Question Internet disconnects every 3-4 days ?

[Ralston18]

Network devices: Indeed that can cause confusion.

And one of the reasons for asking about what all is connected together. And how they are all connected.

Overall: the greater the number of devices the greater the number of ways for things to go astray. Incompatible, mis-configured, failing, too far away, too weak, subject to interference....

= = = =

The modem and router (or modem/router if combined) are part of the network and serve specific functions for other connected network devices.

Other connected devices such as access points, repeaters, computers, (desktops, laptops, tablets), printers, scanners, Network Area Storage (NAS) devices, cameras, phones, TV's, Gaming consoles: all sorts of devices now using internet connectivity for various purposes. And connected both physically and wirelessly. Our car can even communicate with the dealer and our cell phones.

Then there are all sorts of adapters available to make use of existing electrical circuits and coax cables to carry network related traffic. Toss in hot spots for even more potential confusion. Some laptops may disable wireless network adapters when the presence of a connected Ethernet cable (hardwired) is detected. Other laptops may not do so.

I am not going to attempt to post all of the possibilities that are available.

There are many, many links to be found. For example:

https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/what-is-home-networking

https://stevessmarthomeguide.com/build-home-network/

Just google "All about home networks" and read as necessary. Revise the search criteria as you read and learn in order to filter and focus on any given question or concern.

Found this link to be interesting:

https://www.westchesterav.com/computer-networking

Also: when you make a configuration change the device in question often seeks some confirmation in the form of a "Save", "Yes", "Ok", "Approve", etc. button or checkbox.

Sometimes those confirmation buttons are easy to overlook especially if scrolled out of sight.

And factory resets will change all end user configuration settings to the default values. And that now holds for all sorts of devices.

For example, if you do not properly follow the procedure to change a car battery (once a very easy thing to do) then you risk possibly losing all of the configuration settings that you set up via the car's dashboard computer/menus.

 

[Ainez]

And factory resets will change all end user configuration settings to the default values. And that now holds for all sorts of devices.

For example, if you do not properly follow the procedure to change a car battery (once a very easy thing to do) then you risk possibly losing all of the configuration settings that you set up via the car's dashboard computer/menus.

Status update: The lease time has extended another 2880 minutes by itself. So, why it wasn't extending the lease time before when I factory reset it multiple times idk. Why the XPON modem setting page doesn't open anymore idk. It is most likely that the lease time expiring without extending by itself was causing the disconnect? If problem occurs and linger for sometime and doesn't get restored with attempts, and suddenly gets fixed by itself (software auto-update isn't the case) then, how can we ever know what is going on!

 

[Ralston18]

When you reset the router, the router will reconfigure itself to all of the default factory settings. The router will not remember any interim configuration changes that were made by the administrator.

None of the changes. Your chosen login name, password, network name, lease times, DHCP IP address range, static IP addresses: every end user configurable setting will go back to default values.

Some routers allow you to save configuration settings in a file of some sort and restore those settings by importing that file. Versus going through all of the various admin screens to manually reconfigure. However that restoration depends on that the current environment is the same as when the configuration was saved.

Do the following:

Connect everything up. Modem, router, your pc.

Allow the network and connected devices some time to finish handshaking and updating themselves with respect to the overall network.

Then run and post the results of:

"ipconfig /all"

"arp -a"

"tracert 8.8.8.8"

Make a list of IP addresses for each connected device. Include Device Name, IP address (DHCP or Static), and device MAC.

Include a line diagram show how everything is connected: device, cable, port.

Do not include the public IP address that your ISP assigns the modem or router.

You can discover that IP address by using a browser and google "What is my IP". You should know the IP or at least be aware of it but do not reveal that address.

FYI:

https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-a-private-ip-address-2625970#:~:text=A private IP address is,a home or business network.

What appears to be happening is that things are going in circles. Too much is changing or being changed one way or another.

Are you certain that no one else has access to your network connections and/or devices?

Every time you reset the modem and/or router the default login names and passwords are restored. Those names and passwords are easily found and commonly known.

Look in the logs; the logs (if available and enabled) may reveal something. The logs are likely being wiped when the device is reset.

 

[Ainez]

Connect everything up. Modem, router, your pc.

