Hi @bc01,   I’m glad to you had some success.   I did not get the chance to try your solution, as I have now found an alternative solution that is ideal for my situation and I hope others might also find it useful …   After my previous update on 21/06/2021, I continued to experiment with different VR1600v V2 settings.  I even brought Netspot’s WiFi analysis software (fantastic tool) to help me analyse my congested WiFi environment, and to identify the least congested WiFi Channels for both 2.4GHz & 5GHz and changing them accordingly.   However, I could find no router settings which could stop the WiFi segments failing and/or performing poorly.  The issues continued to happen immediately after the router was put under any WiFi download load ie. Speed Tests, watching Security Video (24 camera system) or DropBox downloads etc.   I found myself avoiding any activity that involved large data downloads, but regardless, I still needed to reboot my VR1600v router many times per day to resolve the WiFi issues.   I decided to try turning the VR1600v router into a “dumb” Bridge.  As a Bridge, the router logs into TPG, disables its’ WiFi signals and simply allows ethernet-wired traffic to pass thru to TPG.  This also disables VOIP via the VR1600v, so don’t proceed further if you need this for a landline via TPG.  I then connected my old Netgear Nighthawk AX8 WiFi 6 router (that I have previously used with a Telstra cable modem) via its’ Internet Port, to one of the VR1600v’s LAN ports using an ethernet cable.   This Bridge solution has finally given me a stable WiFi network!  I can now simultaneously: download Gigabytes of data. perform unlimited Speed Tests. be connected to VPN all day/night. videoconference on Teams & Zoom. stream Twitch, YouTube and Netflix. have numerous devices accessing our 24  12MP Security Cameras etc. 30+ IoT devices. all connected to either the 2.4GHz & 5GHz WiFi segments of my bridged Netgear Nighthawk AX8 WiFi 6 router.  Since making the change, I have never had any WiFi stability issues or download speed issues.   With 5GHz connected devices, I now get a constant 90Mbps download speed from anywhere I my home, as the WiFi signal from the AX8 is stronger than the VR1600v.  I no longer get any router (now 2 routers) issues or WiFi connectivity, instability or performance issues.   Since setting up the VR1600v as a bridge, I no longer have any need to reboot my router(s) … never!  My only issue is that my Upload speed used to be a constant 38Mbps using just the VR1600v, but with my bridged AX8 WiFi setup I can only achieve a constant upload speed of 5Mbps thru the AX8 via 5Ghz or even, say, connecting a laptop using an ethernet cable via an AX8 LAN port.  I have not yet investigated what is causing the Upload performance throttling, but it is the least of my problems as everything else is fantastic … I finally have a stable home/office network!!!   I also tried connecting my laptop to a VR1600v LAN port to test the speeds, and got 90Mbps download and the full 38Mbps upload.  So my AX8 (or the bridge setup on the VR1600v) seems to have a throttled 5Mbps upload speed but I can perfectly live with that until I find a resolution at a future time.   The bonus of using my AX8, is that I can take full advantage of the WiFi 6 802.11ax signal which greatly improves the battery life of compatible devices eg. iPhone 12 Pro, iPad Pro, Yoga C940 etc.   If you are still reading this, you might be thinking of making your VR1600v a bridge and adding your own router.  This is what I did …. On the TPG TP-Link VR1600v router, I did the following: renamed the VR1600v WiFi SSIDs, so my AX8 could later be setup with the required SSIDs. changed the LAN address of the VR1600v to 10.0.0.1, so it would not later conflict with the AX8 address of 192.168.1.1 via Advanced/Network/DSL, I clicked “+Add” and checked “Enable” for VDSL and type “2” in VLAN ID … if you get an error message typing “2”, then type “1”.  Click the dropdown, and select “Bridge”.  Scroll down and click “Save”. the router automatically reboots, creating a “br_ptm” WAN interface (bridge) and disables the WiFi signals.   On the Netgear Nighthawk AX8 (RAX80) router, I then did the following: changed the LAN IP to the IP address that the VR1600v had ie. 192.168.1.1 … it reboots. connect the AX8’s Internet port to a LAN port of the VR1600v using a Cat5e/6 ethernet cable. setup the AX8 2.4GHz & 5GHz WiFi SSIDs to the required SSID names.  