Why Does Tot Internet Connection Fail Every Day At Same Time?

[sambai]

I am with TOT and every day at precisely the same time, I lose my Internet connection while it gets a new IP address.

This is an annoying problem because it can interrupt something I'm doing (Internet banking, VOIP telephone call, downloading a large file).

I believe from speaking with a friend on "True" Internet that he has the same problem, but I am not certain without looking at it.

Conversely, my friend's Internet connection with Eclipse Internet in UK has been up for a whole month (in fact it very rarely ever goes down). I know because I'm looking at his router's page now. It has been on the same PPP connection for 30 days.

Why does Thai Internet have to close the connection and get a new IP address every 24 hours? If I re-start my router for example at 23:00 hrs, it will lose it's IP address and get a new one at 23:00 hrs the following day. Why?

Here is my log...

5/21/2010 9:3:45> SNMP TRAP 2: link down

5/21/2010 9:3:47> ppp_ready: ch:8047d950, iface:803cc500

5/21/2010 9:3:47> SNMP TRAP 3: link up

5/21/2010 9:3:47> Accept() fail

5/21/2010 9:3:47> Accept() fail

Is there a way of stopping this from happening? I presume it's some senseless reason, right? Why does Thai Internet give us the very least we need, without anything that might be the slightest bit useful to us, such as a fixed IP address. Am I being unreasonable in expecting this?

[beano2274]

When I worked in London, we always had 2 fault happening on a daily basis.

The first fault happened at around 5.00 in the evening, after weeks of tests it was found that the equipment was placed on a desk with fibre running out the back, when the person finished work they closed the draw tightly, this actually kinked the fibre, setting alarms off in the NOC.

The second fault happened every morning at the same time around 7.30, a major fibre would alarm, again after tracing the fibre and things, it was found that the local train left the station at a certain time and hit the point where the fibre and train track crossed at 7.30ish.

Maybe you could ask people who live near you if they have the same problem, might be a stupid little fault or something else, get TOT to check the line at the time you see the fault occuring

[Pib]

Check for settings in your modem and/or router that deal with "client lease" time which determines how long the same IP is maintained before another one is selected. But even with a 1 hour, 24 hour, or longer "lease" time setting you shouldn't lose your connection while a new IP address is being provided. The problem could also be with your computer network dirver(s), hard wired and/or wireless. I had this problem about two years ago with one of my laptops and it turned out to be an updated wireless driver I got that just didn't want to work properly with my laptop's wireless chip; I reverted to the earlier version and everything worked again. I would also recommend you ensure your ADSL modem is set for an "Always On/Nailed Up Connection" versus a connection on demand or someother periodic connection. I'm also with TOT and have never had this problem (so far).

Edited May 21, 2010 by Pib

[sambai]

Check for settings in your modem and/or router that deal with "client lease" time which determines how long the same IP is maintained before another one is selected. But even with a 1 hour, 24 hour, or longer "lease" time setting you shouldn't lose your connection while a new IP address is being provided.

Well, you're correct in referring to the client lease time, in that it is a DHCP matter, but my router (routers) are not responsible for setting that parameter. Yes, I do have it set to "always on" - I am certain it is TOT causing this to happen.

Let me explain slightly better, because you mention about a possible problem with a computer. Basically this is a problem with the ADSL which happens when I have no computers connected at all - just the router powered on. I sometimes leave the router for many days when I am not at home, with no other equipment connected.

When I subsequently return back home and look at my router's logs, it will have renewed its lease and got a new IP at exactly the same time every day (almost to the second). What is happening is that TOT drops the line when the lease expires instead of keeping it up. I know that in networking terms, when a DHCP lease expires, it is not normal to issue a new IP address. Instead the same IP address is renewed and the lease extended for the next period. That I believe is the norm, certainly the way my own systems have operated.

