Firmware 1.2.0 Build 20231229 Rel 43148 broke my network

Firmware 1.2.0 Build 20231229 Rel 43148 broke my network

Firmware 1.2.0 Build 20231229 Rel 43148 broke my network
Firmware 1.2.0 Build 20231229 Rel 43148 broke my network
2024-08-12 15:05:29
Tags: #Firmware Update #Revert Firmware
Model: Deco X55  
Hardware Version:
Firmware Version: 1.2.0 Build 20231229 Rel 43148

So, I have fiber with a static IP. This plugs into the main Deco x55 router (the other 3 are backhaul satellites). All 4 Deco units are the same models. This router is the DHCP server for my 192.168.6.1 network. I use a Pihole server for DNS only (DHCP server is disabled) on 192.168.6.6. The main Deco point to only the Pihole server for DNS... I have no secondary DNS assigned. Up until yesterday everything was working fine. And by everything, I mean that I run an always online network because I host game servers, voip servers, and web servers. However, when I applied the "new firmware" on all the Deco points as directed by the TP Link app, it broke ALL inbound traffic. Outbound still works and internal LAN connections still work. But ALL of the servers are now unreachable from external.

 

I noticed 3 of the 4 Deco points received the 1.2.0 Build 20231229 Rel 43148 version of firmware while 1 of them received 1.5.1 Build 20240417 Rel 52783.

 

Also... there is an issue with the Subnet mask settings now. The main Deco point (Router) seems to have changed it's subnet mask to 255.255.252.0 after the firmware update instead of what the rest of the network has been using for years 255.255.255.0. I checked all the servers including the DNS PiHole server and they are all still set to 255.255.255.0.  However, when I try to change the Deco point (Router) subnet back to 255.255.255.0 from within the TP-Link app ... it states

 

"LAN IP address and DNS server address (192.168.6.6) cannot be in the same subnet. Please enter another."

 

What's the deal?! They have been on the same subnet for years without issue. Even the network guys at work said that error is wrong and you can absolutely have the DNS server and LAN IP address on the same subnet. They all point fingers to this being a firmware bug that got introduced since everything was working fine prior to the update.

 

So... at this point I think I need to revert to the previous firmware on all the devices otherwise my servers will remain unreachable. How do I go about reverting the firmware? On the mobile app... there does not appear to be any way to revert firmware. The only options are: System Time, Update Deco, Reboot Deco, and Reboot Schedule.

 

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#1
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8 Reply
Re:Firmware 1.2.0 Build 20231229 Rel 43148 broke my network
2024-08-13 01:26:23

  @Zen007 

Hi, Did you plan to set the Pihole DNS-192.168.6.6 under the IPv4 DNS?

How about setting 192.168.6.6 as the DNS server under Deco APP>More>Advanced>DHCP>Primary DNS server?

change DNS server settings on Deco (Step 4)

 

By the way, did you still remember the original version of Deco X55_V1.2_1.2.0? is it 1.1.0 Build 20230522?

Thank you very much and best regards.

 

 

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#2
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Re:Firmware 1.2.0 Build 20231229 Rel 43148 broke my network
2024-08-13 03:37:45

  @David-TP ... yes. When I first bought the 3 unit kit, They came with the original firmware v1.0. But as soon as I brought them online, the mobile app told me to update the firmware on all of them. So I upgraded all 3 units to 1.2_1.1.0_230522. I bought a 4th unit and realized it had a different hardware version, so it got the 1.5 firmware update. Everything has been working completely fine since the original setup. PiHole was 192.168.6.6 and worked fine with all my devices. I set the router to 192.168.6.1 and it's DNS under More->Advanced->DHCP->Primary DNS to the PiHole address 192.168.6.6 with no secondary DNS. Again, until the latest firmware update, everything has been working fine. There were no alterations to any network settings on the router or the servers. I simply got a message in the app that a firmware update was available, so I applied it. That's when the problem started.

 

I decided to revert (rollback) the firmware. I downloaded it and went into the web-ui ... not the mobile app. I picked the firmware and clicked upgrade, but it simply failed and said to get the latest upgrade... which is already on the router/points and is causing the whole issue. There doesn't seem to be a way to force older firmware back onto the router/points.

 

So for the sake of my wife's access to work and streaming... I switched the router back to Google and Cloudflare DNS. So all outbound traffic/requests work. However, all inbound traffic is stopped at the router now. It's as if Port Forwarding just stopped working.

 

So I'm still at a loss and trying to figure out how to fix the issue since I can't seem to rollback to the firmware that was working.

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#3
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Re:Firmware 1.2.0 Build 20231229 Rel 43148 broke my network
2024-08-14 07:01:54

  @Zen007 

Hi, Thanks for the further update.