All your home’s devices will now seamlessly connect thru the AX8 WiFi segments. update the AX8 firmware.  It reboots. backup the AX8 … the locked-down VR1600v from TPG cannot be backed up.   The TPG supplied VR1600v router definitely has issues that TP-Link and TPG definitely need to resolve; hopefully via a future firmware update.  It is ridiculous that I need to bridge to another router to achieve a stable home/office network, but such is life … at least TPG are offering a reasonably priced Internet service with great performance.   I hope the above is of help to anyone fed up with VR1600v stability issues.   Good luck! ... 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I posted detailed updates in this message thread last February 2021 regarding 2.4GHz & 5GHz WiFi and speed degradation issues with my TPG-supplied Archer VR1600v v2 router, connected to TPG FTTB. All these issues continue to come back to haunt me every few days or weeks, and usually follow a surge of download activity eg. a Speed Test, downloading large files or viewing Security Camera footage. It happened again tonight ... after performing a Speed Test, where the 2.4GHz WiFi becomes inaccessible for most devices, and devices that were connected the 5GHz, lose their connection. When I tried to reconnect to my 5GHz SSID it says the password is incorrect etc. As usual, the solution is to reboot my Archer VR1600v v2 router, and then all 30+ devices can then successfully reconnect to both my 2.4GHz and 5Ghz WiFi SSIDs with 90mbps+ download and 37mbps+ uploads ... until the next episode. These issues have never been resolved by TPG despite numerous telephone support calls, two TPG site visits, numerous router setting changes, and even picking up & installing a replacement Archer VR1600v v2 router. My router currently has Firmware Version:1.1.0 0.9.1 v5006.0 Build 200826 Rel.77218n. I am certain that there is an unsolved Firmware, Hardware or Settings fault with the Archer VR1600v v2 supplied by TPG in my FTTB setup. It appears that this is a widespread issue for other TPG customers. I've given up trying to resolve the Archer VR1600v v2 issue with TPG and have accepted that regularly rebooting my router is a necessary evil to continue using TPG. However, my hope is that by continuing to share my experiences with the TPG Community, TPG will continue to understand that there is a genuine issue with their Archer VR1600v v2 router that needs to be investigated and resolved. ... View more

@SteveK  There might be some different outcomes that are specific to the router's pysical location and/or FTTB config. I changed my router's settings to your recommended settings and rebooted. I could still perform any number of Speed Tests without "killing" 5GHz. However, my Speed Test results on all 5Ghz devices were now very, very slow eg. on one of my Apple TVs I was getting Ping 14ms Download 1.3Mbps (yes, 1.3Mbps) Upload 36.7Mbps.  My iPhone was getting half it's normal download speeds. I returned my router's settings to my previous settings ie. Upstream 38000, 5Ghz Channel "Auto" & 5GHz Channel Width "Auto" and rebooted the router. My 5GHz Speed Test results on all devices now achieves maximum performance results eg. the Apple TV (the furthest device from the router) now gets Ping 14ms Download 92.8Mbps Upload 36.6Mbps.   ... View more

SUCCESS!!!   TPG sent out another technician to my home on 9/12/2020.   He checked all my settings and said it looked like the problem might be caused by the upstream Bandwidth Control settings.   I told him I had previously tried enabling the Bandwidth Control and typing 30000 in the Total Upstream Bandwidth, 10958Kbps less than the firmware-nominated Current Upstream Rate of 40958Kbps.  This caused the router to be unable to connect to the Internet (ie. Internet light not green) even after a reboot. I had to do a Factory Reset to make the router functional again.   He suggested we try a higher value.  In the Bandwidth Control page of the Advanced settings of the router, he checked “Enable” and then in the field for Total Upstream Bandwidth, he entered a value of 38000 (only 2958Kbps less than 40958Kbps).  He clicked “Save” and we rebooted the router.  I have attached a screenshot of the enabled & updated Bandwidth Control page.   