Solved: RVS4000 loses static IP config once or twice a month

wmccwam66 · ‎07-28-2012

Purchased the RVS4000 in 11/2012 to work behind a NVG512 in (pass thru mode). I'm running firmware version V2.0.2.7. For whatever reason once or twice a month I lose access to the internet. Sometimes it's AT&T fault but other times my RVS4000 dosen't behave well. I finally took screen shots of every screen I configured in the RVS4000 to make it work in my environment. Last night we lost internet access again. Before unplugging everything I looked in the RVS4000 and found that my WAN setup had reverted back to a default Automatic Configuration - DHCP instead of the Static IP that I had previously saved.

It seems that my RVS4000 is losing just that WAN setting (port forwarding and Static IP Mapping data and VPN client data is still intact.

Any hints on what to do next?

Tom Watts · ‎08-01-2012

Walter, it sounds like the unit may be faulty. If the device is completely locking to the point DHCP stops responding and the router UI is not accessible, sounds like a device lock up.

If you want to debug it further, you can set up an external syslog server to see the why. But frankly, sounds like some bad hardware.

I'd recommend you give the SBSC a call for a possible replacement.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/support/tsd_cisco_small_business_support_center_contacts.html

-Tom

-Tom Please mark answered for helpful posts http://blogs.cisco.com/smallbusiness/

View solution in original post

Tom Watts · ‎07-28-2012

Hello Walter,

Generally, when any device will have a random, unexpected behavior there are a few causes;

Possible software issue
Possible hardware issue
Possible electricity issue

I would recommend to reflash the 2.0.2.7 firmware then factory reset the router. Manually reconfigure it without uploading any config files. If it's not fixed, I would check the electricity components such as the power adapter prongs, how does the power adapter seat to the device, the source of power, swap out the UPS/surge protector and even try a different outlet. Under/over volting a device, unclean firmware install and faulty hardware component are the top contributors to sporadic behavior.

-Tom

-Tom Please mark answered for helpful posts http://blogs.cisco.com/smallbusiness/

wmccwam66 · ‎07-28-2012

Thanks for the reply.

Last month I moved the router to a different part of the house ie. different electrical phase, also different powerstrip and connection. What I haven't done yet is swap out the power adapter.

What I will do next is to reflash 2.0.2.7 and manually reconfigure it (as you recommended) and see if that does the trick.

-Walt

Message was edited by: Walter McCullough Strange behavior (before I reloaded RVS4000 and factory reset) was that some websites were accessable while others were not. Google-Yes, Yahoo-No. Anyway I reconfigured my main (3) PCs to use static IP addresses while leaving the other 5-6 devices as dynamic IP. (Clearing the Static IP Table from the RVS4000). I configured (and tested) port forwrding on the 3 PC that require access from the outside and they work. So.... I let this configuration stew for a week or two. The only difference right now (other than the reload and factory reset) is the use (or non use) of the static IP table. I'll let sleeping dogs lie to ensure my current configuration is stable before adding that change.

wmccwam66 · ‎08-01-2012

Very, very odd behaviors. After reflashing the RVS4000 to v2.0.2.7 and doing a factory reset, I manually configured my FTP, SSL and another app port for all my accessable PCs. Spent the whole day working like a charm. Late in the afternoon I was not able to access Yahoo.com on my main PC (Win 7) nor on my Vista or Linux box. Rebooting the PC's didn't help. When I turned on my Android phone to Wi-Fi I noticed no IP address. I tried accessing my RVS4000 webpage but no response. I also noticed that it wasn't acting as a DHCP server either. I power cycled it and it started working (for a while). I reconfigured my main PC for dynamic IP addressing and got an IP address conflict alert so I shutdown everything reboot the routers and then the PCs one at a time.

When I can't get to Yahoo.com I can still get to Google.com or any number of other websites (can't be a virus because it impacts all my different devices at the same time). I've also found that when it's in this state, I can disconnect the RVS4000 and connect directly to my modem and Yahoo.com is accessable (maybe the RVS4000 doesn't like Yahoo.com and is protecting me).

Getting just a little frustrated debugging this.

-walt

Tom Watts · ‎08-01-2012

Walter, it sounds like the unit may be faulty. If the device is completely locking to the point DHCP stops responding and the router UI is not accessible, sounds like a device lock up.

If you want to debug it further, you can set up an external syslog server to see the why. But frankly, sounds like some bad hardware.

I'd recommend you give the SBSC a call for a possible replacement.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/support/tsd_cisco_small_business_support_center_contacts.html

-Tom

-Tom Please mark answered for helpful posts http://blogs.cisco.com/smallbusiness/

wmccwam66 · ‎08-05-2012

Talked to small business support and they recommened reflashing to v2.0.3.2 (just released) and manually adding configuration changes (not restore from backup) and it seemed to work for about 24 hours. Then the next day I could get to google.com but hang on yahoo.com. Could ping to both sites but no web access to yahoo.com. Reboot RVS4000, still no luck. Power cycle RVS4000 and PC and that works (for a while). BTW: Rebooting PC without power cycling RVS4000 doesn't work either. Linux Firefox more resilient but shows webpage but shows "waiting for response" message at bottom.

I pulled the RVS4000 from service this morning but now (offline) I can't get to the router's webpage "404 page not found". Factory reset lets me back in but log is gone by then. Was going to do syslog to external machine but I think the effort exceeds the payoff.

BTW: Cisco SB support was great. Warrenty contract expired last month but they still tried to help as a courtesy. My next step is to get that contract so I can replace this unit.

-Walt

wmccwam66 · ‎08-09-2012

Just wanted to add a (slightly) final twist.

Had a chance to look further in my router woes and found (before I took it out of service) that I had dup IP errors and the hangs from yahoo.com were actually from us.bc.yahoo.com. It turns out that the IPv4 were unique but a couple of the PCs had the same IPv6 addresses. After a couple of factory resets I was able to logon onto the router and turned off IPv6 and enable syslog to one of my linux machines.

It's been 48+ hours now and everything is behaving perfectly.

I don't know if it's because I can now monitor the router's log files (Heisenberg??) or turning off IPv6 (which somehow got turned on) but it's working.

My next steps (regardless) is to wait for the support contract, show it to the router and threaten the router that any misbehaving will result in its immediate return to Cisco.

-Walt