7-day-new Pro Full Fibre 900 ("Gigafast"?) install and already had 2 connection drops.

[goofy_torvalds]

Hi all.

Not sure if this is a place that could help troubleshoot, but might as well try you friendly lot as I'm sick to my back teeth with Vodafone's telephone support (and the ToBi button doesn't do anything).  Currently on hold to them, again - I've got a new personal best of 54 minutes.

I monitor my internet connection externally and noticed my public IP address changed twice this week.  I expect it to change every now and them (maybe once a month) but not every couple of days.

Upon inspecting the logs I spotted the disconnections, acknowledgment of new public IP then WAN status change.

Snippets (IPs removed)...

30.09.2022 00:09:36 wan Notice Interface 'wan' is now up
30.09.2022 00:09:36 system Debug rcvd [IPCP ConfAck id=0x2 <addr xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx> <ms-dns1 xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx> <ms-dns2 xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx>]
30.09.2022 00:08:15 wan Notice Interface 'wan' has lost the connection

28.09.2022 00:33:29 wan Notice Interface 'wan' is now up
28.09.2022 00:33:29 system Debug rcvd [IPCP ConfAck id=0x2 <addr xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx> <ms-dns1 xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx> <ms-dns2 xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx>]
28.09.2022 00:32:51 wan Notice Interface 'wan' has lost the connection

It's only a few minutes each time, but it's irritating when you're in the middle of tasks online (I perform out-of-hours IT maintenance remotely for work) and my inbound VPNs have to "wake up" again when the public IP changes.  And I can't ignore this in case it's a sign of something that needs fixing.

I'm hoping the "Xperts" will ask for my logs and marry it up to a network issue outside.  I need to make sure my service is stable before I swap out the Vodafone router for my pfSense box.

1. Are tiny disconnects common in the first few weeks of a new service?
2. Are the Xperts any good at finding route causes for this kind of thing - do they ever ask for the logs?
3. Have any of you experienced a similar issue and found the cause?

[Jayach]

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@goofy_torvalds wrote:

1. Are tiny disconnects common in the first few weeks of a new service? Not on FTTP
2. Are the Xperts any good at finding route causes for this kind of thing - do they ever ask for the logs? Not a hope.
3. Have any of you experienced a similar issue and found the cause? I'm still on FTTC, and since Openreach fixed my line, it's been perfect for 2 years.

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If you use this link it will bypass Tobi: https://www.vodafone.co.uk/bbservcd/

If you just get the spinning circle, try using a private/incognito window.

[goofy_torvalds]

Thanks for the responses, Jayach.  At least I'm not the only one frustrated with the "help".

Cheers for the pointer regarding ToBi, but I think he's just checked out this week.

[Jayach]

There is nowhere that information is recorded in the router (AFAIK), perhaps they have that information at their end. Or perhaps they are just making it up.

[goofy_torvalds]

I suspect just making it up - the fact they got the two timestamps incorrect and ended the call when I asked (politely, I might add) where I can check this for myself, suggests I called their bluff.

I'm stunned at the customer service there.  Why make things so difficult when I just want to know what happened?

If I strike oil, I'll post here in case anyone else comes looking.

[CrimsonLiar]

You can still (so far as I'm aware it's still in the T&Cs) request a single fixed IP, but if you don't occasional IP address changes are "par for the course", and positive comments on VFs phone help lines are going to be as rare as hens teeth.

Personally, I like having a dynamic WAN IP - apart from those rare times when the IP having been previously used by a compromised network is getting spammed to death by Russian botnets.

So dynamic IP here, with a domain handled by Google as my DDNS (low cost, but better update speed and uptime than any free service I've used).

[goofy_torvalds]

Agreed.  I too favour a dynamic IP.  My services are built around it anyway - I'm just used to it changing once every now and then only.

I'm seeing HUNDREDS of probes from the aforementioned IPs against the firewall logs.  Par with the course for internet access these days.

[Jayach]

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@CrimsonLiar wrote:

You can still (so far as I'm aware it's still in the T&Cs) request a single fixed IP, but if you don't occasional IP address changes are "par for the course",

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Depends on what you call "occasional". Mine stays for weeks on end, usually until I reboot the router.

The only other time is if I get a firmware update, or the line goes down. (and that has only happened about twice in 2 years)

Dynamic IP is best for me too.

[goofy_torvalds]

For all the years I was on FTTC I averaged about once a month, so this twice in one week got my attention.

Ach, trying to get through to their support has left me exhausted.  I'm sure it'll work itself out.

Well played, Vodafone.  Well played.  You win this round.

[goofy_torvalds]

Good grief - after finally getting through to an Xpert they checked the remote logs and told me "the router rebooted at time X and time Y due to updates.  That's why it disconnected. The line is fine".

But, the two times they quoted are different to the ones in the syslog and the router has not rebooted - only lost WAN connection.

After asking where I can check/confirm this same information (so I don't have to phone in if it's a genuine update) they said they'll have a look for the instructions... then they ended the call 😠

I can't find any page in the router's web interface that lists the update history the Xpert mentioned - maybe I'm not looking in the right place.  I do have Expert Mode enabled.

Anyone know where to check this?