Question [WIRED] Internet disconnects every 4 hours for a second and reconnects automatically.

[n2poster]

Hello,

As the title says, I've been having issues with my internet for a few months now, the internet would cut off for like a second or something like that every 4 hours and it would reconnect automatically. It's 'long' enough so it breaks stuff like twitch player or kicks me out of some multiplayer games so I have to refresh/reconnect. The disconnect is 'gradually moving forward in time' as in: One day it will happen at 10:20AM -> 2:20PM -> 6:20PM -> 10:20PM -> 2:20AM -> 6:20AM -> and then it will move ahead a couple seconds and it'll be 10:21AM -> 2:21PM etc... Right now I'm experiencing issues at 10:26AM -> 2:26PM etc.

My specs:
Router: Huawei EchoLife EG8145V5

PC Specs:

Motherboard: Gigabyte Z590 Gaming X
PSU: Corsair RM750x 750W
RAM: Ballistix Ballistix, DDR4, 16 GB, 3600MHz, CL16
CPU: Intel Core i9-10850K + AIO SilentiumPC Navis Evo ARGB 360
GPU: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3070 Gaming OC 8GB GDDR6
SSD: ADATA XPG SX8200 PRO 1 TB M.2 2280 PCI-E x4 Gen3 NVMe
HDD: Seagate BarraCuda 2 TB 3.5" SATA III
Case: SilentiumPC Signum SG7V TG
OS: Windows 10 Home 64 bit // Version 21H (OS Build 19043.1826)

Ipconfig /all info
https://prnt.sc/NnF2i7LUZOBB

Pingplotter info
https://prnt.sc/qCZByGliKwGN
The red 'spike' is what it looks like on pingplotter whenever my internet cuts out

cmd ping 8.8.8.8 -t
https://prnt.sc/bOyV5XpC94Fd
This is how it looks like during pinging using cmd, that request timed out is when my internet drops.

More info:
How is my PC connected?
My very basic understanding of networking and such tells me:
Antenna -> Huawei EchoLife EG8145V5 Router -> My PC via cable

Are there any other devices connected?
So that Huawei EchoLife EG8145V5 Router provides also TV to 2 seperate TV decoders? via cable and there is also Wi-Fi

Does this problem appear while using Wi-Fi?
I'm unsure, I don't use Wi-Fi that much and I've never noticed anything out of ordinary, but I might be wrong, I asked friend if I could 'test this on my phone using something similar to cmd and ping 1.1.1.1/8.8.8.8 -t command' but he said it wasn't really possible?

What steps/solutions have you tried doing already?

1. Tried restarting the router and PC.
2. Using windows settings I've tried to restart the network
3. I've tried disabling the firewall to see if that changes anything
4. I've used Malwarebytes to see if maybe some virus/unwanted program causes this but found 0 viruses etc. https://prnt.sc/Li6y14hYe_rz
5. I've bought a new cable that connects my PC with the router, the issue still happens.
6. I've tried commands like "ipconfig /flush, ipconfig /release, ipconfig /renew"
7. I've read a post like this so I tried to clear ARP cache using commands arp -a arp -d
8. I've called my ISP and they said they didn't see anything out of ordinary but they went on and they restarted the network which moved that '4 hour timer' from 9:40AM -> 1:40PM etc. to 10:20AM -> 2:20PM etc.

There are things that I've probably missed, I can provide additional info if needed, just ask and as I'm not really tech savvy, if you could "ELI5/Explain like I'm 5" that would be helpful.
My drivers should be up to date, my thoughts are that maybe some program that I've used <Mod Edit> something up, I was changing lights of my AIO and GPU using that infamous "gigabyte rgb fusion" software and I've recently acquired wireless headphones HyperX Cloud 2s + HyperX Ngenuity software and for some reason that could be the issue? I don't know.

I've read some stuff about checking router lights and how do they blink and they seemed fine to me, I even recorded a low quality video of them when I was anticipating that network error so I guess I could post it if asked.

I've also used WinMTR program to ping/trace 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8 using it and at first, the very 1st hop? had between 20-40% packet loss and whenever my network error occured ( the one that happens every 4 hours ) it would seem that every hop? got affected by it. Then I did that network reset using windows settings and the very 1st hop? is no longer showing 20-40% packet loss but 0. I could probably post results of that too if asked to.

Sorry for some grammar mistakes and stuff as such, English isn't my native language and I tried to explain as best as I could what's going on so sorry for that wall of text and images. Hopefully someone knows what is the issue/cause of all of this.

 

[Colif]

Have you checked scheduled tasks? it might show you in there.
don't download anything, its just a guide - https://windowsreport.com/schedule-tasks-windows-10/
if its every 4 hours, its possible windows knows about it.

