AIS Fiberhome router

[elfpattaya]

Anyone else having problems with their AIS fiberhome router?

I am now on my 3rd router in 6 months, and this one, like all the others, reboots itself about 6 times a day.

I have asked for a different model, but they tell me the fiberhome is the only router they do in Chonburi.

 

Edited June 12, 2017 by elfpattaya

[revelstone]

I tossed mine away long ago. If you're willing to go with the additional expense (I assume you're using VDSL, not fibre to the home, in which case this doesn't apply) you can buy a Draytek Vigor 130 VDSL modem. This works plug-and-play - just plug it in and set it to bridge mode and it works perfectly.

 

Then get any router of your choice for the wifi; the only caveat is that the router must be able to have a configurable MAC address as AIS Fibre authenticates the connecting device by MAC address. You can buy the Vigor 130 from brit.co.th (Boonrawd infoTech Co.,Ltd) for about 3,000 THB. 

 

You could also try the Vigor 2760 series which is a combined VDSL modem/router. It almost certainly uses the same modem and if the 130 works then so will the 2760. I didn't go this route because I have a much more powerful custom router already and prefer to use this. 

Edited June 14, 2017 by revelstone

[elfpattaya]

I have fibre to the home.

They came today and changed the router same brand same model. Engineer told me they have lots of problems with this router.

Hopefully this one will last a little longer.

[mtls2005]

Three separate router failures sounds highly unusual. What is the make/model? Is the only issue "re-booting"? Is it a complete power cycle re-boot? Maybe there is an issue with the power source?

 

We have quite a few AIS Fiber installs with the Huawei HG8245H and no issues since first provisioning ~ 12-18 months ago. (3BB use this same model on some of their FTTH installs as it also supports POTs - no issues with those installs either. We did experience some issues with earlier models of Hawei fiber modems on some 3BB installations.)

 

On this model you can go into the management interface, System Tools, User Log to see what might be causing your problem(s). If you have a different make/model you should be able to find similar information.

[elfpattaya]

The router they give me is the

FiberHome AN5506-04-F

Allegedly this is the only router they provide in the Chonburi area.

[Pib]

When you say the router "reboots itself 6 times a day" what exactly do you mean by "reboot?"  When you say reboot to me I think like a computer "restart" or a smartphone "restart/reboot."    

 

And how do you know it rebooted itself 6 times a day unless you are on the computer "all the time?"   

 

You sure you are not talking an IP address change or if you are using a Wifi connection to the router that you are just loosing your Wifi connection?  If either that is not a reboot.  

 

And with the regular AIS Home Fibre plan it uses a "dynamic IP" approach which means your public IP will change periodically.  To have a static IP (never changing) you have to be on an AIS Fibre "Pro" plan.

 

I've had AIS Fibre for almost 12 months now here in Bangkok....still use the original fibre to home router (i.e., fibre all the way to my home/the router...no VDSL involved) provided by AIS and it's a Hauwei HG8245H.  No problems.

[elfpattaya]

Pib,  I apologise for criticising your beloved AIS, But I have been with them since September 2015 and had no real problems until December 2016.

 

I use the internet a lot for streaming and IPTV, since December 2016 I've had tremendous problems with buffering, mostly at night, which surprisingly, is when most people want to watch TV.

Eventually on the 14th  March 2017, they decide they would change my router and everything worked well until April, when the router started rebooting itself, that is all the lights go out (except power), and then all come on again, I know because I can see it, and the internet and WiFi (wife's phone) goes down.

 

On the 12th April, they came and changed the router again same brand and model fiberhome AN5506-04-F, when I asked for a different model, they said that this was the only model available for AIS customers in Chonburi.

 

The rebooting problem happened again in June, I could see it happening. and on June 14th they came and changed the router again, same brand and model as above. Engineer told me they have a lot of problems with this router and change a lot of them.

This time he did offer me an alternative with an Hauwei router , but however he would have to order one, and would have to re-run the fibre, I don't know why.

