4G LTE Network Extender intermittently disconnects from Verizon network (continued)
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I'm responding to this older (locked) thread with 2024 information.
Late Dec 31 (Central, so after midnight UTC thus 1 Jan 2024) my older Samsung 4G LTE Network Extender ran into these issues and persisted for days. On 2 Jan 2024, I pulled out my Askey 4G LTE Network Extender (ASK-SFE116) which had been running fine early in 2023 at another location (Mountain time - temporary assignment in another state). I plugged that one in, and it had the same problems. Note that the Askey box has the same final firmware on page 16 of the other thread (GA5.10 - V0.5.010.1167).
Key takeaway - both units of completely different design and manufacturer having same issue. Both units had been working fine (Samsung for years in Central Time, Askey for ~2 years in Mountain time except for when the other thread was on fire in 2021).
I looked to see what the units were trying to connect to - similar set of IP addresses as other thread. Similar types of issues. Symptoms included very slow text messages (try texting yourself, great round-trip test). Up to 60 seconds to get a message through versus <1 second in normal operation. Unable to make or receive calls from multiple devices (iPhone and Android).
Pings to the address in the Network Extender logs for SCTP connection would be fine (~30 - 50ms range) for about a minute, then drops for a bit, then 300-400ms for a bit, then more drops, then a handful of more 300-400, some 30-50ms, more drops, etc. This unstable pattern continued for about a minute or so, then back to normal stable 30-50ms pings. Here's the kicker... I was on the phone with tech support for a long time discussing the problem and had eventually plugged the network extender back in... it booted, my call transferred to the local extender and the tech support guy could clearly hear this pattern. I could hear him clearly the entire time, but he couldn't hear me clearly during the period of ping instability ("delayed", "choppy", "garbled" were words he used). Once the pings returned to normal, he could hear me fine.
Clearly - as as been discussed in the previous thread - there's a serious problem with the sgw.vzwfemto.com pool (that resolves via DNS to multiple IPs) and load balancing and that cropped up again at the turn of the year.
The tech sent me a new Network Extender (same Askey model - ASK-SFE116), waiting for that. He said that in Oct 2023, they started sending new units to everyone having issues. I do not have the new unit yet, will update on differences (if any) when I get it; however, as of late last night (2 Jan, or early 3 Jan UTC), the pings are smooth and everything working. But I did see one SCTP link failure followed 8 seconds later by an IPSec Down, both cleared mid-day today (3 Jan).
This problem still persists and definitely seems to be one of VZ Business load capacity and load balancing, and given the voice behavior I had with tech support, it seems the traffic from verizon's servers to the network extenders is not the problem. It's the traffic inbound to the servers.
Interestingly, WiFi calling was showing the same types of behaviors as well - smooth to me, intermittently choppy back to them. Makes me wonder if WiFi calling is using same infrastructure.
Verizon Tech Support - please do *not* respond to this. I'm just documenting for other users (and hopefully VZW network engineering) as this is a long term problem with your products and solutions.
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Having the same issues. Did you ever get resolution? I got an additional new extender sent, issue persists
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Hello, DukeRaoulDuke. Help is here. Please clarify what issues you are experiencing so that we can proceed.
-Natasha
