All wired connections dropped-wireless works though

[rletampa]

Hi,

I’m have a RT-AC68U running merlin firmware 3.0.0.4.374.43_2. The merlin firmware stabilized the device as compared to the stock firmware that shipped with it.

After running successfully for 12 days without an interruption I lost all of the wired ports on my router (WAN and LAN). I was able to recover by unplugging everything including the power adapter. I pushed the power switch to the on position and let it sit for a half hour. I plugged everything back in and the unit works again. (I saw this advice in another post, tried it, and it worked for me.) I have the unit plugged into a UPS unit.

This is the second time this has happened on this unit.

Within the last year I replaced all of my patch cables to Cat-6 and ran a number speed tests between PCs, etc and created a pretty stable environment for myself. I originally had a RT-AC66U running stock firmware—it was very stable. It ran close to six months without any service interruptions. One day all of its wired connections dropped (WAN and LAN) though the wireless connections still worked. I called ASUS tech support and was advised to RMA the unit. That’s when I upgraded to the RT-AC68U. Now it’s happening to it.

It strikes me as some sort of power problem (voltage, etc) but I know nothing about troubleshooting that sort of thing. I have a smaller, spare UPS and was thinking about swapping that, but other than that not sure where to go next. Any advice for troubleshooting and/or keeping this from happening to me again?

Thanks,
-Rob.

 

[KGB7]

Start with by removing UPS out of the equation by plugging the router directly in to a power strip.

How often does it happen since your first encountered the issue?

Could be your router is failing and needs to be replaced.

 

[rletampa]

This has happened twice with this router. The first time I encountered it, it had been running for about 30 days. I unplugged it to do some cleaning in that area, brought it back up and about a day or two later it failed. 12 days later it failed again.

I find it odd that it happened to my original RT-AC66U also. I googled extensively for someone that may have had the same experience but could not find anything. Perhaps I didn't search for the right thing.

I'll try to eliminate the UPS from the equation. Thanks.

 

[TonyH]

Hi,
When you say wired connections dropped, all the lan port LED indicators go out?
Or do they flash very rapidly, stays on solid? If LEDs don't go out, how many wired device do you have? unplug one and so on, you know where I am getting at. It could be one of the wired device is causing the symptom.

 

[rletampa]

Hi TonyH,

All of the lights were still on and flashing quickly (I think). They were definitely on and I don't remember them blinking.

I have a all wired ports occupied. One of the ports links to a small 4 port gigabit switch that has 2 or 3 devices plugged into it. With both wired and wireless devices I have about 15 devices connected at any given time.

I hadn't thought about one of the devices hosing the whole device. Should I have to reboot the router if I unplug a single device? ...and, I'll likely start with the switch first. The thing is stays fairly stable so it may be a week or more before I encounter another failure.

Thanks for the tip.

 

[KGB7]

If you are running a switch in your network, then i would by pass it from the network as another process of elimination.


In the future, and this goes for every one. Please give us as much info as possible so we can better help you.

 

[sinshiva]

ok, i had an interesting experience recently that might be similar to what you are experiencing.

so, my ac56r randomly became unresponsive recently. (lights on, nobody home) it was attached to a cyberpower powerstrip, pretty basic with phone in/2x out for my ADSL setup. here in florida, we've had some pretty crummy weather this last month, such as when my incident took place.

when the router became unresponsive, just hitting the power switch on the back wasn't enough; failed to boot. i then unplugged the power adapter and replugged it and the router rebooted fine

so, i stuck my cheap analog multimeter into the powerstrip and it was reading ~125 VAC. i tested my wall and another powerstrip and it read ~120VAC. according to the cyberpowerstrip, it's spec'd for 125VAC but it looks like a powersurge/brownout/whatever bumped it up from 120 to 125 and it pissed the router/router's powerbrick off. i've since replaced the powerstrip with a belkin powerstrip and it's yet to have this problem.

after replacing the powerstrip, i plugged the cyberpower into a wall without any devices attached and the multimeter was reading 120 VAC. weird.

on another occasion a few months back, i left for the weekend and when i came back, my adsl modem was frozen/unresponsive and at the approximate temperature of fire. so, this more recent incident with my ac56r was the final straw leading to the replacement of my powerstrip.

 

[TonyH]

Hi,
Measuring voltage alone doesn't tell much. One reason I lug around Tek 'scope when I want to check any thing related to power supply.

 

[TonyH]

Hi,
Sounds like a plan. May take some time to nail the culprit but I am almost certain it is not the router doing it. Gook luck.

 

[rletampa]

UPDATE:

Hi, my router dropped all of its wired connections again after 34 days. There were a couple of times during the month that I seemed to lose connectivity for a few minutes but it seemed to heal itself.

Per the advice posted previously, I have eliminated a 4 port gigabit switch from the mix.

So, after it died, I unplugged all connections, including the power adapter, turned it on for about an hour, turned it off, plugged things back in (except for the switch) and it's been running for 16 days now.

I had a printer and a HD Homerun TV tuner attached to my switch that I am living without.

This is a painfully slow troubleshooting process. Hope it pays off.

 

[ngerasimatos]

UPDATE:

Hi, my router dropped all of its wired connections again after 34 days. There were a couple of times during the month that I seemed to lose connectivity for a few minutes but it seemed to heal itself.

Per the advice posted previously, I have eliminated a 4 port gigabit switch from the mix.

So, after it died, I unplugged all connections, including the power adapter, turned it on for about an hour, turned it off, plugged things back in (except for the switch) and it's been running for 16 days now.

I had a printer and a HD Homerun TV tuner attached to my switch that I am living without.

This is a painfully slow troubleshooting process. Hope it pays off.

What type of GB switch is connected? Can you provide the model and manufacturer please.

 

[rletampa]

It's a d-link model dgs-2205.

 

[rletampa]

SOLVED.

Hi. After taking the aging dlink switch out of the equation I have been running without incident for 45 days now. I bought and installed a new 8 port gigabit switch on day 30. (Upvel 8 port Gbit for $25--it does the job)

Interestingly, I read some old posts on Newegg about my old switch. It seems others might have experienced something similar to me.

Everything appears to be stable now. Thanks for the help.