pfSense not connecting to charter (spectrum) internet modem, calmed not docsis 3.1 compatible.
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@pwrobot
Your ISP may have 'bonded' the MAC address from your old router to your account. Try changing the WAN MAC address on your pfSense box to match your old router and see if that does the trick. -
To confirm, after attaching a new device I always power cycle the modem and wait for the online light to turn on before restarting the router or other devices.
On my phonecalls with them I have asked about Mac latching and they claim they don't because this is a home survive not a business account. In the past I have been able to swap routers on the fly as long as I restart the modem and we connect without any issues.
I am trying to get a service technician out to look at the modem since in the past when we got it working stable for over a month they tried a new modem and that fixed it. At that time, they still thought it was a router issue, and since it was not name brand they were not willing to work with me to figure it out. Hence why I am here now.
Thanks again to all trying to help! -
our router is probably not docsis 3.1 compatible and will no longer work.
Excuse me while I clean the coffee I just tried to drink out of my keyboard..
Spectrum rented modems are generally junk! What model do you have?
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@pwrobot said in pfSense not connecting to charter (spectrum) internet modem, calmed not docsis 3.1 compatible.:
PFSense box info
pc engines pc: apu4c4 (4Gb ram, AMD GX-412TC CPU)
PFsense community edition version 2.4.4-release-p3Any reason you're still on 2.4.4p3?
It should still work fine for this but there have many, many bugs fixed since then.Steve
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@chpalmer @stephenw10
Our modem is a hitron technologies EN2251
The only reason I have not updated was because I was not having any issues with our setup until now. I will investigate how to upgrade the system without having to do a fresh install since that was a pain the first time to get things to work right.
I had spectrum come out, they did not find anything wrong at the time they were here, but I was able to convince them to replace the modem. It took them over a half hour to get the modem captured and configured but it immediately hooked up to the pfsense box and we had internet again.
I hope this fix holds but I am assuming that there might be something else going on too. -
@pwrobot security devices are not washing machines. As long as it washes is ok
They are more like abs or brakes in a car.
Not needed until you need to stop in an emergency.
Consider upgrading to latest at your earliest convenience.
Now that it works ok make a note of the wan setting and keep them for reference.
You could also capture initial negotiation in Wireshark and keep it for reference.( this does have a steep learning curve though) -
Installing clean on an APU should not be difficult. You can restore your existing config into it afterwards.
Steve
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Update, spectrum came and got our internet working. About 5 hours after they left out internet went back out again.
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@pwrobot What did they do to "fix" it for 5hours?
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@netblues
They checked the lines, everything had an extremely strong signal since we have a direct dedicated tap off the main line. They decided to replace the modem after multiple restarting attempts of modem and router. The new moden they installed would not latch onto there network; eventually they remade the account, like it was a new service since they could not get the new modem to latch onto our account, and it connected a few minutes later.
After it went out I reached out to a contact the tech gave me but have not heard back from them. In an attempt to get some sort of internet, I tried the recommendation of applying the information for a working computer (MAC, IPv4 address, IPv4 gateway...) to the router, but this solution would not last for long. Sometimes we get a hour sometimes half a day then we would have to copy a new computers information over since the old computer would be blocked like the router previously from getting new information from there system. please help, I am running out of network interfaces I can use to get addresses from.
BTW, static address settings and MAC spoofing is against charter spectrums residential usage policies, and could be the issue why my solution does not last long; since everything is statically set and there system is probably noticing. -
@pwrobot
What you are facing isnt pfsense related.
once a mac address is changed there is no other way to distinguish a network device at the ethernet level.The fact that they had to resort into account deletion to make it "work" is indicative.
Apart from the docsys modem, do they supply a router? Does this work always?