Allow the network and connected devices some time to finish handshaking and updating themselves with respect to the overall network.

Then run and post the results of:

"ipconfig /all"

"arp -a"

"tracert 8.8.8.8"

Make a list of IP addresses for each connected device. Include Device Name, IP address (DHCP or Static), and device MAC.

Include a line diagram show how everything is connected: device, cable, port.

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Natozi
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Ethernet:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) Ethernet Connection (12) I219-V
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . :
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . .
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . :192.168.0.100(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, June 24, 2022 5:39:17 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, June 26, 2022 27:95:65 PM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : -----------
DHCPv6 Client DUID ---------
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 8.8.8.8
8.8.4.4
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

arp -a

Interface: 192.168.0.100 --- 0x7

192.168.0.1------------------physical address----------------type
192.168.0.255--------------**---------------------dynamic
224.0.0.22-------------------ff-ff-ff-ff-ff-ff-ff-----------------static
224.0.0.254-----------------_------------------static
224.0.0.255-----------------_------------------static
239.255.255.251----------_------------------static
255.255.255.255----------ff-ff-ff-ff-ff-ff---------------------static

tracert 8.8.8.8

Tracing route to dns.google [8.8.8.8]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms-------192.168.0.1
2 3 ms 1 ms <1 ms---------118.0.0.0
3 6 ms 4 ms 3 ms----------10.0.0.0
4 6 ms 4 ms 3 ms----------xe-1-3-0.dhakacom.com [202.0.0.0]
5 6 ms 3 ms 3 ms----------xe-1-3-0.dhakacom.com[202.0.0.0]
6 6 ms 4 ms 3 ms----------GI0-2-2-aggr01-**[103.0.0.0]
7 6 ms 4 ms 3ms----------103.0.0.0
8 38 ms 39 ms 38 ms------74.0.0.0
9 38 ms 37 ms 37 ms------ 209.0.0.0
10 38 ms 37 ms 37 ms---- 74.0.0.0
11 38 ms 37 ms 37 ms dns.google [8.8.8.8]

Make a list of IP addresses for each connected device. Include Device Name, IP address (DHCP or Static), and device MAC.

Include a line diagram show how everything is connected: device, cable, port.

ISP Fiber Cable -- > XPON modem -- > TP-Link Router -- > Ethernet cable -- > PC

ISP Modem IP : I think the Interface: 192.168.0.100 is for XPON modem
Router IP Address - 192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
ipv4 - 192.168.0.1

The ISP agent told me that this fiber cable connection was given to another person, and they just given it to me. FYI, when I had gotten access to XPON modem settings page, there were 3 other device address listed along side with my PC name and router. I red listed them, but accidentally just deleted one of them. The other two will certainly not get access for they are bloody red listed now! Maybe they were earlier user of this connection.

Pls let me know if any info I missed to give out.

 

[Ralston18]

Host Natozi is DHCP and obtaining a DHCP IP address via 192.168.0.1 and being assigned 192.168.0.100

There appears to be an error in the Lease Expires time. Are you retyping "ipconfig /all" or copying and pasting?

Tracert showing 192.168.0.1 as the first hop which should be the router.

Look at the modem and router MACs to determine which device is which. The MAC's should be shown on the labeling.

Hop 2 = 118.0.0.0 ?
Hop 3 = 10.0.0.0 ?

I do not understand those IP addresses. Especially Hop 2.

Also: "FYI, when I had gotten access to XPON modem settings page, there were 3 other device address listed along side with my PC name and router. :

If you factory reset the XPON modem I believe that all of that should have been deleted/cleared. However, the modem's default IP address then becomes 192.168.0.1 based on the manual. And DHCP is enabled.

On modem: do a factory reset, verify that the modem is at 192.168.0.1 and that DHCP is disabled, Is the router also 192.168.0.1 or something else?

 

[Ainez]

Host Natozi is DHCP and obtaining a DHCP IP address via 192.168.0.1 and being assigned 192.168.0.100

There appears to be an error in the Lease Expires time. Are you retyping "ipconfig /all" or copying and pasting?

Tracert showing 192.168.0.1 as the first hop which should be the router.

Look at the modem and router MACs to determine which device is which. The MAC's should be shown on the labeling.

