Hello all!
I see mention of firmware version B16. I'm currently on B15 with H3UK and I'm hoping the newer firmware may fix the issues I'm having, but after several resets, still no update.
Here's a kind of review/rant and short-ish summary of the problems I'm having, what solutions I've gleaned from this thread, and some puzzles that I just don't seem to be able to get a handle on, so advice/suggestions are welcome:
Irregular reboots
There doesn't seem to be a pattern. Turning the scheduled reboot function on or off makes no difference (month long tests). I assume this function is there for a reason, but it is really not made clear as to why it is set on by default. Hackish workaround for known bugs? Regardless, random reboots appear. I'll try using a a higher quality PSU.
Bridged mode
As per the instructions, access to the admin portal is disabled on the selected ethernet port when bridged mode is selected. However, the instructions also state that wireless
must be used to access the admin web portal. Ok, odd but I'll go with it. So after joining the 801's wireless as the only connection from a laptop, the admin portal is sure enough there. Furthermore, there unexpectedly seems to be full internet connectivity too.
Questions -
Is this firewalled?
What DNS settings are used?
Is this NAT'd?
How does one use the wifi6 capability of the 801 in bridged mode?
Running an online port scanner on a virtual machine with open ports connected to 801's wifi does seem to confirm that this connection is indeed firewalled. What rules are being applied are completely opaque. I'm assuming wwan => lan is being rejected, but there's no provision to change the behaviour here. Does dropping the 801's firewall expose the 801's wireless network?
DNS relay is mentioned in the specs, but is this in force in bridged mode? What about on the admin only connection? Again, opaque, and no documentation or settings reveal anything. I am aware of the hidden DNS menu however.
Using bridged mode avoids being double NAT'd amongst other things, but I can only assume the admin only internet connectivity is having address translation applied.
The above concerns, and the documentation/portal hints seem to exclude using the wifi interface for anything other than accessing the admin portal. On a whim, I connected a laptop to the lower (two dots) ethernet port, and sure enough, up came the admin portal with the same connectivity behaviour as seen using wfi. This really leaves the wifi interface redundant, and even problematic when it comes to RF noise on the rest of the wireless network.
Disabled seems to be the only option regarding wifi and bridged mode.
Rather than stating that the admin portal can only be accessed via wifi, it would be much more preferable to advise that the second ethernet port be used, and to disable wifi completely when bridged mode is selected. Is anyone using the 801's wifi alongside bridged mode amongst you?
DHCP settings
It's convenient to fix the IP of a dhcp server, and change to default pool so as not to clash with other network devices during network setup. So why is it so difficult on this device? The only way that I've found, is to perform multiple, and unecessary reboots changing one thing at a time.
For example; the IP cannot be changed to a different subnet, and the pool range to suit before rebooting to apply the changes. Indeed, the IP cannot even be changed to anything outside of the current range within the same subnet. The input fields simply throw an error for each. The wan connection must first be disabled causing a rebbot, then dhcp needs to be disabled requiring another reboot. Finally, the desired settings can then be applied, but require another manual reboot. Finally dhcp server can be re-enabled, but requiring the mandatory reboot. This is all completely unintuitive and plainly bonkers!
Random, apparent loss of connection
This is seperate to the random reboots noted above. As reported by others elsewhere in this thread that have experienced the same, the only recourse is to either sit it out and wait for normality to resume, or reboot the 801. This manifests as web pages failing to load ranging from several times a day, to merely once a week. Any streaming services appear to maintain thier connection however. For example: A video stream will continue while all other web pages fail to load on other devices. Except when it comes to adverts, and then the stream fails.
I've performed some investigations during some of these outages, and it seems related to DNS. Not just internet name resolution, but also devices on the local network. The IP's of known internet servers can still be pinged as can local devices, so the network hasn't completely failed but http(s) is completely down. Any attempt to resolve an external or internal name via nslookup fails. Finding this odd, I also fired up wireshark to see if it could reveal anything. It would appear that some kind of dhcp storm is happening. Each and every device is constantly asking who everybody else is. Bizzarely the names of each device appear to be being resloved (possibly wireshark involved) alongside thier IP's and mac addresses.
What is of note, and puzzling to me, is that the static IP of the 801's admin connection is also involved. This IP is known to the rest of the network regardless of a physical connection to the second, non bridged ethernet port. This flies in the face of the apparent isolation between the bridged connection and the admin connection, and can only be being exposed from within the 801. There does not appear to be a valid route, and this may be expected behaviour, so I'd love to hear some insights on this?
Due to the location of my MC801A (loft) an unplug reboot is troublesome. I've mitigated this by pressing an old EDF ecoManager power plug into service to remotely force a power cycle.
My current setup
IPv6 is provisioned in this area, so I do get proper IPv6 connectivity. The main router's wan interface is set to dhcp client, and is assigned 192.0.0.2 from the MC801A as 192.0.0.1 on the selected upper (single dot) eth port. This all seems to work and I have full control over how my network operates.
I have a kind of workaround in my attempt to gain my desired network layout despite all of the roadblocks outlined above and as follows:
MC801A (H3UK B15)
- Bridged mode
- Wifi disabled
- Static IP outside of network subnet assigned to admin connection
- DHCP disabled
- Everything else left as default
The admin ethernet connection is connected via a managed switch to isolate it from the rest of the network, and is only enabled as required. Formerly left physically disconnected until required.
Main router/Access point (openwrt bt hh5a)
- wan DHCP client via ethernet to MC801A
- lan DHCP server
- Static IP's and hostnames assigned to all infrastructure, static and persistent clients
- Wifi enabled - single SSID's both radios for each of main, guest and iot interfaces
- VLAN's for guest wifi, iot
- Multiwan failover to nearby wifi hotspots in case of 4/5G problems
- VPN
Zyxel 8 port managed switch (stock sw GS1200-8)
- VLAN switch for wired infrastructure/distribution
- TP-Link POE injector attached for remote Dumb AP
Dumb AP (openwrt netgear WNDAP360)
- Ethernet connected - POE powered
- DHCP disabled
- Single SSID's both radios for main, guest and iot interfaces
Wifi printer bridge (openwrt TP-Link M3020)
- Wifi client for ethernet only printer
- USBIP server for USB combo printer/scanner
Proxmox server (Lenovo ThinkCentre)
- HomeAssistant
- AdguardHome
- Various HomeLab experiments
Notes: Despite the apparent complexity of the setup, I do not believe it has a bearing on the connectivity issues I've been experiencing. Especially the net storm events. I have diligently isolated each part, and even reduced the setup to the bare minimum to rule out other causes of the problems. I have also tried substituting the main router with a TP-Link AC1350 (stock fw) as the sole client and access point with the same results of some kind of crash/network storm. This is also the final result after many iterations and additions over the last year of MC801A "ownership" and prior to its addition.
Finally, I hope that my kind of review, rant, account, or whatever you may call it, helps anyone else gain insight into fixing a few of the "quirks" this device has. I'd also love to hear any further pointers or criticisms on some of the more puzzling issues I observe.
[Edit to add substitution attempt - further edits for spelling/grammar/clarity]