[SOLVED] How to query router log to show only dropped connections ?

[toms38]

My router is TP Link VR600 AC. It's about one month old (a new ISP).


Every couple of hours, my router drops the internet and does not recover. I need to reboot router by switching off power for 10 seconds.

The strange feature is that the four leftmost LEDs on my TP are ALWAYS green, even when my Edge browser and Smart TV complain about no internet. I'm referring to LEDs for power, DSL, internet, and WiFi. I've never seen a red LED (or any other colour) on that new router in one month.

I want to examine the router logs to see when the router thinks it dropped the connection.

I know how to find my way around the router log. But I don't know what "query" I need to set up to return only those records that show dropped connections - and ignore all the others.

I would be grateful if someone could advise me what settings I need to find internet drops.

I Googled for this:

- router log internet drop connection

There are dozens of hits which show you how to display the complete log. But nothing on how to do a specific search for dropped connections ?

Thanks.

 

[bill001g]

What is very strange is it goes down and you have to actually reboot it but you see no lights. I assume if you unplug the telephone cable the DSL light goes out or changes color ? I am going to bet it recovers by itself if you plug the cable back in.

This is the more common kind of failure when the DSL connection goes down and it just recovers by itself.

Can you access the router admin pages from your pc before you power cycle it. You would think the log entries would be the very last. If you have to power cycle it to get into the router you are likely going to lose the log. It also means that the router likely got hung which is likely some unfixable hardware issue.
You can check the firmware to be sure you have the latest but routers with DSL modems tend to have fewer updates.

If you can access the router before you boot it and the DSL is not actually going down then it is something in the ISP network that your router is not seeing. It would similar to if you have a pc connected to the wifi on your router and you unplug the phone cable. The pc see no problem with the connection it just doesn't pass any data. There would be no useful logs in the pc since it is outside the pc. The ISP should see the connection go down if it is .

 

[Ralston18]

This router?

https://static.tp-link.com/res/down/doc/Archer_VR600(EU)_V1_UG.pdf

Section 13.7 (physically numbered Page 92) explains the use of the router/system logs.

It appears that there may be some capability to search the system logs via a menu listing of "Type" and "Level". Very basic.

For your requirements what needs to be done is to download (Save )the logs to your PC per the bottom of Page 93.

The resulting text file (.txt) can then be opened for direct viewing via Notepad.

However to be more useful (search and sort) you will need to import the text into Excel or preferably (in my mind) Access.

Once the log information is imported then you will be able to search the data rows and columns for the keywords or codes that indicate a dropped connection.

Or use Python, Visual Basic, Powershell to search the .txt log directly but that may become a bit more involved and likely cumbersome.

Do this: Save the log file as a text file and then copy just a few of the first rows. Paste the results here to show what the raw text data looks like.

Hopefully the format will be identifiable much as is shown in the output on Page 93.

E.g., X number of rows, with five fields: ID (row number), Time, Type, Level, Log Content.

With any luck that Saved text log will simply import directly into Excel and preserve the overall format.

Then you search for Log Content field for "disconnect" or whatever phrasing is used to indicate a dropped connection.

 

[toms38]

Thanks for your response.

What is very strange is it goes down...

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I think I should try to be more clear in what I actually saw, and what I did. I'm not a techie. So some of the following might be irrelevant. And I've probably missed out stuff which IS relevant.

My Smart TV is at the front window of my lounge, just through the wall from the Master Socket in the hall.

My laptop is at the back window of my open-plan lounge. It's 25 feet from the TV, and in line-of-sight.

I've been with a new ISP for one month. Previous ISP had no problems for about 9 years.

Both devices use WiFi from the router in the hall.

Here's scenario #1:

If I'm on my laptop, I get a "no connection" message from the browser. I immediately turn and look at the Smart TV, which I can see from 25 feet away. It displays a "no connection" message, and an error number.

I look at the router in the hall. All four leftmost lights are green: power, DSL, internet, and WiFi. The othere are black.

Scenario #2

The opposite from scenario #1. I'm watching TV, and lose the connection. I immediately walk 25 feet to my laptop, ands see "no connection".

So, either both devices lose connection - or none. In one month with new ISP, I've never had only my laptop or only my TV lose connection.

Because I'm not a techie, I assume that if 2 devices lose the internet simultaneously, there's no point in troubleshooting one or both of the devices, for example if I check that my laptop has WiFi in the list of providers. The message is always "No internet".

I then go to the router in the hall. All four lights are green. I switch off the power to the router for 10 seconds. (I'm in the UK, where all sockets have switches. Power outlets without switches are illegal.) I don't actually disconnect anything.

After that, I no longer watch the LEDs. I know from experience that this is what happens:

- The power LED blinks a couple of times, then remains green. All the others will be black.

- DSL flashes off/on. Remains steady after 1 min 35 secs

- WiFi comes on after 52 secs. Never flashes. Always on.

- Internet flashes off and on, then remains steady after 2 min 33 secs.

The Smart TV works as soon as all LEDs stop flashing.

Laptop usually needs password to be re-entered in the list of providers.

I need to stop here because I'm going out. I'll continue replying to your post (and other kind posts) ASAP.

Thanks

 

[bill001g]

So I assumed you know how to get into your router and check the log ?

If you put 192.168.1.1 in the top of the browser it should give you access to your router....I think this is the default IP.
If not open a cmd window and type ipconfig /all. Look for the gateway IP that will be the ip of your router.

You want to use the IP address because it will work when the internet is down.

You want to do this when things are working fine so you know it works. I would follow the instructions above to look at the log.

When you see the errors instead of rebooting the router try to open the router from your browser. If you can get in you can look at the log and see what the last message are. If you reboot the router it is likely these are deleted.

What maybe happening is the router is locking up and power cycle corrects it. Problem is you do not want to blindly just replace the router because it could be some problem with the DSL connection that is reset when you power cycle. If you can get into the router then there is a hope that it is functional. If you can not then you are going to have to replace the router.

Also do the lights look the same when it is working as when it is broken. The manual says there are 2 wifi lights so you should have 5 leds.

 

[toms38]

I assume if you unplug the telephone cable the DSL light goes out or changes color ? I am going to bet it recovers by itself if you plug the cable back in.

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That's all correct. I tried it just now.

Actually, the DSL light goes out, rather than change colour. I've never seen any colour of LED except green on this router.

I think I tried that a couple of weeks ago. I discarded the procedure in favour of simply switching off. There's very little space between the cable and one of the antennas, so it's finicky trying to get the plug back in. But pulling out the cable and re-inserting is at least a minute faster than switching off the power completely.
.

You can check the firmware to be sure you have the latest but routers with DSL modems tend to have fewer updates.

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The message is "Your firmware is up to date"
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Can you access the router admin pages from your pc before you power cycle it.

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The next time I lose the internet, I'll take my laptop out to the hall, and connect via cable to access the log.

I think there's a current post from @Ralston18 describing how to save the log to Excel for examination.

Thanks

 

[toms38]

This router?

https://static.tp-link.com/res/down/doc/Archer_VR600(EU)_V1_UG.pdf

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According to the order confirmation, my router is:

- TP Link VR600 AC

That matches the title on the front page of the PDF. But the URL contains V1 UG.

I'm sure I've seen the same PDF on the internet several times - with differing front pages. So I think the actual procedures are universal, but the router characteristics vary individually in speed and power.

Thanks for the detailed info on gathering the log records and the subsequent analysis.