Residential Gateway DHCP issue AGAIN... and AGAIN....and AGAIN

[sphauck]

I am running a 3801HGV with a software version of 6.3.7.40-enh.tm.

This residential gateway fails to give DHCP address and appears to lose it's routing table data because my printers are not seen from other computers over the WiFi connection.

I have had a tech out here (no help at all)  and no luck.

This gateway will be the reason I cancel my Uverse account and go back to Time Warner!

I have had it with all of the people who suggest using static IP's and putting my own AP behind their gateway because I AM BEING CHARGED FOR THIS EQUIPMENT!

I have Android devices, MacBook Pro,  iPad, Roku, PS3 and several Windows 7 PC's as well as a wireless HP Printer.

All of these devices fail at some point to get an IP address from the troublesome gateway and the ONLY way to solve the problem is to reboot the gateway.

I need some real answers here.

[SomeJoe7777 ACE - Geek]

Have you tried a factory reset of the RG? I have seen these 2Wire units flake out sometimes, and a factory reset often cures the problem.

[gregzoll_1]

Nine times out of ten with WiFi printers, is that it is a setup issue on both the computers & the printer. Follow HP's info on removing the printer from the computers and resetting the printer, and do a reinstall. Also, what firewall software are you running on the Windows 7 machines, and the Macbook?

Is the Macbook able to see the printer?

[sphauck]

You can't see anything because for some unknown reason the gateway is not giving out IP addresses anymore.

Firewall is never going to be an issue when the IP stack can't even get an IP address but good idea for someone who doesn't know better.

I will just go reboot everythign AGAIN and it might work for a few days.

[sphauck]

Will a factory reset remove all my settings?

[SomeJoe7777 ACE - Geek]

Yes, a factory reset will reset all settings on the 2Wire router, including any custom firewall pinholes/settings, secondary IP addresses (static IPs), and wireless network settings.

Write any of those custom settings down before you factory reset the unit, so you can put the settings back in afterwards.

[JWilArk]

I've had the EXACT same issues as the OP.  I've also started having wierd service drops for no apparent reason.  They've replaced the fiber card outside my house (fiber directly to house), changed gateway 3 times eventually putting in a new "original" model-the older type.  The drops have seemed to go away or just not happen as often.  But, concerning the OP's issue, I have 2 Win7 wireless PCs, 2 MacBook Pros, an iPad, an iPhone4, an Android phone as well as an Android Tablet, a Windows Home Server and lastly, an HP wireless printer.  The DHCP has become so annoying.  I usually notice it first on my android and apple devices, then it usually starts to occur on the windows items.  This is strictly a wifi issue.  The wired devices have no problem retaining thier address or even renewing.  I have somewhat tracked this to an issue between these gateways and apple products.  I have been researching information between apple devices and some wireless devices with different issues.  I AM NOT SAYING THIS IS AN APPLE ISSUE, just that it seems to mainly occur with users who have apple equipment and various other routers/gateways.  I'll post my findings if it's relavant.  I definitely feel the OP's pain though.

[sphauck]

I have to say that the router is simply junk.

[userinstl]

I have seen the same thing many times.  The DHCP server stops responding.  WiFi devices that remain on can still reach the network, but devices that are turned off and back on fail to get an IP address.  Sometimes I can force a connection when the gateway gets into this state by setting a static address in the wireless device.  The connection to that device seems to become unstable though.   Anyway, resetting the gateway fixes everything for a few days or weeks, but it unfailingly happens again.  I noticed the current firmware (6.3.7.40-enh.tm) has a first use date of last June - I don't remember noticing this problem before June - maybe just a coincidence. 

We have about 8 wireless devices including 2 Androids, 1 iPod Touch, 1 Blackberry, an XP notebook PC, a Win 7 laptop, a Win 7 Desktop PC, an AR Internet radio, and an occasional visitor laptop. We have about 10 wired devices as well.

[srwiese]

I've been having similar problems with my wireless devices, and you're right that it seemed to have started late this summer/early fall.  WiFi devices that have a connection (iPad/iPhone) seem ok until they go to sleep, but my MacBook will all of a sudden lose the ability to communicate. 

It smells like a DHCP problem, I wonder if giving all of your clients fixed IPs would help until a firmware update is made available.

How do we make sure this is reported to AT&Ts engineers so a fix can be made?

