Arris BGW210-700 Software/Firmware update

I would do the factory reset.  

Note there aren’t any new gateways, just recycled ones.  

Thanks @gr8sho !

Note: I already did the factory reset, and it didn't update the firmware. Hence my question: is it possible that 2.17.5 is the latest firmware version for xDSL, while 3.20.x is the latest for Cable or Fiber? Is there somewhere to look this up?

update: the modem updated itself several times over the course of a week. when updating firmware, it rebooted around 2 am in the morning. it is now at version 3.20.5. It also reboots itself for reasons other than firmware upgrades, sometimes during normal hours (e.g. at 6:45 am)

Yes, that's the way it works; it will go through multiple upgrade cycles over a period of several days.

There appears to be a firmware bug in 3.20.5 that causes excess reboots.  The operating theory among the user class is that turning off IPv6 may prevent the reboots.  It's worth a try, unless you need IPv6.  If you try it, or if you get upgraded further (there has been a 4.xx sighting in the wild), let us know how the reboot situation is going.

Thanks for this update @JefferMC !

My saga continues: over several days, as you predicted, the router upgraded via 3.18.5 to 3.20.5. This morning at 8 am PST we lost internet, and after several re-boots, the router was at 4.21.5. To my despair, the internet connection is now MUCH slower. Where I used to get 70ms pings I now get anywhere between 70ms and half a second!!

Our internet connection was stable for years until this modem came into the picture. I am starting to wonder if I should fall back on the old DSL line with the Netgear DSL modem that I own...

Where I used to get 70ms pings I now get anywhere between 70ms and half a second!!

Pings to where?

I think you're saying you have copper VDSL2 or ADSL2+ service?  If so:

1) What's your purchased service level? and

2) Go to http://192.168.1.254 , click on the Broadband Tab, and take a screenshot of the statistics table that includes the Sync Rates, Noise Margin, Attenuation and error counts.  Upload that in a reply.

Well, now that you’re on version 4, I’d do one final factory reset and see if that clears things up.  

Also good idea to confirm you have acceptable line quality to gateway.  You can do that through myAtt app or on the phone with a support person.  Copper connection can need attention every now and again.  

@JefferMC and @gr8sho thank you for your support, I really appreciate it. After two weeks of poor performance, I decided to do a reset and reconfigure my LAN - and in doing so I realized I had a bad configuration in the first place - I had configured the AT&T router for IP passthrough and later changed my wifi router to access point mode without turning off the IP passthrough. That must have majorly messed up my LAN. I am surprised it worked at all.

Anyways I did a factory reset on the BGW200-700 and my other two wifi routers, and set it all up from scratch, with the two wifi routers in AP mode. Everything seems to work now without glitches, and the speed is fast. I am monitoring my VOIP line (which was constantly dropping) and if all is good in a few days I will report back here and close this thread.

One more observation/question: looking at the firewall logs I see there are hundreds, maybe thousands of scans/DDoS attacks a day. This is normal I guess? I never had a reason to look at the logs, and don't have anything to compare. Impressive the AT&T router actually records that activity.

The internet is full of bots looking for some place to attack that they should not be.  I'm less than sanguine about the Gateway's definition of what should constitute a "DoS attack," as I think it is over zealous on that front.  

Thanks for coming back and sharing.