Internet dropping out during streaming

[William Nadeau]

My wife and I have 150 dn / 10 up cable from comcast. We just bought a Motorola SB6141 modem (an upgrade from our SB6121 because Comcast said that was the problem) and we are connected to an ASUS N66 router with merlin firmware.

Almost every time my wife streams (and not at any other time) our internet will cut out. Sometimes it will happen 7+ times, sometimes 3-4, but it always crashes her stream, and most of the time requires the modem and router to be reset multiple times before internet comes back. The modem lights never go out during this (and never did with the previous modem), which makes me think it could possible be a problem with the router.

One strange thing I noticed when it recently went out was the traffic monitor WAN. Attached is a picture showing a huge jump in DL as soon as our internet went out, which stayed there until I reset the router and plugged a new one in.

I'm assuming this is not normal. Could this also be why we somehow have 600GB download in the month of september?

 

[DeadlyDays]

How is your wireless security set on 2.4Ghz AND 5.0Ghz.

Perhaps you have someone leeching your internet. Anything not WPA2 you can assume is not secure, and anything setup with default password can be assumed not secure. I hear having WPA on can be a security risk if they bruteforce the WPA key since they cannot be changed and are fairly short, but IDK how big a problem that is.

This would be my assumption, I know a lot of users with dual band routers forget to secure both wireless networks.

 

[William Nadeau]

This is on wired connection, but we use WPA2. I have also changed the default username/password for login, and can see that there are no other wireless users on the router besides our house

 

[DeadlyDays]

So the traffic is coming across the wired connection? Because what you USE doesn't matter in the case I am saying. I am saying someone figured out how to connect to your wireless network by nefarious means and is downloading things using your internet connection. So both your 2.4Ghz network and your 5Ghz Network need to be secured by WPA2 and with non-default/easy to guess passwords. That monitor indicates you have a dual band router, so you have 2 networks being broadcast wirelessly on your router, and they are treated separately on the network. Securing one doesn't secure the other.

Your image only shows traffic across your WAN, I am wondering if you are getting traffic on the 2.4Ghz tab or the 5Ghz Tab where you aren't the one generating the traffic.

I'd confirm that first, and if we rule that out then we can continue thinking.

EDIT
Sorry, I was on a call when I was reading your reply, you are saying the traffic is coming across the Wired connection yes? and both are secured?

 

[William Nadeau]

During the screenshot there was no data on Wired, 2.4 or 5 GHz, only the WAN port. The WPA2 isn't an easy to guess password, and additionally I'm not sharing my ESSID, they're hidden. I live in a fairly rural area, and it is extremely unlikely that anyone is taking my internet, there are plenty of others around (some unsecured). Additionally, this only happens during streaming sessions, and not at any other time

 

[DeadlyDays]

Do you have any kids, other people in your house that may have torrents going in the background? And do you have active anti-virus applications on each machine?

Something is generating the traffic if you have 600GB monthly usage. You wont get that much just streaming, that is from downloading things or torrenting

 

[William Nadeau]

Just me and my wife. The 600GB isn't too far out of the ordinary, we usually average between 400-450 with netflix/hulu/etc, no torrenting, updated AV on each machine.

 

[DeadlyDays]

Try transferring a large multi GB file between the machines and see if it crashes mid transfer. Maybe it is faulty firmware, a bug in sustained high bandwidth use cases? What is the version of your firmware, you can google search the firmware and see if this is a known issue on the firmware. You could just need an update to routers firmware if that is the case.

Before that though, can you test steaming without the router in the loop to prove it is the router and not the modem/ISP. Maybe your ISP is being sneaky because of high monthly usage streaming. They tend to do that, because 600GB is higher usage than they like to see on most plans. I think most companies are ok with 250GB for lower tiered plans and 500GB on higher tiered plans.

 

[William Nadeau]

A few days ago I transferred a game from my computer to hers (20GB) and it didn't crash. The firmware is the latest stable release from merlin (http://asuswrt.lostrealm.ca/). I tested streaming without the router a few days ago, and we had the same issue, which is why Comcast suggested the modem may be the issue.

In my area, Comcast charges an additional 10 dollars for every 50GB over the 300GB limit, so we are already being charged extra money for going over our "limit"

 

[DeadlyDays]

Ok, then the router certainly isn't the issue if it was tested and not working without the router. If you swapped out the modem then the issue is on their side OR a physical defect in your physical cables leading to the modem.(they will consider some of the physical cable your property typically)

I wouldn't jump to conclusions in thinking your ISP is honest, and that they aren't dropping your connection even if you are being charged. I mean it wouldn't make sense, but that is no reason to think they aren't.

You need to continue troubleshooting with them until they solve the issue.

maybe they have something misconfigured anywhere between your modem and their provisioning system.

 

[bill001g]

Its been a while since I played with a asus merlin load, does that version have the screen that lists the open traffic. It should show you the IP and byte counts for each session. You should be able to tell what ip is being used on each end.

Be aware lots of little idiots attack streamers, if you use skype they can get your IP. That small traffic can not hurt your big connection but if they are sending certain traffic patterns it could hurt the router. This firmware version has a pretty good firewall and should stop most the common attacks against the router itself. It should be on by default but you should check.

The traffic screen is pretty obvious when it is attack....hard to describe but I promise you will know it is not normal traffic.

......went back and checked the picture. That is KBYTES not bits so you have your connection at 100% load. This smells like a DDOS. You will see traffic from huge numbers of machine. Nobody can run this from their house because nobody has 150mbit upload speeds......if they do you will see their ip and you can then report them.

You can't fix a true DDOS because it is coming from compromised machines from all over the world. As a streamer it is critical to never expose your IP. You NEVER want someone to know you skype id. You have to be very careful about any server you get into. Quality VPN service tends to be your best defense....and do not use skype even with a VPN. Skype will leak your real ip in the small amount of time it takes for a vpn to activate.

 

[William Nadeau]

We're aware of DDOS'ers against streamers, it's happened to us, we just didn't think it would happen again. No one should have our IP, but we did sign up for a VPN service, and will see if that helps the issue. Thank for you the responses