I have an MT3000 router that is fairly new, and I use it in hotels. I’ve been traveling and after one success, I now get the same issue over and over. The WAN port says that no cable is connected even though there is one. It’s really frustrating as this is the number one reason I got it for.
Here is the stuff I’ve tried
Factory reset the router
Update to the latest firmware 4.x
Switch the port purpose wan/lan etc it always showed disconnected the logs were not really clear
Switch the cables with known working cable: again no dice what so ever
Tried the internet cables on my laptop ethernet and they worked fine there, but not on the travel router
Physically the port seems undamaged, I gave it the old blow but that made no change what so ever
I am really frustrated with how little I am able to do in terms of troubleshooting.
You’ve done more troubleshooting than I’d even reasonably expect anyone to do.
Yeah, they’re pretty goddamn noisy. If you can SSH into the Bery AX, post the output of:
logread -e link
logread -e netifd
after a fresh boot of the device. Give it about a minute or two to fully boot. That’ll help filter for the approp. net link/port connectivity’s log entries.
Use three backticks (```) when posting logs. It makes readability a helluva lot easier.
Thanks for that, I SSH’ed in and these are the results I got with both LAN and WAN plugged in.
Link result
Tue Jan 30 23:46:22 2024 kern.info kernel: [114544.142820] mtk_soc_eth 15100000. ethernet eth0: configuring for fixed/2500base-x link mode
Tue Jan 30 23:46:52 2024 daemon.notice netifd: Network device 'eth1' link is up
Netifd result
Tue Jan 30 23:46:22 2024 daemon.notice netifd: Interface 'wan' is disabled
Tue Jan 30 23:46:22 2024 daemon.notice netifd: Interface 'wan' is enabled
Tue Jan 30 23:46:52 2024 daemon.notice netifd: Network device 'eth1' link is up
Summary of what I found (focusing on the link detecting or not)
With both cables connected (hotel internet on WAN eth0, LAN eth1 to laptop)
eth0 shows no link
eth1 shows link
With laptop connected to WAN port
eth0 shows link
With laptop connected to eth0 as LAN
eth0 shows link
eth0 outputs below
eth0 as LAN with hotel internet connection:
ethtool eth0
Settings for eth0:
Supported ports: [ MII ]
Supported link modes: 2500baseT/Full
Supported pause frame use: Symmetric Receive-only
Supports auto-negotiation: No
Supported FEC modes: Not reported
Advertised link modes: 2500baseT/Full
Advertised pause frame use: Symmetric Receive-only
Advertised auto-negotiation: No
Advertised FEC modes: Not reported
Speed: 2500Mb/s
Duplex: Full
Port: MII
PHYAD: 0
Transceiver: internal
Auto-negotiation: on
Current message level: 0x000000ff (255)
drv probe link timer ifdown ifup rx_err tx_err
Link detected: no
This is as WAN for eth0
ethtool eth0
Settings for eth0:
Supported ports: [ MII ]
Supported link modes: 2500baseT/Full
Supported pause frame use: Symmetric Receive-only
Supports auto-negotiation: No
Supported FEC modes: Not reported
Advertised link modes: 2500baseT/Full
Advertised pause frame use: Symmetric Receive-only
Advertised auto-negotiation: No
Advertised FEC modes: Not reported
Speed: 2500Mb/s
Duplex: Full
Port: MII
PHYAD: 0
Transceiver: internal
Auto-negotiation: on
Current message level: 0x000000ff (255)
drv probe link timer ifdown ifup rx_err tx_err
Link detected: no
Think it is the other side’s lack of negotiation support? The LAN view does not really show this either, but it does simply switch to 1gbps full duplex no issue when connected to my laptop.
On the PoE thing, there is a small connection device in the room that simply has a LAN out, so no PoE. The media device it was connected to also has its own powersource so no need for PoE therer either. The hotel is rather high end (hurray for business travel) in a modern large city so I doubt their equipment is seedy in any way.
ethtool eth1
Settings for eth1:
Supported ports: [ TP MII ]
Supported link modes: 10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
1000baseT/Full
Supported pause frame use: Symmetric Receive-only
Supports auto-negotiation: Yes
Supported FEC modes: Not reported
Advertised link modes: 10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
1000baseT/Full
Advertised pause frame use: Symmetric Receive-only
Advertised auto-negotiation: Yes
Advertised FEC modes: Not reported
Link partner advertised link modes: 10baseT/Half 10baseT/Full
100baseT/Half 100baseT/Full
Link partner advertised pause frame use: Symmetric Receive-only
Link partner advertised auto-negotiation: Yes
Link partner advertised FEC modes: Not reported
Speed: 100Mb/s
Duplex: Full
Port: MII
PHYAD: 0
Transceiver: external
Auto-negotiation: on
Current message level: 0x000000ff (255)
drv probe link timer ifdown ifup rx_err tx_err
Link detected: yes
And the LAN link works too:
ethtool eth0
Settings for eth0:
Supported ports: [ MII ]
Supported link modes: 2500baseT/Full
Supported pause frame use: Symmetric Receive-only
Supports auto-negotiation: No
Supported FEC modes: Not reported
Advertised link modes: 2500baseT/Full
Advertised pause frame use: Symmetric Receive-only
Advertised auto-negotiation: No
Advertised FEC modes: Not reported
Speed: 1000Mb/s
Duplex: Full
Port: MII
PHYAD: 0
Transceiver: internal
Auto-negotiation: on
Current message level: 0x000000ff (255)
drv probe link timer ifdown ifup rx_err tx_err
Link detected: yes
Is there no cleaner way to turn on auto negotiate or something similar on for the WAN port? Or to maybe force it down. It looks like it forces a 100mbit connection here? Which is odd and not quite expected, but it matches what I noticed on my direct connection. I will put that in the “whatever” category
Also using ethernet is one of my primary use cases for a travel router and anecdotally it’s never been an issue, I’ve been rocking a super old hootoo travel router that just didn’t cut it anymore, and it hasn’t died on me yet. I will definitely double check though next time I am in a new place, so I appreciate the warning!
Burning the router is better than burning your computer. There is voltage on the cable and it will heat the router generally and melt the case. I got several reports.
It sounds like GL may have another potential product for travellers, then. I’m not aware of anything that clamps 48V provided by POE… but at least I don’t have to worry about lightening on the line:
That is kind of crazy though in the US I can’t see this being a thing at least not without labels. Where I am staying there is a repeater/bridge device in the room that doesn’t do PoE so I am sure I am safe here. I will keep an eye out though.
I am running into the exact same issue with my GL-MT3000 and would like to try using the ethtool for analyzing my eth0 port (to confirm the not negotiating issue), but don't see where/how to run the tool. Using Luci I installed the tool on the router, but can't find anywhere to actually input the "ethtool eth0" command.
Also, I'd like to experiment with the suggestion of changing the WAN port to be eth1, but don't see where/how to run those commands.
I suspect I somehow need to get to the command line to execute the commands, but don't see anywhere I can do that. Is the solution to SSH into the router?
Any help/suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks!
