Orbi disconnecting AROUND the same time every night

[Sierraw]

As a heads up, i recognize that similar topics have been discussed, but they either never had a solution, or the solutions provided never worked.  At the same time, i've noticed that my problem is a little unique compared to others.

For me, what's happening is not just one or two disconnects, but upwards of 10+ disconnects.  For the last week and a half, starting at around 8:00 p.m., give or take up to 5 min, the orbi router goes down for a few minutes, before coming back up.  A few minutes later, it goes down again.  All the while, it's completely wiping the log because it goes down, so there's no way to see what's causing it.  This continues until about 12 a.m. my time, so up to 4 hours.  This starts out happening once every 5-10 minutes from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., and then drastically slows down from 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., and then from there I sometimes get a disconnect between 11 and 12.

Edit: the logs are NOT being wiped, this was a misunderstanding of the log file, and my bad for assuming that.

Satellites?

None

Things I have attempted (without success):

Firmware update

checking modem

contacting isp

unplugging and replugging router

contacting orbi support (no warrantee and haven't paid tech support fee)

checking through all settings in the router to see anything abnormal

things I haven't done:

factory reset

???????

Honestly i'm looking for any and all ideas at this point, i'm at a complete loss.  I have someone coming tomorrow to make sure the modem isn't at fault, but i'm almost 100% sure it isn't at fault at this point.  Honestly trying to avoid having to pay $140+ because of an issue that seems possibly solvable.  If anyone has any ideas let me know

[Sierraw · Accepted solution]

Final Final Update:  The new router didn't change anything.  Seeing as though this affects multiple devices, the only assumption I can make at this point is that it's ISP side, and has absolutely nothing to do with my hardware, which is what i suspected early.

[CrimpOn]

Which system is this? (model number from label on the bottom of the router)

[Sierraw]

Apologies, this is an RBR50v2

[CrimpOn]

So, the Orbi log get completely cleared and has an entry reading something like "initialized"?

The firmware release that the router was updated to is??

[CrimpOn]

Is this router on a UPS?

[Sierraw]

Firmware was update to the most recent version: 2.7.4.24

as for the question about the logs, correct. =

[Sierraw]

not that i know of, would that be a part of all the wiring i already have set up?  and would this affect it at the given times?  That's kind of been the most vexing part of this

[Sierraw]

Also i guess i accidentally misinformed, maybe it's not wiping?  i guess the logs were wiped when I was attempting to fix it by unplugging and replugging it.  That's my bad

[CrimpOn]

The UPS question was intended to rule out that some goofy power interruption was causing the router to reboot.  I have each of my Orbi systems (and my ISP modem) connected to small UPS systems so that those irritating short "blips" in electrical supply do not cause them to reboot.

That log file appears to show the Orbi reporting that it lost internet from the modemand regained it almost immediately. (not that the Orbi rebooted)  Good that someone is coming to check the modem.  (I once had a cable drop that squirrels had chewed up and as it swayed in the wind the connection would sometimes break.)

[CrimpOn]

sorry. we have messages 'crossing'.  If you unplug the modem cable from the Orbi and then plug it back in, that would be recognized as a "loss of internet" and then "internet connected."  That is what would be expected.

[Sierraw]

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@CrimpOn wrote:

sorry. we have messages 'crossing'.  If you unplug the modem cable from the Orbi and then plug it back in, that would be recognized as a "loss of internet" and then "internet connected."  That is what would be expected.

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These might have been manual connects/disconnects at the time, i'm not 100% sure.  Clarification: by manual i mean via the computer, not the cable itself

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@CrimpOn wrote:

sorry. we have messages 'crossing'.  If you unplug the modem cable from the Orbi and then plug it back in, that would be recognized as a "loss of internet" and then "internet connected."  That is what would be expected.

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Part of why I feel like it's not a modem issue is because of my experience in IT.  I'm not extremely experienced, but experienced enough to know when someone is worth their salt.  The man I talked to tonight from Spectrum (compared to the one last night), actually ran diagnostic tools and double checked to see any modem connectivity issues with the ISP.  Are you suggesting a problem between connectivity of the modem and the Router?  How would the time of day possibly affect this?  or is that part just a really strange coincidence?

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[CrimpOn]

This is a very strange situation.  I also have Spectrum, although not in Anaheim.  My (original) Orbi RBR0 (I have the useless USB port) stays on-line with firmware V2.7.4.24 for weeks and weeks without interruption on Spectrum.

I agree completely.  The ISP connection should have absolutely nothing to do with the Orbi router "staying alive".  Loss of modem connection should not cause the router to reboot (as is demonstrated in that log report. Internet lost and then reconnected.... router recorded it all and never stopped.)

Since the router is not supposed to do this, I would move on to a factory reset, in two phases:

• Do a "quick and dirty" reset, and if that doesn't work
• Do a total configuration from scratch.

i.e.

