TP Link VR900 wont reconnect after power cut.

[#1]

Hi All
I just bought a Archer VR900 about 2 weeks back , got it all setup and connected to plusnet fibre broadband .
So first thing after i set it up ....i thought i would update the firmware to the latest one Archer_VR900_V1_151111
Well it rebooted but would not reconnect to the net .....so eventually i rebooted it ....and it reconnected to net again after a bit of time.
Its been fine for 2 weeks ....until today when we had a power cut ....modem reconnect ...but dont know how long it took as was at work.
6pm tonight ...power went off again ...but will not reconnet to net ....tried rebooting and even factory reset but still no good.
Found my old BT homehub 5 out and that connected fine.
So next step i though i would flash back to the orginal firmware that router came with .. Archer_VR900_V1_150909
Router rebooted and connected to the net straight away ....
So did a few speed tests and found it running a bit slow so decided to disconnect , then reconnect from net from inside router software ...which worked fine .
Better sppeds but after a while i noticed they were down a bit again so thought would disconnect again ....but this time it would not reconnect.
Tried rebooting it , tried turning off for few mins ...still wouldnt reconnect , just kept saying detecting setting .
In the end i reflashed the firware again with the same 150909 version ....all settings were kept ...box rebooted and connected straight away.
Told TP-link and they are looking into it , but they asked if broadband line was ok ...which i have tried to ring plusnet but on hold for 30 mins and now closed .
But guessing line is ok as why reflashing fix the issue ...if line was at fault then that wouldn't make no difference.
Any help most appreciated
Karl

[#2]

Don't suppose you checked the router logs after a period of trying to get back online?

[#3]

Since i last contacted you about this issue ....plusnet found a fault ....which i think they have fixed ...so tried the VR900 again as i have been using my BT homehub 5 since had the issue. (I had tried to reconnect the VR900 ...but no good , flashed firmware again ...no good ...just got to the point where it would not connect , but my homehub 5 did so used that instead )
Now on connecting it back up again ...it would not connect ....flashed firmware again just incase but still no connection , rebooted etc ...still no connection.
So rang tp link support and we went through everything again ( all settings fine )....still not connecting to isp ....it had connection to DSL as was giving the max upload and download speed but just would not connected to the internet.
The lady on the phone said to reboot the router ...which i did .....and it connected then.
I had to turn it off again 10 mins later as needed to install the wiring properly ....and it reconnected no problem after.
I did disconnected that night for about 35 seconds at around 12.45 am ...but reconnected .
So at moment it is working again.
But when i first installed the router on default firmware ...it connected ...then after updating firmware it would not connect till i rebooted it .....which is like it did when the lady at support was trying to help.
I have read on the net of a few people ( amazon users ) who have had issues with this router ....and not connecting to ISP . Do you think maybe there is a bug in the firmware not allowing the connection to my ISP even though i have a DSL connection ?

Just found on tp link forums -
http://forum.tp-link.com/showthread.php?83192-TP-Link-Archer-VR900-Disconnections&highlight=vr900
Someone having isp connection problems and had a reply from your selves saying its a known issue ...

[#4]

