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NETGEAR ProSafe Gigabit 8 Port VPN Firewall FVS318Gv2 - not releasing leases
This device is being used to supply the public part of a network to a hotel.
There is a main VDSL router, and attached to that are 2 devices - a) another router for the private network, and b) this FVS318Gv2 for the public network.
This FVS318Gv2 is set to have IP Address: 192.168.2.254 and has DHCP server enabled and issues IP addresses as Start IP: 192.168.2.1 and End IP: 192.168.2.229.
Thus there are 229 IP addresses available for users to call upon.
I have approx 15 wireless adapters cabled thru the network into this box and they have static IP addresses set between 192.168.2.230 and 192.168.2.245. Any users will thus associate with a wireless adapter to obtain an IP address and thus be able to get internet access.
The problem then is that the FVS318Gv2 is holding onto leases, and over time this is increasing and eventually hits 229 leases and so runs out of leases. The message in the DHCP Log is currently showing it is up to 222 leases:
Aug 12 04:32:01 [FVS318Gv2] user.info [DHCPD]: Wrote 222 leases to leases file.
When it runs out of leases there is chaos as some some users can connect, others can't etc and general confusion all around!
The issue does seem related to how busy the hotel is, as it ran out of leases last August as well. I have tried various things - for example I have used at least 3 versions of the firmware. The device is currently using the latest 4.3.3-8.
I have also changed the lease time down from default to what I believe is the minimum value of 1 hour. So overnight I would have expected the number of leases to have reduced down since no way are there that many guests (even with multiple devices) in the hotel.
When I check the Lan Groups it shows there are only 44 Known PC and Devices, but as can be seen above it has 222 leases?
The only way I know of resetting the leases is to reset the configuration file (I have one that I saved with minimal leases allocated to allow me to do this quickly but it is still a pain).
Does anyone have any thoughts about why leases are being held onto. I did try Netgear Support last year but they were pretty useless I'm afraid! They just want to restore the config and were missing the bigger picture about issue keeps on recurring.
They did also suggest subnetting but I'm unclear how to implement this in this device (or indeed other devices!). I can't afford to mess up the live configuration and do not have another one I could test this on.
Here's hoping,
Alexis
2 Replies
I've run into this on my FVS318N as well. On different firmware levels as well. It's super strange, but maybe there's another approach to the problem--ditch the fvs318. :o
If all the 318 is doing is just acting as the dhcp server and internet gateway, any $25 router from a store can do that without any issues. Unless you need some of the advanced features of the 318, I think you're basically trying to kill a fly using a shotgun.
Hi Alexis,
Thanks for your post and welcome to the community.
The prior suggestion of sub netting is a valid suggestion as you could increase the number of available addresses to the DHCP server by using a subnet mask that allows more addresses. This would require some changes to the firewall and most likely the access points and any switches that operate in the public network.
With the 15 access points, do you have visibility to check the amount of active wireless connections per access point when the issue occurs?... with approximately 15 wireless clients connected per AP you are going to hit the 229 leases, in a busy period is it possible there could actually be this many clients connected and actively using an IP address?... you mentioned the Known PC and Devices page only report 44, checking on the individual access points might give a better indication of the actual amount of connected clients.
Time consuming to check all 15 but could help to narrow down the issue.Another thing you could look at the time the issue is seen, if it is possible to test if a newly connected wired device either direct to the FVS318Gv2 or to a network switch is able to get a connection.
Thanks
DavidGo
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