Router restart all of a sudden then problems

[donawalt]

This is the second time this has happened to me...

Config - 1 RBR850, 2 RBS850's. All are on V7.2.6.21_5.0.20 firmware. No VPN, Armor, or Parental Controls activated. Modem is NG 2050V.

I have two switches attached to the router, the 2 RBSs are attached to a NG GS105A for backhaul. Other devices are attached to a NG GS348.

All of a sudden, sitting in one room near an RBS850, I notice it turns magenta. I go check the router, and it is restarting. It appeared it came up fine, and the 2 RBSs were online - devices were connecting via WiFi to the 2 RBSs and RBR just fine.

I don't know why it just random restarts! I captured the router debug screen image, but of course that was after the restart. I checked the router log and there is nothing but the restart entries and DHCP requests.

But in a couple of minutes, the Orbi app shows the router and Internet as Red - no internet.

So I decided to power cycle everything but the modem - as it appeared to be fine from the status lights. I did this:

Power down the two RBSs, then the 2 Switches, then the router. I waited 2 minutes. Powered up the router. From an iPhone 10' away, WiFi/internet is working fine.

Then I power up the switches. (They appear to be fine, as our laptops that are Eth-connected into switches work fine, and the 2 RBSs have hard wired backhaul and that works fine according to the Attached Devices list on the router web page.)

After the switches, I power up the 1st RBS - wait for blue light. Then I power the second RBS, wait for the blue light.

Once everything is up, I notice a laptop with only WiFi cannot connect. Another laptop on the 3rd floor is connected to the router in the basement, albeit with  mediocre signal. So I check the "Attached devices" list, and NOTHING in the house is WiFi connected to anything but the router! They are not connecting to either RBS!

What could be causing this? What steps should I take?

EDIT/ADDITION: Actually, when I check the detailed message on one Macbook, it says "Your Mac has successfully joined the WiFi network, but it cannot reach the Internet."

It suggests restarting modem and router - of course - but I;ll try that.

EDIT/ADDITION 2: I powered down the RBR, then the modem, ONLY. I waited a minute, powered up the cable modem, when it was up, powered up the router. In a couple of minutes, everything looks fine again, devices are connecting to the RBSs as well as the RBR.

So in summary:

1) Router randomly reboots. Everything comes up fine briefly, then WiFi internet is lost but not Ethernet.

2) Power cycling everything (but modem) down and then back up, in recommended sequence, results in nothing connecting to the RBSs - although the Mac says devices are connected to WiFi but there is no Internet.

3) One more powercycle of router and modem, then things seem to be fine. Nothing but restart messages on the modem logs either.

So why does the network WiFi break down when the router reboots, and why does it reboot on its own?

[FURRYe38]

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@donawalt wrote:

This is the second time this has happened to me...

Config - 1 RBR850, 2 RBS850's. All are on V7.2.6.21_5.0.20 firmware. No VPN, Armor, or Parental Controls activated. Modem is NG 2050V.

I have two switches attached to the router, the 2 RBSs are attached to a NG GS105A for backhaul. Other devices are attached to a NG GS348.

All of a sudden, sitting in one room near an RBS850, I notice it turns magenta. I go check the router, and it is restarting. It appeared it came up fine, and the 2 RBSs were online - devices were connecting via WiFi to the 2 RBSs and RBR just fine.

I don't know why it just random restarts! I captured the router debug screen image, but of course that was after the restart. I checked the router log and there is nothing but the restart entries and DHCP requests.

But in a couple of minutes, the Orbi app shows the router and Internet as Red - no internet.

So I decided to power cycle everything but the modem - as it appeared to be fine from the status lights. I did this:

Is recommended that when you power down everything, this should include the ISP modem as well. 

Power down the two RBSs, then the 2 Switches, then the router. I waited 2 minutes. Powered up the router. From an iPhone 10' away, WiFi/internet is working fine.

Then I power up the switches. (They appear to be fine, as our laptops that are Eth-connected into switches work fine, and the 2 RBSs have hard wired backhaul and that works fine according to the Attached Devices list on the router web page.)

After the switches, I power up the 1st RBS - wait for blue light. Then I power the second RBS, wait for the blue light.

Once everything is up, I notice a laptop with only WiFi cannot connect. Another laptop on the 3rd floor is connected to the router in the basement, albeit with  mediocre signal. So I check the "Attached devices" list, and NOTHING in the house is WiFi connected to anything but the router! They are not connecting to either RBS!

What could be causing this? What steps should I take?

