Help: WAN frequently disconnects, Verizon tech says nothing wrong

[EthanMoJunk]

I've been dealing with this issue for the past 2 months. I've called tech support numerous times, and I'm desperate to get this fixed with remote classes and remote work. If anyone can help, I'd really appreciate it.

I've had the Gigabit FIOS over the past few years. This only started happening a couple months ago. I would lose internet connection, and when I checked my router, WAN keeps disconnecting. A technician stopped by twice. They've replaced the router and the ONT inside the house. I've also tried with my own non-Verizon router.

I got tired of tech supporting wanting me to try a new router, so I even tried it by connecting the ethernet cable from the ONT directly into my computer. I recorded a video of it here:

Directly connected to computer: https://youtu.be/tK1lSGCAZPs

Connected to my router: https://youtu.be/MU7mzSRsy58

This used to happen daily, but after they replaced the ONT, the frequency has dropped to maybe once every 2-3 days. Whenever I call tech support, they run diagnostics and then tell me nothing is wrong. Is this normal? Do I have to reset my ONT every few days?

[gs0b]

Welcome to the forums.  You're chatting with other users here.

ONTs do not normally need to be reset.  They will run for months or years without issue.  Mine has been running for several months.  It could have been running longer, but a power outage lasted longer than my battery backup.

When the outages occur, check the lights on the ONT.  If the NTWK or MGMT lights are out, that indicates an issue with the Verizon system.

If you've been calling them, try their social media support team.  They are often more helpful than the phone support people.  Tweet @VerizonSupport or post over in https://www.dslreports.com/forum/vzdirect.  Both go the the same team, choose based on your preference for tweets or posts.

[Cang_Household]

Can you use a packet capturer to capture the DHCP transaction between your host (computer or router is fine) and Verizon layer 3? I think something may be wrong with the DHCP transaction. Does your router's log distinguish between layer 3 (network) disconnection and layer 2 (link) disconnection? From the video you posted, it looks like a layer 2 problem too. Do you have more than one devices connect to the ONT at the same time?

[EthanMoJunk]

Just a quick update in case this helps anyone else searching for this in the future.  I asked around in other places and someone suggested that it may be a problem with the ethernet cable from my ONT to my router (or computer). 

So today, I replaced the ethernet cable. It turned out that my ONT was actually outside my house and not inside like I thought, and the hole that was drilled outside in the brick was not big enough to fit the RJ45 connector. I had to cut the ethernet cable and then splice it together again after fitting it through the hole. It was a bit more than I bargained for, but fingers crossed!

I can't be certain if this is the fix until I wait 2-3 days, but internet is connected and speedtest is good. One thing I noticed is that under "System Monitoring, WAN DHCP Log", I see lot less stuff there. I used to see entires like "eth1: carrier lost" but now I only see log messages like below. Hopefully this has fixed it for good. But I will report back here in a few days with an update.

Apr 6 00:15:38 2021dhcpcd[20510]info<134>eth1: IPv4 renew in 3600 seconds, rebind in 6300 seconds, expire in 7200 seconds

[Cang_Household]

Do you have plain Cat5e cable that is not terminated? If so, you can just fish the cable through the wall first,  then terminate the ends with RJ-45 connectors. I won't recommend you to simply splice a pair of cut wire together. It would create more issues down the road, such as moisture and etc...

[EthanMoJunk]

Very disappointed to say that swapping the ethernet cable didn't fix it. Started getting disconnects again this morning. Keep getting this in the logs repeatedly when it happens:

Apr 6 13:30:02 2021 local0.info<134> dhcpcd[13544]: eth1: deleting default route via 74.xx.xx.1
Apr 6 13:30:02 2021 local0.info<134> dhcpcd[13544]: eth1: deleting route to 74.xx.xx.0/24
Apr 6 13:30:02 2021 local0.info<134> dhcpcd[13544]: eth1: carrier lost
Apr 6 13:29:55 2021 local0.info<134> dhcpcd[13544]: eth1: adding default route via 74.xx.xx.1
Apr 6 13:29:55 2021 local0.info<134> dhcpcd[13544]: eth1: adding route to 74.xx.xx.0/24
Apr 6 13:29:55 2021 local0.info<134> dhcpcd[13544]: eth1: IPv4 renew in 3600 seconds, rebind in 6300 seconds, expire in 7200 seconds
Apr 6 13:29:55 2021 local0.info<134> dhcpcd[13544]: eth1: leased 74.xx.xx.225 for 7200 seconds
Apr 6 13:29:51 2021 local0.info<134> dhcpcd[13544]: eth1: rebinding lease of 74.xx.xx.225
Apr 6 13:29:50 2021 local0.info<134> dhcpcd[13544]: eth1: IAID 00:00:00:01
Apr 6 13:29:50 2021 local0.info<134> dhcpcd[13544]: eth1: IAID 47:3b:55:a3
Apr 6 13:29:50 2021 local0.info<134> dhcpcd[13544]: DUID 00:01:00:01:23:06:e6:cd:20:c0:47:3b:55:a2
Apr 6 13:29:50 2021 local0.info<134> dhcpcd[13544]: dhcpcd-7.0.2 starting
Apr 6 13:29:46 2021 local0.info<134> dhcpcd[20510]: dhcpcd exited
Apr 6 13:29:46 2021 local0.info<134> dhcpcd[20510]: eth1: stopping interface
Apr 6 13:29:46 2021 local0.info<134> dhcpcd[20510]: received SIGTERM, stopping

[gs0b]

I agree with Cang_Household - splicing Ethernet cables is not a good idea.  That's why professionals don't splice cables, they terminate them with proper jacks or connectors, then patch them together.  It is still possible you have a cable issue.  The repeated "carrier lost" messages in the logs are consistent with a marginal cable.

Check the status lights on the ONT during an outage.  They will give you and us clues as to what is going on.

[EthanMoJunk]

Ok. I will try again with a properly terminated cable. 

[Cang_Household]

When the disconnection happens, does the NTWK and/or MGMT light go out on the ONT? If so, I believe something wrong is with the upstream wiring. You might need to request a line tech, as opposed to a field tech, to check the wiring from the central office.

[EthanMoJunk]

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@Cang_Household wrote:

When the disconnection happens, does the NTWK and/or MGMT light go out on the ONT? If so, I believe something wrong is with the upstream wiring. You might need to request a line tech, as opposed to a field tech, to check the wiring from the central office.

---

Thanks @Cang_Household! I will check the ONT when my internet goes out again. 

Is there a special way to have Verizon send out a line tech? Will Verizon send out a line tech if I simply request it?  So far, they've only been rebooting my router and something on their end every time I called. I've called about a dozen times now, and I wasn't offered to have a line tech come out yet.

I ordered an ethernet cable and some RJ45 connectors so that I can do it right. I'll try it one more time with the new cable, and if it doesn't work, I'll try calling tech support and request a line tech.

If that doesn't work, I'll have to just switch to Cox. I''m not looking forward to switching because Cox is subpar compared to FIOS, but oh well.

[gs0b]

Don't call, as their phone support isn't that good.  Use chat or contact their social media support team for better results.  The social media support team is often much better than their other support channels.  Use the instructions I provided above.

Getting the status of the ONT lights during an outage is key, as that will clearly show if the problem is in the Verizon network or the in-home network.

[EthanMoJunk]

Got you. I'll post in https://www.dslreports.com/forum/vzdirect after getting the status of ONT lights.

Thank you so much.

[gs0b]

Also, the more I re-read your description and watch your videos, the more this looks like a bad cable from the ONT to the router/computer.  Can you run a temporary one, say through a window or door?  That would help rule in/out Verizon network issues.

[EthanMoJunk]

---

@gs0b wrote:

Also, the more I re-read your description and watch your videos, the more this looks like a bad cable from the ONT to the router/computer.  Can you run a temporary one, say through a window or door?  That would help rule in/out Verizon network issues.

