[13bit]

Hi,

First of all, I'm sorry if someone has asked this question before. But I really couldn't find a solution. I've been stuck on this one for about a week now.

So I have a Linksys wrt 1900 ac, first version. I was on open wrt before. Everything seem to be fine for a while. However, I noticed that after I flashed to ddwrt. When I'm on wi-fi, My internet keeps dropping. Like, the connection stays on, I don't lost the wifi or something. Just couldn't visit any website at all.

When I turn off my wifi on the device and reconnect to the router, everything back to normal again, instantly.

It feels like the connection stops working if you've been idle for a while.

I don't know what cause the problem. At the beginning I thought maybe this is due to the reason that I'm running a VPN on the router. However, even if I turn off the VPN, I still have the issue. Plus, with the VPN turned on, if I do a wifi reset on the device. I go straight back online. It doesn't feel like the VPN server has some kind of "Circuit Breaker".

Being a complete N00b, I really don't know which setting that I should mess with. So It brought me here and ask you guys.

Thank you so much for taking the time reading this.

[pbphoto]

Let me guess, is it an Apple device? If so, then you should probably fall back to DD-WRT version 44048 and stay there until further notice.

[Monza]

Not knowing your DD-Wrt version or your VPN provider I can only offer some first check suggestions.

1) If you are using a fairly new DD-WRT version there were three new fields added to the OpenVPN Client setup several releases ago. Make sure the First, Second and Third Data Cipher fields are all set to the same as the "Encryption Cipher" just above the fields (usually recommended by vpn provider). Mine were defaulted to different ciphers by default on first appearance. This is not a DD-WRT setup recommendation but simply what I did right after the new fields appeared and resulted in some small issues with VPN for me. VPN worked as expected for me after making the changes. See Attached.

2)Check your VPN providers setup recommendations looking for an "Auto Lock" or some such. It may be kicking in for some reason. You may be able to disable it to test for issues?? Possible new changes to the vpn providers setup? Double check your current vpn setup to confirm accuracy.

It sounds like a network lock issue at first read but other community members may be able to give you much more relevant advice.

[SurprisedItWorks]

You researched this for a week? Looking over any Marvell new-build thread of the last several months (and probaly two other threads every week that bring it up from scratch like you did) would have shown you that all builds since (shortly after) 44048 have had this problem with iOS (and sometimes MacOS) devices.

How did this happen? I may not have the story quite right, but here is what I think I understand. Linksys finally updated the old wifi driver, and dd-wrt could not really ignore that, because of security risks, and so incorporated it into dd-wrt. But it turned out to have this bug re Apple devices, and Linksys refuses to supply source code, so dd-wrt folks can't debug it. All they can do (and have done, extensively) is desperately look for configuration choices to work around it. So far no luck, however, so we all suffer.

I just flip my iPhone's wifi off for a few seconds, then back on. Have to do it 5-10 times per day.

[xl600]

As far as I’ve been able to tell, the binary drivers didn’t change between 44048 and the builds where the iOS issues started to appear. Pbphoto even did an md5 comparison and found no changes.

[13bit]

Hi guys,
thank you so much for the reply.

So I roll back to the r40559 now. It's been almost a day. And the connection stays strong.

Wow, I never thought about the firmware makes this huge difference. I thought there was something wrong with my setup or something that makes the router goes to some kinda "power saving" mode.

Guess I'm gonna stay on this version for the rest of my life now.

[SurprisedItWorks]

Advice is given in the forum several times a week to avoid 40559, as it's not only very old now, it's known to have problems. People end up on it by using the router database, which is not properly maintained and should be ignored. For the Linksys WRT1900* crowd in general, 44048 is considered the sure-thing build these days. If I really wanted something a generation older than that, I'd be looking at 40009, which was that WRT community's fallback build for quite some time.

Whichever you pick, read through the Marvell-forum new-build thread for that build before you begin. There may be important config/problem/workaround info there for AC owners in particular. Sometimes the best builds for me (WRT1900ACSv2) are not the best for the WRT1900AC folks.

Good luck.

[13bit]

Thank you for the notice!

You are right, that is exactly how i end up on 40559.
I'm sorry for asking this, but I really don't know where should I download alternative versions other than from the database itself.

I know that this is a dumb question, but I really don't know the proper way to download the firmware. Could you please elaborate on that a little?

I'm on 1900ac v1, a very old unit. I don't know if all Linksys WRT product line share the same firmware. That's why I went for the database.

-

[egc]

Forum guidelines.

A sticky in all forums

https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=324087

[SurprisedItWorks]

The Marvell forum is the place to read. Start with the "Cliff Notes" sticky post. It'll cover the "where" question. The forum guidelines pointed out by @egc are good reading, not just for forum protocol, but also in terms of some of the what-to-do basics. It warns against trusting the router database, for example.

I vaguely remember a couple of items in the Cliff Notes that have become obsolete over time. The way to reset the config to dd-wrt defaults, once you have telnet or ssh up to give you a CLI, is "nvram erase && reboot". There is an older sequence "erase nvram" that should be avoided, as it may erase more than you want to. Also, the time entries in Basic Setup in the GUI are really important, but it's pretty simple, because if you just set your time zone and leave the server field empty, dd-wrt has decent internal defaults and will do the right thing. In general dd-wrt has solid defaults, and you should never feel you have to mess with every setting you see. That will only get you in trouble.

[13bit]

little update on the story.

As instructed, i should avoid 40559 at any cost. so i went up to 44048 in the end.

the good news is that i don't lose wifi on this version either, which is very great.

i guess that sums it.

thanks guys. i really appreciate your help!!!