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Dell Laptop with DropBox Crashes Netgear Router

JimJoat
Aspirant

Dell Laptop with DropBox Crashes Netgear Router

  1. I got an Inspiron 5567 Laptop with Windows 10 x64 for Christmas. Since then, the laptop crashes my Netgear R7000 router daily.
  2. At that point cannot login to the router at 192.168.1.1 (no response). I can Ping it.
  3. I can connect between all devices Wired/Wifi on my LAN. 
  4. Powering the router off/on resolves the problem.
  5. I have factory reset the router and also tested a new R700P Netgear Router. No joy!
  6. My LAN includes 3 Laptops and 4 Desktop PCs using DropBox, one with Windows 7, the rest Windows 10.

  I have found that DropBox on the laptop causes the crash. DropBox usage at this point is only an occasional, perhaps weekly, update to my 25 KB SafeInCloud password file in the cloud.    Below I have shown the DB discovery protocol trace for two IPs. IP 192.168.1.17, as an example, and the other 5 PCs have 2 trys. Only 192.168.1.50 (The Laptop) shows multiple trys. The laptop typically has 4 trys. This one capture is 6 trys, and I suspect it goes crazy sometimes and causes the crash.

 I have done a clean reset of windows on the laptop, worked with Dell to get the latest drivers,etc., and the problem still exists.

 

Time       Source           Destination           Protocol

24:46.7  192.168.1.17  255.255.255.255  DB-LSP-DISC

24:46.7 192.168.1.17  192.168.1.255       DB-LSP-DISC

 

24:53.1 192.168.1.50  255.255.255.255   DB-LSP-DISC

24:53.1 192.168.1.50  255.255.255.255   DB-LSP-DISC

24:53.1 192.168.1.50  255.255.255.255   DB-LSP-DISC

24:53.1 192.168.1.50  255.255.255.255   DB-LSP-DISC

24:53.1 192.168.1.50 192.168.1.255        DB-LSP-DISC

24:53.1 192.168.1.50 255.255.255.255    DB-LSP-DISC

Model: R7000|Nighthawk AC1900 Dual Band WiFi Router
Message 1 of 5

Accepted Solutions
JimJoat
Aspirant

Re: Dell Laptop with DropBox Crashes Netgear Router

 
 
  • I purchased a R7000P Netgear Nighthawk AC2300. It crashed on my LAN as well, and I returned it.
  • I then connected up my old Netgear WNR3500L V2 -- Flashed with Tomato-Shibby -- and it worked fine for the two weeks I had it connected.
  • I have now flashed my R7000 router with Tomato-Shibby "tomato-R7000-ARM--132-AIO-64K".
  • This has stopped the router from crashing. It has been more than 3 weeks without any problems.
  • The fact that the R7000 and R7000P both crashed tells me that  base firmware has an issue.
  • I'll stick with Tomato, but will really have to think hard about what my next router purchase will be!

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Model: R7000|Nighthawk AC1900 Dual Band WiFi Router
Message 5 of 5

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TheEther
Guru

Re: Dell Laptop with DropBox Crashes Netgear Router

Are you running the latest firmware? You can also try disabling LAN sync in Dropbox.
Message 2 of 5
JimJoat
Aspirant

Re: Dell Laptop with DropBox Crashes Netgear Router

I have tried the latest firmware for the router, as well as  two old and older versions.

Disabling the Dropbox sync seems to fix the problem.  I use the word "seems" because negative results of an intermittent problem do not mean the problem is fixed. The only thing I know for a fact is than before the new laptop, no problems. Laptop off for a week, no problems. Dropbox sync off for 4 days, no problems.

The only thing out of the ordinary is the number of retries during sync. Dropbox is active  every 30 seconds.

 

I don't pretend to know what state the router is in when it is down. The logging on the router provides meager information. I  am thinking of reflashing the router with DD-wrt or Tomato ( I've used Tomato Shibbley? before with great success)

 

 Troubleshooting Actions
 
  1. I have factory reset the router and also tested a new Netgear Router.
  2. I have tried older and the newest firmware on the router.
  3. Disabling Dropbox on the laptop "appeared" to fix the problem for a few days.
      (Using Wireshark, I noted that the laptop had, at minimum, four DB-LSP-DISC "DropBox discovery protocol" retries)
      All other PCs on my LAN have no retries.
  4. Verified no duplicate IP addresses on my LAN. (Most all IPs are fixed, - reserved IPs by MAC address in router settings)
  5. Worked with DELL to make sure the laptop has the latest drivers, etc.
  6. Enable/Disable router's WPS Pin.
  7. Enable/Disable 5GHz WiFi on router. ( it is my only 5GHz computer)
   
 
 

Message 3 of 5
TheEther
Guru

Re: Dell Laptop with DropBox Crashes Netgear Router

You can certainly give 3rd party firmware a shot. I use Asuswrt-Merlin on my R7000.
Message 4 of 5
JimJoat
Aspirant

Re: Dell Laptop with DropBox Crashes Netgear Router

 
 
  • I purchased a R7000P Netgear Nighthawk AC2300. It crashed on my LAN as well, and I returned it.
  • I then connected up my old Netgear WNR3500L V2 -- Flashed with Tomato-Shibby -- and it worked fine for the two weeks I had it connected.
  • I have now flashed my R7000 router with Tomato-Shibby "tomato-R7000-ARM--132-AIO-64K".
  • This has stopped the router from crashing. It has been more than 3 weeks without any problems.
  • The fact that the R7000 and R7000P both crashed tells me that  base firmware has an issue.
  • I'll stick with Tomato, but will really have to think hard about what my next router purchase will be!
Model: R7000|Nighthawk AC1900 Dual Band WiFi Router
Message 5 of 5
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