• Save a copy of the configuration to your computer (PC, Mac, Linux)
• On that Backup Config menu page, click on the Revert to Factory Settings "Erase" button.
  (This will remove ALL user configuration and cause the router to restart)
• Begin the configuration but:
  • Ignore any attempt to 'sign up' for anything
  • Ignore any offer to register the router
  • Do NOT change the WiFi SSID/password from the default values
• When you finally get to a choice of (1) load a saved configuration or (2) configure manually, select the option to load a saved configuration from your computer.
• This will cause the router to reboot and everything comes back!  WiFi SSID/password. All IP assignments. DDNS. DNS servers...etc. etc. etc.
• All devices will then detect the WiFi SSID and connect.

This process takes longer to read about than to do. (I have done it in under five minutes, whereas a full manual setup takes me over two hours of typo-ridden data entry).

If this quick factory reset does not fix the problem, then (alas) the only remaining step is to gut it out and set it up from scratch.

[Sierraw]

As i'm going to bed soon, i'll set aside these instructions to be done tomorrow.  The post will be updated around the time this usually happens to see if it fixes anything.

However I do have a question before I run through these instructions.  What if the issue is that the router isn't "dying"?  when we were crossing messages, I acknowledged the possibility that the router could have "died" only because of my attempt to unplug and replug it.  This was a hasty interpretation.  Do you have any different thoughts in the event that this is the case?

[CrimpOn]

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@Sierraw wrote:

Do you have any different thoughts in the event that this is the case?

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I am always suspicious when something happens regularly at the same time of day.  Spectrum provides me a 24 hour (86,400 seconds) IP lease over DHCP.  I have captured the actual data packets between the router and modem and verified that it works exactly as it is supposed to: At almost exactly 12 hours, the router asks to renew the lease, and Spectrum gives me another 24 hours.  Lease renewal is not one of the things that Orbi writes to the log file.

So, you might look at the Advanced Tab home page, click on the blue box Connection Status and see if the lease expiration matches when the problem occurs.

[Sierraw]

I don't know much about leasing.  I did take a picture of the obtained and expired timing though.  Does this look good or bad to you?

[CrimpOn]

This is certainly a valid and reasonable IP lease.  It will be suspicious if there is a service interruption 17 hours and 33 minutes from the time that snapshot was taken.

[Sierraw]

which means i should watch out for 3 a.m., but regardless that doesn't solve the previous issue.  I do think there's an issue with the orbi though.  If the modem check works out, then i'm going to wait to tonight before running the factory reset instructions you have.  I want to make sure it still has issues today before I do anything to it.  I'll keep you all in the loop.

[Sierraw]

Update: first (noticed) outage of the night at around 8:38 p.m.  Quite a bit later than usual, but nonetheless within 40 minutes of the usual time.  orbi had no colored lights until near the end of the outage when it started showing a solid magenta, which iirc means WAN issues or unable to connect to the internet.  The logs also show no difference, only changes to the logs are from today's usual ip changes as it loves to do.  Otherwise, nothing out of the ordinary.  No initialization, no disconnects or reconnects.  I am going to make sure the cables between the modem and router are okay

upon examining other files, i realized that it, for some reason, prematurely received another lease.  Also this message will be delayed from when i initially wish to send it, as another outage happened around the time i typed it, 8:50 p.m PST.  This time, it seems that neither the wan went down, nor did the lease renew.  This could all be related to the lease renewal time, but that wouldn't make sense with how the timer has added up in the past. Guess it's time to factory reset

[Sierraw]

Update:  I performed the factory reset at around 9:30 PST.  the internet stayed on for a full 2.5 hours!  and then it went down very briefly

[FURRYe38]

What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too?

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@Sierraw wrote:

Update:  I performed the factory reset at around 9:30 PST.  the internet stayed on for a full 2.5 hours!  and then it went down very briefly

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[Sierraw]

The modem is a modem that we received from spectrum.  All i could find were the S/N and MAC addresses.

S/N: 2131CVXP15810

CM MAC: 147D055AC30

MTA MAC: 147D055A5C31

Please be careful going down this rabbit hole.  I had someone come yesterday and check the modem, and even had a spare rental modem to swap it out if this one was defective, and we didn't have to use it.  By all of his metrics, the modem wasn't going down, and was never losing connection with the ISP.  ALSO, during outages last night, the lights on modem were as they should be, as instructed by the technician.

[Sierraw]

UPDATE

I just learned that we own a single satellite orbi.  I was not the one who bought these, so i hadn't known this until now.

[Sierraw]

Final Update:

I finally started noticing these issues throughout the normal day as well, and the timing is now inconsistent, so i'm going to be getting a new router.  Not sure if i'm getting orbi again, but i'm definitely getting something.  Hope this helps someone in the future.

[Sierraw · Accepted solution]

Final Final Update:  The new router didn't change anything.  Seeing as though this affects multiple devices, the only assumption I can make at this point is that it's ISP side, and has absolutely nothing to do with my hardware, which is what i suspected early.

[CrimpOn]

Would you mind sharing which router was installed?

(i.e. another Orbi, or "something else"?)