GT-AX11000 Dropping WAN Connection

[crystalpup]

Hi All,

I have two GT-AX11000 routers. One is the main router and I have a second GT-AX11000 which is configured as a mesh router that is hardwired into the primary router.

Every 12-36 hours I will lose internet on all my devices. I log into the router and it will say "INTERNET STATUS" -> "Dissconceted". I have two options I can unplug the router and plug it back in or click the "gear" icon when logging into the router to reboot it. Then magically it will say "connected" for "INTERNET STATUS" and everything will work again.

This has nothing to do with my ISP or Fiber modem. This is an issue with the GT-AX11000 dropping the WLAN connection.

I am running firmware 3.0.0.4.386_45898-gfa90458 which is the latest firmware on both routers. I don't see any beta firmware available.

I am really pulling my hair out trying to fix this. Any help would be great!

Thank you!

[ceglia]

some good news, and some bad news.

first the good news. enabling dual WAN in "Fail Over" mode mostly works, and it appears i can rely on it temporarily if the internet connection drops.  whenever the primary connection loses internet, the secondary connection (which is just the same router connected to the same gateway using a second ethernet cable) kicks in and works with almost all of my devices.  the only device that does not appear to reconnect is my iphone.  but it only refuses to reconnect to my main GT-AX11000 router.  it WILL reconnect to my second AP GT-AX11000 router.  and if it's out of range of my second router, it switches to LTE.  very weird behavior, but in essence, I'm fine.

i still have my reboot scheduled every day at 4am, and when that reboot occurs, my connection switches back to the primary connection and then everything is restored to normal, including my cell phone.

the bad news is that i'm still losing my internet connection regularly, and i'd really like to understand why.  the link i posted above about changing the DHCP query setting made no difference.  I tried all three settings -- normal, aggressive, and continuous -- i was losing my connection equally with each one.

i'm going to try monitoring my logs to see if i can find some clues.  I'll post updates on this thread here: Dual WAN with only one internet connection!?  in the meantime, if any of you have any suggestions, please let me know!

[jzchen]

I don't suppose you've tried this?

https://www.att.com/support/smallbusiness/article/smb-internet/KM1188700?_gl=1*11i2qoy*_gcl_au*NTc3N....

Reported as a solution here:

https://forums.att.com/conversations/att-fiber-equipment/dropped-internet-connection-several-times-a...

[ceglia]

Thanks, yeah, that's how my gateway is configured -- DHCPS-Fixed with the gateway in passthrough mode.

I've read all those threads.  Everything on the gateway is set up per AT&T's recommendations, and the gateway itself never loses its connection to the internet.  My main GT-AX11000 somehow loses its connection to the gateway from time to time, and I can't see to figure out why.  I'm hoping to find some clues in the logs.  The next time it happens, I'll see if I can post an extract from the log.

[jzchen]

I have been debating AT&T but have been very happy with our local Giggle Fiber (technically cable modem service).  When there’s unexplainable dropping using 3rd party equipment, I like to try cloning the MAC address, to see if that improves things.  I don’t suppose anyone’s tried that, cloning their provided gateway’s MAC?

[ceglia]

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@jzchen wrote:

When there’s unexplainable dropping using 3rd party equipment, I like to try cloning the MAC address, to see if that improves things.  I don’t suppose anyone’s tried that, cloning their provided gateway’s MAC?

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I have not tried that.  What exactly would you clone in this case?  The MAC address of the AT&T gateway?  And where would you clone it?  Here? (Under Advanced Settings > WAN > Internet Connection)

[jzchen]

Yes there.  I would definitely try cloning the MAC of the gateway.  (The goal is to as much as possible mask/hide that your are using a third party router).  In the old days I would get sudden no internet with Charter and have to put back a computer direct to the modem.  Then when internet was restored I’d plug the router in with MAC cloned, in that case cloned the computer’s MAC.

[ceglia]

Ok thanks for the suggestion.  The next time it goes down, I'll give it a try.  I want the connection to drop one more time so I can capture the log.