New setup, incredibly unreliable

[#1]

Log which may or may not indicate an issue (I restarted the router and then went to sort dinner, and by the time that was done I noticed I had internet.)

[#2]

Neither do I at this point in time.

I'm always happy to do some testing

[#3]

@HermanToothrot Thanks for that log - unfortunately it looks like there is an issue, lots of 'No Carrier' and other disturbing entries. I don't recall seeing another FTTP log, so don't know whether the absence of any proper 'connection' details is significant.

[#4]

@HermanToothrot 

Next time you want to power the hub down try first closing the connection in an orderly manner. Before switching off the power, log in to the Hub Advanced settings. On the Broadband page you will see a highlighted field labelled 'Disconnect'. Once disconnected power off.

When switching back on you will probably need to reverse the process and select 'Connect'..

[#5]

@HermanToothrot thanks for posting the log. Just analyzing it, I think it does show the problem, will post back later

[#6]

Ok so analysing the log...

--------------------------------

Restart at 21:09 03-07

WAN interface is going up & down every few seconds
It doesnt even get chance to try and start the PPP connection until around 21:12
It then seems to repeated go through PPPoE discovery , LCP connection and CHAP authentication.
However as soon as connection is established it gets an LCP termination, shuts down the PPP and retries.
This continues until 21:17 , at which point it manages to establish a PPP connection!

I'm not sure I like these 'PPP IPV6CP Send Configuration Request' though ? I thought IPV6 WAN was disabled on the Hub 2 ?

Everything then seems relatively ok , apart from a few DoS reports, until the Power reset at around 18:57 04-Jul
We then go into the repeated PPPoE discovery , LCP connection and CHAP authentication, followed by the LCP terminate , until 19:03 at which point PPP is established.

As regards the 'WAN connection WAN1_INTERNET_ETH disconnected.[ERROR_NO_CARRIER]' ,
I'm unsure whether they are actually an Ethernet link fault or a consequence of the LCP drop or vice-versa ?
However , the restart at 21:09 03-July shows the link up & down without any PPPoE discovery attempts, which could  indicate a physical link problem.

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@HermanToothrot do you see any change in the ONT PON and LOS lights when this is happening ?

Do you have a spare cable you could use to replace the one from the ONT to the Hub 2 ?

Do you have a spare router we could try , to eliminate or prove the Hub 2 as the issue ?

@Baldrick1 s suggestion of disconnecting cleanly before dropping power is a useful one. That would help see if the connection problems are due to a stale LCP session. Although TBH it shouldn't be necessary, the system should cope with it, I've never had to disconnect before power off.

[#7]

@MisterW 

00:04:27, 01 Oct. Reset button pressed - full factory reset

There was a factory reset at around 21:10:08, 03 Jul. System up

21:10:08, 03 Jul. System start Button press (PowerButton)

21:10:27, 03 Jul. WAN connection WAN1_INTERNET_ETH disconnected.[ERROR_NO_CARRIER]

21:16:58, 03 Jul. WAN connection WAN1_INTERNET_ETH disconnected.[ERROR_NO_CARRIER]

18:56:48, 04 Jul. System start Button press (PowerButton)

18:57:06, 04 Jul. WAN connection WAN1_INTERNET_ETH disconnected.[ERROR_NO_CARRIER

19:02:32, 04 Jul. WAN connection WAN1_INTERNET_ETH disconnected.[ERROR_NO_CARRIER]

During the disconnect times I see  "PPP CHAP Receive success : authentication successful"

For what ever reason the PPP links does not start, I believe the ERROR_NO_CARRIER messages are the cause of the PPP link downs

The Hub reports the PPP link down and then reports why.

My DSL Hub two reports  PPP IPV6CP Send Configuration Request

@HermanToothrot 

I would be interested why at 18:56:48, 04 Jul. System start Button press (PowerButton) was thought necessary as this was the starting event for the reluctance to connect.

Is the WAN cable to ONT fully secure, can you try a replacement cable?

EDIT: You are using a direct wired connection between the ONT and Hub WAN port?

[#8]

@Dan_the_Van 

For what ever reason the PPP links does not start, I believe the ERROR_NO_CARRIER messages are the cause of the PPP link downs

The Hub reports the PPP link down and then reports why.

