TP-Link TL-WDR3500 v1 unresponsive on big downloads/uploads.

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thommy181
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Joined: 16 Mar 2019
Posts: 353
Location: Szczecin, Poland EU

PostPosted: Mon Feb 14, 2022 21:10    Post subject: Reply with quote
cyberpranav wrote:
Hi DDWRT team.

First and most important - Thanks a lot for all the hard work on the DDWRT firmware!

Now to the part which I am unable to find a solution for.

My setup -

WAN router - TP-Link TL-WDR4300 - Functions as WAN gateway without any issues. (r47692)

Second router - TP-Link TL-WDR3500 - Running on r47692. This router is configured in Client mode, as I want to keep the WAN and second networks separate, plus the second router is used only to service 2.4Ghz devices.

Problem - Second router is configured as a 'Client' on the 5 Ghz interface. The 2.4 Ghz interface is configured as the AP. All the devices are able to connect and hop on the internet without any issues in this mode.

The router freezes and all devices lose WiFi on 2.4 Ghz when a big download or upload starts, typically larger than 1 GB. This can be Google Photos upload or a Linux ISO download larger than 1 GB. Even the WAN router stops seeing second router as a client when it freezes.

If there is no upload/download which is big, the second router is rock solid and there are no issues whatsoever.

I have tried different revisions randomly going back last 6 months and this issue surfaces on all the revisions I have tried.

Large uploads/downloads do not affect the WAN router.

I suspect this might have to do with the 'Client' mode I am using, but I am unable to figure out what might be causing this.

CPU usage is consistently less than 20% and I have not seen free memory to drop below 50 MiB. Max IP connections is set to 4096 (default) and average connections I see across devices is around 400.

What am I missing? I do see some kernel errors in the attached log file, line 134, 135, 146 and 147.

Thanks in advance for any insights on this peculiar problem.


It's exactly the same problem on TL-WDR3600 v 1.5. I have 5GHz WIFI and 2.4 GHz is set to totally disable. When WIFI connected devices is switched on and start to download rather big parts of data router suddenly start fast reboot and crash wifi connections. I don't know where is problem. I'm describe problem here: https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=331512 beginly I think that problem is solve. Actually problem is still. I'm observe device and it not depend of advanced settings. I'm use tutorials from forum and from dd-wrt wiki. It not solve problem. It not depend of kind of workstation. I try to connect android devices, laptops and problem is still. For example I'm start to download system updates, internet connection go to high speed and suddenly router make fast reboot, after ~10 secs start to work again and this situation is another time. In my opinion device have a problem with stable working. I'm touch device isn't hot and CPU utilisation is ~15 - 20 % and here is OK. In other topic is syslog exist. I'm not beginner user and I don't know where is problem. I'm stay on the newest dd-wrt build and I'm wait for some fixes.
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cyberpranav
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 01 Jan 2019
Posts: 20

PostPosted: Tue Mar 08, 2022 8:20    Post subject: Should I log a bug? Reply with quote
Hi team.

Looks like other users are also seeing similar issues. Should I create a bug? What all do I need to add to the ticket?

Regards,
-Pranav.
kernel-panic69
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 08 May 2018
Posts: 14126
Location: Texas, USA

PostPosted: Tue Mar 08, 2022 8:28    Post subject: Reply with quote
No. Creating a ticket about a lower-end device that you're expecting higher-end hardware performance out of is moot. DD-WRT doesn't turn a Pinto into a Ferrari 308 GTS. And it's likely more a client or configuration issue than anything else...
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cyberpranav
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 01 Jan 2019
Posts: 20

PostPosted: Tue Mar 08, 2022 18:56    Post subject: Reply with quote
Hi kernel-panic69.

I thought that this might be a bug as the router hangs while processing large uploads/downloads and thought that this is the base functionality and there is nothing special about it. I did try tweaking different settings and combinations but was unfortunately not able to find a working set of settings to fix my problem.

But I understand that this is old piece of hardware and developers probably should focus on more cutting edge hardware and support.

Thanks for your insights though.

Regards,
-Pranav.
EdvinasJ
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 20 Nov 2016
Posts: 8
Location: Lithuania

PostPosted: Sat Mar 12, 2022 14:02    Post subject: Reply with quote
kernel-panic69 wrote:
No. Creating a ticket about a lower-end device that you're expecting higher-end hardware performance out of is moot. DD-WRT doesn't turn a Pinto into a Ferrari 308 GTS. And it's likely more a client or configuration issue than anything else...

I personally tried changing Wi-Fi settings, I tried following configuration guides. I'm sure others have tried it too. I genuinely believed that it's just misconfigured router, but now after seeing more and more people with the same exact issue on WDR3500 and 3600, the only remaining explanation that makes sense is a bug in DD-WRT.
Being told that older routers are not a development priority is absolutely fine, however hearing that it's a misconfiguration every single time this issue is brought up seems like dismissing an actual fault. Even in the quote above - can you only expect working Wi-Fi on DD-WRT with a high-end router nowadays?
kernel-panic69
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Joined: 08 May 2018
Posts: 14126
Location: Texas, USA

PostPosted: Sat Mar 12, 2022 15:01    Post subject: Reply with quote
The TL-WR1043ND devices are close in hardware and I don't see these issues on the v2 that is an AP - I also have one that is configured as a wireless client. I've even downloaded a DVD image over wifi through an anemic TL-WA901NDv2 and didn't see this. But I will say that "following the guides" incorrectly will result in hangs in web surfing alone on some devices. I couldn't even cruise social media on my phone nor could I surf the web on my tablet.
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cyberpranav
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 01 Jan 2019
Posts: 20

PostPosted: Sun Mar 13, 2022 7:07    Post subject: Share the settings maybe? Reply with quote
kernel-panic69 wrote:
The TL-WR1043ND devices are close in hardware and I don't see these issues on the v2 that is an AP - I also have one that is configured as a wireless client. I've even downloaded a DVD image over wifi through an anemic TL-WA901NDv2 and didn't see this. But I will say that "following the guides" incorrectly will result in hangs in web surfing alone on some devices. I couldn't even cruise social media on my phone nor could I surf the web on my tablet.


