Telstra Smart Modem Gen 2

[Tabion]

Hello, I recently set up a new plan (exact same plan as I had previously except that plan was moved to another house when the owner moved away)
I was given a Telstra smart modem gen 2 and several times in half a month of having it I have gone to use my internet on various devices to find that the internet isn’t there.
The lights that should be green are green on the front and back, when I use my phone it it just shows 4G even tho it’s connected to wifi
When I use my PC I get the yellow triangle on the network access saying no internet.

The only way I have found to fix it is to restart the modem, which I shouldn’t have to do to use the internet, and some times it happens again with in 15 mins.

Other times takes a couple of days.

Any one have any idea what could be causing this?

Please and thank you

[misslingling]

Commenting to follow this post because I'm having the exact same issue too except mine drops out multiple times a day.

I changed the 2.4ghz channel from 'Auto' to '1' and my uptime was about 1 hour before it dropped out again. I have tried channels '6' and '11' and it does the same thing.

[Tabion]

Worth noting as well the PC is a wired connection and the other devices are wifi, it effects both.

[misslingling]

I was just informed by someone on the web chat to register my modem again. I can't try it right now but here's the link

http://register.bigpond.com/cable.do?execution=e1s1

[Tabion]

hmmm i dont seem to have the password to log in, i was never supplied with one, may need to contact them

[cf4]

Login details are admin / Telstra

If internet is dropping out and yellow light coming on it sounds like a intermittent fault with your connection and you will need to ring support or use trouble shooting tool

[Tabion]

Nah lights always green everything on the modem says it is connected and working, it just isn’t.
I have been talking tontelstra and have done a few things to try and fix it so will see if it happens again.

[Jupiter]

Check the settings on all your devices and make sure that some of them are trying to connect on the same IP address. Also, check the DNS settings on your devices.

I have most of my devices at home on static IP addresses (write a list of them if you do that) with the DNS manually assigned to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4.

This tends to stop this type of issue occurring (and not just on Telstra connections).

[illawong4630]

i have the same problem , got a new connection after moving house and was given a gen 2 smart modem about a week ago .. its been fine untill yesterday when all of a sudden the wifi plays up .. all lights are green for go but some devices stop working .. not all but some ..the  desktop can be on but the laptop wont be or the desktop will be and the phone wont be .. have to unglug the modem and plug it back in and wait and it fixes it for a couple hours .. sometimes all wifi devices cant get on and sometimes only some cant .. somthing gota be wrong with it

[cf4]

Which brand Smart modem GEN 2 do you have? There are two a Technicolor and a Arcadyan. There is a firmware update for the Technicolor 18.1.c.0241-950-RA tat fixes a few bugs. You can check firmware on Technicolor by logging in http://182.168.0.1 (admin/Telstra) and going to Advanced > Gateway

[illawong4630]

i cant tell wich it is but to access it i need to go to http://192.168.0.1 .. telstra has got me to change the chanel to 11 from auto .. so waiting to see if it worked or drops out again

[illawong4630]

changing the channel to 11 didnt work

[illawong4630]

i spent all day on mine with same problem .. ended up just reseting the modem by poking a paper clip in the hole in back for about 15 seconds untill the lights all turn off... then i had to go into modem settings  http://192.168.0.1  and re enter my email/password ... has been working good since

[Tabion]

This is what my web chat told me to do as well, but as my issues was only every couple of days im giving it a few days to see if it happens again, so far has been good tho

[Penton]

We have been having the same problem for the last week. Numerous calls to Telstra. Several resets, change to 11, turning on/off etc. Still keeps dropping out. Most it seems to last is a couple of hours. Did you manage to get it working?

[illawong4630]

i thought i did ... managed to get it connnected for 24 hours .. then it started its crap again .. im thinking these new smart modems are actualy peices of crap lol

[illawong4630]

like i reset modem about 15 mins ago for the 3rd time today (its only 6:30 am) and my phone wont connect to the wifi at all so now i will have to reset modem again and hope everything connnects ... but then it will all drop out very shortly

[illawong4630]

im on live chat to telstra currently ... they are telling me that because i have an order for nbn waiting to be connected my adsl service has been canceled ... so i am sitting in limbo between 2 services and will continue to have issues untill my nbn order os finalised (only had this adsl connection for a bibt over a week) they should have just put me on nbn to start with lol .... you wouldnt happen to be waiting on a nbn change over?

