couple weeks ago my fios set top boxed started rebooting constantly we replaced the boxes still same thing
then tech came out replaced router worked for about two days then starting happening again
so tech came back out this time we unplugged everything i have from the switch everything came up fine boxes work internet works so then we starting plug each device one at time and giving them each a few minutes to see if the boxes started rebooting and everything stayed working right up till we plugged in the mi casa verde light box as soon as we plugged it in and it fully booted 2 minutes later the fios setop boxes started rebooting again.
Rich, owners of Onkyo equipment have also run across this problem. They have come up with workarounds (not really solutions). Search the forum for Onkyo and you should find those discussions.
@rich0129, @futzle was referring to the impact that Vera’s automated Network probes have on Onkyo devices, and that it might assist you in understanding potential work-arounds for what you’re seeing with your STB.
If you do a search of the entire forum (see links in my footer) on keywords like “Onkyo” you’ll find these fairly quickly.
That said, no STB should reboot as a result of these polls.
This is the important detail that keeps getting lost.
Sure, it seems that the Vera is the cause of these issues. But, no network device should lockup or restart because it receives an unexpected network packet. If it does lockup or reboot, it is a poorly designed PoS software/firmware.
Sadly, since the FiOS install base exceeds the Vera install base, Vera will be blamed and the FiOS product won’t be fixed, unless we can shame Cisco.
4 FIOS STB’s here, over a year with MiCasa… never ever had a STB reboot… I even use Vera to power down (outlets to) all my STB’s when I’m not home, and power them back up when I return…
Vera is also located right on top of the FIOS router, and never had a glitch thee either…
I don’t see how VERA could possibly be related to STB reboot.
I wish I had discovered this thread sooner. After 6 months of MiCasaVerde and Fios working fine, my 4 Fios boxes started randomly and endlessly rebooting. After several calls with Verizon and lots of troubleshooting, I traced it back to the ethernet network (vs MCoa) and pulled devices until I found the micasaverde as the culprit. Came here and found this thread.
Will look into the Onkyo issues referenced above. I also understand devices should be able to handle it, but how about adding the ability to put an exclusion list of ips to avoid polling them?
I had 5 Cisco FIOS STBs. After a few days of newly adding my Micasa Verde to my home network, they all started continuously rebooting. FIOS repair guy replaced my ONT, replaced several STBs. Still 3 kept continuously rebooting. I unplugged my Micasa Verde’s power, and 10 minutes later, all STBs were working fine! I agree with Dr99, having a range of IP addresses that the Verde will not poll makes perfect sense, and would easily solve the problem. Seems easy to implement in software as well.
Did you indicate the cause and solution to FiOS support. In my opinion, the solution to the problem is for Cisco to fix their crap. They will never fix it unless FiOS pushes the matter upstream. ‘Hey Cisco, our truck rolls and repair costs are way too high because of this bug. Fix it or we go back to ActionTec.’ Of course, Cisco will probably just buy ActionTec and tell Verizon to go ahead…
I did briefly explain it over the phone, and am sitting waiting for the technician to return to re-connect my phone line. When he returns, I’ll describe the problem to the best of my understanding. I believe FIOS just did a Cisco STB software update two nights ago in my area, and its the new software that has the issue, as the old software seemed to work fine for the first 5 days I had my Micasa verde lite.
Let’s be realistic…assuming the issue is action on the Verizon side, the number of FiOS customers with a Vera is a fraction of a fraction. Why would they spend development time on something that touches such a small footprint? I sure as hell wouldn’t. I’ve also had hundreds of devices on my network over the years and none have ever fought with the boxes before like the Vera does. The debate can continue on, but if the Vera team wants everyday non-technical users (that they clearly aim for based on their sales propaganda) they need to make a very user friendly way of avoiding the problem. Connecting in as root to change firewall rules is not something the average person is going to do. They also aren’t going to give a $hit who’s the source of the problem, they’ll just return the box.
My reality says that bugs in Cisco set top boxes cause those same set top boxes to go into reboot loops, and become non-functional, when they receive certain types of network traffic.
Vera continues to function fine. Everything else on the network continues to function fine. Only Cisco set top boxes(FiOS) are impacted. Let the service trucks roll.
I haven’t proven anything yet, but just to followup on my post where I said that the problem was most likely with the new Cisco software version, I wanted to add that based on my experiences, it could also be a problem with both Cisco software versions during a reboot cycle. Before I had continuously rebooting STBs, I had never rebooted one of my STBs since having the Micasa Verde lite. So, the problem isn’t necessarily just with the latest Cisco software update. It could also be older versions of the software as well that only experience the problem on startup. When I get some free time, I’m going to plug my Micasa Verde Lite back in and see if my STBs just start rebooting. If they don’t, then it’s likely just a restart problem (i.e., the STB can’t restart on a subnet that has a Micasa Verde Lite on it).