EDIT/ADDITION: Actually, when I check the detailed message on one Macbook, it says "Your Mac has successfully joined the WiFi network, but it cannot reach the Internet."

It suggests restarting modem and router - of course - but I;ll try that.

EDIT/ADDITION 2: I powered down the RBR, then the modem, ONLY. I waited a minute, powered up the cable modem, when it was up, powered up the router. In a couple of minutes, everything looks fine again, devices are connecting to the RBSs as well as the RBR.

It's commended that when you power down the RBR and ISP Modem, include the RBS as well. 

So in summary:

1) Router randomly reboots. Everything comes up fine briefly, then WiFi internet is lost but not Ethernet.

2) Power cycling everything (but modem) down and then back up, in recommended sequence, results in nothing connecting to the RBSs - although the Mac says devices are connected to WiFi but there is no Internet.

3) One more powercycle of router and modem, then things seem to be fine. Nothing but restart messages on the modem logs either.

So why does the network WiFi break down when the router reboots, and why does it reboot on its own?

What CAT# LAN cable do you have between the CM modem and RBR? 

Did the front LED on the RBR turn PINK when this happened? 

What channels is the RBR configured for currently? 

Be aware that your ISP may have been doing some odd maintenance or configurations as CC/XF are in the midst of adding new high speed support and equipment to there sevices so possible something could have happened here. 

Something you might enabled to see if this helps maybe stop this randsom reboot of the RBR:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-WIFI-6-AX-AND-Wi-Fi-6E-AXE/Enable-Email-Logging-and-Router-Reb...

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[donawalt]

Yeah it does seem I have to power cycle EVERYTHING in the recommended sequence if I power down anything. That doesn't answer why it rebooted on its own though.

To answer your other questions:

1- cable between RBR and modem is Cat 6e

2- don't know if the RBR lights went pink - by the time I realized the RBR was restarting and I got down there it was finished the reboot and from lights were out.

3- RBR channels - .4 GHz - Auto, 5 GHz is 48 GHz

4- I was thinking it could have been something outside, but the modem logs were totally clean - no errors, T3, T4, word CM_STATUS messages, etc.

5- I do have the logs emailed every Sat at 5 AM - worst great. This last happened about 2 weeks ago, so not that frequent.

[FURRYe38]

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@donawalt wrote:

Yeah it does seem I have to power cycle EVERYTHING in the recommended sequence if I power down anything. That doesn't answer why it rebooted on its own though.

To answer your other questions:

1- cable between RBR and modem is Cat 6e

Do you mean CAT5E? There is no such thing as CAT6E, there is CAT6 and CAT6A which is STP and would be recommended. 

2- don't know if the RBR lights went pink - by the time I realized the RBR was restarting and I got down there it was finished the reboot and from lights were out.

Check the uptime of the RBR on the WEB web page under Advanced Tab/Internet/Show Stats or on the routers debug.htm page. Try to check the RBR first next time you see this. Would need to know if Front LED shows anything.

3- RBR channels - .4 GHz - Auto, 5 GHz is 48 GHz

Lets try manual channel 1 and 40 if you don't have any neighbors.

4- I was thinking it could have been something outside, but the modem logs were totally clean - no errors, T3, T4, word CM_STATUS messages, etc.

Any Criticals or Warnings seen here? 

5- I do have the logs emailed every Sat at 5 AM - worst great. This last happened about 2 weeks ago, so not that frequent. Might try to keep track of this. Each time it happens. So longest uptime is about two weeks? 

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[donawalt]

1- Do you mean CAT5E? Sorry typed without thinking; I just went and verified, router to modem is Cat 6A.
2- Check the uptime of the RBR on the WEB web page under Advanced Tab/Internet/Show Stats or on the routers debug.htm page. Try to check the RBR first next time you see this. Would need to know if Front LED shows anything.

----> I did screen shot the debug page as soon as I came back up to my desk - it said 25 min 13 sec at that point (after the restart)

3- Lets try manual channel 1 and 40 if you don't have any neighbors.

----> I am in a row house so I do have neighbors. I haven't walked the whole house see how congested those channels are, I don't have much of anything on 2.4 - smart plugs, doorbell, TV remote hub is it.

4- Any Criticals or Warnings seen in the modem log? Absolutely none.

5- So longest uptime is about two weeks? This time - it's just happened twice now.

[FURRYe38]

K, Ya kinda odd. Not sure. 

Mark this one down and date and time and then monitor for next one. 

MIght check CPU usage and memory usage as well to see you notice any spikes or high usage here. CPU usage could cause this. 

