Kitz Forum
Broadband Related => Broadband Hardware => Topic started by: mr-b on September 23, 2020, 09:45:38 PM
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Hi
I've just started using an unlocked HG612 to replace a new Vodafone Technicolor THG3000 router. I'm using it with pfSense (via PPPoE) which has been there a year or so. (The Vodafone router has a weird issue with occasional internet disconnections, but an even odder issue with its admin UI ceasing to work after a short period after changing its ip address, all of which made debugging it rather hard!).
Anyway frustratingly I've started experiencing pretty frequent internet disconnections (after a few minutes or an hour or so) with the HG612, but the weird thing is that the stats show xDSL sync status as being up. The internet came back up after I restarted the HG612, but the next time it only returned after I restarted pfSense as well!
So firstly I think I'm looking for proof that the HG612 is working correctly.
I've got the Ronski HG612 modem logs app running but I don't see anything much about disconnections to my untutored eye.
The HG612 UI Maintenance section has Logging which I've enabled at the Debug level, but the log looks very sparse compared to other modem logs i've seen, and no entries at the "disconnection" times.
Also under Diagnose is a Ping test which fails instantly on all ips, even when the internet connection is working fine! Other boxes tend to have Traceroute which at least shows interim hops, even if the host itself is down.
The Auto Diagnosis button always says the below irrespective of connection state, so I'm not sure how much use it is:
"DSL Status The DSL is connected.
PPPoE status Obtaining the IP address of the PPPoE failed.
Network Status Diagnosis is completed."
The pf Sense box shows the PPPoE connection as up even when the internet is down, but admittedly I'm not used to debugging pfSense as it's always "just worked" before with various other DSL modem routers, even though this is the first time I've used it with PPPoE. I've also got another pfSense interface connected directly to LAN2 on the HG612 as I've not yet got around to doing the steps to enable admin access vis the PPPoE link.
Any hints on what to look for?
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So firstly I think I'm looking for proof that the HG612 is working correctly.
Maybe use this software to monitor it all: http://dslstats.me.uk/
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If you are using the HG612 as a modem then ping and traceroute may not work as it wont necessarily have a gateway defined and is generally not advised to do so (the modem has no need for an Internet connection).
The only thing that might be useful is configuring NTP on the HG612 to get the time from pfSense (the LAN IP). NTP Server can simply be enabled from Services -> NTP, you shouldn't need to change the default configuration except to make sure Interface is the LAN interface and possibly the HG612 port, if you haven't bridged the LAN and HG612 ports into a single network.
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Maybe use this software to monitor it all: http://dslstats.me.uk/
Ah thanks! I'd seen ref to that but there was only a defunct link for it at https://kitz.co.uk/routers/hg612unlock.htm#hg612
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If you are using the HG612 as a modem then ping and traceroute may not work as it wont necessarily have a gateway defined and is generally not advised to do so (the modem has no need for an Internet connection).
The only thing that might be useful is configuring NTP on the HG612 to get the time from pfSense (the LAN IP). NTP Server can simply be enabled from Services -> NTP, you shouldn't need to change the default configuration except to make sure Interface is the LAN interface and possibly the HG612 port, if you haven't bridged the LAN and HG612 ports into a single network.
That makes sense - though I'd enabled NTP autosync on the HG612 and the time had changed in the log entries, so it had found a way out to the internet somehow. That said, the diag ping to 127.0.0.1 and local ip were the only destinations I could find to pass!
But meantime I think I've found the issue. If I disable the pfSense OPT1 interface (connected to the LAN2 port) then internet service resumes. So I guess some routing tables got updated and internet traffic was routed away from the WAN PPPoE interface .... odd that it takes such a variable amount of time for that to happen ... will have to do some more digging.