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I know this is going to sound weird. I too have Spectrum internet, with one of those Hitron modems. It has a 2.5gig ethernet port. With two different PFSense boxes (a Qotom mini pc and a miniITX build with a 4 port Intel ethernet card) it would continuously drop and renegotiate the speed and duplex of the port. I could just sit there and watch the link lights go out for like 8 seconds, then blink a bit, then go out again. Eventually, the computer side would 'link up' at 100 half, which of course would not work at all as the Hitron was at either gig or 2.5gig and my service is 400 down anyway so why would I want to link at 100 half. I ended up putting a small switch between the modem and my Qotom and have had no issues since. If I had a way to log into that dang modem I would try to manually set it to gigabit but they don't provide login info. So I would suggest that when it is down, take a look at the link lights.
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@netblues
We have never been offered a router from them. In my initial conversation with tech support where they claimed that our router must be docsis 3.1 compatible they tried to get me to buy a new netgear or Cisco router that is listed as compatible. I know some people who have set up a new accounts recently with them and they did not provide a router but only a modem.
That was exactly my thought with everything that was going on that there was something wrong with there system not our router. -
@tzvia
The lights on the modem are quite were compared to the initial unit we had that was acting quite weird. The original modem before they replaced it most recently, had bright light's for power, online, voice, and battery. All lights would be on normally, but if I were watching the modem when our internet would go out the online light would go out briefly then return on and we would have no internet. The new modem (same model) has all the same lights but the power and online lights are only faintly on, like they are glowing due to other light sources but the functionality still works. It seems like when we lose internet the light on the online will dimm briefly then return like the other unit. -
@pwrobot There is no such think as docsys compliant at the router level.
And Netgear is plain vanilla routers too.
So, this switch idea might do the trick.
I would go with a managed 5 port little box.
netgear, or dlink web smart is fine.
About $30-$40 tops.
Via web management you should put the docsys facing port to gigabit full duplex and connect pf box to any other, left at auto negotiation.Now, as far as online led is concerned, it could mean many things.
Does it light up with nothing else connected on dicsys modem, just poweiring it up and wait for a few minutes? -
@pwrobot said in pfSense not connecting to charter (spectrum) internet modem, calmed not docsis 3.1 compatible.:
they tried to get me to buy a new netgear or Cisco router that is listed as compatible
They clearly don't understand the difference between the cable side of modem and the Ethernet side. DOCSIS is strictly between the modem and CMTS at the head end. It is not used anywhere else. You should be able to plug any computer into that modem and expect it to work. If they claim otherwise, I repeat, they are full of it.
PfSense running on Qotom mini PC
i5 CPU, 4 GB memory, 32 GB SSD & 4 Intel Gb Ethernet ports.
UniFi AC-Lite access pointI haven't lost my mind. It's around here...somewhere...
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@netblues said in pfSense not connecting to charter (spectrum) internet modem, calmed not docsis 3.1 compatible.:
I would go with a managed 5 port little box.
One nice thing about that is you can configure it as a data tap, which can be used to monitor the connection with Wireshark.
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@netblues I agree that the midline switch may solve some of the issues.
I ended up getting in contact with some more people higher up in the technical support chain. I explained to them about what we have all been talking about and some solutions we wanted to try. While I was on the phone they noticed a lot on splatter noise on our signal at the time of the phone call and a few times over the weekend too. Unfortunately, the tech I was speaking to could not change the settings I was asking to look into (2.5G nic speed possibly set to max of 10/100/1000 duplex....) but wanted to send a tech out to get a look at the line from our tap to the main junction box on the fiber lines. They were hoping it was an intermittent issue in the main line that keeps knocking us out.
They are scheduled tomorrow 2/22/2022 from 5 to 6PM EST to evaluate the lines that the standard technician was not allowed to evaluate. I will keep you posted of there findings and if our internet can operate like a standard network(no static information set). -
They clearly don't understand the difference between the cable side of modem and the Ethernet side.
Ive actually worked with only a couple cable guys that actually understand how a cable internet plant works.. Had one tell me that the modem does not transmit anything back at the node..
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WOW! At least I have worked in an cable head end. I find I tend to know more about some of the things than the "support" people do. Then again, half a century of experience in telecom, computers and networks may contribute to that. When I had a problem with IPv6 about 3 years ago, I found I had to teach even 2nd level support and a senior tech the finer points about it.
BTW, I used to do 3rd level support at IBM.