Hop 2 = 118.0.0.0 ?
Hop 3 = 10.0.0.0 ?

I do not understand those IP addresses. Especially Hop 2.

Also: "FYI, when I had gotten access to XPON modem settings page, there were 3 other device address listed along side with my PC name and router. :

If you factory reset the XPON modem I believe that all of that should have been deleted/cleared. However, the modem's default IP address then becomes 192.168.0.1 based on the manual. And DHCP is enabled.

On modem: do a factory reset, verify that the modem is at 192.168.0.1 and that DHCP is disabled, Is the router also 192.168.0.1 or something else?

So the router should be the first hop? Supposed to be?
Never mind the Lease expire timings on the last post, I deliberately disarranged the 'time-reality' there.

At tracing rout, from 3rd to 10th entry, kept the first number of the IP addresses original, and changed the rest of it.
E.g. in Hop 2 & 3 = respectively 118 & 10 is correct but the rest aren't 0s, I altered them, as I don't know if they were crucial to ID security. I'd repost them if they do not pose a risk.
However, Hop 2 looks nearly identical to my IP address, so I'll leave it unspecified. And hop 3 is private address, so kept it undefined.
I think, should have given the full form of the 103, 74 & 209, because they are location identifier? Then, they aren't important anyway.

Modem XPON: I didn't, couldn't factory reset the XPON modem, as still cannot get access to its settings page. So resetting might not only erase the addresses that requires to be manually placed there, also causes a risk to not to be able to get access at all.

The router is 192.168.0.1 currently as default gateway, and DHCP server is also 192.168.0.1. Btw, this time the DHCP is kept enabled in the router.

 

[bill001g]

So I am late to this tread and hopefully do not recommend something you have already tried.

So I will assume from your tracert that you get a public IP on your tplink router wan port and the xpon modem is completely transparent in things like tracert.

Now it could be a physical type of failure and only the modem is going to show you that.

You have 2 different DHCP settings one for the wan port and the other for the lan. The ones on the wan port tend to be completely within the ISP control. To eliminate the internal one just set your pc to some fixed IP like say 192.168.0.200. You are not using dhcp on the lan side so you should quickly see if that is the issue.

The wan part you unfortunately can't do anything about. You might see log messages in the router. What is suppose to happen at 1/2 the lease time the router will ask the ISP if it can keep using the ip address. It is unlikely the ISP device will say no but if it does you will see a drop and the router will ask for a new IP from the ISP. Most times the ISP agrees and the timer is reset to the full amount. If you get no response from the ISP the router will generally wait 1/2 the remaining time and ask again. After a couple time of doing this the time will run out and the router will drop the IP and ask for a new one.

It is not likely there is a bug in the dhcp function. You could check for better firmware for the router but the method to do this is fairly well known and has been for many years so you seldom see bugs.

 

[Ainez]

So I am late to this tread and hopefully do not recommend something you have already tried.

So I will assume from your tracert that you get a public IP on your tplink router wan port and the xpon modem is completely transparent in things like tracert.

Now it could be a physical type of failure and only the modem is going to show you that.

You have 2 different DHCP settings one for the wan port and the other for the lan. The ones on the wan port tend to be completely within the ISP control. To eliminate the internal one just set your pc to some fixed IP like say 192.168.0.200. You are not using dhcp on the lan side so you should quickly see if that is the issue.

The wan part you unfortunately can't do anything about. You might see log messages in the router. What is suppose to happen at 1/2 the lease time the router will ask the ISP if it can keep using the ip address. It is unlikely the ISP device will say no but if it does you will see a drop and the router will ask for a new IP from the ISP. Most times the ISP agrees and the timer is reset to the full amount. If you get no response from the ISP the router will generally wait 1/2 the remaining time and ask again. After a couple time of doing this the time will run out and the router will drop the IP and ask for a new one.

It is not likely there is a bug in the dhcp function. You could check for better firmware for the router but the method to do this is fairly well known and has been for many years so you seldom see bugs.

Public IP on tplink router WAN port, yes. XPON transparency wouldn't be a problem hope.

Should I inform the ISP operators about the lease-timer settings on their side if they need to change anything.

 

[bill001g]

The lease time doesn't really matter if it works correctly.

