Strange WAN connection issue
I am running an OC200 with the ER7206 and trying to connect a new fiber line through Ethernet. It's kinda a long story, sorry.
Starting off today I had four DSLs on WAN1-WAN4, all working fine. There was a new fiber line installed at the location so the absolute first thing I did was to configure my laptop to connect directly to make sure the fiber was good. I connected a cable from the Ethernet output of the fiber converter directly to my laptop and configured the Ethernet port in my laptop to these settings:
IP Address 173.195.163.130
Subnet Mask 255.255.255.248
Gateway 173.195.163.129
VLAN 270
DNS1 8.8.8.8
DNS2 4.2.2.2
Ping 173.165.163.130 = Success
Ping 173.195.163.129 = Success
Ping 8.8.8.8 = Success
Ping website = Success
Speedtest = 420/415
All good! I configure WAN port 4 on the router to those same settings, unplug the end of the Ethernet cable from my laptop and plug it into WAN4, then I run my tests...
Ping 173.165.163.130 = Success
Ping 173.195.163.129 = Fail
Ping 8.8.8.8 = Success
Ping website = Success
Speedtest = 75/1.8
Keep in mind that there are still three active DSL lines on WAN1-3. Lights show no activity on WAN4 or the fiber converter Ethernet port. Weird. Just for grins I try the same thing except I use WAN1 instead of WAN4. Same results.
So now I am getting confused, so I think maybe it has something to do with multiple WANs running so I remove ALL WANs, start from scratch with it on WAN1 as the one and only connection. (and yes, rebooting every time I add or remove a WAN connection)
Ping 173.165.163.130 = Success
Ping 173.195.163.129 = Fail
Ping 8.8.8.8 = Fail
Ping website = Fail
Really puzzled here so I unplug the Ethernet cable from the router, plug it back into my laptop, wait a minute for everyone to talk to each other and run my test again:
Ping 173.165.163.130 = Success
Ping 173.195.163.129 = Success
Ping 8.8.8.8 = Success
Ping website = Success
Speedtest = 418/407
So the fiber and media converter are good. Only difference I can see is maybe MAC Address? So yeah, I unplugged the Ethernet cable from my laptop and plugged it back in the router, went into the settings for WAN1 and changed the MAC address to the same MAC as my laptop.
Ping 173.165.163.130 = Success
Ping 173.195.163.129 = Fail
Ping 8.8.8.8 = Fail
Ping website = Fail
I am at a loss. I know for a fact the internet connection is good, I know for a fact that the Ethernet port and cable are good, I know for a fact that the WAN port on the router is good, I know for a fact that the MAC installed works with the fiber connection, but for some odd reason, all of these known good things do not work TOGETHER. WTH?
Yes, I double and triple checked my settings, including the internet VLAN. It is absolutely acting like the internet VLAN is the issue, and I absolutely make mistakes, but there is no way I made the exact same mistake this many times, and missed it double-checking over and over.
What else could I be missing?
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Hi @Flea77
Thanks for posting in our business forum.
Set your modem to bridge mode and connect the router to it.
If it does not connect, you should reboot the modem or flush the MAC address by contacting your ISP.
NAT mode on the modem-router can have an impact on the router.
For the WAN info, you should get them from your ISP and input them accordingly.
When you do a speed test, use your ISP speed test tools. When you are connected to different servers, you get different results.
Only testing with your ISP server, which is the closest and optimal, it should reach your planned speed.
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Clive_A wrote
Hi @Flea77
Thanks for posting in our business forum.
Set your modem to bridge mode and connect the router to it.
If it does not connect, you should reboot the modem or flush the MAC address by contacting your ISP.
NAT mode on the modem-router can have an impact on the router.
For the WAN info, you should get them from your ISP and input them accordingly.
When you do a speed test, use your ISP speed test tools. When you are connected to different servers, you get different results.
Only testing with your ISP server, which is the closest and optimal, it should reach your planned speed.
@Clive_A I think there is some confusion here..... There is no modem, this is an Ethernet connection from a fiber media converter. Fiber optic line into the building -> media converter -> Ethernet port -> Ethernet cable -> router WAN port. So there is nothing to set to bridge mode.
Not sure what the MAC has to do with it from the ISP side, when I spoof the MAC and change it to one that works, it still doesnt work in the router.
NAT mode on the modem that does not exist?
I got the WAN info from my ISP and did input them accordingly, that is why the connection works on my laptop.
The speed test is really irrelevant when I can not even get to the gateway address, don't you agree?