Other sites have similar reports to DHCP problems:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r26242828-New-RG-3801HGV-with-awful-wifi-range-and-connection

[srwiese]

I contacted AT&T support via their chat, they said they weren't aware of any firmware problems but that they would forward the details on to engineering for an investigation.  In the meantime they are going to send me a new router to see if that fixes the problem.

[ErikwithaK3380]

---

userinstl wrote:

I have seen the same thing many times.  The DHCP server stops responding.  WiFi devices that remain on can still reach the network, but devices that are turned off and back on fail to get an IP address.  Sometimes I can force a connection when the gateway gets into this state by setting a static address in the wireless device.  The connection to that device seems to become unstable though.   Anyway, resetting the gateway fixes everything for a few days or weeks, but it unfailingly happens again.  I noticed the current firmware (6.3.7.40-enh.tm) has a first use date of last June - I don't remember noticing this problem before June - maybe just a coincidence. 

We have about 8 wireless devices including 2 Androids, 1 iPod Touch, 1 Blackberry, an XP notebook PC, a Win 7 laptop, a Win 7 Desktop PC, an AR Internet radio, and an occasional visitor laptop. We have about 10 wired devices as well.

---

This is exactly what has been happening recently for us too. My Samsung laptop remains connected but our wireless printer and Apple MacBook both could not connect when "woke up" from their sleep modes. It definitely seems related to the DHCP on the router. I wonder if the Cisco brand RGs have this problem? 

[jedha]

Same problem, same mix of devices, only wireless.

and i would add that it is just as bad with xbox 360 as apple products, and android phones.

wired devices - no issues

5 tv's, 5+ wired systems = flawless

mix of 3 ipads, 4 laptops, 1 imac, and 4 iphones = suckage

and don't give us the crap about firewalls - the earlier post is correct - if an IP is not being issued the firewall isn't the issue.  i would also agree that it started around june.  they have sent me two replacement RG's - no resolution.  

3801HGV

[jkwuc89]

I am adding myself to the list of folks with this issue.  I have the following devices in my home that connect and disconnect to my 3800 series RG daily:  4 iPhones, 1 iPad, 1 MacBook Pro, 1 iMac, 1 Xbox 360.  Over the past month, some subset of these wireless devices fails to get a valid IP that allows internet connectivity.  This occurs when I power down or suspend a device.

The only way to recover is to power off or reset my RG.  Unfortunately, this is a temporary solution because within a few days, the problem re-occurs.

[srwiese]

So I got the new RG installed, sorry I don't remember the model # (a little black box whereas before it was black/silver and larger).

It worked well for a day or so but then yesterday the same problem occurred again (as I expected it would).  I'll be contacting AT&T support again today to escalate the problem.

Does anyone know if these cases on this board get read by anyone from AT&T?

I like the service overall but they're going to have to either fix the problem, buy me a wireless router to put behind their gateway, or I'll move to a different service provider.

[bpedaci]

Just a reply to add my list to those encountering this issue.  It's very troubling to have to completely reset my RG every day, or even every couple of days to resolve IP address assignment on a few devices when others are already connected and working.

[RCSMG ACE - Master]

Contact David using the hyperlink in my sig.  He is a tier 2 tech who has helped lots of people with varying issues.  Send him an email with you info and he or a member of his staff will be in touch with you.

[jkwuc89]

If someone contacts David regarding this issue, please post any relevant information from him on this thread. This issue is getting very annoying. Up until a few weeks ago, I never had to power cycle or reset my RG. I am now doing it every couple of days.

[srwiese]

Thanks for the link.

I found it on another thread and sent an email yesterday to the uversecare account.  I will provide an update when I hear anything.

This really seems like a software/firmware problem with the current DHCP server they have running as hardware changes don't affect anything.

[srwiese]

Hi everyone, someone from L2 support is working with me on diagnosing this problem.  One of their concerns was interference from other devices on the network (wired or wireless) or other electronic devices near the router.

Have any of you added equipment to your home (either on the network or not) in the time preceding your network problems?

What devices are on your networks or operating near your routers?

I'm just trying to piece together more information to help them with their investigation.

[jkwuc89]

Here is what I've added/changed recently on my wireless network:

• Add two new iPhone 4s'
• Upgraded two existing iPhone 3Gs' to iOS5
• Upgraded iPad 2 to iOS5

Everything else is unchanged.  Nothing new has been placed near the RG.

