Actiontec MI424WR rev e frequently drops connection with Skype

emmelr1972

My Actiontec MI424WR unit drops its public i.p. address while using Skype. It was a lot worse before I routed all wireless traffic through my Linksys WRT54GL router. This wll be the 3rd replacement Actiontec I've received from Verizon. I've requested a newer model but they'll only send the rev E which fails the same. Calling Verizon only gets me another rev E so it could fail the same within 1 month. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

This problem occurs whether connected wirelessly or wired. Hard resetting & powercycling isn't helping.

Accepted answers

emmelr1972

Hubrisnxs, after Verizon replaced the equipment in the back of my house, I performed a hard reset on the Actiontec, tried Skype, & the problem persisted. Including the Actiontec at the beginning, it's connected to a WRT54GL to handle all the wireless traffic, then it's connected to a WRT54G flashed with DD-WRT firmware so it can be a wireless bridge in my basement. Never had any problems while using Comcast. While working with Skype, I noticed some send/receive errors on the wireless bridge so I opted to upgrade the WRT54G's firmware. After the upgrade, I was able to use Skype without any interruptions. For grins, I removed the WRT54GL to let the Actiontec handle the wireless traffic, but the WRT54GL seemed to do a better job. Anyway, download/upload speeds are very nice & everything seems better.

Everyone, thanks for the input. It helped me think & troubleshoot more effectively.

All comments

cbwoodstock91

Hi,

Have you tried to upgrade the router's firmware? If not, just login in your actiontec router with username admin and password password or router's serial number, once you have the main screen click on advanced option, you will see the option

upgrade firmware.

Good Luck!

emmelr1972

Tried that, and the supposed firmware upgrade is older than my currently installed version.

Hubrisnxs

are you running mac's with skype? I know the westell's and skype and ichat don't like each other, but never heard of the problem on actiontec's.

emmelr1972

Sorry. Am I running mac's with Skype? What does that mean? Verizon supposedly replaced the equipment mounted on the back of my house today but the problem persists. Also, when accessing the Actiontec's internal page, it's slow between selections. 3 Actiontec units all behaving the same. Hmmmm......

Anti-Phish1

emmelr1972 wrote:

My Actiontec MI424WR unit drops its public i.p. address while using Skype.

Are you connected via coax between the Actiontec and the ONT?

If so, check your MOCA WAN stats. You may have an issue between the router and the ONT.

How to check MOCA stats

How do you know you're dropping your public IP?

Is the COAX WAN light turning orange on your router?

emmelr1972 wrote:

Sorry. Am I running mac's with Skype? What does that mean?

Hubrisnxs wanted to know if you're running a PC or a MAC. Since you didn't know what he meant, I assume you're running a PC.

emmelr1972 wrote:

when accessing the Actiontec's internal page, it's slow between selections. 3 Actiontec units all behaving the same. .

Could indicate a problem between your PC and the router, although you said it happens wired or wireless which would seem to rule out a problem with the cat5 cable. For grins, try pinging the router.

Open a command window
PING 192.168.1.1 -c 100

Ping time should consistently be ~1-2 ms with no dropped packets.

emmelr1972

I'm connected to the ONT via coax, and the MOCA speed is greater than 200. I know I'm losing my public IP because it displays "connecting" under Broadband Connection while looking at the Main menu under My Router. "Connecting" is displayed in orange. Normally, it'll display my public IP address and the status is CONNECTED. Luckily, by using my own wireless router, it doesn't take as long to obtain my public IP address again. Also, when I lose my public IP address, I can not ping 192.168.1.1.

viafax999

@emmelr1972 wrote:
I'm connected to the ONT via coax, and the MOCA speed is greater than 200. I know I'm losing my public IP because it displays "connecting" under Broadband Connection while looking at the Main menu under My Router. "Connecting" is displayed in orange. Normally, it'll display my public IP address and the status is CONNECTED. Luckily, by using my own wireless router, it doesn't take as long to obtain my public IP address again. Also, when I lose my public IP address, I can not ping 192.168.1.1.

Hmm, losing your public IP address should have nothing to do with not being able to ping 192.168.1.1.

The nat address is on the inside network and should be available whether you have a WAN address or not. Not being able to ping the router's internal IP address indicates that either there is a fault in your wring or that the router has restarted, the second is more likely as you say you cannot ping at the time you lose your public ip address.

You should look at your router logs and see what it says occurs when the ip address is lost.

Router admin, system monitoring, advanced, system log, advanced

viafax999

Struck me that if the router is restarting the system log will be being cleared so you won't know what cause the restart. You can route the log to a syslog server on a different machine, see the link below

http://www.dslreports.com/faq/16602

Be aware that you'll need to set up a port forwarding rule to forward the syslog port (UDP default 514) to the syslog server address.

emmelr1972

Yes, while connected or not to Verizon, I should be able to ping 192.168.1.1 &/or access the device's internal page but I never can while the device does NOT have its IP from Verizon. As I said earlier, it wasn't until after I incorporated my own wireless router that sometimes allows me to access the MI424WR's internal page while it does not have its public IP. Verizon sends a replacement, all's well for almost 1 month, then I'm back to square one. Thought it might have been an electrical issue so I tried different wall outlets with different power strips & it made no difference. I would be very curious to see how FIOS would be if they ran CAT5 from the ONT to my WRT54GL. Owned & used Linksys devices for years & never had any trouble with them.