Hitron 2250 + Asus AC66U B1 - internet connection dropping daily

[Nike]

I've seen several discussions related to dropped internet connection in this configuration, but I haven't been able to find a suggested solution yet.

Current setup:

Hitron 2250 in router mode (IP pass-through mode still disabled) + brand new Asus AC66U B1 also in router mode.

This configuration is about 5 days old. Before this one, I had the same Hitron with Asus N56U. While having the old setup, from time to time I had to reset both devices (modem + router). Not too frequently, though. However - about a month ago I started losing internet connection. All home devices would still be connected to N56, but it couldn't get an IP from Hitron. I spoke to Shaw technicians but we didn't come up with any good solution.

Since N56 doesn't have a guest network that can be fully isolated from the rest of devices, I used this issue as an excuse to buy a brand new shiny Asus AC66U (actually, in terms of how old the model is, it's really not a brand new, shiny - but it is to me).

I configured the new router, used up all 3 guest networks Asus allows on 5GHz, used both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz main networks, used static IPs for 3 wired connections and disabled everything I don't need (which is pretty much everything above basics - no games, no QoS, no VPN, no UPnP, more or less - nothing bur pure routing) and connected it to the Hitron which is still in the router mode. Everything works as expected except that every morning the router has no internet access. All devices are still connected to the router but without access to internet. I have to reset the router, sometimes several times, and eventually, WAN IP gets assigned (actually, it is still just a Hitron LAN address). During this time, Hitron does have access to internet. I can connect devices to Hitron LAN.

Do you have any suggestions what to try next? Pass-thought mode (need another IP from Shaw), Hitron in bridge mode or maybe another router? Or another modem brand? Maybe these two dislike each other for some reason.

Thanks a lot.

[mdk]

> All home devices would still be connected to N56, but it couldn't get an IP from Hitron.

By default, the DHCP-server inside the HITRON hands-out IP-addresses like "192.168.0.xxx".

Hopefully, the DHCP-server inside the N56 will not try to hand-out IP-addresses in the same range.

Logon to the web-server inside the HITRON, and change the "private" IP-addresses to be handed-out to be in the "192.168.13.xxx" range -- not necessarily "13", but some number that is different from the N56.

Also, check the date/time/timezone on your ASUS router(s). Having the wrong values implies that your router will not be sending the "DHCP-renew" requests at the correct time, i.e., the lease handed-out by the HITRON expires before your router sends the "renew" request. So, the HITRON "drops" the ASUS device, until you reset the ASUS, which forces a brand-new DHCP-request, which re-establishes connectivity.

[rstra]

Why isn’t the Hitron in bridge mode?

[Nike]

Thanks a lot mdk,

I set the router to 10.xxx.xxx.xxx range of addresses, so there is no conflict there. 

I'll certainly check the time settings, it is very interesting suggestion.

This morning I had internet access. The only difference compared to yesterday is that I changed the Asus DHCP query frequency from Aggressive to Normal. I'll leave it like this for some time to see if other changes are needed.

[mdk]

@rstra -- Why isn't the Hitron in bridge mode?

There is no need for it to be in that mode. The Hitron has 4 Ethernet ports & WiFi. Configuring to "bridge" mode will disable the WiFi, and any "range-extender" plugs that the person may have, and will disable at least 2 of the Ethernet ports.

[Nike]

Thanks a lot rstra,

I don't have a good answer to that. Setting the modem in bridge mode would prevent double NAT, but the problem I'm having doesn't appear to be caused by the double NAT. Hitron worked with my previous Asus (N56U) for years in the router mode.  I used Hitron WiFi only once or twice over the last several years and I must say it was convenient having it.

Of course, changing the Hitron mode is on the list of thing I'll try, but since I have to ask Shaw to do it I wanted to first test things that I can do.

BTW, do you know if the bridge mode is equivalent to IP pass-trough mode for that one port (or MAC)? I know that they are different for other ports as IP pass-through leaves NAT enabled, but for that one port selected to pass the public IP, isn't the modem doing the same as it does in bridge mode for all the ports?

[rstra]

If wifi range extending is your goal, the ASUS has a range extender mode that you could try, This would leave your Hitron to do all the routing and DHCP.

Yes, ip pass through would be like bridge mode for one device. You could use this method to allow both routers to handle traffic and DHCP.

Not knowing your exact setup, but having experience with Asus routers, I would put the Hitron In bridge mode and use the Asus, they have great wifi.

Here is an article in ip pass through and the Hitron.

https://support.shaw.ca/t5/internet-articles/ip-passthrough-for-hitron-cgnm-2250/ta-p/6787

[Nike]

Thanks again rstra,

Thanks for your comment on bridged mode vs. IP pass-through mode. Since IP pass-through setting is something I can change, I think I'll start with that, rather than switching directly to bridged mode. I guess I still have to contact Shaw to get that second IP which will be passed to the router.

I would say that my setup is very basic - Shaw <--> Hitron <--> Asus AC66U B1 <----> Devices (wired and wireless - both 2.4 and 5 GHz). I have no port forwarding or triggering, everything goes through Asus firewall. I run 5 SSIDs - 4 on 5GHz and one on 2.4 GHz. The only "special" setting is that networks are isolated from each other by using Asus "Access intranet" flag (set to OFF) and on top of that all 5GHz devices are fully isolated by enabling "set AP isolated" flag for the 5GHz band. Having Hitron running in router mode also allows me even further separation of networks, although I 'm not sure I'll need it (you may say that the network where everything is isolated is not really a network, but that is completely different story)

So, I'm not looking to chain routers or to get better range, just to not loose WAN address provided by Hitron (WAN from Asus perspective, LAN from Hitron perspective, as long as it is in router mode).

Thanks.

[rstra]

Sounds good, let us know how it goes.

[Nike]

First - here is an quick update on the problem I mentioned almost 7 months ago. After doing my post here the problem went away by itself and I did nothing about it for months. However, about 10 days ago the router started doing the same thing - just loosing internet connection for a day or even two. So I finally called Shaw to ask them to give me one more IP address and after putting my Hitron into IP pass-through mode everything appears to be OK. 

I think that I also fixed another problem I had. My older devices using 2.4GHz would frequently loose internet connection. They would still be connected to the router, but not further to the internet. It was enough to disconnect and reconnect from the router to get the internet back. I now believe that the problem was that Hitron WiFi radio was still enabled and that there was too much data collisions, although I can't be sure that was the reason. In any case, after disabling Hitron WiFi, the problem went away (for now).

Finally, while doing changes in my router I looked at the system log and found out that every 30 seconds I get about 10-15 of these entries:

WLCEVENTD wlceventd_proc_event(466): wl1.2: Deauth_ind A0:2C:36:55:B5:C8, status: 0, reason: Class 3 frame received from nonassociated station (7)

I think I understand what malicious de-authorization does, but I guess if it was one of those cases, it wouldn't be seen and logged by the router, would it? My understanding is that the malicious attacks completely bypass a router and inject their packets pretending to be coming from the router. To me this issue looks like a proper de-authorization done by my router. But why? This MAC belongs to Fn-Link Technology that manufactures WiFi modules for IoT devices, which I don't have at home. I tried to put this MAC into the router's list of rejected MACs, both 2.4GHz and 5GHz, but that changed nothing. 

Any chance somebody have an explanation for this issue? Various forums do talk somewhat about it, but most of the time the event in the posted logs is not 466 as it always is in this one. Does anybody know how to find a list of WLCEVENTD events. There is a chance it would be helpful to know what event 466 is.

Thanks a lot