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Hi @Flea77
Thanks for posting in our business forum.
Flea77 wrote
Clive_A wrote
Hi @Flea77
Thanks for posting in our business forum.
Set your modem to bridge mode and connect the router to it.
If it does not connect, you should reboot the modem or flush the MAC address by contacting your ISP.
NAT mode on the modem-router can have an impact on the router.
For the WAN info, you should get them from your ISP and input them accordingly.
When you do a speed test, use your ISP speed test tools. When you are connected to different servers, you get different results.
Only testing with your ISP server, which is the closest and optimal, it should reach your planned speed.
@Clive_A I think there is some confusion here..... There is no modem, this is an Ethernet connection from a fiber media converter. Fiber optic line into the building -> media converter -> Ethernet port -> Ethernet cable -> router WAN port. So there is nothing to set to bridge mode.
Not sure what the MAC has to do with it from the ISP side, when I spoof the MAC and change it to one that works, it still doesnt work in the router.
NAT mode on the modem that does not exist?
I got the WAN info from my ISP and did input them accordingly, that is why the connection works on my laptop.
The speed test is really irrelevant when I can not even get to the gateway address, don't you agree?
If you say you don't have a modem, just a fiber into your house, the ISP did not provide any sort of modem, that's your ISP issue. Usually, it should provide a modem.
I don't know it in your case. Maybe your ISP does not provide one.
Anyway, clone the MAC address of your computer as it works.
Or ask your ISP to flush it as I wrote earlier. So it allows you to connect the new router. You'd repeat this every time when you replace the router/device.
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Clive_A wrote
If you say you don't have a modem, just a fiber into your house, the ISP did not provide any sort of modem, that's your ISP issue. Usually, it should provide a modem.
I don't know it in your case. Maybe your ISP does not provide one.
Anyway, clone the MAC address of your computer as it works.
Or ask your ISP to flush it as I wrote earlier. So it allows you to connect the new router. You'd repeat this every time when you replace the router/device.
1) I am not working in a house, this install is in a commercial property.
2) As far as I know (and I am certainly no expert) fiber never uses a modem, it uses an ONT or Media Converter which the ISP did provide.
3) As I mentioned in my very first post, I did indeed clone the MAC address and that did NOT work, which is part of my confusion.
4) I am not sure what having the ISP flush the MAC would do when cloning the MAC from a working device did not resolve the issue. Could you explain more?
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Hi @Flea77
Thanks for posting in our business forum.
Flea77 wrote
Clive_A wrote
If you say you don't have a modem, just a fiber into your house, the ISP did not provide any sort of modem, that's your ISP issue. Usually, it should provide a modem.
I don't know it in your case. Maybe your ISP does not provide one.
Anyway, clone the MAC address of your computer as it works.
Or ask your ISP to flush it as I wrote earlier. So it allows you to connect the new router. You'd repeat this every time when you replace the router/device.
1) I am not working in a house, this install is in a commercial property.
2) As far as I know (and I am certainly no expert) fiber never uses a modem, it uses an ONT or Media Converter which the ISP did provide.
3) As I mentioned in my very first post, I did indeed clone the MAC address and that did NOT work, which is part of my confusion.
4) I am not sure what having the ISP flush the MAC would do when cloning the MAC from a working device did not resolve the issue. Could you explain more?
If MAC clone does not even work, that's your ISP.
Why would it be so hard to consult this with your ISP? It would be simple if they sent a field agent to verify the line or check on their server to see if there is any limitation.
As it is used for the business, your field agent should also help with your request as you put up a new router. Just make sure the WAN connection is fine on the new router, instead of setting up the router.
I am out of ideas and that article basically lists everything for a regular case.
If you ask me what to do, go with the Wireshark on the WAN and see why it rejects the router Internet initiation. Why it rejects the request from the router.
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Clive_A wrote
If MAC clone does not even work, that's your ISP.
Why would it be so hard to consult this with your ISP? It would be simple if they sent a field agent to verify the line or check on their server to see if there is any limitation.
As it is used for the business, your field agent should also help with your request as you put up a new router. Just make sure the WAN connection is fine on the new router, instead of setting up the router.
I am out of ideas and that article basically lists everything for a regular case.
If you ask me what to do, go with the Wireshark on the WAN and see why it rejects the router Internet initiation. Why it rejects the request from the router.
That could absolutely be true although I don't understand the mechanics of that. It seems to me that if the laptop MAC and the WAN1 port MAC are the same, the ISP should not know the difference.
