(GL-MT3000) Disconnects triggered by Windows?

Technical Support for Routers
1

Hi there,

Your assistance please . . .

I have the following devices connected to a new Beryl AX (GL-MT3000):

LAN and WiFi: Huawei Matebook X Pro (Windows 10)
WiFi only: Phone, tablet, Nest Mini

The network connection to all these devices is lost and then reconnects in all of these (tested) scenarios:

  1. When the laptop is either put to sleep or shut down.
  2. When the laptop starts up or wakes from sleep.
  3. When the laptop screen is turned off automatically by a Windows 10 power plan.
  4. When the laptop screen is turned on again (via cursor movement etc).

In all cases, all these devices take 45-60 seconds to reconnect again.

The WAN connection method (ethernet or repeater mode) makes no difference. The behavior is the same in all cases for both methods.

Likewise, the laptop connection method (LAN or WLAN) makes no difference. The behavior is the same in all cases.

It seems apparent that the disconnections are being triggered by some process in the laptop. But what exactly? And why so long to reconnect?

Thanks for your help!

Thanks,
Gary

2

It ‘smells’ like your power savings plan is really aggressive about shutting down various systems. I changed mine some time ago so I can’t recall the default names but is there one marked ‘Maximum’ or ‘High Performance’?

Control Panel → All Control Panel Items → Power Options

… & this is also kicking the Wi-Fi only devices fr the Beryl AX, too? This has to be one of the damnest things I’ve ever read. WTF.

EDIT: Is your Beryl AX plugged into the same electrical socket as your laptop? I’m wondering if you’re not getting some sort of a brownout on your local circuit.

3

Thanks for your reply.

You were on the right track with your comment about the power supply.

I had the router powered via a 5v3a usb-c port in my power strip. The product page specs say 5v3a but apparently that port wasn’t quite enough. Good enough until I performed any of the operations mentioned in my original post, at which point the router rebooted.

I swapped it out for the default GL.iNet adapter and problem solved.

Thanks for your help!

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4

I’m glad you got it sorted. Feel free to mark ‘Solution’ so others know it’s resolved.

5

Could you poke at this a little bit more? There is a well known problem with PD power from a multiport device like a GaN charger,when a device is plugged/unplugged: the PD charger will renegotiate volts/amps in a way that causes a reboot. USB C outlets in power strips aren’t usually PD, and the stock adapter isn’t PD either.

So if you were plugging the laptop in or unplugging it to a multiport device I could see this happening. But that doesn’t seem to be your scenario. If this is just a power strip though, it is hard for me to see this causing a voltage drop. And unless something is plugged into its USBA port, the Beryl AX doesn’t draw much power.

This is one of the reasons I travel with a power strip as well as my GaN chargers. Just at the moment I have six wifi devices in the mix, including one W10 laptop, and I haven’t seen this behavior.

6

You’ll be pleased to hear that it turns out that this was just operator error.

The power strip and the router are both brand new. The strip has two USB-C ports.

The specs start with this:
USB-C1/C2:PD 5V/3A;9V/3A;12V/3A;15V/3A;20V;3.25A;

So, I thought they were the same.

However, I see now that buried later on in the specs it says:
USB-C1 + USB-C2: PD45W + PD20W

So, my bad.

7

PD20W is fine: it will deliver 5v 3A just like the stock adapter. It’s the PD part. Is your laptop plugged into one of the USBC ports on the power strip? Then when its power profile changes, it triggers the renegotiation protocol and causes the router to reboot.

If the laptop is not plugged into one of the USBC ports, it is something else.

8

… presuming the power strip in question isn’t itself flaky for some reason &/or the advertised specs match real world results, of course.

9

Thanks for the follow up guys.

It’s coming back to me now . . . my pre-purchase notes include the 5v 3a spec for the Beryl AX and that’s why I figured I could use the power strip usb-c ports when I subsequently bought that.

To recap, the router rebooted on laptop shutdown/sleep and startup/wake when the router was plugged into the 20w usb-c port. The 45w c port was empty. The laptop is powered by PD from a Plugable 60w dock plugged into one of the regular 3-pin power strip ports.

The router operates as expected (ie; no reboots) when powered either using the stock AC adapter plugged into the strip or the 45w usb-c port on the strip (and another device using the 20w port).

10

Yeah, that strip looks like a nice piece of equipment… but the eternal pessimist in me also nags me by whispering in my ear “on paper.”

We don’t know how well the wiring/circuitry in it is preforming without a lil’electrical diagnostics gear, eg:

1 Like