RT-N66U does not auto-reconnect to WAN

[PPlant]

Greetings dear SNB members!

My RT-N66U has served me well for a long time.
Recently my ISP have had some problems, and I have discovered that when the modem connection drops and returns again, the router does not auto reconnect to the modem.
I have to restart the router, or click on connect from the router web-menu to get the internet connection back again. Connetion between modem and router is auto IP.
Any suggestions?
Firmware is last Version: 3.0.0.4.376_3861-g11c21b3

 

[L&LD]

That is nowhere close to the latest firmware.

Suggest you upgrade to the RMerlin 378.55 level or one of the forks (john9527's or hggomes).

Unplug all USB devices, reboot router, flash new firmware and then:

Reset the router to factory defaults. Reboot.

Configure the router minimally and manually (do not use a saved backup config file) to secure it and connect to your ISP.

I would also suggest you use a new ssid for both bands too.

The above needs to be done for any new firmware you try going from your current firmware or between any of the forks.

 

[PPlant]

Many thanks for your reply!
The router has been so incredible stable that I hesitate changing too much.
However, the router has never been reset to factory defaults, and the SSIDs have never been changed. So that is definitely something I will try first.
If that doesn't work I will consider the RMerlin stuff.
Thanks again!

 

[mstombs]

I have had this problem with wan type dhcp for a long time with many firmwares including recent merlin. It is fundamental with the dhcp protocol that the server cannot revoke a lease, it is up to the client to notice loss of connectivity and request a new one. Windows PCs for example detect loss of internet connection and immediately try requesting a new IP sometimes effectively spamming the dhcp server with dhcp ack requests checking current IP still valid. It seems the BusyBox udhcpc has a valid lease so just waits till it expires unless something else pokes it. Asus have a separate program wanduck which does extra checks, can check cable connection etc, but I use an extra ping script (with merlin) to monitor the wan connection and force as renew. I recall dd-wrt has such a script built in.