To my surprise, this change has finally fixed my 5GHz issue!  I have since done 100+ Speed Tests using 5GHz & 2.4GHz WiFi on different devices, from various distances away from the router.  The 5GHz performance is great and no longer ‘dies”.  The 2.4GHz performance still fluctuates wildly the further away I am from the router (perhaps I will experiment using different 2.4GHz channels) but it does not “die” and the 5GHz segment carries on unaffected.   I wondered why this was not a more widespread problem for TPG FTTB users, and here’s my hunch …. TPG FTTB was installed in my building’s MDF about 6 months ago.  My hunch is that various TPG FTTB installations use different hardware and/or configurations in the MDF over time, and perhaps some installations may be unable to handle the full Upstream Bandwidth of 40958Kbps.   @DavidGC If you’re reading this, I hope this helps you too! ... View more

However, after the last TPG support call on 7/12/2020, it occurred to me that I really didn’t spend much time investigating the 2.4GHz WiFi performance and availability, so I spent another few hours hammering both 5GHz & 2.4GHz WiFi segments with more tests. I configured the new router exactly as posted before.  The only router settings I have modified, are the router's admin password, my TPG username/password for “pppoe_ptm_2_0_d”,  the SSID & password of both the 2.4GHz WiFi & 5GHz WiFi segments and changed the LAN DHCP IP Address Pool from starting at 192.168.1.2 to starting at 192.168.1.40 (to make room for some static IP addresses) ... all other settings are unchanged. I did the following: I connected my laptop via Ethernet.  I could perform any number of Speed Tests via Ethernet and the router would consistently have results of 14ms Ping 93Mbps Download & 38Mbps Upload.  The router and both WiFi segments would continue to correctly function on all my other devices. I disconnected my laptop from Ethernet and connected to 2.4GHz.  I could perform any number of Speed Tests on either https://speedtest.net or http://tpg.speedtestcustom.com/ and would get wildly different performance results ranging getting results of 14ms Ping  7Mbps Download and 8Mbps Upload !.... and then again getting results of 14ms Ping  3Mbps Download and 19Mbps Upload!!! …  and then again getting results of 14ms Ping 56Mbps Download and 32Mbps Upload.  The 2.4GHz Spped Test results were all over the place, but 20+ Speed Tests were unable to kill the 2.4GHz WiFi segment …. yet! I then disconnected the laptop from 2.4GHz and connected to 5GHz. I did a Speed Test getting results of 14ms Ping  93Mbps Download and 37Mbps Upload, but the 5GHz segment continued to look good. I then ran a dozen Speed Tests moving further away from the router and continued to get the same great performance and I could not get the 5GHz segment to “die”. The worst 5GHz performance result was 14ms Ping  88Mbps Download and 38Mbps Upload  but the 5GHz segment continued to operate.  I seemed as if the earlier Speed Test activity on the 2.4GHz segment had helped the 5GHz segment survive. So I decided to reboot the router and just do a Speed Test on 5GHz è the Speed Test froze getting results of 15ms Ping 15Mbps Download and 38Mbps Upload … only getting about 40% thru the upload.  The 5GHz segment is then “dead” with no 5GHz devices able to access the Internet but all 2.4GHz devices continuing to access the Internet.  I switched my laptop to 2.4GHz and got Speed Test results of 13ms Ping  56Mbps Download and 12Mbps Upload !!! … THIS CAUSED THE 2.4GHZ SEGMENT TO “DIE” FOR FIRST TIME!!!!  BOTH SEGEMNTS WERE NOW DEAD!!!! I rebooted and tried another Speed Test on 5GHz using my iPhone è getting results of 14ms Ping  71Mbps Download and 35Mbps Upload è this “killed” the 5GHz segment è I then switched my iPhone to the 2.4GHz segment and did a Speed Test getting results of 14ms Ping  7Mbps Download and 8Mbps Upload !!!  And then again getting results of 14ms Ping  3Mbps Download and 19Mbps Upload!!!  And then again getting results of 14ms Ping  56Mbps Download and 32Mbps Upload.   THE RSULTS WERE ALL OVER THE PLACE BUT THIS TIME I COULD NOT “KILL” THE 2.4GHz SEGMENT.  I tried to switch but to the “dead” 5GHz WiFi on my iPhone but get the error message “Incorrect password for blade-5G” ie. any devices connected to 5GHz before the segment “dies” will remain connected but have no Internet connectivity and any device that tries to connect to the “dead” 5GHz is advised that their password is incorrect, but it is not incorrect. I rebooted the router and ceased Speed Tests but any video conference call (or anything with significant uploads) also causes the router’s WiFi segments to fail. TPG Support will contact me later this week and I’ll post another update, in the hope that these long updates might help others going thru the same hoops. ... View more

