Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2023 11:37 Post subject: Current status with BCM4709 SOCs?
Hey guys,
I have been experiencing the DHCP related connectivity issues others have described in the past? Basically the lease drops on devices, then refuses to renew. I tried increasing lease times, and also tried disabling NTP, since I recall reading something about that causing issues on occasion? I have both an R7000P and a RT-5300, and I seem to have the same or similar issues on both routers?
Do we have any news on the 4709? Any new things in recent firmware updates?
Joined: 08 May 2018 Posts: 14221 Location: Texas, USA
Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2023 18:22 Post subject:
If your ISP has some ridiculously configured lease time, it may cause issues (especially in older releases). DD-WRT is not responsible for stupid ISP techs. I thought that issue was fixed, though... _________________ "Life is but a fleeting moment, a vapor that vanishes quickly; All is vanity"
Contribute To DD-WRT Pogo - A minimal level of ability is expected and needed... DD-WRT Releases 2023 (PolitePol)
DD-WRT Releases 2023 (RSS Everything)
----------------------
Linux User #377467 counter.li.org / linuxcounter.net
I have not seen any problems related to this in the recent build threads, have you an indication it is a current problem?
I have r51855 on the R7000P. Prior to that I was using a very old 4xxxx build on this device, which was relatively stable, but I was concerned about the potential for security vulnerabilities in older firmware? btw I'm a former CCNA, so I know my way around network infrastructure. Also, turns out I've been using DD-WRT since 2014. Time flies when you're not having problems
I can't recall the specific firmware version that was running on the AC-5300, but I set that one up in very early November last year? I believe it was an October build? I wouldn't be surprised if it was close to the version I am using on the R7000P, since I switched back to using it after having similar issues with the AC-5300?
kernel-panic69 wrote:
If your ISP has some ridiculously configured lease time, it may cause issues (especially in older releases). DD-WRT is not responsible for stupid ISP techs. I thought that issue was fixed, though...
You might be onto something there. A few months back we were starting to have stability issues with our VDSL connection, which had otherwise been rock solid for five years? I assumed it was something dying our old Cisco 867 (with a pure pass-through config), but maybe there was a DHCP related issue that I hadn't thought to look into? I didn't have time to look into that modem's config anyway, so I replaced it with a new D-Link DSL-G225 with the latest stock firmware. That seemed to resolve most of the stability issues, but I wouldn't be entirely surprised if it was somehow handling DHCP related commands better? It definitely renegotiates connections infinitely faster than the old 867, which certainly might indicate a DHCP lease related issue? I'll have a play around with it, for sure.
Also, I was going to say that my config was the same as I posted maybe 3-6 months ago, but I'm actually pretty sure it isn't the same? When the issues first appeared on the AC-5300, I was really short on time. I did refer to the forum a bit regarding some known wifi config issues with the R7000P, but looking at it now I can see it's not the same? I'll post it in a sec.
My other theory was maybe something weird was happening with WPA authentication, since the only way to "fix" the wifi connectivity issues was to disable and reenable the relevant device's wifi adapter. Previously I had used a WPA+WPA2 config, but it's been a long time since I needed WPA within my network. So I switched both that and my wifi extender to WPA2 (AES) only, but it didn't make any difference.
Preferably, I'd like to have the AC-5300 as my gateway router, and use the R7000P as a wireless extender, connected via ethernet to the AC-5300? Obviously there were known issues with the firmware in that mode at the time, so I reverted back to my previous Netgear EX-6200 wifi extender (stock firmware). Has that wireless bridging issue been resolved, or is there a specific older release that I should use on the R7000P for that purpose? Regarding the AC-5300, any advice you can give on its radio configs would be handy, as I know the extra radio can complicate things? Same too with the R7000P, since I recall something weird regarding the 40/80MHz config on the AC radio? My config currently has the N radio configured on G/N mode, but I finally got rid of the last piece of ancient hardware that didn't support the N standard a few months ago. Not sure if that makes any difference, but more a case of highlighting that my pasted config will show the G/N config?
