Replacement R2 Failed

[Dustin]

My initial R2 had issues from day 1 never actually performing as it should.  A replacement R2 was provided approximately one week ago as of this writing.  Initially, it appeared to perform as it should.  It was noticeably a better performer.  Now, don't get me wrong, I saw issues with it too that frankly I'm just too tired to detail at this time.  As I began my work today at 4PM local, during our shift hand off call, the internet dropped.  A reboot was tried from the UI which I was already logged into on my personal laptop.  No effect.  I pulled the power on it and the modem and brought them back up.  No internet.  As I was at work, I had no time to fool with it, so I put the Linksys back in service, again.  It is becoming increasingly clear the R2 has significant issues.  The forum is replete with reports of performance problems.  Now, don't get me wrong, the geo filtering DOES WORK (as much as the R2 itself will allow this feature to be available to actually be used) AND IS FANTASTIC!  However, I CANNOT depend on this device.  My question is to the fine folks at NetDuma, what options do I have at this point?  Forgive my bluntness, I'm tired and frustrated. 

[Netduma Liam]

Sorry to hear that!

Have you had a chance to see if you still have access to the interface? I appreciate that this is frustrating particularly as it's your second device, it's incredibly unfortunate that this has happened twice to you.

This is a support forum where users can report problems and we can troubleshoot, so you'd expect to see problems reported here. Looking at the amount of users on DumaOS compared against those that have problems, it's actually very normal for a consumer product.

Regardless, we'd be more than happy to troubleshoot this R2 with you here on the forum, however if you'd like to pursue the possibility of a refund please email [email protected].

[Dustin]

7 hours ago, Netduma Liam said:

Sorry to hear that!

Have you had a chance to see if you still have access to the interface? I appreciate that this is frustrating particularly as it's your second device, it's incredibly unfortunate that this has happened twice to you.

This is a support forum where users can report problems and we can troubleshoot, so you'd expect to see problems reported here. Looking at the amount of users on DumaOS compared against those that have problems, it's actually very normal for a consumer product.

Regardless, we'd be more than happy to troubleshoot this R2 with you here on the forum, however if you'd like to pursue the possibility of a refund please email [email protected].

Thanks Liam.  I will concede being a support forum, this is where I'd find trouble.  That was rash of me.  I apologize.  I do want the features of the R2, if we can't solve the reliability issues, a refund would be greatly appreciated.  I will not be able to do this today.  I'm GMT -6.  My wife is working remotely now 2:30 PM local.  I go to work at 4 PM local until 12:30 AM Saturday morning.  What do you suggest?  Another reset?  Please understand, I've gone through this many, many times with the original R2.  I will tell you #2 R2 is much snappier in performance.  The original unit is certainly sub par.  So, please advise and should these attempts fail I will pursue the refund.  Thank you for your understanding and patience.  After 20 years in I.T. I certainly feel we are 60% councilors and 40% technicians.

[Netduma Fraser]

Hey Dustin, what firmware version are you on currently? I'm not sure which version would have been put on the unit for you but we released .205 not too long ago that is more stable and should help with issues like this. If you're not on that then please upgrade: https://forum.netduma.com/topic/34950-new-r2-firmware-30205/ and then factory reset for a fresh install.

 

[Dustin]

36 minutes ago, Netduma Fraser said:

Hey Dustin, what firmware version are you on currently? I'm not sure which version would have been put on the unit for you but we released .205 not too long ago that is more stable and should help with issues like this. If you're not on that then please upgrade: https://forum.netduma.com/topic/34950-new-r2-firmware-30205/ and then factory reset for a fresh install.

That was the done as it was provisioned and put into service.

It was unboxed-->Initial setup was done-->Latest firmware update-->Factory reset-->Deployed-->Enjoyed for 6 or 7 days not 100% sure-->Just over 24 hours ago Tango-Uniform.

What's next?

Thanks.

[Netduma Fraser]

Is it WiFi devices or ethernet devices as well? Have you changed any WiFi settings from their defaults other than name/password?

[Dustin]

1 hour ago, Netduma Fraser said:

Is it WiFi devices or ethernet devices as well? Have you changed any WiFi settings from their defaults other than name/password?

Thanks Fraser, sorry, it's hectic with work toward the end of the week and life has been keeping me busy before work.  Let me try to share more detail.

Yesterday when I lost internet, my work laptop is connected via ethernet cable.  My iPad/phone/personal laptop are Wi-Fi.  All devices lost internet at the same time.

• We did that for the 2.4ghz band on the original R2.  What I noticed via an analyzer tool is (in my opinion) the 2.4 band is quite congested in my neighborhood, so I'd shut off 2.4Ghz on the original and on the replacement R2 as well.
• Almost no other 5Ghz APs observed.  At least from inside my house.  So, we use that exclusively.
• Default credentials were changed to more longer, stronger credentials.
• No rogue devices were observed on the network.
• No power issues
• No storms
• No known ISP issues
• No issues regaining internet with the Linksys router no have I had any connectivity issues since.
• I was actually home alone at the time with only my devices active in my environment.
• No indication of any issues during the firmware upgrade process.