You could also try a clean boot and see if it changes anything - make sure to read instructions and make sure NOT to disable any microsoft services or windows won't load right - https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/help/929135/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows

It doesn't delete anything, it just stops non microsoft programs running at startup. easily reversed.

if clean boot fixes it, it shows its likely a startup program. You should, over a number of startups. restart the programs you stopped to isolate the one that is to blame.

 

[n2poster]

Have you checked scheduled tasks? it might show you in there.
don't download anything, its just a guide - https://windowsreport.com/schedule-tasks-windows-10/
if its every 4 hours, its possible windows knows about it.

Following your advice, I've started checking stuff and I've found 2 things that 'match' the criteria so to speak. https://prnt.sc/OJwACDleeSvj
EDIT: After inspecting MicrosoftEdgeUpdateTaskMachineUA I've found 'triggers' that really match the criteria https://prnt.sc/ToXvjr7p0Pjn
EDIT2: While they do match some of the times, my recent pingplotter error showed that the internet got disconnected at 2:25:47PM so it doesn't seem likely to be the cause?
Could any of these tasks cause issues? If so, can I disable them safely without causing additional/other problems? If yes, how exactly do I disable them?

 

[bill001g]

The best first test would be to leave a constant ping run to your router IP. This is to see if the problem is inside your house or not. If there is some issue with the pc and/or router you would see outages that happen at the same time. If you never lose ping to the router then it is more likely something on the ISP side.

Most times these very regular outages are related to DHCP timers. The one on your pc is multiple days long and is already a few days old so it likely has not been reset....especially in the last 4 hours.

The modem/router has a similar DHCP function it gets from the ISP. That one too should be fairly long. You should normally see errors in the logs in the router and/or modem if it is losing the IP address.

 

[n2poster]

The best first test would be to leave a constant ping run to your router IP. This is to see if the problem is inside your house or not. If there is some issue with the pc and/or router you would see outages that happen at the same time. If you never lose ping to the router then it is more likely something on the ISP side.

I think I've tried that and It seemed fine, the next 'scheduled restart' is in 40 minutes so I'll let you know if anything happened https://prnt.sc/YRXJ9Eo74BUC
UPDATE: https://prnt.sc/DCXh-HxR82-S and https://prnt.sc/kMSN2OsL31mN <- this is from pingplotter pinging 1.1.1.1

And I can't seem to access admin page of the router, because every time I try to type 192.168.18.1 and connect, it just gives me this error https://prnt.sc/0ohbMXSM-kGz

 

[bill001g]

That is very strange. Like a lot of huawei stuff it is hard to get documentation. What I see shows the default IP as 192.168.100.1 but you would think the gateway would be the router also. Not sure I guess it does not hurt to try 192.168.100.1 which is also the default ip for most cable modems that do not have a router function.

At some point you get desperate and consider a factory reset on the router. I would be careful though until you know why/how it got set to use 192.168.18.x. To some point it would make sense that you get strange failures if there is some issue with the router.

These devices with fiber connections many times have multiple levels of admin mode with only the ISP having the top. You might want to talk to the ISP. Normally you do the standard factory reset . Verify that the firmware is good, does not need to be patched. You will want to set as few features as you can to start with. Just change the passwords on the admin id and Wifi passwords I would leave any other setting until you are sure it is stable.

 

[n2poster]

That is very strange. Like a lot of huawei stuff it is hard to get documentation. What I see shows the default IP as 192.168.100.1 but you would think the gateway would be the router also. Not sure I guess it does not hurt to try 192.168.100.1 which is also the default ip for most cable modems that do not have a router function.

At some point you get desperate and consider a factory reset on the router. I would be careful though until you know why/how it got set to use 192.168.18.x. To some point it would make sense that you get strange failures if there is some issue with the router.

I've tried 192.168.100.1 as well but the same result occurs.
"I" did factory reset on the router by holding down the button as I was getting annoyed by these issues and I was hoping it would help solve this problem, but what happened was that I was without the internet&tv for a couple of hours until I called my ISP early in the morning in order to fix it and the '4 hour problem' still occured. When I called my ISP a week ago about this issue, they said everything looked fine on their end.

I thought about purchasing a new router, because the current one I got, this Huawei was provided by my ISP but at the same time I'm worried it might not fix the issue. I also thought about doing a 'factory reset' of my PC but I might give Colif's method a try before doing that I think

 

[bill001g]

You likely can not purchase a new router. The ones that have fiber optic connections are rather unique to the ISP.

Can the ISP get into the router. It would be strange that you can not even get into change simple things like wifi passwords.

It is not likely your pc. If there was some problem with the pc you would get ping loss to the router IP.