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Re: Orbi Satelite keeps renewing IP of ethernet connected devices

CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Orbi Satelite keeps renewing IP of ethernet connected devices

I would love to investigate this issue, but alas my Orbi DHCP works "as it should".  Devices that are constantly powered on renew DHCP exactly when they should. My issue is that DHCP servers (i.e. the Orbi) do not just send out DHCP notices.  They respond to queries (or at least they are supposed to.)  What I am interested in is the question, "What could cause devices to keep asking for IP addresses when they should have no reason to?"

 

Would someone whose Orbi logs exhibit this behavior be willing to capture DHCP activity and post it somewhere?  This is how:

 

  • Navigate to the Orbi debug page (http://orbilogin.net/debug.htm
  • Log in with the admin credentials ("admin" and password)
    (What I usually do is connect to the Orbi web interface and change "index" on the navigation bar to "debug".)
  • Check the box "Enable LAN/WAN Packet Capture".
  • Check the box "Start Capture"
  • Wait until you see some more of those DHCP notices appear in the log.  If this is happening every two minutes, it should not take long.
  • After some captures have occured, navigate back to the debug page and click the box, "Save Debug Log".(This takes a bit.  Computers are not "computer quick")
  • A box should appear offering a choice to Open or Save the file debug-log.zip.
    Save it to someplace on your computer where you can find it.
  • Open the zip file and open the file "lap.pcap" with a program that can open "pcap" files.
    Personally, I use the free Wireshark program which is available for Windows, Mac, and most Linux distrubutions.
  • When the file opens, set a "Display Filter" (at the top which reads "dhcp or dhcpv6"
    This will highlight all of the LAN packets involved with the DHCP protocol.
  • On the File menu, select "Export Specified Packets", then check the boxes Displayed and Selected.
  • Save the file.

Note that this file contains no "personal" information except for the MAC addresses of these devices, which already appears in the Orbi log file.  There will be no web traffic, no emails, no logins, .... just DHCP.

 

I understand that this digging into packet captures is sort of "odd".

Message 26 of 36
tubphooj
Tutor

Re: Orbi Satelite keeps renewing IP of ethernet connected devices

thanks for checking in. yeah, i tried your suggestion, still dropping. took both router and satelite to 2.3.5.30 and still issues. thinking about going lower, but worried about some of the security updates in the patches. thoughts? 

 

dropped 4x today in a 6 hr time frame. each time, same DHCP entries in the log. 

Message 27 of 36
tubphooj
Tutor

Re: Orbi Satelite keeps renewing IP of ethernet connected devices

i can do that. will share what i get after review. 

 


@CrimpOn wrote:

I would love to investigate this issue, but alas my Orbi DHCP works "as it should".  Devices that are constantly powered on renew DHCP exactly when they should. My issue is that DHCP servers (i.e. the Orbi) do not just send out DHCP notices.  They respond to queries (or at least they are supposed to.)  What I am interested in is the question, "What could cause devices to keep asking for IP addresses when they should have no reason to?"

 

Would someone whose Orbi logs exhibit this behavior be willing to capture DHCP activity and post it somewhere?  This is how:

 

  • Navigate to the Orbi debug page (http://orbilogin.net/debug.htm
  • Log in with the admin credentials ("admin" and password)
    (What I usually do is connect to the Orbi web interface and change "index" on the navigation bar to "debug".)
  • Check the box "Enable LAN/WAN Packet Capture".
  • Check the box "Start Capture"
  • Wait until you see some more of those DHCP notices appear in the log.  If this is happening every two minutes, it should not take long.
  • After some captures have occured, navigate back to the debug page and click the box, "Save Debug Log".(This takes a bit.  Computers are not "computer quick")
  • A box should appear offering a choice to Open or Save the file debug-log.zip.
    Save it to someplace on your computer where you can find it.
  • Open the zip file and open the file "lap.pcap" with a program that can open "pcap" files.
    Personally, I use the free Wireshark program which is available for Windows, Mac, and most Linux distrubutions.
  • When the file opens, set a "Display Filter" (at the top which reads "dhcp or dhcpv6"
    This will highlight all of the LAN packets involved with the DHCP protocol.
  • On the File menu, select "Export Specified Packets", then check the boxes Displayed and Selected.
  • Save the file.

Note that this file contains no "personal" information except for the MAC addresses of these devices, which already appears in the Orbi log file.  There will be no web traffic, no emails, no logins, .... just DHCP.

 

I understand that this digging into packet captures is sort of "odd".


 

Message 28 of 36
tubphooj
Tutor

Re: Orbi Satelite keeps renewing IP of ethernet connected devices

i have the debug logs. there are a ton of stuff here. any instructions or documentation i can use to decipher this mess? 