---

Thanks @gs0b. That's a great idea.  I should have tried this before splicing the cable to fit it through the hole in the wall... and I'm fresh out of ethernet cables that are long enough to reach my router/computer from the ONT.

I have to wait until Thursday for the new cable to arrive.

[EthanMoJunk]

I rummaged through storage and managed to find an ethernet cable just long enough, so I tried your suggestion @gs0b .  I don't think it's the cable. I started getting disconnects again and also recorded a video of the ONT status lights. 

I did notice a pattern though. It's fine during the evening til the early morning -- it was fine from 8 PM or so til about 10 AM this morning. And once it starts happening, it seems to happen whenever the WAN DHCP lease is renewed.  I had to call the automated system to reset things on Verizon's end to get it connected to the internet again.

I'll go ahead try posting in that dslreports forum. Hopefully this can be resolved 😞

ONT status lights: https://youtu.be/ijJYFIK5Zcg

[Cang_Household]

Ok. The video is indicative of unstable connection to the upper stream OLT in the central office. You do need to request a line tech to check the GPON line from the central office.

[EthanMoJunk]

I am a bit confused.  So I posted all the details on dslreports.com/forum/vzdirect with logs, videos etc and received a reply from Verizon telling me to message them on Facebook.  I got in touch via Facebook as instructed but the tech person on Facebook had no idea about the post on dslreports.com and didn't have access to the post. Is this normally how this works?

After copy/pasting all the information from the dslreports.com post I made,  the rep ran the standard tests and told me the following:

"I do apologize that you are having this experience. I am currently showing you have the G1100 router connected which is good because we can monitor the network with that however without showing any drops we would not be able to troubleshoot the issue as it is not appearing at the moment."

(As luck would have it, few minutes after I got off the chat my internet disconnected again.)

Which is the same thing I've been told the past couple of months. After some desperate pleas, I requested the GPON line be checked as suggested by @Cang_Household. So hopefully something will come out of it. 

If that doesn't work, I asked if the ONT can be replaced and was told that it can only be replaced if the ONT fails, but the tests are all successful and was informed that it may not be replaced by the tech.  Fingers crossed that the GPON line check shows something actionable. 

[gs0b]

I haven't used VZ Direct in a while.  Last time I used it, they directed me to a private chat channel and then collected all the relevant info.  While it doesn't surprise me that they didn't look at all the details posted on VZDirect, it does surprise me that they vectored you to FaceBook.  Maybe they aren't as good as they used to be.

The lights on the ONT clearly point to a Verizon network issue.  Maybe the ONT, maybe the fiber, maybe the OLT.  But they have to figure it out.  The only think you can try is re-seating the fiber connection, but it's unlikely to change anything.

You may want to escalate this to the executive relations:

https://www.verizon.com/about/our-company/leader/contact/916673

This team will get involved when normal support channels fail.

[EthanMoJunk]

Thank you and everyone else who have taken the time to help me. Truly and sincerely, thank you.

Yes, that is the frustrating part. It is a little embarrassing having to qualify myself, but I am not a complete luddite and make a living as an engineering director for a major organization.  So I was sure that I could help track down the problem quicker with the diagnostics data I collected.  But it is more than a little disheartening when they do not even look at it and just run the same suite of tests. 

I shared the video of the ONT status lights with the rep on Facebook, but I don't think the rep even bothered to look at it. The very next question I received after I shared the video was the rep asking me what the status lights show on the ONT...

I have taken your advice and sent a message to the executive relations team. I really do not want to move to Cox with their monthly 1.25 TB data cap. I go over that regularly and it's a whopping $50 extra to tack on an unlimited plan.

[EthanMoJunk]

Quick update: 

Someone from executive relations reached out to me this morning.  The rep on the phone said he has read this entire thread and is sending someone over today to address the issue for good. Keeping my hope alive!

Thanks again, everyone.

[Cang_Household]

Thank you for your patience. Since a tech is coming to you today, it is likely a line tech. Line techs are typically stationed in the nearest central office. Please keep us updated here.