WAN periodically Rebooting,.. Take Two
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Re: WAN periodically Rebooting
Just to continue my sad,. ( some might say laborious ) story..
[ its been a while since my last post,.. but some life etc problems have got in the way,.. so here are current ongoing actions ]
I am still getting periodic reboots,.. I have tried running:-
with the Draytek on pure modem mode, using pfsense to handle the connection and security etc,... This was no better,.. than any other config so far,.. still dropping connection etc, with a 50+/10MBps up/download speed,...
After some consideration,.. and conflict,.. 'I bit the bullet',.. and configured the Draytek,.. and the router/firewall everything,.. reconfigured all my bindings,.. so the network still worked,....
And Yes the configure worked for a while,. ( few days ),.. but then got into the reconnecting cycle,.. after nearly a week I grew tired on the Draytek,.. as it was not very good and reconnecting,.. or sometimes recognising there was no IP connectinon to the WAN,... ( requiring a physical reboot ),.. so reverted back to pfsense with the old modem,.. as it at least recognised there was no WAN connection,.. and quickly re-established a good connection.
Speeds whilst on Draytek was still only achieving 50+/10MBps,.. even though the DSL status showed 80/28MBps up/down,.. but they are just dreamy speeds to me ATM,...
As it stands I think I will have to go back to BT,.. and ask for another visit , even though on their last visit they said all was OK,.. and within spec.
Unless anyone else has some ideas,... but I am running low on the inspiration front now..
I may even look at fibre (FTTP) as an option,.. so I can then dispense with the current BT h/w in the exchange,..
Any thoughts welcome.... -
@diyhouse said in WAN periodically Rebooting,.. Take Two:
And Yes the configure worked for a while,. ( few days ),.. but then got into the reconnecting cycle,.. after nearly a week I grew tired on the Draytek,.. as it was not very good and reconnecting,.. or sometimes recognising there was no IP connection to the WAN,... ( requiring a physical reboot ),
Be ware : if your upstream ( Draytek, whatever) router / modem / whatever can't establish a connection over whatever you use as an ISP connection, then pfSense, or any other device you've hookup up behind this Draytec (or other) can't do any better.
You didn't mention, so I'll do : when you activate your Draytek in router mode, what is network IP range of it's LAN ?
If its 192.168.1.x/24, your pfSense WAN using the good old DHCP will obtain a 192.168.1.y/24 IP.
This means you can not use 192.168.1.1/24 on the pfSense LAN !
Two options :
Change the pfSense LAN settings, like for example 192.168.2.1/24 - and the check pfSense DHCP LAN server side also (open the page, and hit Save).
Or
Change the Draytek LAN settings to use, for example, dono : 192.168.10.1/24 - so now the pfSense WAN IP will be 192.168.10.z/24 and you can keep the pfSense LAN default settings.@diyhouse said in WAN periodically Rebooting,.. Take Two:
I may even look at fibre (FTTP) as an option
Fiber can't be an option.
Normally, its fiber, and the rest is "optional". -
@Gertjan
Sorry,.. for my lack of clarity,.. when I transferred to the Draytek router config,.. PfSense was ( out of the picture,.. ie not connected ),.. I dutifully created the Draytek with the same ip as PfSense,.. ( PfSense not connected , so no conflict ) and created everything else as per my PfSense config,.. ( yes a real pain for the Binds I had in PfSense )...
The crucial thing here is as per previous correspondence is the Draytek is no better at maintaining an internet connection than Pfsense is,.. ( in fact its probably worse, as it does not reconnect very intelligently)...
So hence I am still at the drawing board... -
Ok, so to be clear the WAN is disconnecting, nothing is actually rebooting?
It really sounds like a line issue or some upstream fault TBH.
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@stephenw10 said in WAN periodically Rebooting,.. Take Two:
nothing is actually rebooting
Correct, WAN disconnects,.. it can then take a Draytek reboot,.. before 'normal service is resumed,.. as they say.
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@diyhouse Update :-
Well guys,.. Mr. BT paid a visit yesterday,.. in the 'guise of Kelly communication.
Engineer did his own tests, as you would expect, and was actually understanding to my problem of the connection did not stay up for more than a few days...