Later on 7/12/2020 shortly after my latest  5GHz outage experience, TPG’s WiFi support expert called me to see how I was going. I said “lucky you called. as the replacement router has just lost it’s 5GHz WiFi again just like the previous router". TPG have provided excellent support and have been very accessible via their support number. We spent 2 hours on the support call doing numerous factory resets, configuration changes and trying various tests and Speed Tets, which all confirmed that there is definitely a problem with the VR1600v’s hardware or its firmware.  In summary, we tried the following: Factory reset the router (insert a pin into the reset pinhole for 20secs) many times changing nothing except entering my TPG user/password.  We can successfully perform any number of Speed Tests via an Ethernet connected laptop, with maximum performance speeds and no impact to the router.  However, when I disconnect the Ethernet cable and connect to 5GHz, the 5GHz would “die” with any Speed Test from either https://speedtest.net or http://tpg.speedtestcustom.com/ regardless of how far my 5GHz connected laptop or iPhone was from the router.  In all cases, the Upload phase of the Speed Test (or even a Zoom video call) would usually not complete and would “kill” the 5GHz WiFi segment. We then tried the factory reset, changing both of the router’s 2.4GHz and 5GHz WiFi options.  We selected “802.11g/n mixed”, instead of “802.11b/g/n mixed”.  We selected a “Channel Width” of “40MHz”, instead of “Auto”.  Apparently these changes often resolve 5GHz issues, but we performed numerous Speed Test on 5GHz and would “kill” 5GHz every time.   We then tried another factory rest with no changes other than entering my TPG username/password.  This time we tried to “enable” the “Bandwidth Control” to limit the “Total Upstream Bandwidth” to 30000Kbps (down from the current default of 40958Kbps).  After this change was saved, the router was unable to get a connection to the Internet (the Green light for Internet remains off) after waiting 10+ minutes.  We rebooted the router with the Bandwidth Control settings still in place, but the router was still unable to connect to the Internet.  We tried to un-enable the Bandwidth Control option and even a router reboot was unable to get the router connected to the Internet again.  The router was effectively “dead”. Then another factory reset allowed the router to function again and connect to the Internet.    At this point, after 2 hours with no success, the TPG consultant said she would need to investigate the problem with colleagues in the coming days and we ended the call.  In the meantime, I will avoid any WiFi activity that performs uploads, to allow the router to limp along.     ... View more

On 7/12/2020, TPG gave me a replacement router having Firmware Version:1.1.0 0.9.1 v5006.0 Build 190305 Rel.72906n Hardware Version:Archer VR1600v v2 00000000  (identical to my previous router). I configured the new router exactly as posted before.  The only router settings I have modified, are the router's admin password, my TPG username/password for “pppoe_ptm_2_0_d”,  the SSID & password of both the 2.4GHz WiFi & 5GHz WiFi segments and changed the LAN DHCP IP Address Pool from starting at 192.168.1.2 to starting at 192.168.1.40 (to make room for some static IP addresses) ... all other settings are unchanged. All my 2.4GHz and 5GHz devices successfully connected to the newly setup replacement router and access the Internet.  I used my 5GHz connected laptop (1 metre away from the router) to do a Speed Test via https://speedtest.net and the results were 14ms Ping  93Mbps Download and 37Mbps Upload.  However, as with the previous router, during the Upload stage of the Speed Test, it does not fully complete and the 5GHz WiFi segment is then “dead’ ie. any devices already connected to 5GHz remain connected to the router but have no further access to the Internet and any devices turned on, that were previously accessed 5GHz, will get an error message saying their 5GHz password is incorrect.  All attempts to re-enter the correct password fail.  The only way to make 5GHz work again, is to reboot the router. So just as @DavidGC experienced, the 5GHz issue is not specific to a dud VR1600v router. I then spent 2 hours with TPG’s #1 WiFi expert and in my next post, I will document all the steps we took to unsuccessfully investigate and troubleshoot the router. ... View more

