Telecom DNS broken Nth Shore Auckland since 11pm 5-Nov-12

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Telecom DNS broken Nth Shore Auckland since 11pm 5-Nov-12

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40 posts

Geek

#712932 6-Nov-2012 14:32

RunningMan: It appears as though you are currently doing double NAT. EDIT: @sbiddle beat me to it

What happens if you bypass your router, and plug your computer directly in to the modem? Does it pick up the DNS servers OK then?

If this works OK, what IP address is being given to your computer? Is it the public IP address given by your ISP, or a private one (192.168.x.x)? Trying to work out if you have the AM300 in half bridge mode...

I suppose it is not an ideal setup. I originally was using the AM300 only in wired fashion with the switch but then bought the Netgear WNDR3700 to support my wifi devices and found it wasnt also an ADSL modem (this was like 4 years ago) but then after setting it up like this it has been rock solid for me for 4+yrs.

I have the AM300 plugged into the Uplink of a switch and the Netgear WNDR3700 also plugged into that switch along with ethernet cables going to multiple rooms in the house. They are in a closet under the stairs, so would just removing the Netgear from the switch and changing AM300 operation mode from gateway to Router do the trick? (obviously that kills wifi access, but is that considered direct even though there's a swtich in between?

Not sure why it would go pear-shaped all of a sudden though...

I'm in a new-ish neighborhood and when I first moved in 4yrs ago, they said it was a 1+yr waiting list for broadband since all the ports in my exchange were full. Eventually within a few weeks I called Chorus out and was able to appeal to the guy who was soo helpful, and despite weeks of Telecom saying it would be minimum a year to get broadband - or someone in my neighborhood would have to die to give up their port - this Chorus guy pulled some strings or something I assume because magically after appealing to him there was a Chorus van outside our exchange installing new equipment and I was able to get broadband in a couple of days from talking to him directly.

Mentioning that is all probably a red herring since my setup has been working fine since then, but I'm wondering if there is anything with my exchange at all.

RunningMan

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#712937 6-Nov-2012 14:45

OK, just so I've got it clear, this is your current setup:

Linksys AM300 modem --> Ethernet Switch --> Netgear WNDR3700 WiFi Router.

You mentioned you couldn't access anything via WiFi (well, without setting DNS manually), but what about a computer connected via ethernet to the switch?

virtuadude

40 posts

Geek

#712939 6-Nov-2012 14:46

RunningMan: It appears as though you are currently doing double NAT. EDIT: @sbiddle beat me to it

What happens if you bypass your router, and plug your computer directly in to the modem? Does it pick up the DNS servers OK then?

If this works OK, what IP address is being given to your computer? Is it the public IP address given by your ISP, or a private one (192.168.x.x)? Trying to work out if you have the AM300 in half bridge mode...

Keeping the setup exactly the way it was - except for disabling NAT on the AM300 modem, makes it so even the Google DNS settings don't work. NAT seems to need to be enabled on the AM300 for my alternate Google DNS settings to work - automatic still don't work, and yesterday before 11pm NAT was enabled (for the past 4yrs) and automatic was working....

Sorry if I'm being dense here, or if my setup is screwy - though it was stable for a long time. Maybe this is a good opportunity to upgrade to VDSL if it is available in my neighborhood and get a new modem that works with my NetGear WNDR3700 which I'd like to keep for its wifi abilities and configurable access list control etc. I have a 160Gb plan for a good price (I think) and I stream alot of high def TV -so I don't know what caps are like with VDSL if that is even an option for me.

Ideally I'd like to sort this out with my setup, but if not and it is my problem and not Telecom, maybe recommendations on VDSL if that is an option would be great.

thanks again. :)

Talkiet

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#712948 6-Nov-2012 14:52

By far the most straightforward option would be to buy a new ADSL router that includes WIFI. That would give you everything in one box - and there are lots of nice ones around that do good security and access lists...