Initially, he said he was going to the 'cabinet', to give me some more fibres,.. ( why two I do not know ),.. but these are allocated by BT central command you might say,.. and are administered remotely...
When engineer returned he said he had NOT changed the fibres,.. but central command, had removed manually set 'capping limits' that existed on my line.
OK,.. So performance had improved,.. download was better,.. up from 55 to 75Mbps,.. as a before and after,.. although upload only went from 10 to 11Mbps ,.. so nothing mega,. Although Eng. test unit said upload was around 15Mbps.
As for how this affects my long term connectivity, neither I or the Kelly Eng. engineer could equate.
So its now another waiting game,.. to see how long the connection holds up.
As of typing this the following day, my rates are at 75/11Mbps.. so we shall see.. -
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@stephenw10 And for my next instalment in my connection saga,...
(Hope this is of interest to someone,. and not just my waffling)
following the Kelly Communication visit,. my WAN stayed up for 5 Days,.. then that evening had a real tantrum,. dropping and re-connecting 4 or 5 times real PITA..
Escalated to BT,.. Again, ( I was not a happy bunny )... unable to book visit,.. but engineer rang the following day,.. said all looked good ( here we go again I think ),.. from his remote testing,. discussed history,.. and previous engineer visits,.. clarified what Kelly Eng had done,.. and we concluded 'not a lot'.
Said he could attend premises in 20mins,.. Yes pls.
So,.. BT eng,. checked the line for reference,.. said its performance was OK'ish, but was not at the level he would expect for a line that was only 2 hundred metres from a FTTC box... He compared my line to others on the same pole,.. ie my neighbours,.. and they were getting slightly better performance,.. which although not perfect was an indicator something might be up!! ( they were getting 90 to a 105 download, where as I was is the 80's )
He checked my copper line to the premises,.. ( this involved placing a 'gizzmo' into my socket at the premises,.. and then doing some checks at he cabinat, at the other end of the copper, and that was all good.
He then did some re-config,..
As I understand,.. a fibre comes from the exchange to the cabinet,.. hence FTTC,.. it is then somehow multiplexed across numerous copper connections,.. ( so splitting the bandwidth of the fibre to multiple copper pairs )... this switching is configured with software by changing a port ID's,... to give a different link into the fibre.
BT Engineer then allocated my premises a new port, at the cabinat.
On return to my premises further test showed speed improvements, if not amazing,. what was encouraging is the fault packet count was at zero, running over a short test period. ( previously FEC was always counting up )
My current rate speed is at 73/11Mbps... and I have been running for some 12hrs without a drop,..
So definitely early days,.. but even the BT eng. was upbeat about having fixed my problem, and for the first time I feel something concrete has been done,.. based on data and investigation,.. other than just previously ticking boxes,.. 'your performanace shows as 71/20,.. so you should be fine' ( so stop complaining
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Do I get this right : you've fiber arriving at 200 meters, and the final delivery has to come over copper (here are the crusty connections, sun electromagnetic waves, probably pppoe etc) ?
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@Gertjan Yes,.. there is a short link from the exchange via fibre to the cabinat, and the cabinat is approx. 200m away from my property,.. but still a relatively short link in copper term.
But as copper tests showed my link appeared ok,.. although engineer did say he recently encountered a customer where the copper had worn,.. but only showed up as a problem when it was windy. -
Ok, thanks.
I'm amazed : plain copper (POTS ?) wires, non twisted, not shielded, and its possible to pump 70 Mbits over them ... -
@Gertjan said in WAN periodically Rebooting,.. Take Two:
I'm amazed : plain copper (POTS ?) wires, non twisted, not shielded, and its possible to pump 70 Mbits over them ..
Typical telephone cabling. Twisted pair. Nothing special obviously.
A typical fttc installation with a dslam and vdsl over telephone wiring.
Its just that the op isn't familiar with the terminology. -
Yeah they are twisted pairs. And 80Mbps is pretty normal for that. g.fast over those same wires and distance could see 200-300Mbps. I'm at ~300m from the cabinet and get >140Mbps. But bring on FTTP. Can't come soon enough IMO!
