Slate AX (GL-AXT1800) Wireguard Issue (REKEY-TIMEOUT)

hectorricardo · 2023-01-04T08:03:57.594Z

In my case, I’m having this issue when I try to use a Wireguard VPN with USB tethering (Android phone).
VPN works fine with a normal Ethernet WAN connection, but if I try to switch to USB tethering, I get the endless “REKEY-TIMEOUT” logs.

Problem is, this worked fine in version 4.0.3. I upgraded to version 4.1.0 (just to get rid of the yellow dot in the UI), and it stopped working. I rolled back to 4.0.3, but it never worked again.

VPN works fine with a normal Ethernet connection, and the router also works fine with USB tethering without VPN turned on.

alzhao · 2023-01-04T09:43:12.645Z

hectorricardo:

VPN works fine with a normal Ethernet connection, and the router also works fine with USB tethering without VPN turned on.

I don’t think this is related to firmware version.

Maybe try change Wireguard MTU and test.

hectorricardo · 2023-01-04T17:51:32.100Z

I have never needed to change the MTU size to get the VPN working. I already tried changing the MTU size manually, but as expected, that didn’t make a change. Additionally, my VPN provider (StarVPN) does not recommend setting the MTU manually.

Here’s the situation:

Scenario 1: VPN off, router connected to my home Internet connection - Working
Scenario 2: VPN on, router connected to my home Internet connection - Working
Scenario 3: VPN off, router connected to Android device with USB tethering - Working
Scenario 4: VPN on, router connected to Android device with USB tethering - Not working

Additionally:

Router came with firmware 4.0.3 preinstalled → Scenario 4 was working
I upgraded to firmware 4.1.0 → Scenario 4 stopped working
I downgraded to firmware 4.0.3 → Scenario 4 still not working.
Reset back to factory settings → Scenario 4 still not working

Happy to share my Wireguard config file if this is needed.

alzhao · 2023-01-04T17:53:35.047Z

You can share to me. But ustually carrier network and vpn issues are related to mtu.

I can have a try on my iPhone tethering but not sure if I can met the same problem.

hectorricardo · 2023-01-04T17:58:12.186Z

I mean…it worked with the pre-installed 4.0.3 firmware, and I used the VPN for about ten minutes. I even turned on/off my Internet connection on the Android device to confirm that it was actually getting connectivity from USB tethering. Problems started as soon as I upgraded to 4.1.0.

Android device is connected to the same Internet connection as in scenario 1 and 2, so this is not a carrier network issue.

How do I share it to you? Can you provide an email?

alzhao · 2023-01-04T18:01:15.269Z

hectorricardo:

Android device is connected to the same Internet connection as in scenario 1 and 2, so this is not a carrier network issue.

So the Android is actually connecting to your wifi and share to via USB?

hectorricardo:

How do I share it to you? Can you provide an email?

Just share with PM.

hectorricardo · 2023-01-04T18:10:15.997Z

Correct. Android is connected to wifi. However, before upgrading to 4.1.0, it worked with both Wifi and Mobile Data.

Everything (all four scenarios) was working with the pre-installed 4.0.3 firmware. Issues started by upgrading to 4.1.0

alzhao · 2023-01-04T18:25:24.363Z

hectorricardo:

Everything (all four scenarios) was working with the pre-installed 4.0.3 firmware. Issues started by upgrading to 4.1.0

Did you keep settings when you revert back from 4.1.0 to 4.0.3?

If you didn’t keep settings then it should not relate to firmware version.

hectorricardo · 2023-01-04T18:46:02.488Z

I did keep the settings. The Wireguard config is in place.

alzhao · 2023-01-04T20:03:41.640Z

Pls try clean installation and Configure again.

hectorricardo · 2023-01-05T19:18:25.005Z

I have done that several times. I have done the following:

Pressing the outer hardware button on the router for 10 seconds.
Using the admin UI, clicking on the “Reset Firmware” button.
Install a new version of a firmware (4.0.2).

The issue is not solved with any of these steps.

KelvinCloin · 2023-01-05T20:54:03.631Z

I was planning to buy an AX next week, now I’m unsure. Maybe the Flint would be safer

alzhao · 2023-01-07T15:57:34.079Z

So seems that the wireguard does not work on your Andriod tethering now. Now sure what is the problem.

hectorricardo · 2023-01-07T17:30:45.696Z

Not only on Android, but also with the iPhone.

alzhao · 2023-01-08T05:25:25.731Z

Can you try change mtu as in this post

Beryl Wireguard VPN Client Has Randomly Stopped Working (Log included, Please Help) Technical Support for Routers

Update: We changed to a smaller MTU, the connection gets successful. Let’s see if there is an improvement. [image]

hectorricardo · 2023-01-08T20:50:40.644Z

I did, but no success. Still same error:

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alzhao · 2023-01-10T00:44:46.869Z

Today I worked with @hectorricardo to solve the problem. Several problems are identified.

The wireguard config from Starvpn use domain name as endpoint. The domain resolves to several IP addresses. Different network will resolve to different IP address. Some IP addresses does not work. When hard core to certain IP address, it works OK. So this is definately a problem of Startvpn. This is verified on windows pc as well.
Two bugs identified on our firmware: (a) The firmware does not work well with two IP address in wireguard config; (b) not be able to edit wireguard config in @hectorricardo’s macbook browser. I can edit in my Chrome though.

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Jester · 2023-01-15T04:53:36.149Z

Luckily I found this topic.

New GL-AXT1800, facing EXACTLY same issue.

WG server is operational, same config exported to mac client works without any issues.

What I have tried:

replace server hostname with IP to exclude DNS related issues;
change VPN settings on AXT-1800 as some advised in the thread.

So far nothing helped, I am still getting REKEY-TIMEOUT.

alzhao · 2023-01-17T02:31:50.781Z

You can send details to me to check.

All the issues I checked has a different reason.

Jester · 2023-01-17T02:44:29.491Z

@alzhao thank you - I’ll do that. What details you are looking for?