It is not so hard to consult with the ISP, the problem is that the ISP says if it works with the laptop and not the router, its the router. You suggest it is a problem with the ISP. This is why I am talking to BOTH parties to see if ANYONE has a suggestion to fix the issue. If I wasnt using Omada I would have already replaced the router to see what that did but to be honest I have never replaced a router in Omada and am not sure of the steps that would not bring down both businesses. Thought I would look for possible fixes before replacing hardware.
There is no "new router", there is only one. The router is currently working fine with four DSL connections. The fiber ISP field tech came in, tested the line with his laptop, and that is the end of his responsibility. I can't fault him because it works perfectly with my laptop too.
I totally understand, and if this were a regular case I would agree with a lot of your steps. The reason I posted here with a title of "Strange WAN connection issue" is because I too ran out of ideas and was hoping someone here had seen something this strange before and could help point me in a non-regular direction.
The wireshark idea has a lot of merit. I haven't tried that because in all honesty I am not that knowledgeable when it comes to that so I am not sure I would understand the issue if it was right in front of me. I may give it a try anyway if for no other reason to have more data I can share.
Thanks for trying. When I get a solution I will make sure I post it here so others can benefit.
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Hi @Flea77
Thanks for posting in our business forum.
Flea77 wrote
Clive_A wrote
If MAC clone does not even work, that's your ISP.
Why would it be so hard to consult this with your ISP? It would be simple if they sent a field agent to verify the line or check on their server to see if there is any limitation.
As it is used for the business, your field agent should also help with your request as you put up a new router. Just make sure the WAN connection is fine on the new router, instead of setting up the router.
I am out of ideas and that article basically lists everything for a regular case.
If you ask me what to do, go with the Wireshark on the WAN and see why it rejects the router Internet initiation. Why it rejects the request from the router.
That could absolutely be true although I don't understand the mechanics of that. It seems to me that if the laptop MAC and the WAN1 port MAC are the same, the ISP should not know the difference.
It is not so hard to consult with the ISP, the problem is that the ISP says if it works with the laptop and not the router, its the router. You suggest it is a problem with the ISP. This is why I am talking to BOTH parties to see if ANYONE has a suggestion to fix the issue. If I wasnt using Omada I would have already replaced the router to see what that did but to be honest I have never replaced a router in Omada and am not sure of the steps that would not bring down both businesses. Thought I would look for possible fixes before replacing hardware.
There is no "new router", there is only one. The router is currently working fine with four DSL connections. The fiber ISP field tech came in, tested the line with his laptop, and that is the end of his responsibility. I can't fault him because it works perfectly with my laptop too.
I totally understand, and if this were a regular case I would agree with a lot of your steps. The reason I posted here with a title of "Strange WAN connection issue" is because I too ran out of ideas and was hoping someone here had seen something this strange before and could help point me in a non-regular direction.
The wireshark idea has a lot of merit. I haven't tried that because in all honesty I am not that knowledgeable when it comes to that so I am not sure I would understand the issue if it was right in front of me. I may give it a try anyway if for no other reason to have more data I can share.
Thanks for trying. When I get a solution I will make sure I post it here so others can benefit.
Another comparison you can do without trying Wireshark is to get a regular router and MAC clone and see if it works on it. That seems to be the most efficient way to learn if it is an ISP issue or not.
So that's the way to decide if it is the router or the ISP. If the other router does not work either, even with the MAC clone, that's your ISP.
In theory, MAC clone should bypass the detection on your ISP.
You can use Wireshark and post the result here, and I can go through it to see if there is anything useful or a possible reason in it. But you have to capture when the router connects to the fiber.
Wireshark would be the only way to find out the reason. Instead of guessing and trying.
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I'm slightly confused by your WAN settings
IP Address 173.195.163.130
Subnet Mask 255.255.255.248
Gateway 173.195.163.129
VLAN 270
DNS1 8.8.8.8
DNS2 4.2.2.2
Do I infer that your ISP is allocating you a block of 8 public IP's ? ( that's what your .248 subnet is suggesting )
If that's the case then the block would be 173.195.163.128 - 173.195.163.135
The network address would be .128 which is what I would think should be assigned to the WAN connection.
The .129 is a usable IP from the block and so I dont see how that can be the ISP gateway ?
How that setup works on the laptop is confusing
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I received an email from the first network engineer setting up the line that says:
VLAN 270
Gateway 173.195.163.129
Subnet Mask 255.255.255.248
Usuable 173.195.163.130-.132
That is a direct copy and paste from his email (including his misspelling) so that is what I used. Did he give me information that wont work?
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