[Penton]

We have no NBN and no Telstra mobile reception here. Also got nearly 24 hours but dropped out this morning and can't get on again. Am so over the message of failed to obtain ip address. We are just about ready to cancel our service with Telstra. Should not have to pay for a service they can't provide.

[misslingling]

Mine has managed to stay up for 24hours plus.

I did a hard reset of the modem, then changed the channel, then registered on the captive portal and it seems to have done the trick for me (so far).

[braveawakening]

This is my exact problem too. Its so fricken annoying. I think these modems are defective. I've been on the phone to Telstra about other issues in the last few days, so i'm not keen to call anytime soon. I've submitted at online complaint already, now I think i'll be submitting another..

[JesseS]

Hi @braveawakening

I am sorry for the trouble with your modem and if you have lodged a complaint then we will get a case manager to assist you with this. I am confident they can sort this out for you. They will be in touch within 5 working days.

Lodging multiple complaints will not get this addressed faster, they will be closed as a duplicate of the first issue. 

Let me know if you need any further help.

[Tabion]

My last calls or web chats have not helped thebissue keeps tearing its head every couple of days.
My mum has the same router and never has an issue, so I also think mine is defective
I’m gonna try another modem and see if it helps at all

[Jono81]

I'm having the same issue, it seems to be with the IP configuration. I've tried a few things such as resetting, manually setting the channel to 11 and other things people have tried in this thread. It SEEMS (could be wrong) to be that it's associated with the telstra public wifi this modem also has, which i cant seem to disable. when somebody (or myself) connects to that, it kicks my other devices off the normal WiFi. Hopefully there is a fix for it soon, until then i'll be using another modem.

[Tabion]

Mine isn’t limited to wifi, it effects my cabled connection as well.
My phone says it’s connected to home wifi in settings but in actual fact it’s not.
And the PC which is cabled in shoes the yellow triangle with a exclamation mark in it and when you mouse over it, it says no internet access.

Yet every light on the modem is green and says working as intended

[DrGriff]

Jesse, 5 working days is a ridiculous response time sorry. There are obviously so many disappointed people here with their new modems. They are definitely faulty. I'll say more later in this thread.
Regards, Darren

[DrGriff]

Jesse, 5 working days is a ridiculous response time sorry. There are obviously so many disappointed people here with their new modems. They are definitely faulty. I'll say more later in this thread.
Regards, Darren

[DrGriff]

I know the problem. It's the modem. We tried absolutely everything as you all most likely have too. So frustrating.

I hooked up our previous modem, logged into it and used the setup wizard to retrain it with the new Bigpond info and our wifi now works.

Now let's all make complaints about this and all get reinbursed for lost time and/or business etc.
I am sure this will work for everyone.

[Brendan75]

It's obvious some of these Modem/Gateways are faulty.  It happens with all generations of Telstra Modems, not just Smart Modem Gen2.  Look over the forums for all the modems, and there are always some complaints.   

With that said, compared to the larger number of these modems that get sent out to customers, only a small number have failed.  I happen to have one that is working correctly and has not been restarted for over 3 weeks.  I am on NBN with HFC and also have the Telstra Air service enabled.

The main issue I find, when a fault occurs, is with Telstra Support.  They will not acknowledge that some people have done trouble shooting before calling up.  In my case, I am a technician and do all the trouble shooting first.  Every time I ring Telstra to report a hardware fault, it has taken 4 or more calls and then to have it escalated to managers to get issues solved (which is replacement of equipment) because no one knows how to deal with hardware faults on the technical support numbers.  It is this inability to help with simple hardware issues that make it seem a lot worse than it is.

The issues you guys are having with the IP Address allocation sounds very much like a Modem fault, be it hardware or firmware issues.  Insist on speaking to a supervisor when you call Telstra if first level does not help you out.   I doubt the call centre will ever get proper training and will always be scripted replies, but the more complaints about quality of service, the more likely it is someone will hear them.