I'm at work and have to type this quickly.  Please forgive any typos or readability issues.

What's next?

Thanks.

[Netduma Fraser]

Thank you for all the information, if it happens again go to the interface, System Information and see whether it is connected/receives an IP there. What is your physical setup exactly? I.e. what is the model of the modem/router the R2 is connected to?

[Dustin]

7 hours ago, Netduma Fraser said:

Thank you for all the information, if it happens again go to the interface, System Information and see whether it is connected/receives an IP there. What is your physical setup exactly? I.e. what is the model of the modem/router the R2 is connected to?

I will re-deploy the #2 R2 tonight and see what I can get out of it.

Regarding physical setup, very plain.  The ISP is Cox.  It's cable.  The cable enters the house, connects to the modem:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01ITIXYR0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That's pretty much it.  Nothing fancy.

Please note, putting the Linksys back into this setup instantly restores reliable internet connectivity.  So, we know it's not anything up to the R2.  All components/infrastructure behind the R2 modem, coax cable, ISP as well as my ethernet cables used in front of the R2 are performing consistently well with the Linksys router, so I call them all known good.  Yes, all physical connections are secure.

If you recall as part of our troubleshooting the original R2, I'd actually replaced the modem.  I've since learned it was not the issue.  We went to quite the effort to isolate each component and have a great deal of confidence the issue lies with the R2 units.

I'll update this thread later tonight when I can redeploy #2 R2.

Thanks.

[Netduma Fraser]

It sounds like it's having an issue taking a public IP as its WAN IP. When you deploy it, disable IPv6 in WAN/LAN and then reboot the router and see if that works.

Do you have a static or dynamic public IP?

[Dustin]

3 hours ago, Netduma Fraser said:

It sounds like it's having an issue taking a public IP as its WAN IP. When you deploy it, disable IPv6 in WAN/LAN and then reboot the router and see if that works.

Do you have a static or dynamic public IP?

My service is dynamic.  Interesting point.  I called my ISP and the tier I person I spoke with was unable to tell me IP lease time.

Why the disabling IPv6?  I've read it on the forums others have noticed disabling IPv6 actually fails to disable IPv6.  Saw this on the original R2 as well.

Giving #2 R2 another go.  Update to follow.

 

[Dustin]

We are currently up.  Please review the attached log.  I captured this as soon as it comes up.  All bout about four lines are from the 25th.  Interested to hear your thoughts.  By the way, according to the log it appears the least time is 24 hours.  Thanks.

log-1614479068886.txt

[Netduma Fraser]

Thanks for that - based on the logs it seems like it tries to gain an IPv4 WAN address first and then doesn't that I could see end up with a WAN IPv6 address so if you could maybe the next time it goes down (hopefully it doesn't) disable IPv6 in LAN/WAN and see if it works better that would be interesting.

[Dustin]

On 2/28/2021 at 8:01 AM, Netduma Fraser said:

Thanks for that - based on the logs it seems like it tries to gain an IPv4 WAN address first and then doesn't that I could see end up with a WAN IPv6 address so if you could maybe the next time it goes down (hopefully it doesn't) disable IPv6 in LAN/WAN and see if it works better that would be interesting.

Thanks Fraser.  Had a WiFi dropout today.  Changed the channel spacing I believe it's called from 80Mhz I think it is default to automatic and thus far, it seems to be performing better.  The signal strength as others have attested to is sub par.  Due to congestion, I have 2.4Ghz disabled on the R2.  Now, a new question.

My logs are fulling up with entries such as 

Wed Mar 3 15:42:35 2021 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan1: AP-STA-POSSIBLE-PSK-MISMATCH 14:ab:c5:a0:c6:16

Please find attached the current log file.  Reboot appears to have no effect.  I do not find this mac in the device manager, so I am wondering if there is a rogue device attempting to connect?

Does the R2 support mac address filtering?  I know I can block it from the device manager if it's connected.  I've yet to find a way to explicitly block the potential rogue mac address.  Time to go to work.  Had to type this quickly.  Please forgive readability and/or typos.

Please advise.

Thanks.

log-1614807866176.txt

[Netduma Fraser]

It's an Intel device, do you have any devices like that at all? No it doesn't currently support that. I don't think it is anything sinister. Most likely a PC that uses an Intel network adapter/cpu.

[Dustin]

8 hours ago, Netduma Fraser said:

It's an Intel device, do you have any devices like that at all? No it doesn't currently support that. I don't think it is anything sinister. Most likely a PC that uses an Intel network adapter/cpu.

