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Can kill switch trigger restart of AC86u?

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Cmeechan

Occasional Visitor
Hi, first post from a lockdown 'that's-a-good-project' router newbie.

I'm in France using an SFR box. Got as far as cascading the Asus as a VPN Client. My wifi signal fluctuates and I think causes my VPN (usually good, VPNUK) to drop. Restarting today kicked it back into life. I read the kill switch in Merlin (not installed yet) is for stopping traffic being routed if the VPN drops. However, I'd like (wish?) that the box could restart if that occurs. My end goal is to use the Asus with a Smart TV to access UK channels, and it'd be a pain to keep turning the router on and off.

2nd query, I am thinking of changing from Smart Connect to separate 2.5 and 5Ghz channels to use wifi with an iMac in same room on 5Ghz (for speed) and TV with VPN on ethernet. Guess I need to dive in to Policy posts on here to do that? Rather than the VPN Client menu I've used to far?

If that gets complicated would sacrifice 2 channels for having the box reboot automatically!

Thanks, and hope you can point me in the right direction...
 
This makes no sense. Any WiFi issues a client has shouldn't have any effect on the VPN client running on the router.

You need to check the router's syslog and find out what is actually happening.

As for Smart Connect I'd definitely turn it off. At least for now as it can cause problems if it isn't set up just right.

P.S. I can't see how Smart Connect has any relevance to VPN policy rules. :confused:
 
Thanks Colin, you're talking to an absolute beginner! Captured these off the log, I notice "no server certification" in Screenshot 2, may need to add that? And "ISP's DHCP did not function properly". The rest I"m afraid is Chinese to me... had hoped I could use the router prety much out of the box (!) Just been reading about ping-restarts. I have a mate in IT, may need to reach out. But perhaps there's some basics in this log to fix...?
 

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There's nothing much of interest in those screenshots as they only show the beginning of the log file. We'd need to see the section of the log that covered the time period when you were experiencing problems (or preferably the entire log file which can be exported by clicking on the "Save" button).
 
Thanks Colin, much appreciated help, here's the Save... no idea why 05 May is there BTW, expecting the failure was on 26 April
 

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The only obvious potential issue in the log is the 2.4GHz WiFi connection. The channel selection is set to "automatic". We can see in the log that the router is repeatedly changing the channel in a vain attempt to find better one. When this happens any clients connected to the 2.4GHz band will loose their connection for a second or so.

I suggest you turn off Smart Connect and change the 2.4GHz Control Channel to a fixed number (try 1 or 11). Set Channel bandwidth to 20MHz.
 
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Changes made, will see if the VPN remains steady. Otherwise, being non-technical I could schedule a restart daily (not fixing the underlying issue I know).

I had a d'oh! moment: I've be been looking at wifi when the Asus with VPN will plug into a Smart TV with an ethernet cable. At which point 2.4 vs 5GHz is a non-debate (?). I had considered attempting VPN on 2.4 only to see if the 5GHz signal would be stronger than the SFR box (which it is). But the gain may not be worth the tech effort...
 
I couldn't see any issues with the VPN in your log file, although some of the information is missing just prior to the reboot. I'm guessing that information was lost because you simply turned off the power to the router. The next time this happens log into the router's GUI and save the log file. Then reboot the router using the button in the GUI.
 
Hi Colin (if you're around), and all. My radio silence is due to returning the AC86U to Amazon...it died completely. Perhaps on a stormy night (though had surge protection) or just failed. Have bought an AC68U instead.

And finally have a VPN router connected to a new Smart TV, working fine, although with the same issue: the VPN drops – in this case within 24 hours of setting it up – not so easy for me as the AC86U.

My aim is to know if this is a VPN provider issue or not (I'm using VPNUK.org and actually the VPN does also drop when running on a MacBook).

I will try your previous fix too Colin: "I suggest you turn off Smart Connect and change the 2.4GHz Control Channel to a fixed number (try 1 or 11). Set Channel bandwidth to 20MHz."

If anyone could interpret the syslog to diagnose the problem that would also be a great help in talking to the VPN provider (they have good support), and possibly changing to another.

Many thanks!
 

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And finally have a VPN router connected to a new Smart TV, working fine, although with the same issue: the VPN drops – in this case within 24 hours of setting it up – not so easy for me as the AC86U.