1.2.0 Build 20231229 is the latest firmware version for Deco X55_V1.26 while 1.5.1 Build 20240417 is for Deco X55_V1.6.

Personally, I don't think the firmware 1.2.0 caused the reported issue, but we can try to downgrade one of the Deco X55_V1.26 to 1.1.0 first:

- The firmware downgrade needs to be implemented via firmware recovery:

How to use firmware recovery on Deco

1.1.0 firmware download link:

Deco X55(US)_V1.26_1.1.0 Build 20230522

 

It is suggested to recover one of the satellite Deco X55_V1.26 back to 1.1.0 first, then switch to this unit as the main Deco so that we can keep the previous network configuration:

How to replace the main Deco with another Deco

 

Wait for your reply and best regards.

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#4
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Re:Firmware 1.2.0 Build 20231229 Rel 43148 broke my network
2024-08-15 00:54:31
So before I start to apply the firmware, I decided to turn off PiHole and my entire ProxMox system to eliminate it from thought. I spun up a new web server (with nginx) and a new Teamspeak 3 Server (yeah, I'm dating myself admitting this one). Then I went into the TP-Link app on my Android phone to change the Port Forwarding from the ProxMox servers to the new Windows servers. DENIED! The app will not let me Port Forward even after deleting the ones pointing at the ProxMox servers. So this has nothing to do with my ProxMox setup. I can't Port Forward any new address from the app. The error I get when trying... "Adding this entry will assign a fixed IP address to this device and clear the IP address you reserved for this device before. Add now?" ... so I click Add ... "Failed to save your settings. Please try again." over and over and over. So I can't even set up any new Port Forwards regardless of where they are pointing to.
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#5
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Re:Firmware 1.2.0 Build 20231229 Rel 43148 broke my network
2024-08-24 17:01:27

David-TP wrote

  @Zen007 

Hi, Thanks for the further update.

1.2.0 Build 20231229 is the latest firmware version for Deco X55_V1.26 while 1.5.1 Build 20240417 is for Deco X55_V1.6.

Personally, I don't think the firmware 1.2.0 caused the reported issue, but we can try to downgrade one of the Deco X55_V1.26 to 1.1.0 first:

- The firmware downgrade needs to be implemented via firmware recovery:

How to use firmware recovery on Deco

1.1.0 firmware download link:

Deco X55(US)_V1.26_1.1.0 Build 20230522

 

It is suggested to recover one of the satellite Deco X55_V1.26 back to 1.1.0 first, then switch to this unit as the main Deco so that we can keep the previous network configuration:

How to replace the main Deco with another Deco

 

Wait for your reply and best regards.

 

The firmware rollback to 1.1.0 then immediately rolling back up to 1.2.0 worked! All I can think of is that even though the Deco app (Android) showed the 1.2.0 firmware applied "successfully" ... somehow it really didn't complete. Because again... everything except Port Forwarding worked fine. I didn't change any of the setting in the router. I didn't use a satellite as a new main router. I simply rolled back my current Main router and rolled it forward again... this time from the web interface.

 

I am back in business! Thanks for the help!

 

I don't see a way to mark this as the "Solution" or "Solved" ... so for anyone reading this thread... the above info from @David-TP worked.

 

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#6
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Re:Firmware 1.2.0 Build 20231229 Rel 43148 broke my network
2024-09-13 23:50:21

  @David-TP hey, is there any upgrade coming anytime soon? This issue is real and there are other threads also talking about this.

 

This issue started happening to me as soon as I upgraded via OTA like in April. Unfortunately support team wasn't any helpful stating that there are no issues with the firmware. I bought these devices as an upgrade to my former X20s but these have been much worse because of this.

 

I'm writing now because I'm tired of it already. I have to go every couple of days to unplug and plug back every device when the network becomes too unstable.

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#7
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Re:Firmware 1.2.0 Build 20231229 Rel 43148 broke my network
2024-09-14 03:22:18

  @Edser 

Hi, Thank you very much for the feedback.

A new firmware for Deco X55_V1.26 is under testing but I'm not sure how long it would take.

 

I have sent a new beta firmware which is mainly to optimize the 2.4GHz network stability.

It is suggested to install this version to see whether it helped or not.

Wait for your reply and best regards.

 

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#8
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Re:Firmware 1.2.0 Build 20231229 Rel 43148 broke my network
Saturday - last edited Saturday

Hey David,

 

Sorry I never got a notification on your reply. This may interest you:
 

To any who needs help regarding this issue, I found out the problem generates with QoS on this version.


On the second month of me buying I got this OTA upgrade, since than I've had power cycle every AP at least twice a week because the network would become unusable and luckily 8 months later I was able to find a solution. Turning QoS will solve the issue, or at least it has for me for the past 4 weeks.

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#9
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