Recurrent internet drops at 10:00

[Smasher85]

Hi,

I´m facing a strange recurring issue where my internet connection drops almost every day at 10:00 and comes back at around 10:30. A restart of the router always solves it instantly. Both Wifi and LAN is effected but sometimes some computers works.

This is my setup :

• Internet though fiber modem
• Asus GT-AX6000 router
  - Assigned DNS from ISP but have also tried static (1.1.1.1/8.8.8.8)
  - DHCP
  - One static IP for the NAS
  - 2.4 and 5 GHz Wifi with WPA2-Personal security
  - Latest firmware with no other settings change from default
• About 20 connected devices, most Wifi (small devices like smart plugs and so on) but also some though cable like computers, consoles and Nvidia Shields.
• No Mesh
• 3 Netgear ProSafe GS108
• 1 Netgear GS116E switch connecting computers and switches to the router.

Details
When the problem occurs, I can search on google.com and get results, but when I click a link, I get no response. The same happens if I enter the URL (IP or name) manually. I can still use Facebook Messenger, but Spotify will not start.

The router is accessible and shows that it has internet. LAN and Wi-Fi work as they should, but internet is crippled. I have tried troubleshooting this during the outage but have not found the cause yet:

• The router can ping its gateway (0.179 ms), and this gateway can also be pinged from my workstation (Windows).
• The router can ping the DNS provided by my ISP.
• The router can ping 8.8.8.8 and 1.1.1.1 with an average delay of ~14.5 ms.
• The router can run nslookup against google.com using the ISP’s DNS, and it also works with other domains (even those that fail to load when accessed from my phone via Wi-Fi or my workstation).
• I have tried setting static DNS (8.8.8.8 and 1.1.1.1) in the router, but it doesn’t help. Devices, including the workstation, always use the router DNS, which then forwards to either the static or ISP-provided DNS.
• Router system log shows no problems.
• The router has been factory reset, and I have also tried Merlin firmware with the same result.

I have had this problem a long time now and made several attempts to find a solution.

One thing that always works is restarting the router, this solves the problem instantly. Restarting devices alone does nothing.

The router is almost 3 years old.

I can send the router in for warranty, but the problem is not consistent, so the store might not be able to reproduce it.

Any suggestions?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Strange indeed. You said that nslookup works from the router. What about if you try it from your workstation directly to a public DNS server, e.g.

nslookup google.com 8.8.8.8

 

[Smasher85]

The nslookup give the following result from the Windows 11 computer during the outage :

> 192.168.50.1
Server : GT-AX6000-73B0
Address : 192.168.50.1

Name : GT-AX6000-73B0
Address : 192.168.50.1

> google.com
Server: GT-AX6000-73B0
Address : 192.168.50.1

Non-authoritative answer:
Name : google.com
Addresses: 2a00:1450:400f:80d::200e 216.58.207.238

I was also able to ping both the ISP gateway and their DNS from the Windows computer with successful replies.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Sounds like it might be an ISP issue. Is this a new problem or a continuation of the problem you had with your previous router?

 

[Tech9]

- One static IP for the NAS

Is there anything running on schedule? Like large volume of data backup to the NAS? To me it sounds like Internet is working, but you have severe LAN congestion at this time of the day.

What are all the switches with total of 40x LAN ports for if you have around 20 clients only and most of them are connected over Wi-Fi? Any specific Ethernet connected device turning on around this time of the day? Check for connection loops.

 

[bbunge]

You say your NAS has a static IP address. Is it really a static IP address assigned at the NAS or a manually reserved address set at the router? If it is assigned at the NAS have you set the router DHCP start or end range to exclude the NAS IP address so the DHCP does not try to assign that address to another device?
The router DHCP renewal is, by default, set to 86400 seconds which is one day. Your problem happens every day at the same time and you reboot the router at the same time? I believe the DHCP is to try the renewal at 1/2 the set renewal time but... Just grasping at your regular daily problem...

 

[Smasher85]

Sounds like it might be an ISP issue. Is this a new problem or a continuation of the problem you had with your previous router?

After switching the problem went away, but now we have some kind of internet problem again so maybe it could be an ISP problem. I'm sure they will recommend me to connect the computer directly to the fiber modem and that is highly inconvenient in this case, as it’s far from my main computer and the problem does not occur each and every day. Also, there are others that use the network/internet. But I will begin with contacting the ISP and check how they respond.

 

[Smasher85]

Is there anything running on schedule? Like large volume of data backup to the NAS? To me it sounds like Internet is working, but you have severe LAN congestion at this time of the day.

What are all the switches with total of 40x LAN ports for if you have around 20 clients only and most of them are connected over Wi-Fi? Any specific Ethernet connected device turning on around this time of the day? Check for connection loops.

