Connectivity issues

[doughboy52]

Hello all, I'm new here. I've read lots of the reviews on devices but never posted before. I was hoping that someone might have an idea of what might be causing the problem I'm having, because I'm lost and desperate, and I'm not great with networking beyond the basics. I'm having a problem where I'll suddenly lose connectivity completely from my router, both wired and wireless. On a PC it's no internet access but connected to the network, plus IP address conflict popup. On iOS, it sees the network but just spins trying to join. Power cycling the router and equipment does nothing. The only thing that corrects it is a hard reset of the router and using the default SSID. If I change it to my old SSID name, the devices immediately have issues again. Is there something about that network name that it's now tainted for use by my devices? I know it sounds ridiculous, but I'm lost.

Here's the backstory, as succinctly as I can, if it helps piece things together:

• Previous home: Comcast through Arris SB6141 to TP-Link Archer C8, with NAS via USB 3.0. No problem for 1.5 years.
• Moved to a new home and repeated that setup; worked for a month before the problem first arose.
• Sudden loss of internet as I mentioned above. Countless calls with Comcast and TP-Link support with finger-pointing. Bought a new modem, which didn't correct the problem. Had problems with TP-Link tech support responding quickly and couldn't get traction with Comcast.
• Switched ISPs to Verizon FiOS. Started with their leased Quantum Gateway connected via Ethernet instead of MOCA and tentatively used their default SSID and key.
• Finally received RMA replacement from TP-Link weeks later and installed it to replace the Verizon gateway. Set it up with my old network name and it worked fine for 5 days before suddenly losing connectivity. I tried to rename the network and it causes everything to lose connectivity.

 

[Questor]

I am having the same "abrupt network disconnect" problems similar to yours. If I remember correctly, your Arris SB6141 is a cable modem only...

We use an Time-Warner Cable equipment rental Arris TG852 Cable Modem/Wireless Router that is connected by Cat5 Ethernet Cable to my personal TP-Link Archer C8 Wireless Router. The Archer C8 Wireless Router is on the endorsed equipment list of Wireless Routers tested and approved by TWC for use with their network. However, TWC equipment "approval" does not explain hidden problems getting this equipment to work consistently on the TWC network

TWC Tech Support initially claimed they remotely configured our rental Arris TG852 Cable Modem/Wireless Router to be used as a cable modem only - per our request. I want our Archer C8 Wireless Router to handle all wireless DHCP and DNS tasks with full security protection. The security and configuration problems I experienced are as follows:

1.) Security concerns: IMHO, old versions of the TP-Link firmware could be a security risk and need to be upgraded to the most recent version immediately due to TP-Link not adequately testing their equipment and allegedly making false public claims.

The FCC reached a Consent Decree with TP-Link and fined them $200,000 on 8/1/2016 for :
a.) marketing older TP-Link Wireless Routers that were alleged to not be secure in the 5Mhz range,
b.) preventing TP-Link Wireless Router Owners from some types of software testing of their equipment, and
c.) preventing the modification of Wireless Router Firmware previously allowed by TP-Link.

However, the court documents I found do not discuss which specific models of TP-Link Wireless Routers nor which TP-Link firmware versions violated FCC regulations.

The TP-Link Consent Decree is available at:
https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-16-850A1.pdf

The FCC made the following public announcement on 8/1/2016 regarding the Consent Decree with TP-Link:

"The Enforcement Bureau (Bureau) of the Federal Communications Commission(Commission) has entered into a Consent Decree to resolve its investigation into whether TP-Link USA Corporation, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of TP-Link Technologies CO., Ltd. (“TP-Link”), unlawfully marketed Wi-Fi routers that fail to comply with the Commission’s regulations. The Commission’s equipment marketing and authorization rules ensure that Wi-Fi routers and other devices that emit radio frequency radiation comply with the Commission’s technical requirements and do not interfere with authorized communications.

During the course of the investigation, TP-Link took measures to halt the sale of the non-compliant units and made software updates to existing Wi-Fi routers available to its customers that were designed to ensure compliance with the Commission’s rules.

To settle this matter, TP-Link admits that its marketing of the radio frequency devices covered by the Bureau’s investigation violated the Commission’s rules. In addition, TP-Link will pay a civil penalty of $200,000 and implement a long-term compliance plan to ensure future compliance with the Commission’s equipment marketing rules."

2.) Configuration concerns I experienced: Time Warner Cable originally told me they could remotely re-configure their Arris TG852 Cable Modem/Wireless Router installed at my house to only work as a cable modem and disable the wireless router capability. I authorized them to disable the Arris Wireless Router side of the TG852, but keep the cable modem side enabled.

However, TWC did not tell me that any changes they remotely made to disable the wireless router were temporary and would be erased whenever TWC updated/refreshed the Arris TG852 firmware or whenever power to the Arris TG852 was turned off/on.

Having the Arris TG852 Wireless Router enabled at the same time as the Archer C8 Wireless Router may cause unknown IP, channel, or bandwidth conflicts that could lock up the Archer C8 until its power is turned off/on. I experienced this problem having the latest TP-Link approved firmware installed, the default gateway address for the Archer C8 set to 192.168.2.1, and the Arris TG852 with the supposedly disabled Wireless Router services kept trying to reinstall itself as 192.168.0.1

It seems that we cannot trust TWC/Spectrum endorsements of "approved" network equipment at this time. The bottom line is I suspect there are undisclosed network problems with both the Arris TG852 and the Archer C8. TWC recommends that I get a TWC Arris Cable Modem only and return the TG852 that keeps resetting.

I am debating whether to:
1.) get rid of the Arris TG852 as a cable modem and get a TP-Link cable modem endorsed by TWC for their network ( no monthly rental fee, but more personal risk) or 2.) get rid of bothe Arris and TP-Link equipment and get comparable equipment from Linksys. However, I wonder if the quality of comparable new Linksys equipment has gone down since Cisco sold Linksys to Belkin in the past year or two...

Regards, Steve