Telecom don't offer VDSL as a retail product yet - so if you wanted VDSL you would need to switch to another provider. Also note that Telecom just changed our plans around which reduced the price for some people and gave options for hugely increased caps.

One thing you might like to try (if you're happy with Telecom as a provider) is to call them up and ask if they can do anything in terms of providing a new wireless capable ADSL router if you sign up to a new plan again on contract. I MUST POINT OUT I am not in the retail broadband facing side of the business so I don't know if this is something they can currently do - but it's worth a go!

Cheers - Neil G

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

virtuadude

40 posts

Geek

#712949 6-Nov-2012 14:52

RunningMan: OK, just so I've got it clear, this is your current setup:

Linksys AM300 modem --> Ethernet Switch --> Netgear WNDR3700 WiFi Router.

You mentioned you couldn't access anything via WiFi (well, without setting DNS manually), but what about a computer connected via ethernet to the switch?

Yup. :)

Linksys AM300 (via uplink port)--> 8port Ethernet Switch
Netgear WNDR3700 --> port #8 on that same switch

ports #2-7 on the switch --> to household cat5 which one of them goes to my htpc in living room and another goes to my wired pc in my office.

Before 11pm last night everything worked everywhere. After 11pm, all wired PCs and wifi tablets/phones stopped being able to access the internet but still had visibility of AM300 192.168.1.1 and WNDR3700 on 192.168.1.2. Manually changing either wifi's DNS to 8.8.8.8 or on the PC from auto to manual to that DNS makes internet access work on whatever device I do that on.

If I have it on automatic on any device I can ping external IPs ok, but pinging domain names comes back with DNS host not resolved.

RunningMan

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#712959 6-Nov-2012 15:03

OK, the setup is becoming clearer!

It looks like whatever is causing the issue is within the AM300 modem itself.

It's likely to be a setup issue (although why a setting would change without someone playing with it - who knows!).

The linksys devices generally have an option to back up your settings to a file. If you do this, then you can go back to the current setup easily later on.

You should then be able to just do a facgtory reset on it, and set up the basic DSL settings again - with Telecom I don't think you even need a username and password as they use port ID.

It is possible that the power supply on the modem is dying (older Linksys gear has a habit of this sometimes) which can lead to them behaving strangely...

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virtuadude

40 posts

Geek

#712963 6-Nov-2012 15:09

RunningMan: OK, the setup is becoming clearer!

It looks like whatever is causing the issue is within the AM300 modem itself.

It's likely to be a setup issue (although why a setting would change without someone playing with it - who knows!).

The linksys devices generally have an option to back up your settings to a file. If you do this, then you can go back to the current setup easily later on.

You should then be able to just do a facgtory reset on it, and set up the basic DSL settings again - with Telecom I don't think you even need a username and password as they use port ID.

It is possible that the power supply on the modem is dying (older Linksys gear has a habit of this sometimes) which can lead to them behaving strangely...

Ok, I'll do a factory reset of the AM300 and then change back to this setup where it is the gateway - do you really think that some kind of minor power fluctuations from the power supply could make something like DNS not resolve? Wow... that's kinda weird. It is a 5yr old modem though that has been working 24/7 though. It's using firmware 1.19.04 btw - and I can't seem to find a newer one.

Talkiet

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#712964 6-Nov-2012 15:11

virtuadude:
RunningMan: OK, the setup is becoming clearer!

It looks like whatever is causing the issue is within the AM300 modem itself.

It's likely to be a setup issue (although why a setting would change without someone playing with it - who knows!).

The linksys devices generally have an option to back up your settings to a file. If you do this, then you can go back to the current setup easily later on.

You should then be able to just do a facgtory reset on it, and set up the basic DSL settings again - with Telecom I don't think you even need a username and password as they use port ID.

It is possible that the power supply on the modem is dying (older Linksys gear has a habit of this sometimes) which can lead to them behaving strangely...

