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potscrubber

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#289708 24-Sep-2021 12:34
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Hello!

 

I am trying to solve a crazy mind bending fault!  It took me a lot of investigation to arrive at identifying the point of issue/failure.  I won't describe our home network in detail now but I can say it is pretty basic with a few normal settings customisations.

 

The issue is this: since my partner got a new notebook (Lenovo X1C with USB dock), which is connected via the dock's ethernet NIC, when that PC goes into sleep mode manually or automatically, if no other PC's are active on the ethernet LAN, then the Fritzbox 7530 drops it's PPPoE connection.  The VDSL is absolutely fine and never flinches.  It is 100% reproducible. The event log has 3 messages when the link goes down:

 

IPv6 internet connection was cleared; prefix no longer valid.
Internet connection cleared.
Timeout during PPP negotiation.

 

Then PPPoE Error: Timeout messages continue to be logged until, when that PC is brought out of sleep, the PPPoE is reestablished after a few minutes with event log:

 

Internet connection established successfully. IP address: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx, DNS server: 111.69.69.68 and 111.69.69.69, gateway: 111.69.7.41, broadband PoP: SNAP-41

 

Some other notes:

 

- the connection won't be dropped if other PC's are awake on the LAN, but will if only WLAN devices are active
- we have a static IP address
- internal ip range is 10.1.1.x with some static IP's below .100 and DHCP above that (has been this way for 11 years)
- recently disabled IPv6 for internal network at Frtizbox (no change)
- recently replaced 7390 with 7530 (v7.28) and that has had a couple of resets (no change)
- all PC NIC settings are at defaults (and have been reset)
- ethernet cables have been swapped out and tested

 

Just to re-iterate, the (centrally filtered) VDSL connection is very stable and shows no errors.  We've had a flawless network and VDSL setup for 11 years until this notebook came into the house!

 

I've got no idea what to look at next.  Any thoughts would be hugely appreciated!!

 

Thanks


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michaelmurfy
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  #2783536 24-Sep-2021 12:50
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That is very weird. Just to confirm - does any other device cause this to happen with the same Ethernet cable? Does it occur when the laptop is on wireless?





Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
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OzoneNZ
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  #2783542 24-Sep-2021 12:57
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Sounds very much like some sort of dial-on-demand / "keep alive" setting that is dropping the PPPoE connection when no traffic passes for a certain period of time

 

I'm not well-versed in Fritzboxes but maybe have a hunt around the web UI for a setting named something similar?


potscrubber

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  #2783545 24-Sep-2021 13:00
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michaelmurfy:

 

That is very weird. Just to confirm - does any other device cause this to happen with the same Ethernet cable? Does it occur when the laptop is on wireless?

 

 

Right? it is just so weird!  I should of mentioned (OP edited) that all cables have been swapped out and tested.  No it doesn't happen if the laptop is on wifi.  The laptop can be pulled out and taken away, no problem.  It's about it going into a sleep state while connected (actually I haven't confirmed if it's the same on a shutdown - oops).




potscrubber

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  #2783548 24-Sep-2021 13:01
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OzoneNZ:

 

Sounds very much like some sort of dial-on-demand / "keep alive" setting that is dropping the PPPoE connection when no traffic passes for a certain period of time

 

I'm not well-versed in Fritzboxes but maybe have a hunt around the web UI for a setting named something similar?

 

 

Thanks for the reply!  No, there's nothing in the web UI... I have been living in every corner of it for weeks....  🤪


michaelmurfy
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  #2783552 24-Sep-2021 13:04
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Can you go to Internet --> Account Information and drop down the "Change Connection Settings" to ensure that Idle Connection is not enabled?

 





Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
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OzoneNZ
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  #2783553 24-Sep-2021 13:05
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michaelmurfy:

 

Can you go to Internet --> Account Information and drop down the "Change Connection Settings" to ensure that Idle Connection is not enabled?

 

 

 

 

Nice find, guess that's the FritzOS equivalent of Keep Alive


potscrubber

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  #2783599 24-Sep-2021 13:57
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michaelmurfy:

 

Can you go to Internet --> Account Information and drop down the "Change Connection Settings" to ensure that Idle Connection is not enabled?

 

 

 

 

Thanks Michael.  These are the settings, all defaults I believe:

 


 
 
 

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RunningMan
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  #2783602 24-Sep-2021 14:12
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What happens if you disable IPv6 on the new notebook?


potscrubber

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  #2783631 24-Sep-2021 15:19
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RunningMan:

 

What happens if you disable IPv6 on the new notebook?

 

 

I will try that in an hour when she goes out for a walk ☺️

 

I do know that currently, the notebook dock NIC has the status of: IPv6 Connectivity: No network access (due to IPv6 being disable for the home network).  I don't understand most of the options on this page. v6 is over my head!

 

 

 

 

 


potscrubber

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  #2783632 24-Sep-2021 15:19
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Something else I just realised I need to try swapping out the dock NIC for the ethernet dongle NIC it also came with.  That would further narrow it down between the machine or the NIC.  One step at a time though... if I solve this without knowing what the cause was I will definitely self harm!  🚑


potscrubber

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  #2783801 24-Sep-2021 18:06
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RunningMan:

 

What happens if you disable IPv6 on the new notebook?

 

 

 

 

disabled IPv6, rebooted - no change

 

swapped out cable (again) - no change

 

substituted Ethernet dongle (different NIC) - no fault, so definitely caused by the dock's NIC.

 

It's a Lenovo USB-C dock, with a Realtek NIC in it.  I guess I should try disabling any form of power management on it?

 

There are also the drivers settings (pics 3 & 4).  I already tried changing the very last option WOL & SHutdown Link Speed - no change

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


RunningMan
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  #2783905 24-Sep-2021 20:16
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Checked realtek for up to date drivers?


jamesrt
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  #2783944 24-Sep-2021 22:42
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I had a USB-C hub thing with HDMI, RJ45 & USB-A connectors that started taking my home LAN down intermittently - presumably death by network storm, in my case.

Turns out it was just faulty; and got replaced under warranty. Weird stuff happens sometimes with faulty hardware.

You say you've tried a different USB ethernet & fault went away - sounds like your first USB hub is also faulty and needs replacing.


potscrubber

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  #2784120 25-Sep-2021 12:57
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Thanks everyone for your suggestions.  I updated everything possible, though I'm fairly sure most items were already up to date.  There were a couple of "Lenovo System" driver updates under Windows updates that didn't give any detail.  I also changed a couple of settings in BIOS and the driver.  I hate changing multiple things at a time but fault checking this takes 15 min each cycle by the time the notebook is put to sleep, the router loses PPPoE, rewake notebook, wait for PPP to come back etc.

 

Anyhow, in updating the sh***y dock drivers (dock firmware update also has a widely reported failure), although the NIC is Realtek, the driver is Lenovo USB Ethernet.  Searching on "lenovo dock kills the network" I finally came across similar experiences, most significantly in this thread.  Although it's a TB3 dock OP there are also USB-C dock and even Apple users there report same and similar problems.  They also went through long process of narrowing down the source of the problem!

 

I'll keep trying a few changes to see if I can get this $300 dock to work properly.  Will report back if I find a solution.

 

Thanks again.


Inphinity
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  #2784191 25-Sep-2021 15:20
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I'm not that familiar with some of the fritz features, but does disabling UPnP on the friztbox help? 


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