It should always just reset to full at 1/2 the time. In general they set it for a couple days or so, something like a coffee shop that had massive numbers of devices coming and going from their network might set it to a couple hours.

In general it is unlikely that multiple renew messages get lost. You should see general data loss of all types of traffic if it gets bad enough to prevent dhcp renew.

The ISP will not change the lease time it is the same for all the customers on the segment.

You need to find a way to determine if this really is the problem. You could hook your pc directly to the modem if you are willing to test for that long. The logs in a pc tend to be much better and you could also capture the dhcp messages with wireshark if you really wanted.
I would dig around the router and see if it has a log or if there is some log you can turn on. Most would show if they are having a DHCP issue.

 

[Ainez]

You need to find a way to determine if this really is the problem. You could hook your pc directly to the modem if you are willing to test for that long. The logs in a pc tend to be much better and you could also capture the dhcp messages with wireshark if you really wanted.
I would dig around the router and see if it has a log or if there is some log you can turn on. Most would show if they are having a DHCP issue.

Cut out the IP addresses etc. Here is the router system log -


I'll be seeking info on wireshark capture related stuff if remain alive tomorrow.

 

[bill001g]

So I have forgotten most the stuff I know about ppp. You want connection does not use DHCP to get the IP it will get it as part of the PPP protocol.
What is strange is the time stamps on the ppp messages. Generally this only happens when the router reboots and has not gotten the time from the internet. If the connection to the internet would drop it should still have the time correct and then just log the messages about the ppp connection.

Could your router be failing or rebooting.

 

[Ainez]

Could your router be failing or rebooting.

It never rebooted itself, at least i didn't see it happening. After a while, internet goes offline, and the router becomes inaccessible, most likely after lease time expiration, and then even the 192.168.0.1 didn't work, and had to hard reset multiple times. It kept happening, then suddenly it has stopped, router is working normally, and idk how or what fixed it.

 

[bill001g]

If you really think it is the DHCP lease time on the lan put a fixed IP on your pc in the ipv4 settings. Put in something like 192.168.0.200 and put in 192.168.0.1 for the gateway with a mask of 255.255.255.0. You can set then dns to 8.8.8.8

At this point you could disable the dhcp function in the router and you can still get to it.

If you can not gain access to the router when you have a fixed IP in your pc then it is likely the router is crashing or having some other issue. You could check for a firmware upgrade but most issues like this are a hardware failure.

 

[Ainez]

If you really think it is the DHCP lease time on the lan put a fixed IP on your pc in the ipv4 settings. Put in something like 192.168.0.200 and put in 192.168.0.1 for the gateway with a mask of 255.255.255.0. You can set then dns to 8.8.8.8

At this point you could disable the dhcp function in the router and you can still get to it.

If you can not gain access to the router when you have a fixed IP in your pc then it is likely the router is crashing or having some other issue. You could check for a firmware upgrade but most issues like this are a hardware failure.

Changing IPv4 address from ethernet property on PC gives error and disconnects. There's a IP address & mask in the router LAN settings, that is changeable. Didn't try though.
Recently did a router upgrade.

Is the router log sufficient or do you want me to get Wireshark logs also.

 

[bill001g]

Maybe try to find a youtube video on how to change the IP on your pc or maybe look for one that shows how to set it to a fixed/static address.

Wireshark is going to be to complex for you to figure out if you can't get a simple fixed IP on the pc to work.

You would only use wireshark if the fixed IP works fine and you still wanted to find out why maybe dhcp was having issues.

 

[Ralston18]

@Ainez

Regarding IP addresses and Macs with respect to security:

https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-a-private-ip-address-2625970#:~:text=A private IP address is,a home or business network

https://www.howtogeek.com/764868/what-is-a-mac-address-and-how-does-it-work/

https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/difference-between-mac-address-and-ip-address/

Fair enough that you may not want to share any of that information anyway but do remember that redacting it or otherwise altering it (such as you did with the lease time and the tracert results) provides false clues and misinformation.

The first objective is to get your network (modem ---> router ---> pc) and internet connectivity working as has been suggested in the preceding post and other related posts.

Document the working configuration for reference purposes.

Once connectivity is working. then the second objective is to take a close look at the existing security settings and strengthen those protections as necessary and possible.

One step at a time.