Ok, I'll do a factory reset of the AM300 and then change back to this setup where it is the gateway - do you really think that some kind of minor power fluctuations from the power supply could make something like DNS not resolve? Wow... that's kinda weird. It is a 5yr old modem though that has been working 24/7 though. It's using firmware 1.19.04 btw - and I can't seem to find a newer one.

Please PM me the phone number of the line you have this broadband on. I can think of one crazy thing which may have impacted this - but I need your phone number to check.

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

sidefx

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#712966 6-Nov-2012 15:12

Sorry might have missed it, but have you tried unplugging the netgear, restarting the AM300 and then testing on one of the wired PCs?

"I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there." | Octopus Energy | Sharesies
- Richard Feynman

virtuadude

40 posts

Geek

#712972 6-Nov-2012 15:22

sidefx: Sorry might have missed it, but have you tried unplugging the netgear, restarting the AM300 and then testing on one of the wired PCs?

just tried powering down Netgear, restarted AM300 - went to wired pc, AM300 connected fine. Cmd prompt shows pinging 202.162.72.2 (trademe) works - pinging trademe.co.nz says "could not find host trademe.co.nz"
(all of this with PC on Automatic obtain - have to reset to google dns to post this...)

I'm overwhelmed with all the assistance here and feel compelled to contribute somehow once I sort this all out. thanks again :)

RunningMan

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#712973 6-Nov-2012 15:23

virtuadude: Ok, I'll do a factory reset of the AM300 and then change back to this setup where it is the gateway -

If it isn't the gateway already on your network, then what is? What is handing out DHCP addresses - the modem or your router?

virtuadude:
do you really think that some kind of minor power fluctuations from the power supply could make something like DNS not resolve? Wow... that's kinda weird. It is a 5yr old modem though that has been working 24/7 though.

It's more that the power supply dies slowly when it gets several years old. As it fails, the device it is powering can start doing strange things.

virtuadude:
It's using firmware 1.19.04 btw - and I can't seem to find a newer one.

That seems to be the most up to date.

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Talkiet

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#712974 6-Nov-2012 15:23

Update - the crazy option I thought of has been checked and wasn't involved.

Personally, I think it was Solar Flares (*)

Cheers- N

* - No I don't think that really.

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

RunningMan

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#712975 6-Nov-2012 15:26

Talkiet:
Personally, I think it was Solar Flares (*)

Quick, wrap the house in tinfoil ;-)

RunningMan

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#712976 6-Nov-2012 15:30

Talkiet: Update - the crazy option I thought of has been checked and wasn't involved.

Personally, I think it was Solar Flares (*)

Cheers- N

* - No I don't think that really.

Right, on a more serious note, given that has been ruled out, I'd suggest right back to basics for troubleshooting.

1) Turn off your modem, router, switch and computer.

2) PLug the computer directly in to the modem (unplug it from the switch, and plug that cable straight in to the modem.

3) Turn the modem on, and wait several minutes for it to start up and log on properly.

4) Turn your computer back on.

THEN, check what IP address, router and DNS the computer is picking up - you don't have to post the whole address here if you don't want to, but tell us if it is an external addess, internal (192.168.x.x) or self assigned (169.x.x.x).

virtuadude

40 posts

Geek

#712977 6-Nov-2012 15:32

RunningMan:
virtuadude: Ok, I'll do a factory reset of the AM300 and then change back to this setup where it is the gateway -

If it isn't the gateway already on your network, then what is? What is handing out DHCP addresses - the modem or your router?

I assume if this wired PC still works with the Netgear off and the AM300 says DHCP enabled 192.168.1.2 - .254 then it must be the AM300 handing them out.

On the AM300's Advanced Routing page I have operation mode dropdown set to gateway (as opposed to router) so that I could have the Netgear working. This chained setup seemed to work fine for my wired and wifi devices for several years. Apparently I have just barely enough knowledge to be dangerous - lol!

I'll try the AM300 factory reset now. I've just taken screenshots of all the settings on the AM300 just in case.

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