MR60 strange behvior

[uhcax30]

Hi 

I have a MR60 ( Acts as router) connected to CAX30 ( acts as pure modem).

I have noticed that when i lose internet connectivity on my CAX30 ( due to ISP outage), the MR60 starts to behave strangely. It will not assign IP addresses, devices will lose connectivity. The devices cannot even communicate on the internal network.

I then connected a desktop ( wired with static IP) to see what was going on. No errors in the logs.

I also noticed that the two satellites (MS60) had the same IP. I could not ping any of the satellites. Shows some devices as connected but you cannot ping any of them. I have setup reserved IPs for the satellites, but this time it has some random IP outside of the dhcp scope.

I have to power cycle the MR60 at least 2-3 times before it starts to work again. Some time if that does not work I have to disconnect the MR60 ( remove power and all RJ45 cables) , power cycle the modem and then start MR60 after connecting all the cables.

how do i ensure that even if i lose the internet connectivity, my internal network continues to work and then when the internet is restored it detects and outside connectivity is restored without manually needing to power cycle the devices.

Thanks

[FURRYe38]

What Firmware version is currently loaded?
Be sure your using a good quality LAN cable between the modem and router. CAT6 is recommended. 

What is the size of your home? Sq Ft?
What is the distance between the router and 📡 satellite(s)? 30 feet or more is recommended in between MR and MS🛰️ to begin with depending upon building materials when wirelessly connected.

https://kb.netgear.com/000061709/Where-should-I-place-the-Mesh-WiFi-satellite-of-my-Nighthawk-Mesh-W... 📡

What channels are you using? Auto? Try Auto and 48 on 5Ghz. Or try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and 40 to 48 channel on 5Ghz.
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?

And you are sure the CAX30 is the modem only mode? The MR should be getting a public IP address on it's WAN port and not a 192.168.something in this mode....

[uhcax30]

MR60 is currently running V1.1.7.132_2.0.64.

I am using CAX30 as modem, hence there is no ISP modem. ISP is Xfinity

MR60 is connected to CAX30 using the cable that come in with MR60.

Home is single story with about 2500 sq. ft.  MR60 is on one end of home, one satellite in the middle and one at the other end.

The Router and one of the satellites is for sure 30 feet apart ( diagonal). The other satellite may be more like 25-27 feet. 

Currently 5G is on Channel 161 and 2.4G is on Auto (10)

Yes, the MR60 does get a public IP on its Internet port. When the ISP has issues I have seen this to be 0.0.0.0

[FURRYe38]

Try factory resettting the MR AND MS by pressing the reset buttons for 10 seconds. 

Power cycle the modem as well OFF for 30 seconds then back ON. 

Use a wired PC and web browser and walk thru the setup wizard at 192.168.1.1

I would have the MS in same room or near the MR when you do this. 

[uhcax30]

Is it ok to restore the configuration from backup? or do I need to redo all of it all over again?

[FURRYe38]

You can try the restore from backup. if this doesn't resolve the issue, you may need to reset and do a clean setup from scratch. 

[uhcax30]

I did reset the MR60. However for some reason I could not restore my configuration. I had three copies of it  but all failed to work. After upload and restart it would come back to the default setup. No errors reported while uploading or verification. Hence finally I had to redo all my setup all over again.

After the setup was completed. I tried following tests

   a) I power off the modem and confirmed the router was assigning IP. 
   b) After powering back up the modem the router did not restore the internet connection.

   c) I tried power cycling the router but no luck.

   d) Finally I power cycled both and the internet connection was restored.

[FURRYe38]

Ok thanks for the info and details.

Sometimes the ISP modem needs to be rebooted or power cycled as well to complete the connection. 

I recommend making a new backup configuration using MS Edge browser. Now that the system is setup again and up and running. Create a new backup to file. Possible some browser can mess up the config file when they capture it and put it to file on your PC. I haven't had any problems with using MS Edge, FF or Opera. 

Please mark your thread and solved so others will know. 

Enjoy.