Agreed, but does 'No carrier' refer to the physical ethernet link or is it the fact that the LCP link has dropped (as a result of the LCP terminate being received ?

[#9]

@MisterW 

From what I have observed with my DSL connection,  a DSL link down results in loss of carrier for FTTP I would expect a WAN disconnect would result in the same.

I would say the the loss of carrier is the cause I've seen PPP link down with out loss of carrier during openreach overnight maintenance.

Problem is working out what causes the loss of carrier, is it level 1 (hardware/cable) or level 2 (data link) as either could be the cause.

[#10]

@MisterW 

do you see any change in the ONT PON and LOS lights when this is happening ?

No changes to those 2 ONT lights when router is going through this disconnect/reconnect cycle

Do you have a spare cable you could use to replace the one from the ONT to the Hub 2 ?

Is it a standard cat5e cable or cat6? I've got a spare cat5e cable I can use.

Do you have a spare router we could try , to eliminate or prove the Hub 2 as the issue ?

I can "borrow" a Draytek (2862 I think) from work and try that. Anything different I need to do when configuring it do you know?

@Dan_the_Van 

I would be interested why at 18:56:48, 04 Jul. System start Button press (PowerButton) was thought necessary as this was the starting event for the reluctance to connect.

The power on event was because I turned it on after turning it off so that if there were issues with its connection I was hoping the event log would display these so I could post it here. The previous day's power down event occurred due to needing to move power sockets and cables around (still getting used to this new place I'm in).

Is the WAN cable to ONT fully secure, can you try a replacement cable?

It is secure but I can try another (same question as per MisterW's, standard cat5e ethernet?)

You are using a direct wired connection between the ONT and Hub WAN port?

Yes, there's no other switches or devices in between, if that's what you're asking. The ONT and hub are located literally feet away from eachother, so no need for anything in between or a randomly long cable, and the cable goes direct from wan2 to the ONT port. The cable (currently) is as provided in the box, by the way.

[#11]

@HermanToothrot 

Is it a standard cat5e cable or cat6? I've got a spare cat5e cable I can use.

cat5e should be fine.

I can "borrow" a Draytek (2862 I think) from work and try that. Anything different I need to do when configuring it do you know?

You would just need to configure the PPPoE connection with your Plusnet credentials.

Let's try the cable first and see if that makes any difference.

[#12]

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@HermanToothrot wrote:

I can "borrow" a Draytek (2862 I think) from work and try that.

@HermanToothrot 

Until you can get hold of an alternative router, a more immediate thing you could try would be to directly connect the Ethernet connector of a laptop or PC directly to the ONT, and then in the network settings change the connection type to PPPoE and add your Plusnet username and password.

This would demonstrate whether the PC's connection to the internet is stable or not - if it isn't then your problem is something upstream, perhaps a faulty ONT, dodgy fibre, or other issue beyond your control.

.

[#13]

Probably irrelevant but I throw it in for consideration:

Back when I was playing with Smarthubs I once had a hub that did strange things when switching on. I found that the answer was to use the switch on the back of the hub to power it on, rather than just plugging in the power brick. I put this down to the rise in the power supply voltage from the power brick being longer than assumed pre-conditioning timeout of the hub firmware, leading to firmware configuration errors.

[#14]

@Baldrick1 

The Hub usually reports in the event log the cause of the reboot, in the case we see 18:56:48, 04 Jul. System start Button press (PowerButton)

For a power failure power up  I would expect to see hh:mm:ss, dd mmm. System up but no reason afterwards

Examples
03:41:46, 01 Jul. Booting firmware v0.10.00.04201-PN (Thu Apr 20 16:54:19 2023)
03:41:44, 01 Jul. Upgrade and system start TR069
03:41:43, 01 Jul. System up

11:00:14, 23 Nov. System start Button press (ResetButton)
11:00:14, 23 Nov. System up
00:01:43, 01 Oct. Reset button pressed - full factory reset

[#15]

@Dan_the_Van 

I know that it's a long shot but my point is that if the hub boots in an unexpected way there's no knowing what would be reported.

It's just the leaving it for a time before working correctly made me think of residual voltage from the PSU holding memory in an unwanted state that's not reset on switch on which triggered my thought process.