Yeah thats my thread on the TP Link forums, not had much help there as you can see from the lack of replies
There are issues with this routers modem with VDSL dropouts & the Modem being unable to synchronise again, but you may not always notice them if your not online at the time or not running a Think Broadband Quality Monitor, even in wifi mode when i hook up my BT modem it does not always connect, so its a bit temperamental & all this rebooting & messing about with the settings has now caused DLM to kick in. I have just been given a beta firmware to test 0.9.1 1.3 v004c.0 Build 151218
you can try that if you like? i have been running it 12 hours now & logs indicate no dropouts or errors (so far)
31 2015-12-19 21:25:40 DHCPD Notice Recv INFORM from C8:D7:19:1E:45:4C
30 2015-12-19 21:24:06 DHCPD Notice Recv INFORM from C8:D7:19:1E:45:4C
29 2015-12-19 21:18:00 DHCPD Notice Recv INFORM from C8:D7:19:1E:45:4C
28 2015-12-19 21:14:57 DHCPD Notice Recv INFORM from C8:D7:19:1E:45:4C
27 2015-12-19 21:13:50 DHCPD Notice Recv INFORM from C8:D7:19:1E:45:4C
26 2015-12-19 21:11:04 DHCPD Notice Recv INFORM from C8:D7:19:1E:45:4C
25 2015-12-19 21:11:01 DHCPD Notice Send ACK to 192.168.1.100
24 2015-12-19 21:11:01 DHCPD Notice Recv REQUEST from C8:D7:19:1E:45:4C
23 2015-12-19 17:52:37 DHCPD Notice Send ACK to 192.168.1.103
22 2015-12-19 17:52:37 DHCPD Notice Recv REQUEST from A8:7C:01:92:5F:72
21 2015-12-19 16:38:26 DHCPD Notice Send ACK to 192.168.1.101
20 2015-12-19 16:38:26 DHCPD Notice Recv REQUEST from 90:C1:15:17:37:68
19 2015-12-19 16:38:26 DHCPD Notice Send OFFER with ip 192.168.1.101
18 2015-12-19 16:38:26 DHCPD Notice Recv DISCOVER from 90:C1:15:17:37:68
17 2015-12-19 09:47:54 DHCPD Notice Recv INFORM from C8:D7:19:1E:45:4C
16 2015-12-19 09:32:54 DHCPD Notice Recv INFORM from C8:D7:19:1E:45:4C
15 2015-12-19 09:17:54 DHCPD Notice Recv INFORM from C8:D7:19:1E:45:4C
14 2015-12-19 09:15:07 DHCPD Notice Recv INFORM from C8:D7:19:1E:45:4C
13 2015-12-19 09:02:54 DHCPD Notice Recv INFORM from C8:D7:19:1E:45:4C
12 2015-12-19 08:47:54 DHCPD Notice Recv INFORM from C8:D7:19:1E:45:4C
11 2015-12-19 08:32:54 DHCPD Notice Recv INFORM from C8:D7:19:1E:45:4C
10 2015-12-19 08:17:54 DHCPD Notice Recv INFORM from C8:D7:19:1E:45:4C
9 2015-12-19 08:02:54 DHCPD Notice Recv INFORM from C8:D7:19:1E:45:4C
8 2015-12-19 07:47:54 DHCPD Notice Recv INFORM from C8:D7:19:1E:45:4C
7 2015-12-19 07:47:48 DHCPD Notice Send ACK to 192.168.1.100
6 2015-12-19 07:47:48 DHCPD Notice Recv REQUEST from C8:D7:19:1E:45:4C
5 2015-12-19 07:32:54 DHCPD Notice Recv INFORM from 00:1D:7D:00:54:21
4 2015-12-19 07:17:53 DHCPD Notice Recv INFORM from 00:1D:7D:00:54:21
3 2015-12-19 07:02:53 DHCPD Notice Recv INFORM from 00:1D:7D:00:54:21
2 2015-12-19 06:47:53 DHCPD Notice Recv INFORM from 00:1D:7D:00:54:21
1 2015-12-19 06:42:55 HTTPD Notice Clear log.

[#5]

Hi
thanks for the reply ...and know what u mean about tp link forums not of much help.
At the moment its still connected....been connect for 2 days without any disconnects.
Its seems to great once connects ...but never like turning it off now just incase doesnt reconnect..lol
Be nice to have that firmware just incase it plays up and can try it ...but dont want to install just yet if know what i mean.
Just let me know how yours goes after a few days or a week....if you dont mind that is.
Mine always shows its has a DSL connection ...and shows max upload and download speeds ...just wont connect to internet.
I have sent TP link messages about this and they are looking into it ...but dunno how long that takes...guessing there is a lot of people with this issue.
Dont really want to send it back to amazon as when its working its great.
Had the Netgear nighhawk in past and the asus vdsl modem router , both with AC wifi band ...but they always had some issue....either bad wifi speed or just bad connection to net.
Im on Plusnet fibre...which is BT really ....VID 101
Not tried it as a router only as not got the old openreach modem setup any more .
Cheers
Karl

[#6]

Quote

I have just been given a beta firmware to test 0.9.1 1.3 v004c.0 Build 151218

That's very interesting as I'm very keen to buy a 900 but am slightly worried about some reliability reports. I read somewhere of a possible connection with ECI cabs. Do you have any info on this shylok?
Regardless, please will you update us as to the viability of the new firmware?
Cheers,
Nick

[#7]

Been running this beta firmware 2 days now & so far no drops, so its looking promising, the longest i've had it without a drop on the old firmware is just over that but usually its once a day. If my connection stays free from drops all week then its looking likely TP Link may have solved it with this firmware, i uploaded here but be warned if its not broke don't try to fix it http://www.filedropper.com/archervr900v109113upboot1512182015-12-18152804
My cabinet is a Huawei 288 that has a DSLAM type Huawei MA5603T which has a Broadcom chipset http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/fttc-cabinets.htm so with the TP-Link VR900 router modem also having a Broadcom chipset then there is no reason for that to be the cause of instability

[#8]

Thanks very much Shylok. I'm still to purchase the 900. FYI, I'm connected to an ECI cabinet so I'm not sure whether or not that's a help or a hindrance. Any advice will be much appreciated. 

