Internet drops after disconnecting from remote pptp server
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I am having some trouble setting up my pfsense box. I am using a Alix 2c3 board with 1.2-RELEASE built on Sun Feb 24 17:37:23 EST 2008 .
I am using the default install with these configuration changes. NOTHING else is changed.
- Changed IP address range
- DHCP server
- WAN IP is static
- 2 DNS Servers - no over ride of DNS servers
- Simple NAT port forward for an internal server
The internet works fine until any internal machine connects to a remote PPTP server but the issue only presents itself when they disconnect. The remote PPTP server always hands out an IP address that is different from the local address range. The PPTP server does this via DHCP. As soon as we disconnect the internet drops for all machines on the network. We get some error messages in the system logs.
Oct 27 16:20:06 kernel: vr1: link state changed to DOWN
Oct 27 16:20:09 kernel: vr1: link state changed to UP
Oct 27 16:20:10 kernel: vr1: link state changed to DOWN
Oct 27 16:20:13 kernel: vr1: link state changed to UP
Oct 27 16:20:13 check_reload_status: rc.linkup starting
Oct 27 16:20:14 php: : Processing vr1 - start
Oct 27 16:20:14 php: : Hotplug event detected for vr1 but ignoring since interface is not set for DHCP
Oct 27 16:20:14 php: : Processing start - vr1
Oct 27 16:20:14 php: : Hotplug event detected for start but ignoring since interface is not set for DHCP
Oct 27 16:20:14 php: : Processing vr1 - start
Oct 27 16:20:14 php: : Hotplug event detected for vr1 but ignoring since interface is not set for DHCP
Oct 27 16:20:15 php: : Processing start -
Oct 27 16:20:15 php: : Not a valid interface action ""
Other than the above not much else presents itself. The pfsense box fixes the internet connection about 5 minutes later.
One funny thing I have noticed is that if the person disconnecting from the PPTP server refreshes a website within a second of disconnecting, the internet connection does not drop.
I would appreciate your help as we will have to drop pfsense (having tested it for weeks) from our environment. I would be very disappointed because I really like the software.
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I have done some further investigation and configuration changes and it seems like the WAN ethernet socket crashes when there is a hotplug event. When I pull the cable and then plug it back in I am unable to access the modem and our failover reports that the WAN connection is offline. To get internet access on the WAN connection I have to reboot the pfsense box. I was thinking that the state table may have been full but it doesn't seem likely.
I have changed out all of the ethernet cables and changed ALIX boxes to a different model (500Mhz instead of 400 Mhz) which discounts any problems with the hardware. Maybe there is a bug in the driver for the ALIX 2c3 boards?
The interesting part is that is only an issue when we disconnect from a remote pptp server. Before and during the pptp connection the internet works like a charm for everyone else on the network.
I would really appreciate the help.
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Ok After further looking into this.
I have switched modems now and that means I have changed everything except the underlying software. I have even changed ADSL providers to see if that is the issue.
When disconnecting from a remote PPTP server there are issues that have presented themselves on totally different modems. These issues are not apparent when using PPPoe within the pfsense box. Both modems reboot themselves when disconnecting. The connections hang and then about 3 minutes later both connections work again.
I have used different hardware for everything and it seems like a software issue.
I would really appreciate some kind of help here. I know the devs are busy but this seems like a pretty important issue not just for me but for pfsense.