SAGEMCOM FAST 5364 TALKTALK ROUTER - Hardware Failure

[steve1234]

I have a SAGEMCOM FAST 5364 TALKTALK ROUTER - Wireless Hub with VDSL2/ADSL2 Modem for fibre, which has died.HARDWARE version: FAST5364 3.00
FIRMWARE version = SG4K10002816t

It stopped working at 5.50am BST, the network went down and the LED was permanently flashing AMBER. There was no LAN routing and no WiFi connections, hence no internet connection could be seen even if it was there.

Unfortunately, all my security systems, monitors, CCTV, Gate Access, all of which uses LAN/WiFi routing, are lost and so it is serious for me. I did the usual power of, leave, power on sequence and did all of the tests which I know from past issue with that model.

I tried telephoning TalkTalk support on all the numbers I have numerous times today and each time after going through all the automated details, received a message saying they were closed (why don't they say that at the beginning).

I connected my mobile phone as a WiFi hotspot to allow my PC to connect to the TT service site, a line test was done and it informed me to check the internal system, which I duly did, as this happened in exactly the same way last year, which turned out to be the same, ie a hardware failure. Note that the router in on a shelf alone and is cold in a well ventilated area and has not overheated.

The is nothing wrong with the line, the router does not route LAN nor radiate any WiFi signals, which it should do even if just the line was at fault, which it isn't.

It is a simple hardware fault, or was it being auto updated during the night by TT and the update failed?

Because of the urgency, I had to pay to get a company to come out (Sunday) to get my network working. They installed a BT Fibre Modem and a DLINK DIR-842 router, which is working fine. The also check the TT router and said it was a hardware failure, which conclusively shows that the TalkTalk router has died.

I have again tried to contact TalkTalk to urgently get a replacement but they are not there.  I tried, on-line chat and that was not working - are they cutting back?

Does anyone know how to get a message through to them to order a replacement. I have been with TalkTalk since the very beginning and found them fine, but this episode has caused me some concerns - not because ot the failure as these things happen, but the difficulting in getting through to leave a message (to a comms company). Is there a better ISP, with better support 24/7?

Thanks for looking
Steve

[ferguson]

@KeithFrench Can you advise on the character/case requirements for the router password?

EDIT: Oops, please ignore that everybody, I have just realised I got my wires crossed with another thread, sorry!  

[KeithFrench]

Hi @Debbie-TalkTalk I am running V136.

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

HI Steve

I can send you another Sagemcom hub I just can't guarantee which hardware version you will receive.

[steve1234]

Hello Debbie

Yes we have the same router, I know.  But the hardware version is different.

Thanks

Steve

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi Steve

You have the same router. We have the Sagemcom hub and the Sagemcom hub2.

I believe you are both using hub 1.

[steve1234]

Hello Debbie

I have just looked at Keith's post and his unit is showing as hardware

FAST5364 4.00

whereas mine is

FAST5364 3.T8

I looks like different versions of hardware, but I am not sure - he is on series 4 and I am on series 3.

Regards

Steve

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi Steve

Thanks for your reply.

@KeithFrench which firmware version are you using?

[steve1234]

Hello Debbie,

Yes, I am still on SG4K100136, which was in when supplied.  I have retried and unfortunately, nothing has changed and the fault is still there and is 100% repeatable.  The moment I click Add to add a Port Forwarding Rule, I get a red banner error message saying something went wrong.  Please see my previous post showing the zip picture attachments of what is being entered and the red error message - this is still happening and nothing has changed.

If you look at my previous post showing my list of events to try and assist, item 2 shows the firmware supplied is SG4K100136 and items 8 and 9 explain what happens when entering a port forwarding rule - nothing has changed hence my recent query to you to see if I could be upgraded (to get my CCTV set) to a later firmware version (4) as per KeithFrench, because his version is working.  i suspect that the GUI version in my unit is at fault as it stops data entry and there was also an anomaly in entering the separate WiFi SSIDs when first received, whereas on the last router there were no error in port forwarding and SSIDs and all was OK (apart from the known fault in that you cannot use all of the icons to link to a device, but that is not this issue).

If you can update my version to that of Keith's it would be appreciated,

Many thanks

Steve

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Hi Steve

I can see that your router is now on 136 fw. Are you still experiencing this issue?

[steve1234]

Hello Debbie,

I was just wondering if there has been any progress by the tech team on the GUI not allowing Port Forwarding to be entered or getting an update to the same Firmware and Software versions as KeithFrench mentions (as his is working OK).

Many thanks

Steve

(Just for info, I have returned the faulty router back, thanks for the return slip)

[ferguson]

Thank you both, for extending my own knowledge and possibly that of others!  🙂

[steve1234]

Hello Ferguson

Sorry for not getting back quicker.  You asked why I changed the router IP to 192.168.0.1.  KeithFrench summed it up perfectly and for me the reasons are the same, which are:

Previous routers over the years were on the 192.168.0.xxx range, eg NetGear, ASUS, DLink, TPLink, depending on the model and year of supply.  My networks for the past couple of decades has always been set on the 0.xxx range as was the network at work (where we used the very early Satellite comms promoted by the DTI).