My aim is to know if this is a VPN provider issue or not (I'm using VPNUK.org and actually the VPN does also drop when running on a MacBook).
Your log file covers the period from 11:55 2/7/2020 to 12:34 3/7/2020. What times during this period did you experience the drops?

Can you describe what your are experiencing during a "drop"? How long does it last?

The only obvious issue in the log file is the VPN connection going down briefly on 3/7/2020 at 07:04. Was this time when you experienced a problem? What about any other times?
 
Hi again Colin, so the 11:55am time would be when I finally got the router configured. I connected to the Smart TV by ethernet cable – I won't really be using wifi frequently, since I have a standard French ISP box for that. So using a catch up app on the TV (iPlayer say) or accessing the wifi is the only time I get to realise the router is down.

That was the case through the TV at about 8pm last night (if VPN is off, UK apps won't run). Wifi also would not work, no connection possible. I only got round to restarting the router this morning, hence the time span. The drop is just one instance, lights remain on the router, but since it's setup as a VPN client (and presumably the VPN has disconnected) the router does nothing – until restarted – and VPN and wifi now work fine again.

If the mystery is to do with the VPN provider, I might take a free trial of another and see if the same happens. Alternatively, I could either have the router reboot now and again, or ideally have it reboot if VPN goes down – but don't know if that's feasible...
 
Sorry, can you clarify what you did recently. You said you experienced the problem last night at 8pm. You also said that to resolve the problem the router must be rebooted. But there's no evidence in the log of the router being rebooted since you set it up at 11:55 on 2/7/2020. :confused:
 
You also said "Wifi also would not work, no connection possible". What do you mean by "no connection"? Do you mean that your client cannot connect to the router's WiFi, or do your mean that it is connected to the router but cannot get to the internet?
 
OK sorry to clarify. Maybe reboot is the wrong term: I just switched the router and on off and lunchtime today! (After I hooked up to it and downloaded the syslog as you suggested before – so you're right, it wasn't rebooted until after the syslog was downloaded).

In terms of connecting, when the router/VPN somehow goes down, I can't connect a MacBook to Wifi. I see the 2.4 and 5GHz networks, but the browser won't connect.

Since I've experienced the VPN disconnecting in this way when used on the MacBook on its own (via my standard French ISP wifi router), I'm presuming its doing the same on the Asus router. And I'm presuming the Asus router wouldn't change modes if the active VPN connection drops (to instead run non-VPN French 2.4 and 5GHz networks since it's cascaded from the French router).
 
I hadn't realised that you were cascading the Asus behind another router.

Since I've experienced the VPN disconnecting in this way when used on the MacBook on its own (via my standard French ISP wifi router), I'm presuming its doing the same on the Asus router. And I'm presuming the Asus router wouldn't change modes if the active VPN connection drops (to instead run non-VPN French 2.4 and 5GHz networks since it's cascaded from the French router).
I can't see anything in the log that would suggest that there was a problem anytime yesterday evening or that there was any problem with WiFi connectivity (I can see your MacBook successfully connecting at ~10am today).

I think your idea of trying out a different VPN provider is the best way to go.
 
OK, strange isn't it? Maybe the log simply shows the wifi signal as functioning, despite the fact that a device can't connect. And there's no way to tell from the log if the VPN profile I added was Active and then non-Active? In any case, I'll try another VPN provider – shame if it is, since VPNUK have great online support. The trial will tell...
 
OK, strange isn't it? Maybe the log simply shows the wifi signal as functioning, despite the fact that a device can't connect.
There's a big difference between the MacBook connecting to the router's WiFi, and a browser saying it "can't connect". The browser message means it can't connect to a site on the internet. That doesn't mean it isn't connected to the router's WiFi.

And there's no way to tell from the log if the VPN profile I added was Active and then non-Active?
If VPN connection is disconnected we would see it in the log. If fact that's exactly what we can see happening at ~ 07:04 this morning, but the connection is reestablished at 07:05.
 
That's very odd, I was nowhere near the router at that time. So it suggests if the VPN were to disconnect the Asus would attempt to reconnect automatically? If that's the case, it's doing what I want. Another theory could be that the entire ISP connection drops (it can do in France) and while the French router goes ahead and reconnects, the cascaded Asus doesn't. However, that doesn't explain why it was doing something active at 07:05! It seems definite to me that when the router 'goes down' in terms of properly allowing wifi access (I attempted to connect to multiple sites) or does not give VPN access via the Smart TV, it stays that way until I intervene (on/off!)
 

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