Dreaded daily red light with failed internet requiring router be rebooted

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Dreaded daily red light with failed internet requiring router be rebooted

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Dreaded daily red light with failed internet requiring router be rebooted
Dreaded daily red light with failed internet requiring router be rebooted
2020-08-19 10:27:16 - last edited 2020-08-26 10:08:07
Model: Archer A10  
Hardware Version: V1
Firmware Version: 1.0.2 0.9.1 v1000.0 Build 190305 Rel.62969n(5553)

Hi there,

 

New to using TP-Link routers and so far it's been an unfortunate experience but haven't totally written TP-Link off yet as it seems a nice piece of hardware/software...when it works.

 

I'm getting the same old issue that other users seem to suffer from on several models of TP-Link routers, failed internet.

 

Everything is working fine and then randomly internet fails, it's icon on the router face turning red.

Nothing can fix this except a router reboot.

 

At best the most I've been able to get out of this router is less than 36 hours, at worst sometimes requiring 3 reboots a day.

The router is less than a week old and came with it's latest firmware already installed.

 

Any clues before I return it for a different brand?

 

TIA :)

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Re:Dreaded daily red light with failed internet requiring router be rebooted-Solution
2020-08-26 10:07:38 - last edited 2020-08-26 10:55:04

Kevin_Z wrote

@shiznix 

 

Hello, sorry to respond late.

 

Can you please save the whole system log when the internet works fine then fails and come back again? BTW, how do you recover the connection on the A10 (sorry for my previous typos)? Please DON'T reboot the A10 when the internet stops working on it, as the reboot will clear all the previous logs.

 

We will then contact you via email to further investigate this issue and our engineer will help you with it.

 

Thanks for your cooperation.

 

Hi, no problem.

 

GOOD NEWS: Since moving the wired devices off the router and back onto the ISP's modem 5 days ago, the router has been behaving and it's WAN port hasn't crashed resulting in loss of internet.

 

I tried finding the maximum number of connected devices supported by this hardware, but unfortunately is conspicuously absent from it's spec. sheet (normally 32 devices for this price point), while other TP-Link models do specify it(?).

 

So it seems the A10 is limited to just that, total of 10 devices.

 

Am still within the window to return this hardware for a refund but am keeping it - it's superior wifi coverage compared to the ISP's modem and non-subscription, profile based parental controls with content filtering make it worthwhile now.

 

Happy to help your engineer in reproducing and troubleshooting but will be resisting trialling any firmware updates as I see TP-Link are moving their firmware over to the subscription based HomeCare service.

 

Thanks for your support so far @Kevin_Z :)

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Re:Dreaded daily red light with failed internet requiring router be rebooted
2020-08-20 12:45:49 - last edited 2020-08-21 10:42:51

@shiznix 

 

So in the absence of support so far, thought I'd fill this out with some detail...

 

The TP-Link router is connected via it's WAN port to the Telco provided modem's LAN port as per the documentation that came with the TP-Link Router.

 

All works and works well for a few hours, sometimes a little over a day (though rare), mostly only half a day before the router fails requiring it be rebooted.

 

All troubleshooting has indicated the following:

1. The problem seems to only show up when >=10 devices (less than 12) are connected to the router (both wired and wireless in various combinations)

2. It's not a single device crashing the router

3. It's not the ISP

4. It's not the modem

5. It's not DNS

6. It's the router disconnecting from the modem

 

I'd really like to help with a system log but unfortunately the system log file itself only logs DHCPD events no matter what log level is set (another router bug?).

 

My heart goes out to you Kevin_Z supporting this brand through which I hope is just a troubled time with this issue, however all indications on these forums and in internet reviews seem to indicate otherwise :(

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Re:Dreaded daily red light with failed internet requiring router be rebooted
2020-08-21 09:01:58 - last edited 2020-08-21 10:41:22

@shiznix 

 

Hello,

 

May I know who is your ISP? What is the network bandwidth provided by your ISP?

 

When the internet drops on the AX10, does it show WAN port unplugged or any error on its web interface status page? Is the Internet LED orange or off?

 

Ensure the cable between the AX10 and your ISP modem is good, try with another cat5e or cat6 cable if necessary.

 

Please reset the AX10 first and then log into its web interface, confirm if there is a status for the Internet Negotiation speed:
https://www.tp-link.com/support/faq/2472/

Note: We can get to the Advanced->Network->Internet->Internet Port Negotiation Speed, then change it from Auto-Negotiation speed to 100Mbps Half Duplex to give it a try.

 

May it helps.

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Re:Dreaded daily red light with failed internet requiring router be rebooted
2020-08-21 10:01:09 - last edited 2020-08-30 11:37:56

@Kevin_Z 

 

Thanks very much for your response, your questions answered as follows:

 

> May I know who is your ISP? What is the network bandwidth provided by your ISP?

 

ISP is Vodafone Australia.

It's a FTTN NBN vDSL IPoE connection 50mbps down / 20mbps up bandwidth.

 

 

> When the internet drops on the AX10, does it show WAN port unplugged or any error on its web interface status page? Is the Internet LED orange or off?

 

It's the A10 AC2600, not the AX10 AX1500.

When the internet drops it shows the WAN port as plugged (internet icon lit up), but no internet (internet icon is red instead of a healthy white).

There are no errors shown within the web interface.

Pinging back and forth on either subnet shows as if the Router has severed all WAN<->LAN connection with the Modem, though system routing tables on Router between subnets remain intact.

