, it might be worth having a tech review the service, modem, and line quality at the modem.

OE

 

[cal1319]

Sounds good. Ill give them a call and see what they say. Ill come back with an update when I figure something out. Thanks for the help!

 

[ApexRon]

AT&T has an app that you can test Pace yourself as well as place a service call.

I left AT&T because I could 200Mbps cable (tests at 230) for the same price as DSL. Plus, no more Pace.

 

[cal1319]

Unfortunately where I live you can only get att dsl right now. I did a speed test on the modem and it says 57...do you know what app that will allow for speed test and service call? The only app I have is MyATT


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[ApexRon]

I am pretty sure it was MyATT. I had bundled my internet and cellular. Login to MyATT and make sure that it has your internet or U-verse account. If you're not bundled it will be a separate login. If I recall it was in the help section under troubleshoot and resolve.

Looks like you can get to it via web browser; https://www.att.com/global-search/s...e&q=troubleshoot+and+resolve&autoSuggest=true

 

[OzarkEdge]

Unfortunately where I live you can only get att dsl right now. I did a speed test on the modem and it says 57...do you know what app that will allow for speed test and service call? The only app I have is MyATT


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I would just use speedtest.net and call the service number on your billing statement.

OE

 

[cal1319]

So a tech come out and he did something and got my speeds to were they should be. Still having the same issue where WiFi calling works perfect if I use the Pace as a WiFi hotspot. Still having dropped calls after 10-20 seconds on the ASUS. Any suggestions on were to start troubleshooting?


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[OzarkEdge]

So a tech come out and he did something and got my speeds to were they should be. Still having the same issue where WiFi calling works perfect if I use the Pace as a WiFi hotspot. Still having dropped calls after 10-20 seconds on the ASUS. Any suggestions on were to start troubleshooting?
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Although WiFi calling works over the Pace DSL gateway WiFi, maybe the gateway is messing with the ASUS WAN traffic. Is the Pace gateway in bridge mode... no DHCP, no routing? Too bad the AT&T tech did not try an alternate DSL modem, or reset the current one.

OE

 

[cal1319]

You can’t put the Pace in bridgemode the best you can do is DMZPlus


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[OzarkEdge]

You can’t put the Pace in bridgemode the best you can do is DMZPlus


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Have you tried a different cable between the Pace LAN and the ASUS WAN? Different Pace LAN ports?

I assume the Pace is serving IP addresses and the ASUS is serving IP addresses, so NAT-NAT... and using different ranges.

OE