Finally, regarding DHCP, I just noticed something weird in the logs. Some of the devices have been intermittently sending a heap of DHCP requests in an insanely short period? Like this:
Joined: 18 Mar 2014 Posts: 12887 Location: Netherlands
Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2023 6:18 Post subject:
Already the first screenshot with the Basic setup page has some questionable settings.
Usually you Enable "Ignore WAN DNS" to not use the providers DNS.
You only have CTF enabled and not CTF + FA, maybe your router does not have FA but if it does you should use that.
Local DNS and Gateway should be the addresses of the next hop and not the router itself but just leave it at the default 0.0.0.0 and it will deal with that automatically.
Joined: 08 May 2018 Posts: 14221 Location: Texas, USA
Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2023 14:36 Post subject:
I would have to agree with @egc. Your configurations are not optimal, and this information has been covered in a plethora of threads on this forum over the past almost 5 years. Not sure why you have a client sending requests every minute, but that doesn't seem to fall in line with your lease time settings... but I do agree that your DNS-related settings are incorrect and will cause issues (I know firsthand). It is always best to be on the current release for the sake of feedback to development for (actual) bugs and issues, but not absolutely necessary (yes, everyone, be shocked that *I* said that!). I don't have time to take your screenshots and annotate them, unfortunately, but @egc has given you some good pointers in the right direction. _________________ "Life is but a fleeting moment, a vapor that vanishes quickly; All is vanity"
Contribute To DD-WRT Pogo - A minimal level of ability is expected and needed... DD-WRT Releases 2023 (PolitePol)
DD-WRT Releases 2023 (RSS Everything)
----------------------
Linux User #377467 counter.li.org / linuxcounter.net
Sorry for the late reply. Most of my issues were resolved using build r52869, on the RT-AC5300. I assume this would also be the case for my R7000P? I did experience some major wifi instability at first, until I did the following:
- Disabled both QAM modes (more as a precaution than anything)
- Enabled multi-user beanforming, as mentioned elsewhere (I believe this played a substantial part in my issues)
- Reduced the ACK timing from the high amount specified in the forum sticky. This may be related to our AC wifi extender being placed within 30m (100ft) of the RT-AC5300? Timings of 900 on all three radios worked well.
- Tried both 40Mhz and 80MHz on the two AC radios, in AC/N mode. Currently operating at 80Mhz with no apparent issues
- Changed the beacon interval to 400ms on N/G radio, 300ms on AC/N (seemed to reduce TX error count, but might not have been a factor)
- I think this one is important: Set TX power to 120mW (all radios). 72mW appeared to be insufficient, and flat out (999) as specified in the wiki created a massive number of TX errors. 120mW appears to be an optimal setting? Current count for RX is 7199098 OK, 29 errors, and for TX is 24798589 OK, 3718 errors.
The NTP / DHCP lease issue was still present (wifi connections drop and don't renew every 30-180 minutes), but a combination of the suggested workarounds appears to have resolved it? Setting the NTP update interval and wireless security key intervals to 86400 fixed it. From memory, I think changing the NTP update interval didn't make a difference, but I honestly can't recall? Changing the wireless security key interval seemed to do the trick?
Is the wireless extender mode still bricked? Can I set the R7000P up as a wireless bridge, to replace my very old EX6200 extender?
Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2023 19:41 Post subject: ex6200
Hi Winston, i'm also using a Netgear EX6200 extender, now with DDWRT to convert it to a 'router', and would love to connect with experts and fellow learners here to learn how to make it work, and then work optimally. Can carry it to another thread if peeps prefer.
above posters:
I thought I saw in optimal broadcomm basic and adv settings to set ACK timing to 100 - 90 meters? I would like to go lower also, because our 'router' will be within 30m but thru 2 floors.
I thought the stickies and recommended settings suggested beacon of 100ms?
...and DCHP lease times of 1 hour? (I set 59 minutes)
I would like to also use a manual power of 71 or lower, basically as low power as optimal, to make sure I overcome the neighbors' signals, but that's it. I don't need a huge range.
