Nighthawk R7000 loses connection

[GearUser1042]

Dear community, 

We are experiencing a drop in internet connection at least once a day. I can not find the reason why this drop is happening. The only thing that helps is resetting the R7000. After a reset, it works like a charm, with download speeds up to 300mb/s. Therefore, I am seeking the support of the community. 

This is the setup:

1. A modem from the ISP is set in bridge mode (DHCP turned off) and is the entry point of the internet 

2. The ISP modem is connected with a wire with the Netgear Nighthawk R7000 set in router mode. WIFI is turned off

3. Two TP-Link Decos (DHCP turned off) are connected with a wire and set as an access point. One goes to the living room on the same floor, and the second one goes to the first floor. 

4. Another TP-Link Deco (DHCP turned off) is set on the addict and wireless connected with the TP-Link Deco on the first floor. 

It does not look like the drop in connection is caused by the ISP. Any tips or suggestions would be highly appreciated. 
Thank you very much!

[Jeffgear]

The areas I would investigate and wish to rule out first are whether there's an IP conflict occurring with DHCP being disabled. The other being whether the hard wired Ethernet connectivity was having issues with auto negotiate mismatch. In practice, relying on DHCP and auto negotiate on all interfaces provides a more stable environment. 

Does the internet drop out from all devices at the same time, or from only WiFi devices? 

[GearUser1042]

Hi Jeffgear, 

Thanks for your quick response. 

Surprisingly, all devices lose connection at the same time. Maybe it is a coincidence, but it happened two times between 6-7 am. Remember that the only wired Ethernet devices are just the APs extending the WIFI. 

So basically, I am using the Nighthawk to act as a router and DHCP server that provides the IP addresses to the network. This includes the APs. I was told to turn off DHCP on the modem and the APs; otherwise, this could lead to an IP collision. 

Modem = bridge mode

Nighthawk = router mode

APs = access point mode

Let me know if this helps. Let me know if you need any more info that can help me push me in the right direction. 

[Jeffgear]

The plot thickens 🙂

Does the WiFi signal drop out on the devices when the internet is lost or are the devices still associated with the APs but cannot route out to the web? So the WiFi is solid but internet is intermittent or both intermittent?

Im still wondering if there's an ip conflict between the router or AP and a device that wakes up from time to time. 
I wouldn't rule out a dodgy Ethernet patch cable or Cat5/6 wall socket. I had a dodgy wall socket that made my router drop out intermittently and it took ages to discover. 

[GearUser1042]

Hi Jeffgear, 

Thanks again for your response. 

Let me be more specific. When the connection drops - the WIFI signal from all APs is still 100% intact. What happens is that the device has no access to the internet, including all devices that are wirelessly connected to the APs. 

The Nighthawk router is still turned on, and when looking at the lights, it seems like it has a connection to the internet. But it hasn't. The only solution is to turn off/on the Nighthawk, and then it works again for at least 24 hours. 

The cables that connect the two APs with the router have been pulled this week. They are entirely new.

I just checked all the other UTP cables. I noticed that the UTP cable between the DECO in the living room (woonkamer on the image) and the Samsung TV is not connecting well. Could that be the reason that the whole network drops? 

I'm still wondering if there's an IP conflict between the router or AP and a device that wakes up from time to time. 

How can we rule this out? Does the log file of the Nighthawk provides information about that?

Thanks again!

[michaelkenward]

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@GearUser1042 wrote:

This is the setup:

1. A modem from the ISP is set in bridge mode (DHCP turned off) and is the entry point of the internet 

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What is this ISP modem?

"DHCP turned off" is not the same as bridge mode.

[GearUser1042]

Hi michaelkenward, 

Thanks a lot for your response. 

The ISP is the modem from my Internet Service Provider. So basically, where the internet comes in.

The modem is a router at the same time. But I do not want to use the router functionalities from this modem due to poor performance. Therefore, the service provider offers to set the modem in bridge mode. Bridge mode with this service provider means that the DHCP server is turned off automatically. Please see below a URL in Dutch from the service provider. 

https://www.ziggo.nl/klantenservice/internet-wifi/bridge-modus 

I hope this clarifies. I am looking forward to hearing some suggestions that I can have a closer look at. Thanks!

[michaelkenward]

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@GearUser1042 wrote:

Therefore, the service provider offers to set the modem in bridge mode. Bridge mode with this service provider means that the DHCP server is turned off automatically.

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So, it isn't that DHCP is turned off, but that it is in bridge mode, which disables DHCP.

I asked because it is possible to disable DHCP on a router without putting it into bridge mode. There are other router features that can remain active.

[GearUser1042]

Yes, you are correct. Because the modem is in Bridge mode, DHCP is automatically disabled. I use the Nighthawk as a DHCP server. 
If you know what is causing the internet drop-off, let me know. 

[Jeffgear]

Might be worth turning off one of the APs and seeing if the internet drops out on the one that remains active. Then I'd try turning off both APs and seeing if the internet drops outs form the router with it being the only thing connected to your modem. There's a lot of moving parts to rule out. If the router is solid on its own then try running a single AP next to it and seeing if the internet is still intermittent. If it is then it's AP to router related.