Verizon G1100 Gateway Router on FIOS reporting "Eth1: carrier lost"

I really only have a couple of questions.

Is it unusual to see the message "Eth1: carrier lost" in the WAN DHCP log of a Verizon G1100 Gateway Router?

Under normal circumstances, should a message like this appear at all in the WAN DHCP log?

Here's why I am asking.

Recently I swapped out our ActionTec router for a new G1100 Gateway Router to get a strong wireless signal in the house. I should mention here that I've worked in IT for over 30 years initially as a programmer and then later as a system integrator.

Since I switched routers, we've been having problems related to losing our FIOS WAN connection roughly every two to four days. On the front of the router, there are two lights and the top one turns red which indicates a lost WAN connection. When I log into the router, up in the top left corner, the WAN status shows Disconnected.

Networking inside the house appears to be normal. We have network file shares between computers in the house the work fine and I can log into different computers using Remote Desktop.

Naturally, the first suspect is inside wiring. Our house is wired with CAT5. Even though these connections have been working fine with FIOS for over ten years, Verizon Support asked that we disconnect all of the hardwired connections. We did that and ran with only wireless network connections, but the WAN disconnect continued to occur.

Support asked me to do a hard reset on the router. Did that and the problem continued to occur.

Support has shipped us two new routers. No change.

I am tempted to put back the old ActionTec router and see if the problem reoccurs, but I have not done that yet.

It is hard for me to believe that we've received several bad, new Gateway Routers. I don't think that the router is the problem.

All of the router logs look normal except for one, repeated entry in the WAN DHCP log. It reports "Eth1: carrier lost." Sometimes this entry appears when we lose connectivity and sometimes is doesn't. New neighbors moved in next door around the same time that I switched routers and they changed the service to the house from Comcast to FIOS.

My feeling is that a message about "carrier lost" might appear in the log once in a while (like once a month), but it should be appearing several times a day as it does in my case.

I've had a very difficult time convincing Verizon Support that the problem probably resides outside of my house. They want to keep shipping me new routers and do things like run only wireless network connections.

I think that Verizon finally accepts that my problem is external to my house. Right now, I'm just curious to know if seeing a message about "carrier lost" several times a day is a clear indicator of an external connection issue.

Accepted answers

smith6612

Sounds like a bum cable to me. If you can, try to connect another cable between the ONT and the router to see if you continue to lose the Ethernet carrier. If the problems stop, should you be familiar with terminating cabling I would try re-terminating the cable between the router and the ONT at both ends, just to rule out any issues developed over time.

Generally, using Ethernet instead of Coaxial will give you slightly lower latency and will allow you to more easily swap out your router in the event it breaks. I'd try to stick with that if you don't mind doing some troubleshooting.

All comments

gs0b

Welcome to the forums. You're talking to other customers here.

What is the WAN connection between the ONT and router?

wepeccant1

It's Ethernet. My understanding is that it can be coax or Ethernet. In my case it is Ethernet..

It is understood that I'm communicating with other customers. I was just hoping that somebody here might comment that they've seen the same message in their router logs and they haven't had any problems.

Or perhaps someone might say that they are having a similar experience.

Thanks for the reply.

BTW, the Verizon tech who came out yesterday morning (Sunday) said that he thought that the Ethernet connector on the ONT (a box outside the house???) was the problem. He cleaned it up or he may have swapped out the ONT. I'm not positive what he did. But then we lost the WAN connection again this afternoon. I've very disappointed. Not in the onsite tech. I was just so hopeful that he had solved the problem.

gs0b

I've not seen such a message on my G1100. I've had it for about a month. The WAN log is empty.

I'm using coax for the WAN connection. If you were using coax I was going to suggest you might have problems there. But, we can rule that out. So, now we must question the Ethernet link. Have you tried replacing the Ethernet cable? If it's a long run, can you try moving the route closer to the ONT and use a shorter cable?

Another suggestion is to call Verizon and swtich the WAN link to coax. If that works, then you know you have a problem with the Ethernet cable or the ONT's Ethernet port.

Troubleshoot, troubleshoot, troubleshoot....

Good Luck.

smith6612

burns29

One of my customers was shipped a new G1100 and he installed it himself. The internet has been intermittent ever since.THe network has a firewall behind the router so the old router was set to a single DMZ address. I went and isolated the unit to my laptop and turned wifi off. Started streaming video and the connection would drop after 4 to 6 minutes. The log was showing WAN IGMP disconnections. I let verizon know that it looks like a problem staying connected to their IGMP Gateway. It is only for Multicast but they use it to manage devices. Verizon said they would send a new router. We are waiting for it to arrive. A tech came onsite and verified the COAX to the router. Nothing else in the network changed.

[Deleted User]

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