Weird Connection Issues with WE826GO-U

[questions]

Hello WiFiX Communicty,

Please help! Even though my Sierra Wireless EM7511 is connected perfectly (received external IP from AT&T), I cannot establish any internet connection. This problem first appeared on Friday: at first, certain domains stop working (while Zoom was still working, Google and Microsoft were not) and at last, I was unable to reach any URL. Prior to losing connection, I had not altered the router + settings in any way. I already reached out to AT&T and they confirmed that all is updated and accurate on the data provisioning.

I work in tech and have tried everything in the book to get things going again: restart, reboot, and remove + reinsert SIM. All my devices are wired in, so it is not a problem with the wireless adapter. The only thing that got me temporarily back online was a full reset to factory settings. Afterwards I was able to use internet again for about 6 hours before the whole circus starts again (at first only some domains were unreachable and later nothing worked anymore). Since the device is able to connect to AT&T, shows “connected,” and received an external IP, I think that it is the router that doesn’t broadcast internet properly.

Can you please suggest solutions? My WE826GO-U is not even half a year old and I don’t want to continue resetting the device to factory settings every 6 hours. It is running GoldenOrb_2020-05-16.

Thank you very much.

[Didneywhorl]

Can you run simple ping tests while its down? It seems ATT has been letting certain ports stop transmitting, like port 80 and 443. Apparently a silent proxy issue? Im not sure what it means. Apparently forcing the modem to change bands is a less downtime than full reboot.

Here is a string of posts on ATTs forums about it: https://forums.att.com/conversations/ot ... 542c96b341

[terryjett]

This sounds familiar, but my issue was not with at&t. What was happening to me on a sprint plan was not getting assigned IP4 address - only iv6. Long story and never did get it fully working and gave up.

Do not want to lead you astray, so look at networking:

2020-10-13_230059.png

If you see a ip4 assigned, then not the same problem I experienced.

The reason it sounds familiar to me, I was experiencing same issue and some domains loaded, some did not. Boiled down to those which had good solid ipv6 setup correctly, I could surf to.

Thought I would throw it out there, might be worth looking at.

[questions]

Thank you both for the very good pointers!

Can you run simple ping tests while its down? It seems ATT has been letting certain ports stop transmitting, like port 80 and 443. Apparently a silent proxy issue? Im not sure what it means. Apparently forcing the modem to change bands is a less downtime than full reboot.

Here is a string of posts on ATTs forums about it: https://forums.att.com/conversations/ot ... 542c96b341

I will reach out to AT&T first thing tomorrow morning and check with them (again). What doesn't quite fit the bill here though is that a simple router restart doesn't do the trick. I need to completely firmware reset the thing. Then it works again for 3-6h (random draw). I have factory reset my router 6 times today just to have some internet every now and then. I will try to connect to a VPN + run a simple ping test the next time it's down.

The reason it sounds familiar to me, I was experiencing same issue and some domains loaded, some did not. Boiled down to those which had good solid ipv6 setup correctly, I could surf to.

Mine shows an IPv4 at the moment (as well as the last time things were down). I will check again the next time it's down.

Could it be / how (un)likely is it that my WE826GO-U is defective? While it's less than 6 months old, the thing that really bugs me is the fact that a factory reset (and not a simple restart) gets the whole thing running again for a limited time.

[terryjett]

"Could it be / how (un)likely is it that my WE826GO-U is defective? The thing that really bugs me is the fact that a factory reset (and not a simple restart) gets the whole thing running again for a limited time."

This does not sound like a defective router. But that does not mean it isn't

Something I always do is move SIM to a phone and test the data connection. Get a speed test (record IP) and surf on the phone. If all good, back to router and repeat. This only tells you the SIM works in a phone, but at least you know nothing wrong with SIM or carrier.

I ended up tethering the phone to a WE826 and testing the router itself. Router was good,, modem ended up being flaky. Reflashed modem with latest firmware couple of times. Last I heard the person is still using the WE826 without issue.

Make sure you read info @Didneywhorl shared, that is also a possibility.

Just for grins, try custom DNS servers and see if that helps. I personally like Quad9:

https://www.quad9.net/faq/#Does_Quad9_implement_DNSSEC

[questions]

I ended up tethering the phone to a WE826 and testing the router itself. Router was good,, modem ended up being flaky. Reflashed modem with latest firmware couple of times. Last I heard the person is still using the WE826 without issue.

Make sure you read info @Didneywhorl shared, that is also a possibility.

