Actiontech router and Windows Media Center on Win8

While waiting for Verizon to solve their network problems and actually get light to the ONT, they left the actiontech router in my house, so I took sometime to get to know it.
It's definitelly something I don't want or need in my network. It's not a bad router if you didn't have a business class product from before (actually it is pretty much the best you can get short of going to hardware firewall routers in the class of Zyxel, Watchguard and some high end, business class, Dells, Ciscos and Netgears).
Well... needless to say, I am running such a router (a Watchguard XTM-26W) and have security subscriptions with them to protect my network. In addition, it offers functionality and discrete access controls otherwise impossible with consumer grade products.
Now, back to the basic subject: I noticed something ominous and wonder if anyone else has noticed it too. I run my TV service through a machine that uses a Ceton 4-HD PCI-E tuner card with a multistream cablecard. It is installed on top of Windows 8 Pro, 64 bit and I use Windows Media Center as my core TV interface (guide and all). The machine is set to go to sleep by itself if no activity (and TV it's the only thing designed and intended to do and the only thong it does) is detected on the tuner for 5 minutes. This works flawlesly and always did while on Comcast service.
Now, the problem: you put the Actiontech router in the network (regardless of whether it's before or after the firewall gateway) and the machine fails to go to sleep. The router introduces some dort of chatter in the networkk that keeps the HDD active and the computer alive in perpetuity. Did anyone notice anything similar? What is your experience with this?
Obviously, I have no intent to keep the Actiontech router in the network under such conditions. For what I know, it is illegal in fact to put out products that send unsolicited traffic through one's network. Not to mention that it is a security risk. Might Verizon re-consider their insistence on deciding what routers to support and what don't or simply drop all support for all the routers since none is ever really needed? They only have the job to deliver a public IP to my equipment and I should be left alone otherwise (according to FCC). Which they otherwise fail to do by putting a piece of equipment that is theirs in the way and mandating that I use it, since 192.168.x.x is NOT a public IP, according to Internet Council.

LeoZ wrote:
Actiontec responded to my inquiry. See below.
It turns out it's another Verizon problem...
"Honestly no idea what would cause the chatter on the network to prevent sleep\stand-by to function.
Verizon would have to review the issue and see what in the code programming would cause this."
Stop the chatter. Put your Media Center hardware behind another firewall. Like I said mine is Linux IP-COP, which constanty drops these trash packets from the single STB I have on the MOCA COAX.
All from the Verizon network router. Almost like a broadcast storm!
This is a Motorola STB, My Cisco had two real IP addresses asigned by DHCP, and they did not do this. I turned in all my STB hardware and ordered a single STB, and was sent Motorola when I had been using Cisco.
wan-1 in into my Linux box and lan-1 is out of it. Then all my harware which includes Media Center PCs are gigabit switches, not exposed to this. I guess you could use another router and not a Linux PC. This STB is going back soon.
Time
Chain
Iface
Proto
Source
Src Port
MAC Address
Destination
Dst Port
22:53:42
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:53:31
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:53:22
RED DROP
wan-1
IGMP
192.168.1.1
00:7f:28:5c:07:1b
224.0.0.1
22:53:21
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:53:11
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:53:01
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:52:51
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:52:41
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:52:31
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:52:21
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:52:11
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:52:01
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:51:51
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:51:41
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:51:31
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:51:21
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302
22:51:17
RED DROP
wan-1
IGMP
192.168.1.1
00:7f:28:5c:07:1b
224.0.0.1
22:51:11
RED DROP
wan-1
UDP
169.254.1.135
21302
00:25:f1:3d:d9:37
255.255.255.255
21302

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