Is there a known limit to devices connected to the Hitron CGNM-2250

[Kilted_Canuck]

I’m having an issue where devices on my network won’t be able to get an IP from the DHCP server on my modem.

It’s random. Could be my iMac, my HomePod, Wemo or Leviton light switches, MacBook Pro. 
Restarting the device doesn’t help. Restarting the Hitron router always does fix the issue. 

I have other access points in the house, so not all Wi-Fi devices are connected to it, and a decent amount are over Ethernet. Everything is able to connect to Wi-Fi not an issue, it’s just not able to grab an IP.

I have done a factory reset on the modem as well.

I’m hitting approx 22 items (at least) on the network, is there a limit?

[shaw-tony]

@Kilted_Canuck I believe a subnet should allow up to 250 devices connected, so 22 shouldn't be an issue. You mention that you have 3rd party access points, they are unsupported and may be causing an IP issue within your network. You can try disconnecting those and rebooting the Hitron to see if the IPs remain connected.

[Kilted_Canuck]

I’ve tried that as well...

(they are all set to pass-through, and to not generate a DHCP IP)

sometimes the hitron refuses to give one of them an ip though, then wireless goes down in that corner of the house. (Well, the network is still there, just no internet)

The only “new” thing lately is more devices being on the network. (I’ve tried disabling those devices individually... and did not make a difference)

[mdk]

Have you logged-in to the web-interface inside the HITRON, and displayed a list of active (and inactive) DHCP connections?

If you are a "computerphile", and over many months, you have connected many many computers (maybe to fix them?), you might have many "inactive" connections.

Example:

Connected Devices

Host Name    IP Address    Interface  Status 

M-PC            192.168.0.23  DHCP-IP Ethernet  Inactive
iPhone5c      192.168.0.24  DHCP-IP WiFi-5G  Active
Black-iPad    192.168.0.11  DHCP-IP WiFi-5G  Active
BlackBeauty 192.168.0.10  DHCP-IP Ethernet  Active 

[Kilted_Canuck]

I’ve gone years without having this issue...

In the past month, I’ve had to restart the modem on an almost daily basis to keep things working.

also, devices will remove themselves once the lease time is up... (in whatever you have it set for).

my devices are constant though, other than maybe a visiting family members Phone, etc... I don’t have devices going in and out (especially during COVID heh)

[Kilted_Canuck]

@shaw-tony has there been a recent software update to these devices?

(modem is showing 4.5.11.16b1, why would Shaw use beta software on customer facing equipment?!?)

i got a replacement modem, and it appears to be doing the same thing...

however, I tried something else... 

I sent the DHCP lease time to something much lower... 2 hours...

now about 4 hours later... I went to use my iPad... no internet.

my iPhone, no internet on wifi...

I checked my router and went to see currently devices connected (it actually only showed 3, which I found odd)

reloaded it again... showed a few more... waited 2 min, reloaded again...

14 devices are connected, but almost all of them are showing  self assigned IPs.

its as if the modem is only half releasing the lease. 
it releases it, but then won’t give any devices a new IP.

oddly enough my iPhone won’t connect to the internet, but it will connect to the internal modem page.

[mdk]

> (they are all set to pass-through, and to not generate a DHCP IP).

I am not sure what you mean by that sentence.

Using "Passthrough" allows ONE of the Ethernet ports on the router to obtain a "public" IP-address from Shaw's DHCP-server, rather than obtaining a "private" IP-address from your Shaw router.

So, with Passthrough enabled, Shaw allocates one "public" IP-address to your Shaw router, and a different IP-address to the passthrough port.  That is two "public" IP-addresses hitting your cable-modem.

Unless you pay extra per month to Shaw for additional IP-addresses, two "public" IP-addresses is your maximum.

Your cable-modem can give out up to 250 "private" IP-addresses to WiFi devices within your home network.

If you "bridge" your cable-modem, then two of your Ethernet ports can get "public" IP-addresses, but the WiFi adapter inside the cable-modem is disasbled. Ouch!

If you disconnect one computer that has a "non-expired" IP-address that is a "public" IP-address, and try to connect another computer, via Ethernet, your cable-modem will not allow this "third" device to obtain a "public" IP-address.  So, power-off/power-on the cable-modem is the only way to "clear" its enforcement of the limit of "two" IP-addresses.

If you use: IPCONFIG /RELEASE before disconnecting the 2nd computer, then the cable-modem will allow the "3rd" computer to be counted as being the "second" allowable IP-address -- no need to power-off/power-on in this method.

[mdk]

>  (modem is showing 4.5.11.16b1, why would Shaw use beta software on customer facing equipment?!?)

How did you decide that a single "B" is a contraction for "beta-level" software?

By the way, my HITRON cable-modem also reports: 4.5.11.16b1

Maybe, "B" is just the next letter after "A".

My antique D-Link DIR-615 routers showed "Rev.B" on one, and "Rev.C" on another, because the hardware was different, and the firmware had to be customized for the different "REVision" level of the hardware. Nothing "beta" about that "B".

> I sent the DHCP lease time to something much lower... 2 hours...

> now about 4 hours later... I went to use my iPad... no internet.

Did you power-off the iPad, to invalidate the longer-length of the previous lease?  If not, it had an existing lease that could have been valid for 2 days. So, it would schedule a "DHCP-renew" request in 1 day, not in the 2 hours of the reconfigured router. Then, when you power-on the iPad, it will obtain a new "2-hour" lease, and the "DHCP-renew" request will be sent once per hour (when the 2-hour lease has 50% remaining).

> 14 devices are connected, but almost all of them are showing  self assigned IPs.

I don't understand what you mean by "self assigned". By default, most devices are DHCP-enabled. So, they always obtain an IP-address from the DHCP-server inside the Shaw cable-modem. Have you disabled DHCP on most of them, and "hard-wired" a specific IP-address into each device? If you always want a specific computer to have a specific "private" IP-address, the correct method is to configure the router to "reserve" that specific IP-address for use only by that specific computer. Your computer still sends DHCP-requests, but, due to the "reservation", it always receives the identical IP-address.

[Kilted_Canuck]

That post was referring to my other access points I have installed in the house. (as he asked me about them) Only the Hitron model is doing NAT / DHCP (not the other wireless access points), the other access points are set to "pass-through"

[Kilted_Canuck]

> How did you decide that a single "B" is a contraction for "beta-level" software?

I didn't. Standard software versioning numbers, b is for beta, when used on the last digit. a is for Alpha, rc is for release candidate. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_versioning

> I don't understand what you mean by "self assigned".

All these devices were showing DHCP-IP earlier... and were working. 

It appears the Hitron is dropping the lease, but not giving any of the devices a new lease until you restart the Hitron itself. 

I can "renew" the lease on the device that lost it's internet, I can even restart it. It won't make a difference. 

Self Assigned.