Nothing known.  Just as I was finishing up work tonight internet and LAN went down again.  Was unable to browse to the UI.  Power cycled it and got in.  The log was captured as soon as I could.  A few lines may be of interest

Thu Mar  4 00:36:54 2021 daemon.info procd: Instance ndhttpd::instance1 s in a crash loop 6 crashes, 0 seconds since last crash
Thu Mar  4 00:36:54 2021 user.warn com.netdumasoftware.autoadmin: Invalid linedata '######################'
Thu Mar  4 00:36:54 2021 user.warn com.netdumasoftware.autoadmin: Invalid linedata '#This is the experimental no duplicate ranges with dedicated experimental cut down version of the whitelist. In theory it should be much more efficient.'
Thu Mar  4 00:36:54 2021 user.warn com.netdumasoftware.autoadmin: Invalid linedata '######################'

Had my wife been home alone she may not have been able to deal with this and certainly would be highly annoyed.  I'm sure you can understand, I can't have a router no matter how compelling the feature set if I can't rely on it for any length of time.  I'm really getting to my limit on this.  Here's my idea for a last ditch effort to get the benefit of this for gaming and not risk the unhappiness of my wife which is of the utmost importance to me.

• How about I disable DHCP & Wi-Fi on the R2
• Make the R2 (with static IP of course) a client of my Linksys router letting it handle DHCP & Wi-Fi
• The Wi-Fi on the R2 is incredibly weak as others have pointed out.  Basic reliability issues have kept me from bringing this up until now.
• Connect only my gaming PC & Xbox to the R2

If successful, this will allow me to have the geo-filtering of the R2 and the robustness that is my Linksys.  If this is not possible, practical, or successful, I'll have to pursue the refund.  I hope you say it's a great idea and very practical.

Your thoughts?

Thanks.

log-1614839837367.txt

[Netduma Liam]

Hey Dustin,

Thanks for your feedback and for the logs!

I can understand why that's so frustrating, for both you and your wife.

I like your thinking here, I'd suggest doing as you mentioned and have the upstream router handle Wi-Fi and DHCP and use your R2 for it's LAN ports. Give this a go and let us know if you experience any drops.

[Dustin]

4 hours ago, Netduma Liam said:

Hey Dustin,

Thanks for your feedback and for the logs!

I can understand why that's so frustrating, for both you and your wife.

I like your thinking here, I'd suggest doing as you mentioned and have the upstream router handle Wi-Fi and DHCP and use your R2 for it's LAN ports. Give this a go and let us know if you experience any drops.

Thanks Liam!  I'm excited about it as well.  It will be this weekend before I can do this.  I'll update as I'm able.

Thanks again.

[Dustin]

A downstream router is a new endeavor for me.  Google revealed things I did not know:

• Research indicates the R2 as a downstream router will result in a "double NAT'd" situation meaning I will not be able to establish an open NAT state for gaming.  This endeavor may be a fools errand giving what we are trying to accomplish.
• The edge firewall, the Linksys is on the .77 subnet.  It's IP is set to 192.168.77.10
• The R2 must be on a different subnet, so it was reset as if I was going to use it as the only router for the network.  It's IP is now set to 192.168.78.1.
• Research indicates the two routers are connected Linksys LAN to R2 LAN not Linksys LAN to R2 WAN as I'd originally thought.
• Although I have internet access from the R2 in this configuration, the R2 does not have a WAN IP, so the geo filtering, ping heatmap, connection benchmark (and likely other features I've not yet tried) are not functional.

Although not ideal, I can live with the R2 on a different subnet or "network" as the rest of the house.  I'd much prefer all devices on the same network.  However, it appear the R2 will not function as desired when it's a downstream router.  Also, if I'm unable to establish an open NAT state for gaming, it's not going to meet the need.

I do hope we can get this to work.

Please advise.

Thanks.

[Netduma Fraser]

The solution you proposed will work, you just need to connect the R2 WAN to the Linksys LAN and put the IP the Linksys gives the R2 into the Linksys DMZ to eliminate a double NAT. Then on the gaming PC and Xbox themselves give them a static IP according to the R2 LAN IP such as 192.168.78.2 & .3 

Having them on a different subnet doesn't really matter too much in this scenario.

[Dustin]

On 3/9/2021 at 10:52 AM, Netduma Fraser said:

The solution you proposed will work, you just need to connect the R2 WAN to the Linksys LAN and put the IP the Linksys gives the R2 into the Linksys DMZ to eliminate a double NAT. Then on the gaming PC and Xbox themselves give them a static IP according to the R2 LAN IP such as 192.168.78.2 & .3 

Having them on a different subnet doesn't really matter too much in this scenario.

Interesting.  All information I found indicated LAN to LAN.  I have tried this and run into the same issue.  The R2 does not detect a WAN IP.  At this point none of the R2 features function.  If you can help me get the R2 setup such that it thinks it has a WAN IP downstream of the Linksys we may be in business.  Thanks.

[Netduma Fraser]

I see you're using IPv6, can you disable this on LAN/WAN of the R2 please? Is the Linksys assigning local IPv6 addresses? Does the Linksys see the R2 as a connected device at all/give it an IP address?