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BR500 Port Forwarding Delays & 'vpn enabled' Messages
Just noticed what appear to be two new behaviors in my BR500 ...
One is that every minute in the log I see a 'vpn enabled' message:
[VPN] vppnctrl: vpn enabled, Sunday, June 23, 2019 17:22:41
[VPN] vppnctrl: vpn enabled, Sunday, June 23, 2019 17:21:41
[VPN] vppnctrl: vpn enabled, Sunday, June 23, 2019 17:20:41
[VPN] vppnctrl: vpn enabled, Sunday, June 23, 2019 17:19:41
[VPN] vppnctrl: vpn enabled, Sunday, June 23, 2019 17:18:41
[VPN] vppnctrl: vpn enabled, Sunday, June 23, 2019 17:17:41
[VPN] vppnctrl: vpn enabled, Sunday, June 23, 2019 17:16:41
[VPN] vppnctrl: vpn enabled, Sunday, June 23, 2019 17:15:40
[VPN] vppnctrl: vpn enabled, Sunday, June 23, 2019 17:14:41
Has anyone else noticed this?
I have not touched anything with VPN lately, and have even shut off OpenVPN -- which I could never get to work -- and I have been looking at the log periodically to see when the router is rebooting itself -- so I have been close paying attention to the router log -- but it just start recently (either yesterday or today I believe).
More disturbingly -- and I'm not sure if this is related -- port forwarding from the LAN -- which started working with the 5.6.0.1 firmware -- works sometimes, and sometimes takes 10+ seconds to connect, and sometimes times out.
OK, so so how do I know it is not the service that is being forwarded to that is the problem? Interestingly, if I connect EXTERNALLY (WAN) to the forwarded ports my router IP address, I always get connected sub-second. If I connect INTERNALLY (LAN) to the forwarded ports on my router IP address, it sometimes connects immediately, sometimes waits 10+ seconds, and sometimes times out. And it consistently connects sub-second externally (I've tried over a couple dozen times) and frequently doesn't connect or connects with a long delay internally (> 50%). And it happens with multiple forwarded ports at the same time (80, 443, 5222).
Also, when I'm having port forwarding problems, the CPU is usually < 5% according to the Dashboard.
So what does one problem (VPN messages) have to do with the other (LAN port forwarding problems)? Probably nothing. But both appeared at about the same time.
I believe that the random BR500 reboots *might* have been resolved with a Reset to Factory Defaults => Reload Firmward => Reload Configuration, as I don't think I've seen the problem recently, which is why have been closely monitoring the Logs, but now that the logs are being flooded with VPN messages, it is hard to tell.
Re: BR500 Port Forwarding Delays & 'vpn enabled' Messages
Just an FYI to anyone else who experiences any of this: I have disconnected my BR500 from the Insight service, rebooted the router, and the VPN messages have stopped (obviously!), the "NAT loopback" is allowing my LAN to reliably take advantage of port forwarding (sub-second connection again, before was either hanging or taking 10+ seconds to connect), and my router has stopped randomly rebooting itself. Also, I am no longer seeing the sporadic high-CPU (sporadically 30 - 60+ percent) on the BR500.
Of course I no longer have any VPN (as ports 12973 (TUN) and 12974 (TAP) hang, even when the Open VPN service is enabled, which is the only reason why I enabled Insight + Instant VPN). But having a stable, reliable, working router is much more important to me.
Another user on this forum shared that Netgear had suggested disconnecting from Insight as a possible solution to the random reboots, which is why I am sharing this, in the hope that it may help others.
No promises, your milage may vary, void where prohibited by law, etc., but for anyone who is at their wits end and frustrated with the BR500, as I was, this maybe a possible solution to regain stability if you can live without the Insight service.
I found out from the NETGEAR Support Team that you already have an ongoing support ticket about your concerns with the BR500. The support expert assigned to your support ticket is waiting for the logs from your BR500 so that it can be escalated to the engineering team for further investigation. A follow-up e-mail was sent to you. Kindly respond to it.
Re: BR500 Port Forwarding Delays & 'vpn enabled' Messages
That ticket is for the server rebooting itself, which it hasn't been doing lately (as far as I can tell).
I cannot provide the Insight logs requested, because I no longer have Insight. But is it relevant to provide the other logs for a problem that I haven't witnessed in almost a week?
That ticket is for the server rebooting itself, which it hasn't been doing lately (as far as I can tell).
I'm glad to know that your BR500 does not reboot itself lately. It would be best that you inform the support expert handling the support ticket about it.
But is it relevant to provide the other logs for a problem that I haven't witnessed in almost a week?
For me, it is relevant so that the engineering team can analyze and determine what really happened on why the issue occurred as well as they could confirm if the issue is gone (since you have not witnessed it for almost a week). Referring to the issue you have observed as posted here, I suggest you to provide the other logs (since your support ticket is still open) and state the observation you have posted here in order to be investigated by the engineering team.
Re: BR500 Port Forwarding Delays & 'vpn enabled' Messages
Understood, and won't post anything else to the community or open an new tickets until I do.
Hessitation is only that I am not quite sure where to get all of the logs requested, but will try to figure that all out. Until then, I will go on radio silence.
Re: BR500 Port Forwarding Delays & 'vpn enabled' Messages
Just an FYI to anyone else who experiences any of this: I have disconnected my BR500 from the Insight service, rebooted the router, and the VPN messages have stopped (obviously!), the "NAT loopback" is allowing my LAN to reliably take advantage of port forwarding (sub-second connection again, before was either hanging or taking 10+ seconds to connect), and my router has stopped randomly rebooting itself. Also, I am no longer seeing the sporadic high-CPU (sporadically 30 - 60+ percent) on the BR500.
Of course I no longer have any VPN (as ports 12973 (TUN) and 12974 (TAP) hang, even when the Open VPN service is enabled, which is the only reason why I enabled Insight + Instant VPN). But having a stable, reliable, working router is much more important to me.
Another user on this forum shared that Netgear had suggested disconnecting from Insight as a possible solution to the random reboots, which is why I am sharing this, in the hope that it may help others.
No promises, your milage may vary, void where prohibited by law, etc., but for anyone who is at their wits end and frustrated with the BR500, as I was, this maybe a possible solution to regain stability if you can live without the Insight service.