 

it has alot of protected data, e.g. encryption codes, mac, ips, ssids, etc... dont think i can share it w the community. its just outside warranty, can i open a ticket w support still? 

 


@CrimpOn wrote:

I would love to investigate this issue, but alas my Orbi DHCP works "as it should".  Devices that are constantly powered on renew DHCP exactly when they should. My issue is that DHCP servers (i.e. the Orbi) do not just send out DHCP notices.  They respond to queries (or at least they are supposed to.)  What I am interested in is the question, "What could cause devices to keep asking for IP addresses when they should have no reason to?"

 

Would someone whose Orbi logs exhibit this behavior be willing to capture DHCP activity and post it somewhere?  This is how:

 

  • Navigate to the Orbi debug page (http://orbilogin.net/debug.htm
  • Log in with the admin credentials ("admin" and password)
    (What I usually do is connect to the Orbi web interface and change "index" on the navigation bar to "debug".)
  • Check the box "Enable LAN/WAN Packet Capture".
  • Check the box "Start Capture"
  • Wait until you see some more of those DHCP notices appear in the log.  If this is happening every two minutes, it should not take long.
  • After some captures have occured, navigate back to the debug page and click the box, "Save Debug Log".(This takes a bit.  Computers are not "computer quick")
  • A box should appear offering a choice to Open or Save the file debug-log.zip.
    Save it to someplace on your computer where you can find it.
  • Open the zip file and open the file "lap.pcap" with a program that can open "pcap" files.
    Personally, I use the free Wireshark program which is available for Windows, Mac, and most Linux distrubutions.
  • When the file opens, set a "Display Filter" (at the top which reads "dhcp or dhcpv6"
    This will highlight all of the LAN packets involved with the DHCP protocol.
  • On the File menu, select "Export Specified Packets", then check the boxes Displayed and Selected.
  • Save the file.

Note that this file contains no "personal" information except for the MAC addresses of these devices, which already appears in the Orbi log file.  There will be no web traffic, no emails, no logins, .... just DHCP.

 

I understand that this digging into packet captures is sort of "odd".


 

Message 29 of 36
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Orbi Satelite keeps renewing IP of ethernet connected devices


@tubphooj wrote:

i have the debug logs. there are a ton of stuff here. any instructions or documentation i can use to decipher this mess? 

 

it has alot of protected data, e.g. encryption codes, mac, ips, ssids, etc... dont think i can share it w the community. its just outside warranty, can i open a ticket w support still? 



Correct, the entire debug log contains lots of sensitive information.  Netgear provides "complimentary 90 day support" for new systems, so if the system is less than 90 days old, you can contact Netgear support.  After 90 days, customers can purchase support or (as I do) turn to other customers in the community forum for information.

 

What I want is a tiny portion of the debug log.  A tiny part of the file "lan.pcap" that is one of the many files included in the debug zip file.  Only the "dhcp" and "dhcpv6" packets.  The process I would use to extract these packets is to open the lan.pcap file with Wireshark, create a "Display Filter" to show only these packets, then create an extract file with only those selected packets.  To verify that this is the only information being shared, open that new file with Wireshark and it will contain only those packets.

 

I believe there are restrictions on which file types can be attached to a message, so the process to share "other things" is to put the file on DropBox, Google Drive (or something similar), create a "link" to the file, and then share the URL.

Message 30 of 36
tubphooj
Tutor

Re: Orbi Satelite keeps renewing IP of ethernet connected devices

way above my head now i guess. theres screenshot of the logs i see. no "lan.pcap" file i can see. I downloaded wireshark but no idea what im looking at. is there a youtube tutorial you can share? 

 

debuglog.PNG


@CrimpOn wrote:

@tubphooj wrote:

i have the debug logs. there are a ton of stuff here. any instructions or documentation i can use to decipher this mess? 

 

it has alot of protected data, e.g. encryption codes, mac, ips, ssids, etc... dont think i can share it w the community. its just outside warranty, can i open a ticket w support still? 



Correct, the entire debug log contains lots of sensitive information.  Netgear provides "complimentary 90 day support" for new systems, so if the system is less than 90 days old, you can contact Netgear support.  After 90 days, customers can purchase support or (as I do) turn to other customers in the community forum for information.

 

What I want is a tiny portion of the debug log.  A tiny part of the file "lan.pcap" that is one of the many files included in the debug zip file.  Only the "dhcp" and "dhcpv6" packets.  The process I would use to extract these packets is to open the lan.pcap file with Wireshark, create a "Display Filter" to show only these packets, then create an extract file with only those selected packets.  To verify that this is the only information being shared, open that new file with Wireshark and it will contain only those packets.

 

I believe there are restrictions on which file types can be attached to a message, so the process to share "other things" is to put the file on DropBox, Google Drive (or something similar), create a "link" to the file, and then share the URL.