Hi kernel-panic69.

Thanks for your reply. Can you share your settings, maybe? At this point I have nothing to lose, so I would like to try mimicking your settings, as I have racked my brains on this issue for quite some time now. I have literally tried dozens of settings, if not hundreds, after scouring the forums and the internet, to no avail.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers!
-Pranav.
cyberpranav
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 01 Jan 2019
Posts: 20

PostPosted: Thu Oct 20, 2022 20:16    Post subject: Found a fix! Reply with quote
Hi team.

I was browsing around the forum and stumbled across a post for WNDR4300 - https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=313310

The discussion in the post above is around SFE. As suggested strongly by @videobruce in the post, I disabled SFE and rebooted the router, as I had nothing to lose and wanted to try this option.

And voila! I do not see any issues any longer on large uploads and downloads on the WDR3500. I did multiple tests and am happy to let you know that disabling SFE has solved my issue.

Enabling SFE back chokes the router and the router hangs and has to be power cycled to bring it back up.

Just wanted to let the team know what worked for me, in case someone else is still facing this issue, they can try this out.

BTW, SFE is enabled by default. Also, I did see a minor bump in CPU usage, now it typically hovers around 8-10%, earlier it was around 3-5%.

Not bad for a router which is over 10 years old. Wink

@EdvinasJ and @thommy181 - Hopefully this will solve your problem too.

Thanks DD-WRT team for all the hard work!
blkt
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 20 Jan 2019
Posts: 5660

PostPosted: Sat Oct 22, 2022 7:11    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thank you for sharing a solution, by disabling SFE. Does this issue persist for you, current builds r50500 or later?
cyberpranav
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 01 Jan 2019
Posts: 20

PostPosted: Sat Oct 22, 2022 7:20    Post subject: The router is on r48432 - 1 Mar 22. Reply with quote
blkt wrote:
Thank you for sharing a solution, by disabling SFE. Does this issue persist for you, current builds r50500 or later?


Hi blkt.

I haven't flashed the latest firmware yet and am still on r48432, from 1st March 2022.

I'll try and upgrade both the routers to r50500 over the weekend and let you know the results. r50500 looks to be stable, as no one reported any issues in the thread on the forum.

Regards,
-Pranav.
cyberpranav
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 01 Jan 2019
Posts: 20

PostPosted: Sun Oct 23, 2022 9:06    Post subject: Upgraded to r50500. Reply with quote
Hello team.

I upgraded the WAN and the repeater routers to r50500. As there were significant changes, I reset both the routers and reconfigured them.

The repeater, WDR3500 chokes and hangs when SFE is enabled. Disabling SFE and testing with large upload/download works well and has no issues.

So for me it looks like SFE is causing the problem, so I'll leave it disabled.

Regards,
-Pranav.
kernel-panic69
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 08 May 2018
Posts: 14126
Location: Texas, USA

PostPosted: Sun Oct 23, 2022 9:53    Post subject: Re: Upgraded to r50500. Reply with quote
cyberpranav wrote:
The repeater, WDR3500 chokes and hangs when SFE is enabled. Disabling SFE and testing with large upload/download works well and has no issues

Repeater being client (station) bridge with VAP, essentially similar to wired AP/switch mode, which requires SFE to be disabled because most likely, you have changed from gateway to router mode.

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cyberpranav
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 01 Jan 2019
Posts: 20

PostPosted: Sun Oct 23, 2022 20:17    Post subject: Re: Upgraded to r50500. Reply with quote
kernel-panic69 wrote:
cyberpranav wrote:
The repeater, WDR3500 chokes and hangs when SFE is enabled. Disabling SFE and testing with large upload/download works well and has no issues

Repeater being client (station) bridge with VAP, essentially similar to wired AP/switch mode, which requires SFE to be disabled because most likely, you have changed from gateway to router mode.


Hmm... I did not change the mode, as the repeater is the internet gateway for devices connected on the 2.4Ghz band.

I've attached a screenshot. I believe as the repeater has DHCP enabled and is just acting as a 'middleman' for internet connectivity it has to be in the Gateway mode. This also helps me keep the networks isolated. Do you think I should try with the Router mode? The WAN WDR4300 is Gateway, as it is directly connected to the ISP modem and has SFE enabled since the beginning of time. Smile

TBH, there is no real need for devices on the repeater network anymore to upload/download large files, but I just wanted to let the team know what worked. I am intrigued with this issue.

Regards,
-Pranav.
EdvinasJ
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 20 Nov 2016
Posts: 8
Location: Lithuania

PostPosted: Wed Nov 16, 2022 17:26    Post subject: Reply with quote
I got really happy at first, but it turns out SFE is not enabled on my router in the first place! I guess this matches my experience, as big downloads work fine on every single device except my laptop. perhaps it's something with the wireless card in it?
blkt
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 20 Jan 2019
Posts: 5660

PostPosted: Wed Nov 16, 2022 17:33    Post subject: Reply with quote
Update the laptop's wireless driver or replace the adapter card and driver entirely.
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