[#9]

Looking for the same advice on connecting to ECI or Huawei cabinets.  I've been thinking about The TP-Link VR200, as mentioned in another thread the VR200 has a Lantiq chipset, as I am on an ECI cabinet which use Lantiq chipsets would this be any more stable than a VDSL Modem/Router with a Broadcom chip.
Are the matching chipsets proven to be more stable or is it just a maybe?
Using a BT ECI modem with an Ewan connection on a TP-Link 9970 the connection was solid for 44 Days before a blip in the power yesterday. Didn't even notice it, must have been off and on in seconds. The BT modem had rebooted and was in sync with the exchange but after about half an hour the TP-Link was still trying to connect.  Went into the router settings, tried disconnect then reconnect and it connected almost immediately,  seems like the OP problems.

[#10]

I don't think matching the chipset of your modem to your cabinet makes that much difference to be honest, my Huawei 288 cabinet has a Broadcom chipset but previous to this router i've been using a separate BT ECI modem for years given to me by the BT guy which is rock solid. The only difference between using the ECI modem (Lantiq chipset) & TP-Link VR900 (Broadcom chipset) on Plusnet is a drop in minimum latency of 20ms as you can see from my two graphs, but i do recall getting a lower latency of 10ms when i was on Sky Fibre previously than what im getting with Plusnet using the same ECI modem, why that is i do not know, as its coming from the same exchange using the same cabinet, better equipment at the exchange is my guess?
Updated: Just found some old graphs from back when i was on Sky fibre (same 40mbps package as Plusnet) using the same ECI modem connected to the same Huawei 288 cabinet & exchange, minimum latency did fluctuate on Sky as it sometimes does with Plusnet (usually its at 30ms). The TP-Link VR900 has always been at 10ms whenever i have connected it.
Still not had any dropouts & my System Log is looking less chaotic than on the old firmware

[#11]

Quote

Still not had any dropouts & my System Log is looking less chaotic than on the old firmware

Thanks Shylok for your comprehensive reports. Do you think that TP-Link will soon be issuing your beta firmware as a general edition?

[#12]

They probably will when its been confirmed as stable, once they sorted that out maybe then they can work on the routers interface & add more detailed features for line stats as it is pretty basic when compared to others, I recall seeing a workaround for that on Kitz somewhere but id rather not mess about with it knowing how temperamental it can be.
So you may want to opt for the NETGEAR D7000 Nighthawk which i think has the same Broadcom chipset & sells for around the same price, however looking on Amazon there are some people not happy with that either. I think most routers have buggy firmware to begin with probably why its wiser not to rush in.
Reply just back from support
"That’s a very good news.  J
I have also sent the beta firmware to another customer , he said the issue was improved, but still doesn’t perfect.
So we are trying to capture a more detail information by another debug tool.
Many thanks for your update.
About the line status, we will take it as a improvement program , and we are also planning to add line status in system log."

[#13]

I have been on to tp-link and they have sent me the beta firmware… .but as its been connected since Friday night with only 1 disconnect which was within 6 hours of getting it reconnected , which it did after first install 3 weeks back too… .im not going to touch unless the issue comes back .
Wonder if the 1 disconnect was just the router settling back in again lol .
I do get a few crc errors which I pressume is normal , but otherwise its working fine at mo .
It worked for a good 9 days with only that 1 disconnect when first had it .
I did ask the engineer if this was a known issue… and he said yes , they are trying to fix this but obviously need more info from customers with the issue,  but as mines fine I told them I would send info soon as… or if problems comes back .
I have tried a netgear nighthawk , think a year back now , 200 odd pound at the time… sent it back as was naff… tried the asus vdsl ac router and that was naff… this one seems best so far… when its connected lol .
Just glad that tp-link know its an issue and are working on it , don't want to send it back… and guesding if did get it replaced I would still have the issue.
Fingers crossed the next official firmware will rectify this issue.
Hopefully won't take a year as Asus did with one of there routers having errors and disconnected… and fixing it with a firmware update lol 

[#14]

Karlos & shylok, many thanks for your detailed feedback. I'm pretty certain that the 900 is the way to go for me  but I think that I'll sit on my hands for a while until the next firmware release, plus the price will continue to drop!! 

[#15]

I got mine from Amazon… £99