Bizarre disconnection issue - Vodafone fibre connection/home network.

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pohutukawa

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#180904 25-Sep-2015 16:41

Hi folks.

A friend has a bizarre issue with his fibre.

ONT → Huawei (Vodafone) fibre modem → 8 port gigabit switch (verified working fine).

There are cables patched through a 12-port CAT5e patch panel all around the house, into the switch. The laptops, computers, etc. plugged into these ports all have fixed IPs.

The DHCP pool on the router is well away from the fixed IPs and is plenty big.

There is one computer and a printer plugged directly into the rear of the modem.

After three or so hours of stable performance, all devices lose internet connectivity, except those directly plugged into the modem.

The connections are all "live" (i.e. showing as live network connections) but no ping to each other or the router.

Any clues/thoughts much appreciated!

Pohutukawa

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sbiddle

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#1394497 25-Sep-2015 16:50

They're not creating a network loop anywhere?

pohutukawa

197 posts

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#1394605 25-Sep-2015 21:54

sbiddle: They're not creating a network loop anywhere?

Don't think so.

I've drawn a diagram.

When this issue occurs, the devices directly attached to the Huawei are fine, but those connected to one of the LAN ports on the Huawei, via the switch, think they are connected but have no connectivity.

Pohutukawa

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Aredwood

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#1394615 25-Sep-2015 22:30

The gigabit switch is probably dying. I have an el cheapo 8 port 10/100 switch which would sometimes do a similar thing. Except only some computers would loose connectivity.

Only other thing I can think of is the routing table in the switch getting confused / corrupted due to wifi devices having their MAC addresses jump around different ports. (which will happen as Wifi devices roam between the airports) Or the same MAC address appearing on 2 different ports at the same time. Which would happen if a WIfi device happens to connect to both airports at the same time. Try having 1 of the airports daisy chained off the other. Or if not possible due to the way the cabling is run. Try using the switch built into the Huawei router to link the airports together.

Also can apple airports talk directly to eachover via Wifi? As if they can then that might have created a network loop as Sbiddle has said.

pohutukawa

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+1 received by user: 9

#1394629 25-Sep-2015 23:00

Aredwood: The gigabit switch is probably dying. I have an el cheapo 8 port 10/100 switch which would sometimes do a similar thing. Except only some computers would loose connectivity.

Only other thing I can think of is the routing table in the switch getting confused / corrupted due to wifi devices having their MAC addresses jump around different ports. (which will happen as Wifi devices roam between the airports) Or the same MAC address appearing on 2 different ports at the same time. Which would happen if a WIfi device happens to connect to both airports at the same time. Try having 1 of the airports daisy chained off the other. Or if not possible due to the way the cabling is run. Try using the switch built into the Huawei router to link the airports together.

Also can apple airports talk directly to eachover via Wifi? As if they can then that might have created a network loop as Sbiddle has said.

Thanks for the thoughts.

The switch is brand new and woking fine. Tested today extensively.

Interesting idea re routing table. I will think about this some more.

Your and Sbibble's comments regarding network loops are interesting. I will suggest these wifi units are reset individually.

Thank you.

Pohutukawa

pohutukawa ... turning with the seasons ...

pohutukawa

197 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 9

#1394630 25-Sep-2015 23:01

sbiddle: They're not creating a network loop anywhere?

I will suggest checking this out.

On the face of it, not obviously.

But depending on how they were set up, maybe!

Thank you.

Pohutukawa

pohutukawa ... turning with the seasons ...

pohutukawa

197 posts

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#1395371 27-Sep-2015 20:38

Quick update:

Suspecting a wireless loopback via an Airport unit that previously had extended a wifi network, we performed a hard reset of the Apple Airport units. Note that there are three levels of reset for these units.

Then set them up again. At same time, replaced as many easily-replaced cables with brand new, moulded cables. Some of the older cables looked pretty suspect.

Finally, fixed IPs set for everything that isn't mobile, and turned off a bunch of services on the (ugh) Brother printer.

24 hours (and counting) of stability.

If this continues, I suspect that it was the smaller Airport unit looping back.

Thanks to all again for replies.

Pohutukawa

pohutukawa ... turning with the seasons ...