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[JoeG]

Our DIR-615 has started freezing and when reset (power cycled), it reverts to factory settings.

This has been running 24/7 for several months with no problem. Three days in a row now I've woken up to find our home network is down and the DIR-615 status lights are "yellow". Power cycling the DIR615 resolves the problem however the DIR-615 looses its settings, reverting to factory defaults (looses the admin password, wireless settings, etc). I can reload the settings from a file saved on my computer but needless to say, this is a bit annoying. I don't believe there are any wireless clients connected at the time as most of the wireless is served by an airport two floors up. There are several wired devices always connected:
   a Zoom ATA carrying our "land line"
   a tivo (doing whatever tivo boxes do)
   a SSL based Voip phone (different than the zoom ata)
   an AirPort Express 802.11n (bridge mode) which may have a couple of wireless clients
   a laptop which may or may not be sleeping at the time
There are a couple of ethernet switches in the network.

Some of the devices acquire addresses via DHCP, others are assigned fixed
addresses outside the range of the DHCP addresses served by the DIR-615.

Nothing has changed on the network in months.

The only settings I've messed with on the DIR-615 are:
   a) set the admin/user passwords
   b) Set the wireless network name, enable WPA, set the WPA Key
   c) enabled ntp (this is now disabled and I've set the time manually)
   d) Change the network base from 192.168.0. to 192.168.4.

The DIR-615 is hardware rev E3, Firmware 5.10
The cable modem (from RCN) is a Scientific American model DPC2100R2

[FurryNutz]

What wireless modes are you using?
Try single mode G or mixed G and N?
What security mode are you using? WEP, WPA or WPA2? Preferred is WPA-Personal. WPA2/Auto TPIK and AES.
What wireless devices do you have connected?
Any cordless house phones?
Any other WiFi routers in the area?

What ISP Service do you have? Cable or DSL?
What ISP Modem do you have? Stand Alone or built in router?
What ISP Modem make and model do you have?
If this modem has a built in router, it's best to bridge the modem. Having 2 routers on the same line can cause connection problems. Also the router might be exhibiting getting any information from the ISP modem too. Need to check the ISP modems logs or conditions to see if there is any issues here. Results of ISP modems going down or acting up would make the router seem that it's the culprit when the problem lies elsewhere.

Ensure DNS IP addresses are being filled in under Setup/Internet/Manual?
Turn off QoS options.
Turn off Advanced DNS Services if you have this option under Setup/Internet/Manual.
Turn on DNS Relay under Setup/Networking.
Setup DHCP reserved IP addresses for all devices on the router.
Ensure devices are set to auto obtain an IP address.
Set Firewall settings to Endpoint Independent for TCP and UDP.

[JoeG]

Here are the answers to your questions. I held off answering because I disabled NNTP and the unit stopped resetting itself. However it was dead this morning so.....

Wireless mode = Mixed 802.11n and 802.12g
Security Mode: WPA-Personal
WPA mode = WPA2 only
No wireless devices are connected - this is mostly used as a wired router
No cordless house phones
Multiple wifi routers in the area

ISP = RCN, Cable modem
ISP Modem = Scientific Atlantic DPC 2100R2
The ISP modem is wired only and has only a single ethernet
   connection. I believe this makes it "standalone" not "built in router"


The router had been stable (working 24/7) for almost a week so I didn't post these answers earlier. When I went to use the network this morning (it had been working at 11p last night) I found it was down.

For kicks before resetting it I went to my computer and typed in the address of the router to see if I could pull up a status page/system logs/etc. What I got instead was a firmware upload screen which looked like this:
      D-LINK Firmware upgrade System
      Version 1.0.0.0 (Language Pack Support)
      Date 2009/07/15

      File Path [Choose File Button] No File Choosen
                  [Send button]
     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     NOTICE !!
     If you upload the binary file to the wrong TARGET, the router may not work properly or even
     could not boot-up again. Support Flash Intel J28F128, MXIC 29LV640BT, ST 29W640FT

(I couldn't figure out how to upload the .jpg with the screen shot)

[FurryNutz]

Wireless mode = Mixed 802.11n and 802.12g
Security Mode: WPA-Personal
WPA mode = WPA2 only
No wireless devices are connected - this is mostly used as a wired router
Let's turn off the WiFi radio and test. If your not using it then probably don't need to be broadcasting.
No cordless house phones
Multiple wifi routers in the area. Having these around can and will impact router function sometimes. Lets turn off the WiFi on your router and see if it maintains for a day or 2.

