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Firmware 12.1.11.10 iPhone disconnects
After quite a good run with the previous firmware, this update is causing issues again with at least my iPhone. It randomly disconnects and most times I can toggle the WIFI on the phone a few times and get it back or sometimes I have to reboot the router.
Anyone else seeing anything quirky with this update?
Turns out, if IPV4 is set to manual, automatic DNS doesn't work on iPhone/iPad. The DNS has to be set manually as well. Not sure why this wasn't a problem with v9.13.2.1, but it is now.
I cannot replicate this behavior on my PC as there is not an automatic DNS option, DNS must be set manually when setting a manual IP address.
At any rate, I think this is the solution: when setting a manual IPV4 address on an Apple device, scroll down to the DNS settings and configure the DNS manually as well - Automatic DNS does not work in this case.
I'll write this down to user error, I guess, uncovered by new firmware behavior.
23 Replies
Turns out, if IPV4 is set to manual, automatic DNS doesn't work on iPhone/iPad. The DNS has to be set manually as well. Not sure why this wasn't a problem with v9.13.2.1, but it is now.
I cannot replicate this behavior on my PC as there is not an automatic DNS option, DNS must be set manually when setting a manual IP address.
At any rate, I think this is the solution: when setting a manual IPV4 address on an Apple device, scroll down to the DNS settings and configure the DNS manually as well - Automatic DNS does not work in this case.
I'll write this down to user error, I guess, uncovered by new firmware behavior.Yep bullm00n that was the bug I remembered that I mentioned above. Glad it was that easy! And per my prior post, unless you have an extremely unusual case of some device that requires IPv6, disable it - you don't need it. Then, you will find you have a totally reliable network again. Mine has been working like that for a very long time!
I will keep the IPV6 thing in mind, but as best I can tell, it was not the problem - not sure it works 100%, but I don't think that it was causing any issues. Based on what you are saying, the IPV4 DNS thing has been a long-term issue that I just didn't notice because IPV6 was working so well and the DNS problem was masked. But this latest firmware in the "12.s" versus the older "9.s" must have changed that. I had been running for probably near a year with "dead" IPV4 on my phone. :D
bullm00n yes exactly. If IPv6 was working perfectly, you would have never known that the problem existed in IPv4 with a static IP address and dynamic DNS. But because IPv6 was flaky, that would cause periodic disconnections when it failed and IPv4 was in a failed state, and when you disabled IPv6, IPv4 would not work at all. I’m glad you’ve got a scenario that works for now. I can guarantee you NETGEAR is working very hard on IPv6 improvements, and it’s improved a ton in the last year. But part of it has been Apple too, I know for a fact they’ve made improvements in the last several releases as well. So we will get there. But for now, leave it disabled.
bullm00n I have done a little bit more research on this. What I found was, I think this may actually be an iOS issue not a NETGEAR issue. Here’s the scenario I have seen: When you change Configure IP → Manual, iOS may no longer perform the DHCP exchange from which its IPv4 DNS information would normally come. Yet Configure DNS → Automatic remains selected. That potentially leaves it with no usable IPv4 DNS server.
Makes sense to me!
Agreed - and since it seemed to work, I'd have never noticed. But without DHCP, how could it? And since my PC won't even let me get into that situation, I also would never notice. That dialog on the iPhone should combine both the IPV4 address and DNS into same box since one without the other doesn't work.