 

Message 31 of 36
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Orbi Satelite keeps renewing IP of ethernet connected devices


@tubphooj wrote:

way above my head now i guess. theres screenshot of the logs i see. no "lan.pcap" file i can see. I downloaded wireshark but no idea what im looking at. is there a youtube tutorial you can share?


When I "Save" the debug file, I get a file called "debug-log.zip" in my Download folder (Windows).  If I double click on the zip file, it shows LOTS of files.  The one of interest is called "lan.pcap" (see attached image).  Unfortunately, when people post "inline" images on this forum, the images do not show up until one of the moderators approves them.  We can "Browse" and attach files of certain types (attached).

 

If Wireshark is installed, extract the lan.pcap file and double click on it, which should cause Wireshark to open it.

 

www.wireshark.org has some tutorials on how to run Wireshark.

 

Message 32 of 36
tomschmidt
Virtuoso

Re: Orbi Satelite keeps renewing IP of ethernet connected devices

@CrimpOn, I have two IP cameras that are logging their DHCP request every 10 minutes.  I installed Wireshark and captured their DHCP request.  Picture is attached with MAC address information blocked out.  Odd thing is it shows that the DHCP lease is for 86400 seconds (1 day) as it should be, but I am instead getting 600 seconds (10 minutes).

Message 33 of 36
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Orbi Satelite keeps renewing IP of ethernet connected devices

It looks to me like you are on the right track to solving this.  Probably would be helpful to open the details on the actual request packet (the broadcast from 0.0.0.0 to 255.255.255.255).  In that packet the camera should be saying, "Can I please have this IP address?".

 

I do not understand that immediately after receiving the DHCP ACK (sure, you can have this IP), the camera tries to ping the router (ICMP) and gets a destination unreachable.  Probably prudent to verify that the Orbi is responding to ICMP requests.

 

It seems pretty clear to me that the camera is initiating this transaction every 10 minutes by broadcasting the DHCP request and the Orbi is responding the way it is supposed to.

Message 34 of 36
UKAlanWebb
Initiate

Re: Orbi Satelite keeps renewing IP of ethernet connected devices

All, just to throw my hat in to the mix.

 

Ground Floor

ISP - Virgin Media

ISP Router in Modem mode

Orbi RBR50 - Firmware v2.5.1.16

 

1st Floor

x2 Orbi Sattelites across two rooms.

 

1st Floor has devices wired to the Sattelites.

 

One device a Windows 10 PC, disconnect from the internet, even with the Ethernet and Wi-Fi network cards active.

 

Looking at the logs, I can see that upon disconnections, I have a DCHP renewal request logged for the active network card in the PC.

 

I have tried the following.

 

1. Firmware reset

2. Reserved IP addresses, from the DHCP pool.

 

 

Overall when the issue occurs I get a barrage of disruption until I reboot the Orbi router. Then after this I can go a few days and even a week without noticing the distruption.

 

The issue is made even worst now as I am working from home and Teams calls are being distrupted.

 

Is this issue on the Netgear radar as a bug to be fixed. I moved away from the Google Mesh Wi-Fi due to untold problems, including poor support. Hoping to see a different experience from Netgear. 

 

If not then will return the setup to Amazon and move on to the next brand!

 

Thanks

 

 

 

Message 35 of 36
CrimpOn
Guru

Re: Orbi Satelite keeps renewing IP of ethernet connected devices


@UKAlanWebb wrote:

Is this issue on the Netgear radar as a bug to be fixed. I moved away from the Google Mesh Wi-Fi due to untold problems, including poor support. Hoping to see a different experience from Netgear. 

None of us on this "community forum" have information about what Netgear engineers are working on.  Occasionally, I will see a post from someone indicating that a problem has been "escalated" and comments about those issues persisting for a long time.  "Frequent disconnections" or "WiFi drops" appear to be a common issue.

If not then will return the setup to Amazon and move on to the next brand!


I have yet to find a common thread among these reports, and I cannot reproduce the problem, perhaps because I have "tinkered with" my environment.  For example, I have IPv6 disabled on my desktop and the WiFi card disabled.  One of my laptops has "everything on" and sometimes I have to reboot it when switching network connections.

 

Manually loading firmware 2.4.5.30 on the router seems to work for some people.

 

I would think that setting the Windows desktop to IPv4 only (no IPv6) with a static IP address and disabling the WiFi card would be pretty easy to try.  Would be interesting to see if the Windows machine "loses internet" when set up that way.

 

I am pretty insistent that that the Orbi responding to DHCP renewals may be a symptom, but is not the cause.  Orbi said, "here's an IP address you can use for 86,400 seconds" and then minutes later the device thinks, "woops.  I've lost the network. I need to ask for a renewal on my DHCP lease."  That's the problem.

Message 36 of 36
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