I have no scheduled jobs running. The NAS is just a simple Windows 11 computer with some extra storage used by my main computer. It’s always online and available. Sometimes internet access works fine on the NAS even when it’s not working on my phone or workstation.

There are about 7–8 CAT cables going into the large Netgear switch in the network cabinet. These come from outlets around the house. The smaller Netgear switches are used to expand LAN connections in three rooms: two media rooms and one computer room. In the media rooms, receivers, consoles, TVs, and an Mediaplayers are connected to those switches, while in the computer room there are 2–3 computers and a printer. The NAS in the basement is connected directly to the large switch.

So when I think about it, there may actually be more devices connected from time to time. Right now, the Network Map on the router shows 20 clients, most of them on the 2.5G Wi-Fi. At the moment there are 8 wired devices and the rest are on Wi-Fi. I’m aware that some of the Wi-Fi devices are operating at the edge of coverage, but they still work.

Here is a part of the router log from today :

Aug 18 00:39:45 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(662): eth7: Disassoc Device_1, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
Aug 18 00:39:45 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth7: Deauth_ind Device_1, status: 0, reason: Deauthenticated because sending station is leaving (or has left) IBSS or ESS (3), rssi:0
Aug 18 00:47:31 miniupnpd[15981]: remove port mapping 64998 TCP because it has expired
Aug 18 00:47:32 miniupnpd[15981]: remove port mapping 36872 TCP because it has expired
Aug 17 23:00:29 disk_monitor: Got SIGALRM...
Aug 18 03:08:26 WATCHDOG: [FAUPGRADE][auto_firmware_check:(8356)]update_enable : 1 , update_time : 3:8
Aug 18 03:08:26 WATCHDOG: [FAUPGRADE][auto_firmware_check:(8444)]do webs_update
Aug 18 03:08:38 WATCHDOG: [FAUPGRADE][auto_firmware_check:(8462)]retrieve firmware information
Aug 18 03:08:38 WATCHDOG: [FAUPGRADE][auto_firmware_check:(8477)]fimrware update check first time
Aug 18 03:08:38 WATCHDOG: [FAUPGRADE][auto_firmware_check:(8508)]no need to upgrade firmware
Aug 18 03:49:12 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth6: Deauth_ind Device_2, status: 0, reason: Disassociated due to inactivity (4), rssi:-39
Aug 18 03:49:24 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(685): eth6: Auth Device_2, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
Aug 18 03:49:24 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(722): eth6: Assoc Device_2, status: Successful (0), rssi:-38
Aug 18 07:07:16 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth6: Deauth_ind Device_3, status: 0, reason: Disassociated due to inactivity (4), rssi:-82
Aug 18 07:34:37 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth6: Deauth_ind Device_4, status: 0, reason: Disassociated due to inactivity (4), rssi:-92
Aug 18 10:08:25 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth6: Deauth_ind Device_5, status: 0, reason: Deauthenticated because sending station is leaving (or has left) IBSS or ESS (3), rssi:0
Aug 18 10:08:25 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(662): eth6: Disassoc Device_5, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
Aug 18 10:23:06 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(685): eth6: Auth Device_5, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
Aug 18 10:23:06 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(722): eth6: Assoc Device_5, status: Successful (0), rssi:-66

 

[Smasher85]

You say your NAS has a static IP address. Is it really a static IP address assigned at the NAS or a manually reserved address set at the router? If it is assigned at the NAS have you set the router DHCP start or end range to exclude the NAS IP address so the DHCP does not try to assign that address to another device?
The router DHCP renewal is, by default, set to 86400 seconds which is one day. Your problem happens every day at the same time and you reboot the router at the same time? I believe the DHCP is to try the renewal at 1/2 the set renewal time but... Just grasping at your regular daily problem...

The static IP address of the NAS is configured on the Asus router, so no configuration is set directly on the NAS. I have verified that it receives the correct IP when running ipconfig /renew.

 

[Tech9]

I’m aware that some of the Wi-Fi devices are operating at the edge of coverage, but they still work.

The specific devices at -82/92dBm are barely holding a connection. They are at the very edge of coverage area. Any noise floor increase will cause disconnection. Your neighbour turning on vacuum cleaner may be good enough. About the Internet issue - when it happens I would look at Traffic Monitor for unusual WAN and LAN/WLAN activity. May give some clues what is happening.

 

[Tech9]

About possible ISP issue - your neighbours may have the same ISP connection. Ask around, someone may have the same issue.

 

[Crimliar]

If you are in the UK with BT or possibly just on the OpenReach infrastructure, then it's probably an ISP issue, as there are similar reports popping up on the BT consumer forums - it does seem to be very localised though!

 

[Ripshod]

To see if it's the router or the ISP you could simply reboot everything on the network including the router around 8pm. If this error still happens at 10am it's the ISP (or their modem?). If it starts happening at 8pm it's on your network and likely the router.
Sometimes the simplest tests are the best.