NR7101 disconnecting

Maximum

Good morning.

I tried opening a ticket for my issue, but the page wouldn't load after writing my router's Serial Number. I'll try to ask here.

I recently bought an outdoor router NR7101, that is currently placed on my roof with inside a SIM card. From there, the ethernet cable goes through my home and inside the POE Injector, from which another Ethernet cable goes to my computer.
We did the configuration through the wi-fi (which for some reason I can still see from my phone, even if it should be off now…).

Once or twice a day, usually in the morning after I boot my computer, the connection dies and I noticed that if I detach the Ethernet cable that comes down from the Zyxel to the POE port and re-attach it to said port, after a couple of minutes the connection starts again.

The electrician said that if it was a cable problem, it would never work. But after I re-attach it, I've a good connection for the whole day.

Anyone here has any idea? Or if there's an e-mail to contact the Zyxel Support, since I can't from that page?
I'm not very pratical with internet-related technology, this was the only solution I found to have a connection in this secluded place.

Thanks for any help.

Internetheavyuser

You can try upgrade the FW to the latest and see whether the issua still happen.

https://www.zyxel.com/global/en/support/download?model=nr7101

When you said "Once or twice a day, usually in the morning after I boot my computer, the connection dies"
Does it mean before you boot the computer it works?
Or you mean when you boot the computer and find NR7101 disconnected.

When you "detach the Ethernet cable that comes down from the Zyxel to the POE port " it will reboot the device which will try to connect the base station.

You can try enable Broadband >>Cellular WAN >>Network Monitoring Feature >>Network Monitoring (Enable)

Noddy

Hi, two quick questions:

1. When you say the connection dies. Do you mean the connection to the Router, or, that you lose WAN (internet) connectivity? i.e. you can't browse websites / load web pages. Looking at your screenshot it appears to show that your LAN connection to the Router is actually fine. It is the WAN connection in this example which is not connected. That would have nothing to do with the cabling.
2. The Router appears to be in IP Passthrough mode. If you are connecting directly to it (not plugging it in to say a further Mesh WiFi setup or APs further in the house) then I would have thought it should be set to regular "Router mode".

The FW update and Modem FW update might be worthwhile doing however, only do this if you understand how - people do run into issues flashing it in the incorrect order or doing it with a SIM card installed can give an error (however it usually does still upgrade in the background).

You can also find the FW updates here - https://support.zyxel.eu/hc/en-us/articles/4403365084818-Advanced-Downloads-for-5G-devices

100ABUV8C0 - this is the latest FW for the NR7101.

You then have additional Modem FW updates. These need to be installed in the correct order. I'm not sure what version you are running. It explains at the bottom of the page the order.

My thoughts:

1. Update FW to 100ABUV8C0
2. Update Modem FW (in correct order)
3. Factory reset and change back to Router Mode

See how you get on.

Thanks.

Maximum

Hello everyone. Thanks for the replies. Somehow I missed them.
To answer Internetheavyuser:
No, even before booting my computer, through my cellphone I see the Wi-fi is off. Then I boot my computer and it confirms connection is offline.
I tried your suggestion: now I've "Network Monitoring" enabled (all the other options in that page are Off. I'll see how it goes tomorrow.

For Noddy: For your first question, I meant that I can't use Internet at all, no web pages available expect for the Zyxel web page.
Actually, I've a Fritzbox 7590AX indoor, so the Zyxel's ethernet goes from the roof to the POE Injector and from there another Ethernet cable goes to the Fritz and from there another cable goes to my computer. Still, I did some experiments and tried not to use the Fritzbox, so I attached the Ethernet coming from the Zyxel directly to my computer, but I still had the same issue. Also, the issue is solved (temporarily) only by detaching/re-attaching the Ethernet cable coming from the Zyxel.
Knowing this, is that "IP Passthrough mode" the correct option for my configuration?
I've installed the latest firmware, but the "Modem FW updates" is something I didn't try yet. I'll do it now.

I was about to ask a refund to Amazon, since the Support Center couldn't help me: They thought the Zyxel was going in Sleep Mode, so I disabled that Option in Network Setting⇒Wireless⇒ WMM⇒WMM Automatic Power Save Delivery(APSD)
But unfortunately the issue is still happening and the only way to get the connection back on is these two methods:
1. The usual detach the Ethernet cable coming from the Zyxel on the roof and the re-attach it to the POE Injector: after 2 minutes internet works again.
2. Change the firmware to another version. For some reason if I change the firmware, internet works again (Now I have the latest version)

I'll try the suggestions you provided in the meantime. Maybe it's just some option that can be configured to solve the issue. Thanks again.

SELBERG

Ever tried reset your network settings?

Network reset removes any network adapters you have installed and the settings for them. After your PC restarts, any network adapters are reinstalled, and the settings for them are set to the defaults.

Windows 11. Select Start > Settings > Network & internet > Advanced network settings > Network reset.

Windows 10. Start menu > Settings > Network and Internet > Status > Network Reset.

Maximum

https://community.zyxel.com/en/discussion/comment/61144#Comment_61144

Hello again. I did this test and it seemed like the issue was gone: for a few days, in the morning I always had internet on.
But today, once again I noticed from my cellphone that Wi-fi was offline, so I booted my computer and once again connection was offline… :(

About the suggestions above, I still had to try the Module upgrade. It didn't look that simple, maybe someone here could assist? My Module version is RG502QEAAAR11A03M4G. From this page: https://support.zyxel.eu/hc/en-us/articles/4403365084818-Advanced-Downloads-for-5G-devices
There's not my version, so I can't understand the order I should install the updates.

Also, any other help/ideas would be appreciated. Thanks again.

SELBERG

Open link and you will find what you are looking for, just scroll down…….

https://support.zyxel.eu/hc/en-us/articles/4403365084818-Zyxel-5G-Devices-NR-Series-Advanced-Downloads-Firmware-and-other-resources

Maximum

I had to read a few times but I think I got it now, thank you. So since I've the RG502QEAAAR11A03M4G, I've to install the updates in this order from top to bottom: RG502QEAAAR11A03-R11A06 ⇒ RG502QEAAAR11A06M4G-R11A07 ⇒ RG502QEAAAR11A07M4G-R13A02
So the newest module should be that R13A02.

I hope it works…

EDIT: I downloaded the Module upgrades, but they're folders with several sub-folders. Which is the file that I should upload, anybody knows?

SELBERG

You use zipfile. not just a single file….

Noddy

https://community.zyxel.com/en/discussion/comment/61039#Comment_61039

Late reply sorry. Yeah in that case I think IP Passthrough with the Fritzbox is correct. As you say, if the SIM/WAN is disconnecting when direct to your machine we can rule that piece of kit out.

Good luck with Modem FW update. See if that helps.

If the WAN connection still continues to drop, do you have another SIM from a different provider to test? Something like one of those non-contract 30 day rollovers so you are not tied in.