 

I told him to fit the fiberhome router which we re-sited slightly (moved away from a window), and I said any more problems I would change to the Hauwei HG8245H despite the inconvenience of re-running the cable.

 

My OP was for people in the Chonburi area, who were having problems with their fiberhome router, not Hauwei HG8245H in Bangkok, and it appears from the replies, that not many people are having problems.

 

Also please do not suggest I am lying, I do now what  a reboot is. I can see it happening, the router is in the same room as my computer and TV.

 

 

 

Edited June 19, 2017 by elfpattaya

[RichCor]

58 minutes ago, elfpattaya said:

This time he did offer me an alternative with an Hauwei router , but however he would have to order one, and would have to re-run the fibre, I don't know why.

I wonder if they want to run all new drop cable (sounds very strange), or just move the current passive connection to another trunk line that's connected to an upstream concentrator/provisioning router that can talk with the Hauwei HG8245H.

 

I'd also suggest putting a EMI/RFI filter on the power. Could just be dirty power. Could just be the OEM doesn't care and it will happen over and over again until AIS gets better consumer equipment.

[elfpattaya]

2 hours ago, RichCor said:

or just move the current passive connection to another trunk line that's connected to an upstream concentrator/provisioning router that can talk with the Hauwei HG8245H

I think this is the reason why they have to run a new cable, and also why they couldn't offer me an alternative previously as they didn't have a provisioning/concentrator router nearby..

Oddly the first router I had (same brand and model) worked seamlessly for about 15 months.

[mtls2005]

It sounds like your service was fine for ~ 18 months until you experienced some "buffering" issues, and not "router re-booting" issues? Obviously buffering issues with streamed media can be caused by many, many problems, not related to the ISP and/or router.

 

Then you went through a second and third router, which seem to have the "rebooting" issue?

 

Personally, I'd get the the full fiber run replaced, and get the Huawei router.

[Pib]

13 hours ago, elfpattaya said:

Also please do not suggest I am lying, I do now what  a reboot is. I can see it happening, the router is in the same room as my computer and TV.

No suggestion you are lying....just wanted to ensure the problem wasn't really loosing a Wifi router-to-computer connection or maybe even an IP Address change with what a reboot is since your said the router was rebooting approx 6 times on some days.   6 reboots is a LOT....even 1 reboot shouldn't happen unless the person initiates a power down-up, presses he reset button, a brief power outage, or selecting the reboot function within the router firmware menu. 

 

But I wonder if it's not an upstream problem that causing the router to mimic a reboot which means AIS swapping of the router may not fix the problem.   It simply an upstream problem and not a router problem.

 

When I was still on True DOCSIS (cable) a couple years ago one day I notice my upload speed was only half of what it was suppose to be...but download speed was fine.  Called True....they came out to work the problem...they changed the router with the exact same model (a Cisco model)...problem still existed.   And if I remember right they then tried their test router (another Cisco model) and the problem still existed.  OK, the two True techs are scratching their heads...they call some engineer for guidance...they do a quick check of my physical line...everything OK....they say they will be back the next day with another new  Cisco router.   Next day they come back and start checking the electronic/active amplifier boxes along the main trunk line...make tweaks...still can't get the upload speed to work right.  

 

Next day they come back with a router from a different manufacturer (can't remember who now....but it was not a Cisco model) and before they even hooked it up they said "this is going to fix the problem."   They swap out the Cisco model that I was still using since at least the download speed still work fine and I had at least half upload speed, and immediately that new router fixed the problem....and it stayed fixed as I used that router for a few more years before switching to AIS Fibre.

 

The tech said the problem was caused by a software upgrade they did upstream of some of their trunk line equipment...this upgrade did not include firmware upgrade of a person's router.  This upstream equipment upgrade had caused  many of their customers with Cisco routers  to have the exact same upload problem.  I had just been one of the first to call in the problem and it took another day or two of more customers calling in for True to figure the core problem was the upstream equipment software upgrade which caused an incompatibility problem with certain Cisco models....and apparently True didn't have a router firmware update to fix Cisco router problem so they were swapping out the Cisco's with other manufacturer's models. 