[Shellock]

Following on from the previous question by cf4, can you please confirm the version and modem firmware version that your modems have? 

Access the modem via http://192.168.0.1, go to Advanced and then Modem. Here you will find the Product Name and Firmware Version.

[cf4]

On the Arcadyan modem the model and firmware version is located at Advanced.> information summary and on the Technicolor at Advanced > Gateway.

[AGildea]

I found mine started doing the same thing yesterday - all lights up yet no internet.

Playing around more, I could access google and some Telstra links from google - I did some looking and turns out the Gateway seems to lock into IPv6 mode and loose its IPv4 address and regular internet stops working unless the App/ a Website supports IPv6.

If your having this same problem try going into the modem page, Advanced -> Local Network -> Turn of IPv6 state under Gloabl information.

Seems to have done the trick for me at the moment.

[19781978]

I have been having the exact same issue for over 10 days now since I moved my service to a new house.  In that I have had 4 technician visits, 4 new smart modems, have lodged one complaint with Telstra, and a follow up complaint to the ombudsman (TIO).  Telstra's latest response is to send a "Platinum" technician out, but I now have to wait one week for availability.  All the correct lights are on the modem and it appears to be connected all the time, but we are experiencing multiple dropouts every day, sometimes within minutes of the last one.  One of the technicians himself said that many of the new smart modems appeared to be faulty, and he even left us two modems on one occasion, neither of which worked without dropping out. It is unbelievably frustrating.

[19781978]

Completely agree. There is clearly a fault with these modems and Telstra should acknowledge that. I have wasted so much time either fixing dropouts or on the phone to Telstra over the past two weeks it is not funny. Luckily I still have my old modem from my prior house so will try that tonight.

[Tabion]

This is an absolute joke, I have tried every suggestion, I have called, I have web chatted I have lost count of the amount of times I have been told “I assure you this will fix it” by some random person who doesn’t appear to believe me with the issues I’m having and treats me like I don’t even know where the power button is to my computer.

I have a faulty router and I want a new one.

I have family who signed up at the same time as me
Got the same router
And don’t have this problem

[cf4]

Do you have any chrome cast devices connected to your modem. There are reports of these devices sending large amount data that causes routers to disconnect devices.

If you have a chrome cast device including a TV with chrome cast built in try disconnecting the device and see if that fixes the problem.

[Tabion]

My devices arnt disconnecting
They are staying connected to a router
That has all its green lights.
I just have no internet connection, I can’t even log into the router.

It’s happening every Wednesday and Thursday like clock work.

And no I do not have any casting devices

[bairdy380]

Hi we are experiencing the same...modem all "good" (green)...latop direct ethernet connection...constant intermediate dropouts. Old modem, same plan last week..zero issues

[bairdy380]

Just a query...when the router auto switches from IPv4 to IPv6, would that cuase connected equipment to have a loss of service for a short period while each unit "re-connects" to the new setting?

[Yastiandrie]

does the v6 address start with
2001:8004:
or
2001:8003:?

[dm61]

