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Intermittent connectivity issues

Metazoan

Occasional Visitor
I'm trying to determine why my AX86U intermittently behaves the way it does. I know the basics, but am far from a networking guru.

Setup -- AX86U connected to an AT&T BGW210 in bridge mode. Separate 2.4 and 5GHz network IDs, but issues with wired connections as well. Latest firmware update, hardware resets as advised. Issue has persisted over multiple updates.

Configuration is pretty simple. Customize the SSIDs, passwords, and a few other settings, like pointing DNS lookups at the big hosts like Cloudflare and Google, in that order. But otherwise not trying to do anything fancy.

Behavior -- intermittently, devices, including wired, will randomly lose connectivity, with seemingly no rhyme or reason. Sometimes, things will be fine for a while. Sometimes, the issue manifests itself repeatedly within a short span of time.

However, devices that have running connections, like a streaming app on a tablet right next to my desktop, continue to operate unabated.

Meanwhile surfing on the desktop fails, with Firefox returning a "PR_IO TIMEOUT error" as well as others failing to go anywhere, or sense a live connection. Launching an app that has to phone home before opening will see them stall and fail to proceed.

Usually, it resolves itself within about 30 seconds or so. But, the kicker is, if I log into the router's web UI, the issue stops, and connectivity resumes instantly.

Power cycling sometimes works at keeping the issue at bay, sometimes not. The intermittent randomness adds to the frustration.

Have tried swapping interconnect cables and ports, as a result of repeated log entries like this:

Feb 1 14:07:37 kernel: eth4 (Ext switch port: 3) (Logical Port: 11) (phyId: b) Link DOWN.
Feb 1 14:07:40 kernel: eth4 (Ext switch port: 3) (Logical Port: 11) (phyId: b) Link Up at 1000 mbps full duplex
Feb 1 14:38:03 kernel: eth4 (Ext switch port: 3) (Logical Port: 11) (phyId: b) Link DOWN.
Feb 1 14:38:08 kernel: eth4 (Ext switch port: 3) (Logical Port: 11) (phyId: b) Link Up at 1000 mbps full duplex
Feb 1 14:38:56 kernel: eth4 (Ext switch port: 3) (Logical Port: 11) (phyId: b) Link DOWN.
Feb 1 14:38:59 kernel: eth4 (Ext switch port: 3) (Logical Port: 11) (phyId: b) Link Up at 1000 mbps full duplex
Feb 1 14:39:47 kernel: eth4 (Ext switch port: 3) (Logical Port: 11) (phyId: b) Link DOWN.
Feb 1 14:39:50 kernel: eth4 (Ext switch port: 3) (Logical Port: 11) (phyId: b) Link Up at 100 mbps full duplex
Feb 1 15:05:06 kernel: eth4 (Ext switch port: 3) (Logical Port: 11) (phyId: b) Link DOWN.
Feb 1 15:05:08 kernel: eth4 (Ext switch port: 3) (Logical Port: 11) (phyId: b) Link Up at 1000 mbps full duplex

My internet connection, though not fast by modern standards, has long been solid and steady.

The issue has occurred with two different AT&T gateways, with the BGW a replacement for an older one that failed. The AX86U would be the common factor, if not culprit, in that respect.

Router was purchased in Summer 2022, and I'm ready to kick it to the curb. Or at the very least see how a replacement fares.

Any suggestions?
 
Log into the router and go to System Log - General Log. Click on the Save button to save the log file.

Upload the file to www.file.io and then post the link here so we can look at it.
 
Use just one DNS provider. Cloudflare or Google but not both. Also, reset to factory defaults and use the Dual Band SmartConnect but disable DFS and 160 MHz as a troubleshooting measure. Disable WPS as well.
 
Log into the router and go to System Log - General Log. Click on the Save button to save the log file.

Upload the file to www.file.io and then post the link here so we can look at it.

Done.

Use just one DNS provider. Cloudflare or Google but not both. Also, reset to factory defaults and use the Dual Band SmartConnect but disable DFS and 160 MHz as a troubleshooting measure. Disable WPS as well.

I'll give that a shot, but I'm currently running without any specified DNS servers, and the issue still exists. In the past, I've tried those settings on both the router, and the client (desktop), to no avail.

IIRC, WPS was disabled by default in more recent versions of the firmware, but regardless, disabling is one of the few changes I already make.

Would the wireless settings affect hard-wired devices as well?

One other measure I have tried is to increase the length of the DHCP leases on the gateway, from daily renewal to a week or longer.

Thanks, gents.
 
Use just one DNS provider. Cloudflare or Google but not both.

I use exactly Google and Cloudflare. The default on my gateway. I see no issues to have 2x upstream DNS providers. Cloudflare had some issues some time ago, Google was working fine. No interruptions.
 
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