FWA510 drops connection after a few hours

chris238975
chris238975 Posts: 2
First Comment
edited December 2023 in Nebula

Just got a FWA510 and been trying to use it over the weekend.

After the unit has been turned of for 3-4+ hours it starts dropping the connection, I'm guessing it's loosing connection to the mobile network after looking in the logs.

Once it starts dropping the connection it will keep on doing it randomly several times an hour until i reboot the unit.

It happens both when I have 4G and 5G reception.

The only time the router worked for more than 5-6 hours was yesterday when I placed the router in the middle of the room on the floor, instead of having it in a corner or inbetween the wall&couch

I've tried reseting the router on the button on the bottom of the unit.

Latest firmware is installed.

A colleague bought the same router and haven't experienced this at all, he has placed the router by the window. I can't put the router by I window since I have floor to ceiling windows so it would look pretty bad having the router on the floor by the window.

Does anybody recognize this behaviour and maybe knows how to fix this?

The logs look a bit different every time but around the drops I've seen this :

[cellwan] Dec 16 15:31:21 user.notice DALCMD: [cellwan]

Dec 16 15:31:42 user.notice CM: APN disconnected, inform backend.[cellwan]

Dec 16 15:31:42 user.notice CM: mtkSetRadio(3277) Set radio off(CFUN=0)[system] Dec 16 15:31:42 user.notice zcmdModuleCfg: System: Wan interface Cellular WAN 1 connection lost[cellwan]

Dec 16 15:31:42 user.notice CM: mtkSetRadio(3273) Set radio on[cellwan]

Dec 16 15:31:43 user.notice CM: mtkSetRadio(3273) Set radio on[cellwan]

Dec 16 15:31:46 user.notice CM: APN successfully connected, inform backend.[cellwan]

Dec 16 15:31:46 user.notice CM: 3GPPGeneration:NR5G-NSA

All Replies

  • Zyxel_Judy
    Zyxel_Judy Posts: 1,678  Zyxel Employee
    Zyxel Certified Network Engineer Level 2 - Nebula Zyxel Certified Network Engineer Level 2 - Switch Zyxel Certified Network Engineer Level 2 - Security Zyxel Certified Network Engineer Level 1 - Nebula

    Hi @chris238975 ,

    The stability of your mobile router's connection is largely influenced by signal strength. When the router is situated between walls and furniture, such as a couch, obstacles can impede the signal, leading to instability. To enhance this, we recommend the following steps:

    • Utilize the Zyxel Air app to assess signal strength in various areas of your environment. This will help you identify the most optimal location for your router. Additionally, adjusting the orientation of the router can significantly improve signal reception. Ideally, position the router so that it faces a window and the nearest base station for the best results.
    • Examine your surroundings for any environmental factors that could be negatively impacting the signal. This includes electronic devices and large metal objects in close proximity to the router. Relocating these items away from the router may enhance connection stability.

    Judy

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  • chris238975
    chris238975 Posts: 2
    First Comment
    edited December 2023

    when the router was placed in between the couch and wall it had 4-6 inches on each side and the front side was open out towards the room. It went between really great 4G and good 5G, and it switched between 4G and 5G no problem.
    In the corner of the room it was close to the walls on two sides of the router and then open out towards the room on the other two sides. Same connection quality here as when I had I placed at the couch.
    I used the app to verify that I had a good connection where I placed the router

    So, it’s not like I have them in a closed cabinet or anything.
    I understand that connection quality is affected when the router is placed in closed spaces , but the drop outs that I’m experiencing are at least 3-5 minutes. That can’t be the right way of handling connection issues, I have huawei , TP-link and a asus mobile 4G routers on different locations and none of them behaves like this.

    Are 3-5 minute drop outs the FWA510 way of handling mobile connection loss?
    Why do the drop outs occur more frequently after the first one happens ?
    And why do the drop outs stop when I reboot the router ?
    There has to be something wrong with my unit

  • Zyxel_Judy
    Zyxel_Judy Posts: 1,678  Zyxel Employee
    Zyxel Certified Network Engineer Level 2 - Nebula Zyxel Certified Network Engineer Level 2 - Switch Zyxel Certified Network Engineer Level 2 - Security Zyxel Certified Network Engineer Level 1 - Nebula

    Hi there,

    Thank you for providing a detailed description. If you're experiencing connection drops, typically 3-5 minutes, despite having great 4G and 5G signals, we would like to assist you further with an in-depth analysis. Here's how you can enable us to do so:

    • Enable Zyxel support by navigating to 'Help' (identified by a question mark icon at the top right corner of Nebula portal) > 'Support Request' > 'Zyxel Support Access', then click 'Enable' and 'Save'.
    • Provide us with the name of your Nebula organization/site here or via the private message by clinking to my account > Message.
    • If possible, please arrange a Teamviewer remote session and we can confirm the suitable time to implement that. This will allow us to gather the FWA510 log during a connection drop event.

    Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

    Judy

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  • Scapin
    Scapin Posts: 2  Freshman Member
    First Comment Friend Collector

    Hi everyone.

    I'm experiencing the same kind of problems with a FWA510 since I received it a week ago. It works smoothly for hours, then seems to "loose connection".

    I did use the Zyxel Air app, it beeps like crazy (5G an 4G antennas less than 100m away). Following messages, I did

    • upload latest firmware (5.0)
    • enter APN manually
    • switch to NSA /4G auto switch
    • schedule a reboot every night

    I am missing something, or doing something wrong? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

  • Zyxel_Judy
    Zyxel_Judy Posts: 1,678  Zyxel Employee
    Zyxel Certified Network Engineer Level 2 - Nebula Zyxel Certified Network Engineer Level 2 - Switch Zyxel Certified Network Engineer Level 2 - Security Zyxel Certified Network Engineer Level 1 - Nebula

    Hi @Scapin ,

    Please confirm if this issue occurs on 4G, 5G, or both networks.
    To resolve this, could you try:

    • Contact your ISP to verify their supported frequency bands
    • Go to Network Setting > Broadband > Cellular Band > Band Management
    • Disable "Band Auto Selection"
    • Select only the specific bands supported by your ISP

    Judy

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  • Scapin
    Scapin Posts: 2  Freshman Member
    First Comment Friend Collector

    Thank you @Zyxel_Judy, I'll try this.

    Regarding your first question, is there a way to tell which network (5G/4G) I'm connected to? Generally speaking, 5G signal is excellent.

  • Zyxel_Judy
    Zyxel_Judy Posts: 1,678  Zyxel Employee
    Zyxel Certified Network Engineer Level 2 - Nebula Zyxel Certified Network Engineer Level 2 - Switch Zyxel Certified Network Engineer Level 2 - Security Zyxel Certified Network Engineer Level 1 - Nebula

    HI @Scapin ,

    Regarding your first question, is there a way to tell which network (5G/4G) I'm connected to?

    To identify whether the issue occurs with 4G or 5G, please:

    1. Set the Preferred Access Technology to either "4G only" or "5G only"
    2. Connect to the SSID and monitor the connection behavior
    image.png

    Judy

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