Just for grins, try custom DNS servers and see if that helps. I personally like Quad9:

https://www.quad9.net/faq/#Does_Quad9_implement_DNSSEC

I will follow up with AT&T tech support tomorrow morning (re:@Didneywhorl).

Out of curiosity: how to you update the firmware of the EM7511 modem? That I haven't done yet...

Lastly, I will try custom DNS servers next tie things are down.

[terryjett]

"Out of curiosity: how to you update the firmware of the EM7511 modem? That I haven't done yet..."

Do not use the 7511, but quick search on forum resulted in this:

https://wirelessjoint.com/viewtopic.php?f=17 ... t=20#p4910

[questions]

https://wirelessjoint.com/viewtopic.php?f=17 ... t=20#p4910

Thanks a lot for the link. I followed it and used AirVantage to connect with the modem. It is running on the newest firmware, "EM7511 GENERIC Release 14."

[questions]

Thanks a lot for all the pointers so far. This morning my internet was fully down again and I went through the laundry list that you suggested and here are the results:

- internet is down but router config page loads

- I have reached out to AT&T tech service and they promised to furhter investigate the issue I described + look into this potential error mentioned by @Didneywhorl: https://forums.att.com/conversations/ot ... 542c96b341

- error persists even after "hard reboot" with 20s power disconnect

- wwan0 shows IPv4

- GoldenOrb's overview page shows legit "External Internet IP Address" (107.77.X.X), but network page's wwan0's IPv4 appears to be an internal one (10.18.X.X), though all my intranet addresses are assigned in the 192.168.X.X range

- ping tests:

> ping google.com
Pinging google.com [172.217.164.110] with 32 bytes of data: (knows the IP; appears to have DNS info cached!??)
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),

> ping 8.8.8.8
Pinging 8.8.8.8 with 32 bytes of data:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),

> ping 8.8.4.4
Pinging 8.8.4.4 with 32 bytes of data:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),

> ping 139.139.4.5
Pinging 139.139.4.5 with 32 bytes of data:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),

> ping 1.1.1.1
Pinging 1.1.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),

> ping microsoft.com
Pinging microsoft.com [40.113.200.201] with 32 bytes of data: (knows the IP; appears to have DNS info cached!??)
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss)

- General Modem Information:
Sierra Wireless, Incorporated EM7511
Modem #1
Modem ID :
1199 : 9091
Provider :
AT&T
Comm Port :
/dev/ttyUSB2
Temperature :
40.00°C
Protocol :
QMI

Signal Information
Network :
LTE
CSQ :
23
Signal Strength :
74%
RSSI :
-67 dBm
ECIO :
-11.5 (RSRQ) dB
RSCP :
-96 (RSRP) dBm
Connection Monitoring Status :
Disabled

Cell Information
MCC MNC :
310 410
RNC/eNB ID :
A3EA3 (671395)
LAC/TAC :
8D0C (36108)
Cell ID :
08 (8)
LTE Band :
B2 (Bandwidth 20 MHz)
Channel :
800

I would appreciate any additional pointers that people might have for me.
Thanks a lot in advance.

[terryjett]

Does the SIM work in a phone? Can you surf the net with data plan in phone? I am of course assuming the SIM is not data only.

[questions]

Does the SIM work in a phone? Can you surf the net with data plan in phone? I am of course assuming the SIM is not data only.

While the SIM is data only, I have asked a friend for his old AT&T phone to test this out later today.

[Didneywhorl]

What does the Status-->system log say? full text in a file or on pastebin would be best to show it

[questions]

What does the Status-->system log say? full text in a file or on pastebin would be best to show it

Thanks a lot for looking into this. Please find it here:

System Log.txt

[corywf]

Can you run simple ping tests while its down? It seems ATT has been letting certain ports stop transmitting, like port 80 and 443. Apparently a silent proxy issue? Im not sure what it means. Apparently forcing the modem to change bands is a less downtime than full reboot.

Here is a string of posts on ATTs forums about it: https://forums.att.com/conversations/ot ... 542c96b341

I'm having this same issue with the $20 post paid plan. I'm assuming ATT's transparent proxy issues are to blame. Fuk AT&T. No T-mobile coverage at my house so not really sure what my affordable options are at this point.

[Adm1jtg]

If you have verizon signal in the area you can try visible

[Didneywhorl]

When its up and says its connected, but no longer passing internetz, run the AT command:

Code: Select all

AT!GSTATUS?

In menu: Modem-->Miscellaneous-->AT Command Terminal

Post the output here please