Hi Shellock,
I have a similar story to the others above with the new Telstra Smart Modem - Gen 2 with cable adapter. I moved house on the 19th November 2018, the Telstra technician came to connect the phone line on the 20th, but didn't check the cable connection. On the 29th Nov, the Telstra technician came and fixed the cable connection - a part was missing. He checked the wifi speed on my laptop which was 56MB (fantastic) and left, but I didn't get a chance to check the internet connectivity to the TV's. I was able to get the TV's connected to the home cable wifi internet and we had good service until the 6th December. On 6th December there was a cable outage in our area, plus I had the electrician come to install another power point in a room and hence the power was taken down for 30 minutes. IMO - neither of these events should have affected the modem, but ... From the 6th December onwards, the internet on the wifi drops out regularly on my laptop, iPhone, my son's PS4 and other devices, but the TV's are even more troublesome to connect ie they just fail to connect to the wifi internet, yet I can hot spot the PS4, and TV's via the iPhone hostpot all the time.
After many hours troubleshooting, on the 11th Dec, Telstra sent a new modem; however this hasn't resolved the problem ie the internet drops out frequently, sometimes minutes after the last reboot.
For example today, I was working from home, at 7.45am laptop, iPhone and TV lost connectivity to home wifi internet; 7.50am rebooted modem/adapter; started "ping -n 9999 google.com” to monitor the packet loss.
9.02am: my iPhone lost connectivity, rebooted iPhone but still unable to connect:
Ping stat's from 8.58am to 9.06am were:
Ping statistics for 172.217.25.46:
Packets: Sent = 445, Received = 445, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 19ms, Maximum = 302ms, Average = 27ms
ie no packet loss, but the connection to the iPhone is lost.
9.06am: rebooted modem/adapter: Internet connected to iPhone, my laptop, my son's old laptop and TV - YAY.
9.45am: TV still connected to internet.
10.10am: lost internet connection to laptop and all devices:
Ping stat's for 9.10am to 10.10am:
Ping statistics for 216.58.199.46:
Packets: Sent = 4056, Received = 3734, Lost = 322 (7% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 18ms, Maximum = 2487ms, Average = 28ms
Note: once when the internet fell over no pings were transmitted hence the high %.
10.25am: I was particpating in a teleconference and got a message on my screen saying I had unstable ineternet.
10.36am: My iPhone lost connectivity to home wifi, but my laptop was OK. Turned off wifi to phone, but didn’t reconnect when turned back on. Rebooted iPhone but didn’t reconnect to TelstraHome. Need to reboot modem/adapter to reconnect.
Ping stat's 10.26am to 10.36am:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Ping statistics for 172.217.25.46:
Packets: Sent = 821, Received = 820, Lost = 1 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 19ms, Maximum = 457ms, Average = 30ms
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
11.26am: Internet dropped out to laptop. Had to reboot modem/adaptor.
Ping stats 10.39am to 11.26am:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Ping statistics for 172.217.25.174:
Packets: Sent = 2918, Received = 2847, Lost = 71 (2% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 18ms, Maximum = 457ms, Average = 26ms
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
11.29am: Rebooted modem/adaptor. Laptop, iPhone and H’s laptop all connected to TelstraHome wifi.
11.34am: getting message across screen during teleconference saying “Your internet connection is unstable”.
12.33pm: Internet loss to iPhone, laptop – need to reboot modem/adaptor.
Ping stats 11.35am to 12.33pm:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Ping statistics for 172.217.25.142:
Packets: Sent = 3395, Received = 3262, Lost = 133 (3% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 18ms, Maximum = 531ms, Average = 26ms
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Note: High number of packet loss due to inablilty for ping to connect once it has fallen over.
12.35pm: Modem back on. Laptop connected via ethernet cable. iPhone connected to TelstraHome wifi, same for son’s laptop.
1.27pm: iPhone had switched to TelsrtaHome-5G at some stage. Son’s computer still connected to TelstraHome. Laptop connected via ethernet.
Ping stat 12.38pm to 1.27pm:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Ping statistics for 172.217.25.174:
Packets: Sent = 2995, Received = 2994, Lost = 1 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 18ms, Maximum = 32ms, Average = 20ms
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
3.42pm: WiFI is working for the PS4.TV has internet as well. YAY.
4.48pm: TV is still connected to TelstraHome internet. PS4 still connected to internet.
As I send this the connectivity is good, but the number of reboots required to get through the day was very frustrating, so say the least.
FYI - Firmware Version 18.1.c.0241-950-RA
I've had various Telstra help people change the channel from 1, 6 11 and 12.
I was scheduled to have a Telstra person call back at 4.45pm this afternoon, but it looks like he's missed the schedule. I don't want to call Telstra help again (I do get better service with Platinum membership), but I don't want to have to go over it all again with a new person. I have been escalated to Telstra 2nd tier technical support previously with one occasion the call was lost in the transfer to that department.
I do have the older modem (Netgear Gateway Max C6300DB-1TLAUS) from the house that I was before this one - would I get less issues with this modem than the new "Smart Modem"?
Any suggestions greatly appreciated as I would have spent at least 25 hours on Telstra help calls and this should really just be a plug and play thing and not such an issue.