[donawalt]

I will.

I do check the debug stats periodically, they always have looked fine. Hard to nail it when it happens 2 weeks later. I'll keep an eye on it daily or so to see if CPU or memory usage is creeping up.

[FURRYe38]

You only have Mac PCs right? 

[donawalt]

No I have 1 Windows 10 PC and Windows 11 in a VM on a Mac

[FURRYe38]

👍

[donawalt]

The story continues...

This morning I got up and saw that nothing was connected to one of the two RBS850s.

I checked the memory/CPU, and memory was ok, but CPU was 27% - the other RBS was 8% and the router was 11%. All three stayed at their respective CPU usage levels for the next 2 hours.

That offending RBS has an Apple TV box plugged into it via Ethernet, that continued to work. It was just WiFi connections that were refused.

None of the RBR/RBSs rebooted overnight/this morning on their own.

Using the WiFi analyzer, I sat 5 feet from the offending RBS. The signal was very strong, hovering around 94%. The other RBS and RBR signal for 5 GHz are 30% and 22% in other parts of the house. As a reminder, backhaul is wired.

The other funny thing, the Hop Count is blank! The other RBS shows 1. What does no hop count indicate?

I unplugged the offending RBS for about 2-3 minutes, then plugged it back in. All seems fine again, devices are connected to both RBSs and the RBR. Walking around with my iPhone or MacBook, they seem to switch nicely between router/RBS.

Once the RBS was up, the CPU settled in at ~ 8%  - like the other RBS. Hop count showed as 1.

So all I know:
- For a mysterious reason an RBS stops connecting any devices via WiFi.
- CPU usage is markedly higher at a sustained level - ~ 27% vs. 8%. What's it doing?
- 5 GHz signal strength is very strong and accurate - so devices see it, I suspect they attempt to connect to it and are rejected?
- Instead of having a hop count of 1, it is blank.
- Power cycle fixed it.

[CrimpOn]

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@donawalt wrote:

I checked the memory/CPU, and memory was ok, but CPU was 27% - the other RBS was 8% and the router was 11%. All three stayed at their respective CPU usage levels for the next 2 hours.

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How often was the debug.htm page refreshed?  (My experience is that the debug page does not refresh itself.  Once displayed, nothing changes unless the user refreshes the page.)

27% is not an unusual CPU measurement.  Often, it appears that the process of displaying the debug page causes a temporary increase in CPU load and when the page is refreshed, the CPU reading is much lower.

[donawalt]

I re-logged in and checked it over the course of an hour or so, so I thin kit was real. I would not have wondered about only 27% either, yet the other two were 8% (RBS) and 11% (RBR) and after the power cycle, the offending RBS was back to 8% too. So it seems something was amiss. I just checked now, 5 hours after the power cycle, and it's at 7%. So 27% seems like an anomaly (along with no hop count)

I did do a 5 minute packet capture from the RBS debug page before I power cycled it, I don't know if that will do any good/if anyone can decipher it...

[FURRYe38]

Might swap RBS around to see if you notice this issue follow the one RBS or if it stays at this one locations.

Also what power setting do you have the RBR set for under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings

[donawalt]

Power settings are 100%. I could try swapping the satellites, but has happened to both satellites so I don’t think it’s a hardware problem or something like that.

[BullMoon]

Who is your ISP? Your issues sound a lot like what I had gone through most of last year while Xfinity was upgrading equipment in our area.  Once they finished last November everything settled down and I have not had any glitches or weird restarts since then.  It's hard to imagine what a modem could do to cause the Orbi to reboot, but from my experience it can happen.

[FURRYe38]

Might try 50% on the power sometime. 

Ya this is a odd one for sure, You system should not be seeing these odd events. 

[donawalt]

Maybe @BullMoon has it, I am on Comcast, and they have been putting the mid-level split/higher upload speeds into the neighborhood. It was working before they pulled the firmware on the modems because of issues, so maybe they are making changes. Thanks for that!

[FURRYe38]

Kinda of hard to believe the ISP changes would cause issues at the RBS though. 

[donawalt]

True - although the RBR could be instigating it. Even that is a little  hard to believe as @BullMoon said. I could see the modem causing the router to reboot. But the madness of what happens on soft reboots is all Netgear I think. Like I said at one time in the past, they really need to test/debug the setup/restart etc scenarios, on the forums this is the stuff that causes people problems. Unless you restart everything, or upgrade firmware, etc. in exactly the perfect way, the system has problems. That's not right.