I’ll try to remember to post back when I know more.
Any updates on this issue. My Veralite was working fine for 2 months with Fios, then all of a sudden the set top boxes started rebooting over and over again. Tech said it was the Veralite causing the problems. Any work arounds for this FIOS issue?
It would definitely be great to have a conclusive and long term solution to this issue. It’s certain combination of Vera and Verizon FIOS boxes in one network leads to rebooting at least during 1) initial setup (activation, network tests) and 2) initial download that happens after a power cycle even on activated FIOS setup boxes. After trying 2 separate DVRs myself and a >5 hr troubleshooting experience with in-home tech without a solution (trying 2 other cable boxes, replacing everything in my home cabling, router, ONT), finally saw this thread, turned off Vera 3 to see the setup complete without any issues.
My non-proven hypothesis (or at least hope at this stage) is that this is only an initial setup / initial download issue vs. random rebooting that might happen with broken DVRs (e.g. due to hard drive issues). The reason I suggest this is because the HD cable box I already had continued to work just fine with no reboots after adding Vera to my network (~ 1 month ago). I realized the rebooting issue only after deciding to also get a FIOS DVR (instead of using Windows Media Center HTPC with cable card) and the DVR setup simply did not finish due to constant reboots. The existing HD box that was working just fine also started showing same behavior after I unplugged it during troubleshooting the DVR and plugged back in. If a power cycle triggers the constant reboot cycle, a power outage could be the perfect culprit for Alboston, your issue reappearing again on all setup boxes after ~2 months of everything working fine, without invalidating my theory that this is only an initial setup / download issue.
Having now completed the setup successfully after turning off Vera 3, I turned the Vera back on. I am hoping my DVR keeps keeps working without reboots like the regular HD box I already had and was working fine before I unplugged it. I have an uninterrupted power supply on the DVR which hopefully also reduces the chances I have this box do a power cycle and go into constant reboot cycle. We’ll see. I will post if I start seeing random reboots that disprove my hypotheses.
In parallel, based on something I read in an Onkyo related forum, I did do one change in my Vera UI5 Net and Wifi setting. I disabled Auto detect devices on my home network for now. Not sure if it really is going to help with anything, but documenting in case my experience later differs with others that have that checked. Also, won’t mind someone more experienced with Vera flagging if that’s a useless / silly step so I don’t end up misguiding others. (I got to admit, I did not read the Onkyo threads that carefully after my Verizon boxes started working just fine).
PS: By the way, thank you guys for this thread! I had literally gone nuts over the last week trying to add the FIOS DVR with no luck. This brings closure and a solution (at least to have the setup complete)! I should have done my trusted internet search trouble shooting that I do for computer stuff / automation vs. relying on Verizon support!
I gave up for now. I tried vera tech support and they seem to think they can fix it when the problem occurs. The issue is when it happens, it knocks out the fios router and cable boxes. So vera support wouldn’t be able to even remotely see the issue because the internet is down. Wish there was an easy fix. I have had vera working perfectly on a comcast router for years. Very frustrating.
I have Bright House and not Verizon. But the cable box they supplied me with is also is a Cisco unit. For shits and giggles I just hooked it’s wired port up to my network via a Buffalo Airport AP. Poof! Within 10 minutes, it rebooted out of the blue. The box has been working fine for close to 3 years without any mystery reboots.
I’m wondering if whatever probes Vera sends out is the same kind of probe Bright House sends out in order to reboot/reset the box remotely. But they use the coax rather than the network port.
I doubt that they are using a “magic packet” to purposely initiate reboots. Reboot commands usually require authentication, as they always should. “Magic packet” reboots are Denial of Service attack vectors.
My thought, with 90% confidence, is that there is a bug in the Cisco firmware that causes a reboot when it receives a UPnP(multicast?) packet from Vera. Bad packet… I’m confused… barf… reset.
This should never happen. A network device should discard/ignore bad packets and continue normally. But, bugs happen and I’ve seen lots of network devices puke from bad packets. the Fix is to remove the bug from the firmware and that’s up to Cisco.
The workaround is to filter UPnP multicast packets from Vera to the broken network device. This can be done by either firewalling(egress on Vera or ingress on FiOS) or by disabling Vera’s UPnP discovery.