I'm a first-time TPG FTTB customer since Sept 2020, where TPG supplied the TP-Link VR1600V router, which currently has Firmware Version:1.1.0 0.9.1 v5006.0 Build 190305 Rel.72906n and Hardware Version:Archer VR1600v v2 00000000.  The FTTB plan advertises and delivers 90mbps download & 36mbps upload, which can only be achieved by devices connected to the 5Ghz WiFi segment.  The 2.4Ghz WiFi segment performance varies significantly, but achieves an average of around 14mbps download and 10mbps upload, so it is obviously best to connect devices to 5Ghz if they have the capability and sufficient WiFi strength. The supplied router has TPG-modified firmware which does not allow the router's settings to be backed-up and/or restored.  Consequently I've elected to make minimal changes to the router. The only router settings I have modified, are the router's admin password, the SSID & password of both the 2.4Ghz WiFi & 5Ghz WiFi segments and changed the LAN DHCP IP Address Pool from starting at 192.168.1.2 to starting at 192.168.1.40 (to make room for some static IP addresses) ... all other settings are unchanged. I have been reasonably happy with the WiFi range of the VR1600V.  There are no "dead spots" for 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz in my home/office. I typically have about 30 devices connected to 2.4GHz and 15 connected to 5GHz.  During the past 2 months, I was regularly "losing" the 5Ghz WiFi segment for no apparent reason.  Each time 5Ghz is "lost", all devices connected to 5Ghz continue to appear to be connected but they have no functioning Internet connection.  At the same time as the 5Ghz is "lost", the 2.4Ghz WiFi connected devices continue to access the Internet and are unaffected.  Whilst 5Ghz is "lost", I have tried everything to reconnect/reboot the affected 5Ghz devices to the router but nothing works ... when 5Ghz is "lost", the only way to recover 5Ghz WiFi, is to reboot the router via the on/off button or via the power cable.  Once rebooted, the router returns to normal for 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz until the next 5Ghz outage, which can be hours, days or up to about a week away. It was actually reassuring that this TPG Community thread documented that many other TPG customers were experiencing exactly the same 5Ghz problem with their VR1600V. I raised the issue with TPG Support on 25/11/2020 and after walking them thru my issue, they could not find a solution, so they sent a Level 2 TPG technician to my home on 27/11/2020 to investigate further. It seems to happen after a burst of uploaded data eg. during a Speed Test.  On the day of his visit, I lost 5GHz at 8:30am for no particular reason before his visit and then again happened during his 12:20pm visit soon after he performed a Speed Test, where he said “hey, we seem to have lost the 5GHz connection” ... yep !  He also suggested that there may be some nearby electrical interference “blocking” the 5Ghz WiFi segment, but the symptoms suggest that there is a hardware fault with the router.  The fault may be specific to some random routers, or perhaps there is a more widespread problem with the VR1600V router that TPG & TP-Link need to resolve.  He said TPG would contact me to give me a replacement VR1600V V2 router in the coming week. I can readily "kill" the 5Ghz WiFi segment by running one or more Speed Tests and occasionally by connecting a work laptop via 2.4Ghz to VPN.  Other 5Ghz losses have no particular reason or explanation. The TPG technician called me today, to advise that I should be able to swap my router at TPG's H/O tomorrow. I will post an update to this thread next week, to advise if the replacement router makes any difference but this thread suggests it might not.   ... View more