purple se connection problems
tl;dr: My firewalla stopped working yesterday.
I've been having periodic internet connection issues which always resolved themselves either on their own or after a cable modem reboot. I was on 400mbit service. I decided to ask for a new cable modem to see if it would help, and they talked me into 1gb service when they did the exchange. When I made the exchange they told me my signal levels were good. I forgot that my purple SE maxes out at 500mbit.
Yesterday the internet went down and I looked at the firewalla app and it turns out the internet has gone down for less than a minute 5-10 times per day for the last 7 days (or more, not sure). I started moving things around trying to connect to my cable modem to get to the status page (never got in) and when I gave up and reconnected everything, I still had no internet and couldn't get to the firewalla. I tried connecting just my access points to it, no dice. I kept rebooting things and would sometimes get a push message on my phone saying "Firewalla is back up!" and if I went into the app it would still not connect to the firewalla. Every once in a while I could get to the firewalla in the app for a little bit, but then I would lose it. And the whole time it had no internet access. I eventually gave up and connected my old (omada) router and got the internet back.
Could this be caused because of my 1gb network speed? Do I need to upgrade? If so, is there any kind of trade-in program? I've only had the purple SE for a year and a half.
If that's not the cause, does anyone know what else it could be? Is my purple SE broken?
I have a Spectrum E31T2V1 DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem feeding the purple SE set up as my router, which then feeds a managed switch and omada access points.
Thanks
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Router mode.
cable modem -> purple SE -> managed switch -> POE switch -> access points
I could only briefly get the firewalla app to run the diagnostics yesterday. It would generally try for a while then kick me back to the "cannot connect to firewalla" message. I probably tried it 15 times yesterday--once it came up with the top two sections populated but errors on the lower two (sorry, I don't recall what they are), and the last time it actually connected it showed values for all four, but I still had no internet, and quickly lost the connection to the firewalla again.
Thanks
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Hi Keith,
When you power cycle the box, how does the light status change usually? Want to make sure the box boots up as expected.
Additionally, it sounds like box can get IP but Ping/DNS tests would fail. Have you tried to swap Ethernet cable? Also, you can try to use the other port as WAN port, to rule out Firewalla port issue. The doc is for Gold, but general idea also applies to Purple SE: How to change the default Ethernet Port used for WAN connection into other port? -
I hooked it back up tonight with no luck. The light blinks blue, goes solid, and sometimes goes out, and sometimes blinks red. If I disconnect the cable from the cable modem then reattach, the light blinks red forever. At no point could I access it with the firewalla app. Is there a way I can attach it to my internal network and get access to it? Would that help?
I tried brand new cables and adding a switch between the cable modem and router. Nothing worked
Thanks
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Sounds like PSE can boot up. But it's not consistently getting Internet.
Have you tried to connect to the box via Bluetooth and make configuration change to swap WAN and LAN ports by following How to change the default Ethernet Port used for WAN connection into other port? This will help rule out default WAN port issue if any. -
I realized I have a new phone since I set it up, so that may be why bluetooth didn't work for me yesterday. I re-paired using the QR code on the bottom and was able to use the app again. I connected to just the router, not the LAN, and it eventually got a signal, and the diagnostics were all 4 successful. I then swapped the ports and it couldn't get an IP. I rebooted the modem and tried a few times and eventually all 4 were successful on that side as well. I then switched them back and went through it all again. The first 5 times I tried it failed at least one test. Eventually it got them all. And now it's working normally. We'll see if it continues.
I'm beginning to suspect the cable might be a problem--maybe its instability caused the firewalla's instability,--but I still don't understand why my old router would work when my firewalla wouldn't. I don't really know why it's working now other that my setting it up again.
Is the purple SE going to have trouble with my gigabit downstream connection? If it bogs down will it just slow the connection or will it cause errors?
Thanks
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Today I see that the cable company has run a new temporary line down the main road, so presumably all of this was because of a bad cable signal. However, the question remains: Will my purple SE continue to work with a gigabit connection? If it just slows things down, that's okay. If it can cause data corruption, that's a different story.
Thanks
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You can post in this community thread: https://help.firewalla.com/hc/en-us/community/topics/11724126186515-For-Sale or Firewalla Reddit sub. Here's what to do before selling your box: What to do when selling or buying a used Firewalla?
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