Netgear D6400 wired devices issue

bobblebob

Neil_Jones said:

bobblebob said:

If the issue persists im thinking of just having everything in the house wifi, would be the cheaper option. Only have 2 devices wired anyway. 

Only issue would be my PC which doesbt have built in wifi. I could get a card and install it but are usb wifi adaptors any good?

You could just set static IP addresses on the two wired devices - if the issue in the firmware affects new wired devices and giving them new IPs when the leases run out, that may solve your problem in the short term.  Only caveat with this is if you do replace the router you need to either change the fixed addresses on the devices if they fall out of the default range, or change them back to "obtain an address automatically".

USB Wifi adaptors work and are cheap, but depending on the environment Wifi can be more of a hindrance than an asset, especially if you're further away from the router or there are walls or objects in the way.

PC is about 6 inch from the router so shouldn't be issues there

Im not sure if it is an issue with the lease. Arent leases meant to last 24hrs? The PC was on for only 8 when it happened, and weird that both wired devices died at the same time

bobblebob

Deleted_User said:

I have the same router. It's forgotten wired devices maybe a couple of times a year. I just reboot and tend not to worry about it.

Thanks thats good to know. Hopefully will just be a bug that rarely crops up

Neil_Jones

bobblebob said:

Im not sure if it is an issue with the lease. Arent leases meant to last 24hrs? The PC was on for only 8 when it happened, and weird that both wired devices died at the same time

Leases can last as long as you want, you just set the time out in the router, they may default to 24hrs but there's no "standard" as such. Some routers allow "forever" as an option for this, but all that means is it will run until 3:14am on 19 January 2038, for boring technical reasons only sad people like me understand.

CoastingHatbox

It's probably not a DHCP problem, so using static IPs and tweaking leases isn't going to help.
It could be a one off bit flip resulting in a corrupt MAC table. This is a lookup table that the router uses to work out which device is plugged into which port so that it can 'switch' packets sending them to the right port. I don't think it is "running out of memory" as there is usually pre-allocated address space for storing the MAC table which means there is a ceiling on the number of devices that can be plugged in via additional network switches plugged into the router, which most people in the real world will reach. Could also be a firmware bug, but switching is usually handled by FPGA (hardware) rather than relying on software. Software will handle the routing and any routing problems would affect the WiFi devices.

Get the firmware up to date and don't worry about it unless it happens again. If it does happen again, check the router's logs and MAC table (if you can). It could be the NVRAM is on its way out, especially if the same memory addresses are always used to store the MAC table, but it is very unlikely.

bobblebob

CoastingHatbox said:

It's probably not a DHCP problem, so using static IPs and tweaking leases isn't going to help.
It could be a one off bit flip resulting in a corrupt MAC table. This is a lookup table that the router uses to work out which device is plugged into which port so that it can 'switch' packets sending them to the right port. I don't think it is "running out of memory" as there is usually pre-allocated address space for storing the MAC table which means there is a ceiling on the number of devices that can be plugged in via additional network switches plugged into the router, which most people in the real world will reach. Could also be a firmware bug, but switching is usually handled by FPGA (hardware) rather than relying on software. Software will handle the routing and any routing problems would affect the WiFi devices.

Get the firmware up to date and don't worry about it unless it happens again. If it does happen again, check the router's logs and MAC table (if you can). It could be the NVRAM is on its way out, especially if the same memory addresses are always used to store the MAC table, but it is very unlikely.

Cheers, yea will see how it goes. The fact another user has the same router and they have the issue now and again suggests it could just be a router bug. Seems its a fairly common issue amongst the Netgear family of SOHO routers,  but most say ethernet just stops working even after a reboot