[ForensicsGuru]

I too am seeing issues with 2.4GHz WIFI on Gen2 (Technicolor)… All my devices are OK except one older DELL laptop... Dropping fairly regularly while it was perfectly stable on Frontier...
Some subtle changes in 2.4Ghz settings on modem as well as on the laptop made it slightly better, but still there are dropouts...

[ForensicsGuru]

OK, had two more of these dropouts today - each time, the modem decided to change the channel for the 2.4Ghz... I have now locked it to the channel that I have seen most of the time and will see what's happening...

[cf4]

You should get less issues with the C6300DB-1TLAUS as the problems seem to be with the new modem.
You could either replace both cable adapter and Smart modem in which case you would have to reactivate your connection with the MAC address of the C6300DB-1TLAUS.
Alternatively you could enable the WAN port of the C6300DB-1TLAUS.(Advanced > WAN setup) and connect WAN port of C6300DB-1TLAUS. to Cable adapter.

[dm61]

Thanks cf4 - I might just go with option 1 with the less pieces of equipment that can go wrong.
Cheers

[dm61]

Hi
I did ring Telstra support again and Athena (Tech support person) had arranged for a technician to come to our place to check the connections. Athena did log into my system, but she must have done something or it was just coincidental as I wasn't experiencing the issues after the call as I was before the call. Athena advised to keep the new modem/adapter for the tech support visit, so I didn't change it, but when everything (3 TV's, PS4, Sonos speakers x3, multiple laptops, up to 4 mobiles, etc) were all connecting and running as expected, I ended up cancelling the Telstra Tech support home visit.
I'm happy that things are now working, but really don't know what the difference was, but I'm sure (or it was coincidental with other Telstra work in the area) that Athena did as I did try the some things an hour before the call without success and was able to do them after the call on Thursday 20/12/2018.
None the wiser, but happy that things are now working.

[Kev_Broady]

Try changing the DHCP release time. I have no clue why the router is not renewing the IP addresses once the release time has been reached. This gets you going again but is not a solution.

[Kev_Broady]

I have what seems from reading a similar problem. Was hooked up as new customer on Friday. Devices kept dropping off after a period of time and could not reconnect due to the IP address not being re-assigned by DHCP. No idea if this is a known fault as I haven't had time to call Telstra. [You need to allocate plemty of time to that task]. I found all my devices cam straight back up immediately I changed the DHCP Release time. Changed it to 24hr, then next day changed it to 12hr. and being the 3rd day it is now 8hr. This is a temporary fix that worked for me but I still have to find out what is the cause.

[dm61]

FYI - the Telstra technician ended up coming on Saturday (22/12/2018) and checked that the 2.4gHz was on channel 11 or 12 (it was on 12) and the 5gHz was on not on auto ie it was working on channel 52 so took it off auto and left it set on channel 52.
I asked about and he also sold me "Netgear PowerLine WiFI 1000" ($64 - cheap compared to the on-line options) that now gives me ethernet connectivity to the downstairs TV. I thought the PowerLine adapters only worked when on the same circuit, but the new designs work via earth and work anywhere in the house. This particular one, I tried on the power point, but it also happened to work via a simple power board (didn't work on a Belkin power board). So I'm very happy with the outcome now and more so that it's sorted before Xmas. YAY.

[derpster]

I had cable internet hooked up at our new place on 15 December, and have been having the same issues as many here. Modem works fine for 15-45 mins then starts dropping devices from wifi and never reconnecting them. Spoke to telstra about the issue and they eventually agreed to send us a new modem. Installed the new modem yesterday and it sadly shows the exact same behaviour. The WAN connection is fine, and a reboot will fix the issue for another half an hour or so. Tinkered with settings several times including DHCP lease time and nothing seemed to work. Today while investigating, I thought I'd try an ethernet connection when all the wifi devices had been kicked; same behaviour. I then tried setting static IP addresses from within each device's own settings. This appears to have worked. I've had the wifi up and running for 6+ hours with no dropouts. Fingers crossed this workaround tides us over until Telstra either agrees to replace our modem with a different but equally capable model that actually works, or is forced by the TIO to reimburse us for the purchase of an equivalent third party modem-router that works as advertised.