All my devices when using a fixed IP address, are set on that range 0.xxx.  To change my home network to the TalkTalk's default (and it is only default and not manditory) would mean changing every device's static IP, NAS, security monitors, etc. which is a pointless excercise when a router is specifically made to be able to set a local LAN range - after all that is what the setting is for.

Altering the router's IP address to 192.168.0.1 has no bearing on this issue, which is that you cannot actually enter a Port Forwarding rule.  Every time I try, and I have successfully done it many times previously on a different firmware, you immediately get the error message as shown in my last post.

Thanks

Steve

[KeithFrench]

HI @ferguson 

Normally it is because their networks have historically had a different network address from previous routers & they want to save having to change all of their addresses that are not allocated by DHCP, it is simpler to just change it on the TT router. A lot of 3rd party routers use 192.168.0.1/24 as their LAN IP.

[ferguson]

Thanks @KeithFrench, but I was genuinely asking "why" do it?

[KeithFrench]

Changing the default IP is perfectly reasonable, lots of people do, which is why I try & test it on different subnets.

[ferguson]

Can I just ask: why did you change the default router IP? 

[steve1234]

Hello Debbie

If tech support cannot locate the problem from my listed steps, having read Keith's response (where he says his router is working OK, which is on a later version) would it be possible for me to be updated to this newer version as I need to get the Port Forwarding implemented (CCTV security, etc).

Many thanks

Steve

[KeithFrench]

Hi @steve1234 @Debbie-TalkTalk 

I certainly do not have the time to try this & others have definitely seen it before. However, if it is anything to go on, my hardware version is FAST5364 4.00, so is newer than yours, but it did not ship with V136, Debbie upgraded it for me.

[Debbie-TalkTalk]

Thanks @KeithFrench I've seen this raised by Karl too.

Debbie

[steve1234]

Hello Debbie and Keith,

To try and pin down the problem with the port forwarding error, I will list a sequence to show how it occured.

1. I received the replacement router 4-5-22, details:

Sagemcom, version FAST 5364-3.T8/AV3/C1 (received 4-5-22)
s/n on box: N7190704N007837 (faulty one returned 6-5-22 was a later s/n: N7202494N000436)
s/n on unit: 253734241
HARDWARE version: FAST5364 3.00
FIRMWARE version = SG4K100136 << this was the version as supplied and stayed the same number after a reset.
GUI version: 5.6.1

2. I did not do any resets at all. I plugged in the 4 x LAN and VDSL cable, logged into the control panel then altered the unit's IP to 192.168.0.1 for my network (from the default of 192.168.1.1), plus I altered the DCHP pool to xxx.2 to xxx.200.

Note that the FIRMWARE version on receipt, before any settings were altered was: SG4K100136.

3. I restarted (powered off/on) the unit to get the network/DCHP running correctly on 192.168.0.1, then logged back into the control panel.

4. I first went to change the WiFi SSID name and there was only 1 option to change the name and it changed BOTH the 2.4 and 5GHz WiFi SSIDs. Previous firmware allowed changing the IDs separately. I could not use the WiFi properly because some of my devices were set for one SSID and the 5G devices were set for the other SSID, whereas now there was just one name for both, causing conflict.

5. I manually entered the PORT FORWARDING settings without any errors. ***

6. Up to now only the Amber LED was showing/flashing and it had not connected to the internet and so, thinking that the TalkTalk internet settings in the unit could have be set wrong from delivery (I had not touched them and do not know what they are), I went to Maintenance and restored from my last saved config file from my previous router (which was on a different firmware 9SG4K10002816t). The settings loaded in without complaint.

Interestingly I now saw that my 2.4G WiFi SSID was one name, and the 5GHz was correctly showing the other name. The setting I had loaded in had done correctly set the SSID, although there was still no option to change them separately in the GUI.

7. I still had no internet connection, no white LED, and so I reluctantly did a reset (10 secs) which did not correct it. After prompting from yourselves, I redid another RESET but for longer than 30 secs. The unit correctly reset this time and eventually I got an internet connection, but I had to go through all of the settings again. It was very time consuming.

8. The firmware version after this reset was SG4K100136 (the same as supplied), however, when I went to the WiFi section the GUI allowed me to change the 2.4/5G independantly. It WAS A DIFFERENT GUI to that when it was received on 4-5-22, yet the firmware was the same.

9. I went to set the manual PORT FORWARDING rules but it gave the repeated error message as reported in my last post.

10. The unit connected to the internet (white LED).

CONCLUSION

The unit settings/GUI is different after a 'long' reset is performed.

I hope the above helps analyse the problem as I need port forwarding for security.

Q1: Are there 2 versions of GUI within the same firmware, which appear different after a short or a long reset?

Q2: Can a config file from a previous firmware version be loaded in OK? If not, a warning should be given.

I hope you manage to pin it down soon, thanks

Steve