X20 Deco routers randomly disconnect (blink red) for 5-10 seconds throughout the course of the day
This thread has been locked for further replies. You can start a new thread to share your ideas or ask questions.
Hello,
I just got my Deco X20 routers a few days ago and I'm mostly happy with them except for one glaring issue. The main router that I connect to my (brand new) Spectrum modem will randomly stop producing a wifi signal throughout the day for ~5-10 seconds at a time. This causes the other connected Deco routers to disconnect for a slightly longer period of time as they try to reconnect. To be clear, it stops producing a wifi signal completely - it does not continue to produce wifi but with no internet connection. My devices lose the wifi signal completely and it pops up again in 5-10 seconds. This is why I think it's a Deco issue and not an ISP one. I work from home which means lots of video calls and meetings so you can imagine how disruptive it is for my internet to cut out for 5-10 seconds multiple times during a single meeting.
I've tried some of the suggestions I've seen on here like:
- Updating the firmware to the most recent firmware (didn't help)
- Turning on IPv6
- Using Google DNS instead of the automatically selected one
- Rebooting the modem and Decos
- Running an ethernet cable from my closest Deco into my PC for a more stable connection
None of these have worked at all.
I attached my log file. Does it look like this issue is caused by the Deco routers or my ISP?
Look for the following log lines in Main Deco logs:
...
Mon Nov 2 10:22:12 2020 daemon.notice conn-indicator: Connectivity changed: ONLINE(0x0) -> OFFLINE(0x1)
...
Mon Nov 2 10:22:42 2020 daemon.notice conn-indicator: Connectivity changed: OFFLINE(0x1) -> ONLINE(0x0)
...
These log lines will tell you when Main Deco lost connection to the Internet, and when connection came back. 30 seconds outage in this example.
Unfortunately, Deco logs are not kept for long time, but if you check them early in the morning you will find brief outages that have happened during the last night, which could have been missed otherwise.
Also, you can start recording times and duration of outages, from these logs, for the inevitable conversation with ISP tech support you are going to have.
In my case, after initial denial by ISP that there is anything wrong with their network, they sent technician who found the problem with their cables outside of my house, and fixed it by replacing one of cables.
What helped to convince ISP support take issue seriously is the timeline and duration of outages I provided them with. While it is OK for Internet to go down once in a while at night (ISP maintenance) or occasionally during the day (technician fixing someone else's problem in your area) - having random times when Internet goes down during day and night hours is the thing that is not OK and deserves an explanation from an ISP.
By the way, my modem is also Hitron, so I can share how it works. When Hitron notices quality of downstream or upstream signal in TV cable dropping below acceptable threshold, it will reboot itself.
How to find if this is the case, if your Hitron user interface is similar to mine:
1. See WAN Up Time under Status/System Information in Hitron Web UI. Every time Hitron reboots itself, WAN Up Time is reset to 0. It won't tell you how many times Hitron rebooted, but it'll tell you the time of the last reboot. Deco logs will tell you how many time it happened in last few hours, and duration of outages. If duration of an outage is always the same or close, it is another hint it is Hitron modem reboot.
Note that LAN Up Time is not reset, interestingly.
WAN Up Time is first thing to check, if you have it reported in your Hitron model. It'll tell you right away if this is ISP problem.
2. Under DOCSIS WAN section, in Hitron Web UI, see Downstream Overview and Upstream Overview. Google for what is acceptable signal strength for both and compare with yours. Sorry, didn't save the link I googled when investigated my Internet issues.
Look for the following log lines in Main Deco logs:
...
Mon Nov 2 10:22:12 2020 daemon.notice conn-indicator: Connectivity changed: ONLINE(0x0) -> OFFLINE(0x1)
...
Mon Nov 2 10:22:42 2020 daemon.notice conn-indicator: Connectivity changed: OFFLINE(0x1) -> ONLINE(0x0)
...
These log lines will tell you when Main Deco lost connection to the Internet, and when connection came back. 30 seconds outage in this example.
Unfortunately, Deco logs are not kept for long time, but if you check them early in the morning you will find brief outages that have happened during the last night, which could have been missed otherwise.
Also, you can start recording times and duration of outages, from these logs, for the inevitable conversation with ISP tech support you are going to have.
In my case, after initial denial by ISP that there is anything wrong with their network, they sent technician who found the problem with their cables outside of my house, and fixed it by replacing one of cables.
What helped to convince ISP support take issue seriously is the timeline and duration of outages I provided them with. While it is OK for Internet to go down once in a while at night (ISP maintenance) or occasionally during the day (technician fixing someone else's problem in your area) - having random times when Internet goes down during day and night hours is the thing that is not OK and deserves an explanation from an ISP.
By the way, my modem is also Hitron, so I can share how it works. When Hitron notices quality of downstream or upstream signal in TV cable dropping below acceptable threshold, it will reboot itself.
How to find if this is the case, if your Hitron user interface is similar to mine:
1. See WAN Up Time under Status/System Information in Hitron Web UI. Every time Hitron reboots itself, WAN Up Time is reset to 0. It won't tell you how many times Hitron rebooted, but it'll tell you the time of the last reboot. Deco logs will tell you how many time it happened in last few hours, and duration of outages. If duration of an outage is always the same or close, it is another hint it is Hitron modem reboot.
Note that LAN Up Time is not reset, interestingly.
WAN Up Time is first thing to check, if you have it reported in your Hitron model. It'll tell you right away if this is ISP problem.
2. Under DOCSIS WAN section, in Hitron Web UI, see Downstream Overview and Upstream Overview. Google for what is acceptable signal strength for both and compare with yours. Sorry, didn't save the link I googled when investigated my Internet issues.
That's great news to know that the issue was resolved by replacing the Hitron EN2251 cable modem with Spectrum.