 

But regardless of the problem being the router, trunk line, or their equipment further upstream it's still AIS's problem to solve.   Hope it gets fixed soon.

[mtls2005]

AIS has also been doing a fair amount of maintenance and upgrades over the past month-ish. They typically send SMSes out advising customers of short service outages a few days ahead of time. On those days where I was looking for it, I lost connectivity for ~ 30 minutes; it looked like their log-on authorization system was off-line. We had to turn the modems off for ~ 5 minutes, and reboot all other network devices and PCs. 

[elfpattaya]

23 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

Personally, I'd get the the full fiber run replaced, and get the Huawei router.

Thay told me that I would have to wait about 2 days.

I had the same problem in December 2016, with my original router. An engineer came round and tested it said there was a problem and he would be back. After a week I rang to find out what was happening, and I was told that they found there was nothing wrong with my router and that they would not be changing it. I waited till march 2017 before they reluctantly changed it.

From December 2016 I kept a log of my problems and phone calls to AIS, it is a long list, which is why I know the exact dates when they changed my routers.

 

New router has been in a week now without any problems. But I find it odd that nobody else, with this router, does not seem to have had problems. Am I just unlucky?

 

Any problems in future I will insist on a different router.

Edited June 21, 2017 by elfpattaya

[mtls2005]

A week is probably not much to go by given your history; your first router was good for ~ 15 months, right?

 

But it could have been an issue which has been resolved with some fixes in a new firmware release/patch for that router make/model?

[Pib]

You might want to go into the router firmware menu and look for a menu selection named Optical Power or something similar.  Doing some googling I came across a some posts saying if the downstream optical power (i.e., the laser power at the end of your fiber optics cable run plugging into your router) was "too high" it can cause random router reboots.  

 

Usually aprpox a -27dbm to -8dbm is the downstream optical power range for a typical home optical router....if the optical power is outside this range you can have problems.  That is, a power level below the -27dbm like a -28, -29, etc) is too low of a power and the power level higher than a -8dbm like a -7dbm, -6dbm, etc., can cause problem.    And for upstream laser power (which your router generates) the range is 0.5 to 5dbm....notice no minus symbol now in downstream power as were are now dealing with power levels above 0 dbm.

 

 When the AIS techs installed my AIS Fibre July 16 "just below they took their first power measurement at the end of the fiber optics cable they would plug into my router"  I asked them what the desired power level was...they responded a -25dbm to -18dbm.  They then hooked the fiber optics cable to their power meter and got a reading of a -21.1dbm....awesome...pretty much dead center of their desired power input range.

 

Now once plugging it into the router and considering a small power loss due to that connection and the accuracy of the router's optical power measurement I can't say what the router measurement was on that day (or can't remember) as I didn't even know a Optical Power measurement selection existed until later on when playing around in the menu..  But once I did find the Optical Power selection in the menu I check it occasionally during those times where I think my internet connection is acting funny or definitely having a problem. The downstream optical power as measured by the router has always been in the the -23 to -25dbm ballpark.   I looked at it while writing this post is the downstream of a -23.4 and the upstream (generated by the router) 2.0dbm.

 

Anyway you might want to check you optical  power levels when things are working well...and when things are not working well also check the optical power level.  If the power levels are out of above mentioned ranges when not working well, especially the downstream power, well that telling you there is a problem with your line and not the router.

 

From some googling here is what your router's Optical Power menu selection may be located....and further below is what the Optical Power setting in my AIS Fibre to Home Huawei HG8245H looks like right now.

 

"Maybe" what your AN5506-04-F Router menu looks like"

 

What my Huawei HG8245H looks like

 

[elfpattaya]

Pib thanks for help, but my Rx optical power is well within the range at -21.36. There is also no problem with my download and upload speeds 50/10.

Everything at the moment is working well. I shall wait to see if there are any further re-occurrence of the problems, hopefully not.