ISP = RCN, Cable modem
ISP Modem = Scientific Atlantic DPC 2100R2
The ISP modem is wired only and has only a single ethernet
   connection. I believe this makes it "standalone" not "built in router"
Thats possible however having a single Ethernet connection doesn't make it a stand alone modem. There are other factors that can dictate what a modem has. Most cable modems are stand alone however some VoIP modems have routers built in. However looking at your model. This is a stand alone.

The router had been stable (working 24/7) for almost a week so I didn't post these answers earlier. When I went to use the network this morning (it had been working at 11p last night) I found it was down.

For kicks before resetting it I went to my computer and typed in the address of the router to see if I could pull up a status page/system logs/etc. What I got instead was a firmware upload screen which looked like this:
      D-LINK Firmware upgrade System
      Version 1.0.0.0 (Language Pack Support)
      Date 2009/07/15

      File Path [Choose File Button] No File Choosen
                  [Send button]
     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                     NOTICE !!
     If you upload the binary file to the wrong TARGET, the router may not work properly or even
     could not boot-up again. Support Flash Intel J28F128, MXIC 29LV640BT, ST 29W640FT

[JoeG]

I disabled the radio and this morning the box was frozen again.
This time it wouldn't even serve the 'firmware upload' page, it
wouldn't talk to anyone. Power cycling did a factory reset as usual.

I'm thinking this box needs to go back for service, its not very old.

Here's the screen which came up yesterday when I connected to the
router while it was fried: http://www.flickr.com/photos/72029917@N06/6504824731/

[FurryNutz]

I would go ahead the same FW 5.10 once more and follow the FW Upgrade steps listed in the FW update sticky posted in this forum. Definitely follow the process steps. Don't reload any saved configuration file.
http://www.dlink.com/products/?tab=3&pid=DIR-615&rev=DIR-615_revE

Let us know how it goes. If it exhibits the same issues after that then, I would return the unit to place of purchase or RMA it.

[JoeG]

There was 5 days of goodness after [re] flashing the firmware but alas, at 1am last night it died again.

I suspect too much time has elapsed since I bought the unit to return it to the store (10/2/11) so I guess I need to talk to DLink about returning it for repair.

[FurryNutz]

Maybe someone can review your router settings with you using teamviewer.. After that then, I would recommend RMA the unit.

[JoeG]

FurryNutz,

I appreciate the effort you put into supporting people in the forums and I kept my opinions to myself and dutifully followed your suggestions because it seems you have some experience in getting these things to work.

However I can't help but wonder, have you ever seen a problem with "settings" which results in a box reverting to factory settings every time it is power cycled? To me that seems that is a big fat clue that something is wrong with the hardware as I clearly have not enabled the "Revert to factory settings on power up" setting as it doesn't exist.

In any case, the box was send back under RMA and a new one has arrived. Hopefully we have a better experience with this one.

Thanks again for the assistance.

[FurryNutz]

No Joe, I have not experienced this with any of my routers and I have serveral D-Link routers that I test and use. It sounds like you might have been the unlucky draw for this type of issue.

Also if your using IE 8 or 9, try using the compatibility mode for IE. I would also use a different browser like Opera or FF to configure the router as well.

I would recommend that for the new router, configure it and get it going then save off the routers configuration to file under Tools/System. That way when you have to actually do a factory reset, you can just reload the saved config from file and your settings will be there and your good to go.

Sorry you had a bad experience. I hope the new one will be a much better one. Enjoy.

[sproket]

Also make sure your modem is not going offline or experiencing any low snr issue.

You should be able to see some log files from your modem or even call your isp to look at your history and signal of modem. BUT if your router is dead then yes router issue.

192.168.100.1

Just a thought

[FurryNutz]

SNR?

Also make sure your modem is not going offline or experiencing any low snr issue.

You should be able to see some log files from your modem or even call your isp to look at your history and signal of modem. BUT if your router is dead then yes router issue.

192.168.100.1

Just a thought

[sproket]

SNR-Signal to noise ratio

Very common issue with ISP's.

Modem doesnt go offline and appears to be working normal but when snr drops to 19 or below then you can get slow internet, lag, packet loss to modem and of course your entire network.

Modem can offline when snr reaches lower values as well.

Look at your modem with 192.168.100.1 and you will see your snr #/level.