[jrthatcher]

Recently "upgraded" to Uverse. I'm also experiencing DHCP issues daily. I have an HP laptop, Dell laptop, iphone, ipad, nook color, canon wireless printer, wii, 2 desktops, and roku. I think that's it. Not all are on at the same time. Although I am network savvy, I haven't troubleshooted as much as other posters here. I thought upgrading to Uverse would improve our network issues, but it's only made things worse. Hubby works at home often and is forced to sit next to the router and physically be wired to it. My other devices sometimes connect and sometimes not. My HP laptop is the only device that seems reliably stay connected, but sometimes connectivity speeds slow down to a crawl. I know it's a DHCP issue because when I check the IP address of the affected devices, it's the infamous 169.xxx.xxx.xxx address. It seems the only recourse for now is to reboot the Gateway, but seriously, reboot the thing everyday??

AT&T, 2wire, whoever, please come up with a fix else I will seek internet service elsewhere.

[RCSMG ACE - Master]

Send a PM to Alex he is an ATT community manager on the forum.  He should be able to get you to the right people.

http://forums.att.com/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/318276

[oz_1 ACE - Wizard]

A quick question to all those having multiple OS disconnects are you using WPA2 only

in the encryption also are you configuring IPv4 using DHCP or STATIC IP ?

[jkwuc89]

I am using DHCP only and I am using the defaults for wireless security.

[oz_1 ACE - Wizard]

The reason I asked and it not just Apple but I have noticed a lot of wireless products either like no encryption (coffee shops,MacDonalds,etc,etc,) or WPA2 only and the option

WPA/WPA2 simply does not always work. As for WEP it should not be an option when your 13 year old neighbor could probably hack it in less than 15 minutes.

[srwiese]

I'm using the default settings (WPA/WPA2).

Not sure if that is the issue, because if it was why would all wireless devices crap out at about the same time?  DHCP seems logical so the L2 support person I'm working with suggested setting the DHCP lease renewal time to the min (1 hour) but that hasn't caused the problem to occur faster so far.

Maybe some other folks could give it a try and let us know if anything happens?

[srwiese]

So after setting my DHCP renewal time to 1 hour I haven't had any problems.  Have any of you tried this step yet and what's the result?

If it is a DHCP server problem changing the settings may have masked the failure for a while, I won't feel too good about this unless things run smoothly this whole weekend.  But if you're having trouble give it a shot and let us know what you see.

[sadamick]

I changed the DHCP Lease Time (I think is what was meant by DHCP Renewal Time) to 1 hour also but I still have the same issue.  This has been on-going for me for several months and nothing helps except rebooting the router.  It seems I have to do that every 2 to 3 days.  It's awful because we have several devices that need wi-fi.

[OnTheEdge]

I am having similar issues.

Back when I got the router I had a comple of computers and one smart phone on the WiFi, and things were happy.

Now we have:

2 Laptops

1 Tablet

3 Smartphones

always on the WiFi and then friends and family bring over other devices.

Now when my dad shows up with his iPhone 4, we just know we will have to reboot the router when he walks in the door or else he is stuck in limbo land of WiFi connected, but no actualy data on it.

I used to think we had a wireless problem. I bought another wireless access point and took it back thinking it was bad.

Now I am thinking it is this DHCP issue instead. With the access point the RG was still giving out IPs. After 24 hours, every wireless device would lose its IP address. It would still say WiFi connected, but no IP, so no data. LAN devices work fine though.

Has anyone tried setting up a seperate DHCP server and shutting off the DHCP server in the RG?

I am considering this, though I am afraid it could cause issues with firewall pinholes associated with specific systems, and possible other issues. Any thoughts?

If I get such a thing set up I will let you know. I've just got to find something to run it on that can stay on all of the time.

P.S. I did post earlier with my broadband stats. I didn't want to talk about DHCP issues until I was sure I didn't have a broadband issue. I'm told it looks fine, so I'm focusing on DHCP now, as it sounds like the same issue. LAN computers stay on 24x7, WiFi systems connect but don't get an IP and an RG reboot fixes it.

P.P.S.: I did a factory reset of my RG a few weeks ago. My current settings are:

Wireless Interface: Enabled

Wi-Fi Protected Setup: Disabled

SSID: <default>

SSID Broadcast: Enabled

WiFi Channel: 6

Wireless Security: Enabled

Authentication Type: WPA2-PSK (AES)

WiFi Key: Use Key printed on system label

Power Setting: 400 mW

Wireless Mode: 802.11g

DTIM Period: 1

Max Connect Rate: 54 Mbps

DHCP Lease Time: 24 hours