Archer AX55 EasyMesh devices spamming unnecessary DHCP requests and DNS queries

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Archer AX55 EasyMesh devices spamming unnecessary DHCP requests and DNS queries

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Archer AX55 EasyMesh devices spamming unnecessary DHCP requests and DNS queries
Archer AX55 EasyMesh devices spamming unnecessary DHCP requests and DNS queries
2023-12-09 21:52:29
Model: Archer AX55  
Hardware Version: V1
Firmware Version: 1.2.6 Build 20231130 rel.74059(4555)

I've noticed that my AX55 EasyMesh devices are constantly issuing unnecessary DHCP renewal requests and DNS queries.

 

Main Access Point:

  • DHCP renewal every 110s
  • DNS query every 50s

 

Satellite:

  • DHCP renewal every 50s
  • DNS query every 10s

 

For the DNS queries they cycle through the following hostnames in random order: "wikipedia,org", "amazon,com", "reddit,com", "bing,com", "linkedin,com", "live,com", "netflix,com", "google,com", "yahoo,com", "ebay,com", "tp-link,com", "a,root-servers,net", and possibly more. (Of course with dots not commas, but the form doesn't allow that.)

 

Additional notes:

  • Both devices are running the latest beta firmware. Behavior was very similar with the beta before that.
  • I've recently "downgraded" the main router to AP mode, but I've previously noticed similar behavior in router mode.
  • I now have a separate router (not TP-Link) that acts both as DHCP and DNS server.
  • DHCP server on the main access point is disabled, but the behavior was the same when it was my main router.
  • The DHCP server on my separate router issues leases with 2h duration.

 

Is there an explanation for this behavior? And where can I disable it?

Especially the DNS queries: Network equipment has no business making random DNS queries for completely unrelated hostnames. I understand that occasional queries are necessary for firmware update checks or similar, but this is definitely something else.

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Re:Archer AX55 EasyMesh devices spamming unnecessary DHCP requests and DNS queries
2024-01-05 02:14:55

  @Coriander 

 

You could try the latest 1.2.6 official firmware to see if it has the same behavior as the beta firmware.

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Re:Archer AX55 EasyMesh devices spamming unnecessary DHCP requests and DNS queries
2024-01-05 04:07:47 - last edited 2024-01-05 04:12:57

Coriander wrote

For the DNS queries they cycle through the following hostnames in random order: "wikipedia,org", "amazon,com", "reddit,com", "bing,com", "linkedin,com", "live,com", "netflix,com", "google,com", "yahoo,com", "ebay,com", "tp-link,com", "a,root-servers,net", and possibly more. (Of course with dots not commas, but the form doesn't allow that.)

...

Is there an explanation for this behavior? And where can I disable it?

Especially the DNS queries: Network equipment has no business making random DNS queries for completely unrelated hostnames. I understand that occasional queries are necessary for firmware update checks or similar, but this is definitely something else.

  @Coriander 

 

A similar behavior has been observed before on other devices. Given the websites you mentioned, I suspect that DNS queries are to determine if the devices are online.

If that's the case this is hard coded into the device FW and can't be disabled - check this post.

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