 

 

> Ensure the cable between the AX10 and your ISP modem is good, try with another cat5e or cat6 cable if necessary.

 

Cable is known to be good (unless it's recently failed) but to eliminate have tried with two other new ethernet Cat5e cables with same result.

 

 

> Please reset the AX10 first and then log into its web interface, confirm if there is a status for the Internet Negotiation speed:
> https://www.tp-link.com/support/faq/2472/

> Note: We can get to the Advanced->Network->Internet->Internet Port Negotiation Speed, then change it from Auto-Negotiation speed to 100Mbps Half Duplex to give it a try.

 

There is no such setting on the A10 (as above).

 

Thinking it may be a device limitation for the A10? Only common ground I've found so far is >=10 devices puts it in internet drop risk mode.

 

Cheers.

 

EDIT: In the need to move forward with this I've this evening moved all wired devices off the TP-Link router and back onto the Vodafone Modem.

Network functionality remains initially seamless, routing between the Modem's subnet (192.168.0.0) and that of the TP-Link router's (192.168.1.0) - hopefully it may go some way to taking some load off the TP-Link router.

 

FYI - the wired devices sit on an ethernet hub at the end of a Powerline Ethernet run.

At the router end, a single ethernet cable runs from the PE adapter to the LAN port (was plugged into the failing TP-Link router, now plugged back into the Modem).

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Re:Dreaded daily red light with failed internet requiring router be rebooted
2020-08-26 01:30:00

@shiznix 

 

Hello, sorry to respond late.

 

Can you please save the whole system log when the internet works fine then fails and come back again? BTW, how do you recover the connection on the A10 (sorry for my previous typos)? Please DON'T reboot the A10 when the internet stops working on it, as the reboot will clear all the previous logs.

 

We will then contact you via email to further investigate this issue and our engineer will help you with it.

 

Thanks for your cooperation.

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Re:Dreaded daily red light with failed internet requiring router be rebooted-Solution
2020-08-26 10:07:38 - last edited 2020-08-26 10:55:04

Kevin_Z wrote

@shiznix 

 

Hello, sorry to respond late.

 

Can you please save the whole system log when the internet works fine then fails and come back again? BTW, how do you recover the connection on the A10 (sorry for my previous typos)? Please DON'T reboot the A10 when the internet stops working on it, as the reboot will clear all the previous logs.

 

We will then contact you via email to further investigate this issue and our engineer will help you with it.

 

Thanks for your cooperation.

 

Hi, no problem.

 

GOOD NEWS: Since moving the wired devices off the router and back onto the ISP's modem 5 days ago, the router has been behaving and it's WAN port hasn't crashed resulting in loss of internet.

 

I tried finding the maximum number of connected devices supported by this hardware, but unfortunately is conspicuously absent from it's spec. sheet (normally 32 devices for this price point), while other TP-Link models do specify it(?).

 

So it seems the A10 is limited to just that, total of 10 devices.

 

Am still within the window to return this hardware for a refund but am keeping it - it's superior wifi coverage compared to the ISP's modem and non-subscription, profile based parental controls with content filtering make it worthwhile now.

 

Happy to help your engineer in reproducing and troubleshooting but will be resisting trialling any firmware updates as I see TP-Link are moving their firmware over to the subscription based HomeCare service.

 

Thanks for your support so far @Kevin_Z :)

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Re:Dreaded daily red light with failed internet requiring router be rebooted
2020-08-27 10:51:39

@shiznix 

 

Hi, thanks for the updates.

 

Basically, the number of available clients depends on the hardware specification, the router’s wireless standard, and other environmental factors like subscription bandwidth, physical obstruction, and signal interference. For a dual-band router, like A10, the recommended clients are 25~30.

 

In a real scenario, the router performance degrades as more devices join the network and use it simultaneously, especially a handful of active devices streaming video or downloading files can quickly max out a shared internet link, which may cause the other clients disconnected from the internet.

 

Hopefully, that answers your question but let us know if you need more details.

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Re:Dreaded daily red light with failed internet requiring router be rebooted
2020-08-30 11:34:34

 

Kevin_Z wrote

@shiznix 

 

Hi, thanks for the updates.

 

Basically, the number of available clients depends on the hardware specification, the router’s wireless standard, and other environmental factors like subscription bandwidth, physical obstruction, and signal interference. For a dual-band router, like A10, the recommended clients are 25~30.

 

In a real scenario, the router performance degrades as more devices join the network and use it simultaneously, especially a handful of active devices streaming video or downloading files can quickly max out a shared internet link, which may cause the other clients disconnected from the internet.

 

Hopefully, that answers your question but let us know if you need more details.

 

Really appreciate your support on this @Kevin_Z.

Wasn't so much a question from me but more perhaps to help shed some light if you're encountering other users with the same issue as to what may be the cause.

 

Clearly load will degrade performance on any router, the A10 however is unique in that when loaded it's WAN port crashes and must be rebooted.

This is not a degradation but a hardware/software failure.

Perhaps the A10 should simply degrade instead of crashing? Just a thought.

 

It's OK I'm working within the A10's real scenario limitation of <10 devices and am more than happy with it :)

 

Signing off for now as solved!

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Re:Dreaded daily red light with failed internet requiring router be rebooted
2020-08-31 02:58:47

@shiznix 

 

Thanks a lot for replying and sharing all the findings, we will surely look into this issue and improve the router performance in the future.

 

Nice day.

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