Drop-outs followed by total connection failure

[TrashForma]

A while ago I started experiencing slowed speeds and frequent drop-outs late at night and in the early morning – say, from about 3 AM onwards. Power-cycling the modem would sometimes restore the connection, but it would soon drop out again. The modem was always disconnected when I woke up, and I had to power cycle the modem to get it to connect, which again indicates that the connection had been lost during the night or in the early morning. I assumed the problem was with the ISP, because the drop-outs always occurred around the same time. More recently, the drop-outs became more frequent and started happening during the day. I thought I might as well try resetting my modem to the default settings and re-entering the settings supplied by TPG. I was briefly able to re-connect after doing this, but now my modem won't connect to the phone line, let alone the internet, and I can't access the modem settings in my browser. I can't understand why this should have happened simply because I reset the modem to the factory settings and re-entered the standard TPG settings. I tried using a borrowed modem; I was able to connect to the phone line and the LAN via Ethernet, but I still couldn't get online. This is all very confusing. I should add that I don't know anything about internet connectivity and don't understand what modem settings mean. I tried sending an email to technical support, but got the usual Dear John letter telling me to power cycle my modem, which is obviously not going to help in this situation.

The modem is a Billion BiPAC 7700N R2. I'm currently using a prehistoric computer running Windows Vista, which I'm soon to have replaced. The plan I'm on is ADSL2+ with Home Phone Bundle. I'm using prepaid broadband while this problem is ongoing, but I'd obviously prefer not to have to do that for too much longer.

[Anonymous]

Hi @TrashForma,

Welcome to the community!

Resetting the modem/router will erase the configured settings of the modem. Therefore, you need to reconfigure the modem's settings to work.

If tried to use a borrowed modem/router you still need to reconfigure it's settings for the internet to work.

I would love to help. I'd like to know what brand and model number of your modem/router (Supplied by TPG)

I'll have it checked.

[TrashForma]

Thanks for your reply. After I reset the router, I re-entered the settings supplied by TPG (https://www.tpg.com.au/support/generalsetting.php ). I was briefly able to reconnect, but I soon lost my connection, and now the router won't connect to the phone line or the Local Area Network, so I'm no longer able to access the router configuration settings. Only the power light and LAN light are on. The DSL light is off. The Windows Network and Sharing Centre shows "limited connectivity". Windows suggests getting new IP settings or resetting the LAN network adapter, but neither has any effect.

I don't have a TPG supplied modem/router, unfortunately; the router I have is a Billion BiPAC 7700N R2. When I signed up with TPG, I already had my own router. When that one started playing up, I bought the Billion because that brand has a very good reputation, and since then my connection had been great with virtually no problems, until I started experiencing drop-outs and slowed speeds a few weeks ago.

The modem I borrowed was one supplied by Telstra Bigpond. I was able to connect to the phone line and the LAN and could access the configuration page in my browser, at least intermittently (neither of which I can do with the Billion). I entered my TPG account details, but couldn't connect. I had trouble accessing the configuration page because it kept loading slowly and would often show as text only, which made the controls inaccessible.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the details @TrashForma. I'd like to check this further kindly, PM me your account details (username/customer ID or contact number associated with the account).

Regards,

[Anonymous]

Hi @TrashForma,

Thanks for sending me your details. I'd like to arrange a call from one of our Technicians for further test and assessment.
 

Kindly, PM me your best contact number and preferred time today.

Regards,

[orbistat]

Hi TrashForma,

 The fact that you have problems accessing the config page of two different routers is something you could need to sort before tech support can look at the WAN side, to me it sounds like a classic ip conflict, as you've been connecting devices to different routers there's a chance that 2 devices have been assigned the same ip address and they are fighting each other for authentication, try switching off ALL other cable connected devices and turning off WiFi on ALL mobile devices that have ever been connected to either of the 2 routers you have there. I'm intersted to see what happens.

[TrashForma]

Yes, I wondered if technical support could be of much help so long as the config page remains inaccessible. I don't have any other devices connected via cable and the only wireless devices I have are an IPhone and an IPod.(The Bigpond modem was just one I borrowed for a day after the problem had already developed, to see if I could connect with different modem/router). I turned off Wi-Fi on both (and turned them off altogether, for good measure), to no avail. Then I had the idea to connect the Billion modem/router to this Macintosh laptop I have lying around. In the Network window, I get the message, "Ethernet has a self-assigned IP address and will not be able to connect to the internet", with the IP being 169.254.253.128. I tried some fixes I found on the web but without success. I don't know if that sheds any light on what's going on here.

[orbistat]

It sounds like the mac's firewall has been corrupted, it's a common thing, I had that recently on a powerbook and did this to fix it, go to /Macintosh HD/Library/Preferences/ and delete the file com.apple.alf.plist. try a reboot whilst being connected to the billion and it will rebuild it's rules and should be given an ip by the router then.

You'll get some requests from apps for permission etc whilst booting, so agree to these and let it do it's thing, you should be good to go.

[TrashForma]

 Thanks, but that was one of the solutions I already tried.