I ran my Netgear DG834 router in UK before moving to this country - I kept the same IP address for weeks on end. I've got the same router here and it works ok. I also use a TOT-provided router, made my Billion. I have in the past few days started using their free router, just to see if this is better. The settings are very straightforward - there's very little to get wrong. I do however get the same sympton (lease expires every day and disconnects) in the same way irrespective of which router I use.

I believe this happens with everyone's domestic TOT connection, though I do not know if other ISPs do this and my feeling is that they do it because they do not want anyone to have the same IP address for a long period. This would be too useful, wouldn't it! ;-)

Out of interest, can you confirm if your connection changes IP address every 24 hours? Thanks for your help.

[sambai]

I have carried out a further test and proved that another TOT user has this issue too. As you can see from this log, the router's link went down at 16:24:24 on 20th May, and then again at 16:24:32 on 21st May...

5/20/2010 16:24:24> SNMP TRAP 2: link down

5/20/2010 16:24:28> ppp_ready: ch:80507c8c, iface:80454a9c

5/20/2010 16:24:28> SNMP TRAP 3: link up

5/20/2010 16:24:28> Accept() fail

5/20/2010 16:24:28> Accept() fail

5/21/2010 16:24:32> SNMP TRAP 2: link down

5/21/2010 16:24:37> ppp_ready: ch:80507c8c, iface:80454a9c

5/21/2010 16:24:37> SNMP TRAP 3: link up

5/21/2010 16:24:37> Accept() fail

5/21/2010 16:24:37> Accept() fail

I have just been reading technical information about leases on IP addresses, at this page...

http://www.tcpipguide.com/free/t_DHCPLease...llocationRe.htm

... it says "Renewal: After a certain portion of the lease time has expired, the client will attempt to contact the server that initially granted the lease, to renew the lease so it can keep using its IP address."

So clearly, when a lease expires, it is usual practice to keep the IP address. Not so with TOT, it seems.

[Pib]

Out of interest, can you confirm if your connection changes IP address every 24 hours? Thanks for your help.

Here's all of the System Log info from my billion modem which seems to indicate a brief down period/IP reset/IP renewal/something which lasted for 5 seconds. But I didn't notice it and I was online during the link down period. I do go to enough website that also seem to like to also tell you what your current IP address is and the address always seems different by a few digits but I'm not experiencing any problems due to the different IP. Hope below helps.

5/21/2010 15:39:49> SNMP TRAP 2: link down

5/21/2010 15:39:54> ppp_ready: ch:80531fec, iface:8047ceec

5/21/2010 15:39:54> SNMP TRAP 3: link up

5/21/2010 15:39:54> Accept() fail

5/21/2010 15:39:54> Accept() fail

5/22/2010 8:15:3> sending request to NTP server(fd251)

5/22/2010 8:15:4> received from NTP server(fd252)

5/22/2010 8:11:37> Adjust time to 4bf791b9

5/22/2010 8:11:37> adjtime task pause 1 day

[Pib]

Here's what my modem shows as the total connection time, which seems to be pretty close to lining up with the 5 sec link down time mentioned in my above post.

PPP connection time : 0d:18h:07m:11s

I will check the modem again this afternoon around 4pm to see if the PPP Connection Time reset/link down to restart the 24 hour point. I'll also compare IP's now and at 4pm.

[lopburi3]

As far as I know all providers cut circuit on non dedicated lines every 24 hours - I know that has always been policy for True and they clearly state this in there agreements. It not doing this dead circuits would be tying up needed IP address forever.

[Pib]

Here's what my modem shows as the total connection time, which seems to be pretty close to lining up with the 5 sec link down time mentioned in my above post.

PPP connection time : 0d:18h:07m:11s

I will check the modem again this afternoon around 4pm to see if the PPP Connection Time reset/link down to restart the 24 hour point. I'll also compare IP's now and at 4pm.

Checked my modem system log at 4:02pm (see below) and the link had went down/IP reset exactly 24 hours from my earlier log entry shown above. But the 8 second link down didn't affect my browsing (I didn't even notice it and I was on CNN at the time). My IP address did change from a 118 series to a 125 series and my PPP Connecton time reset. This appears to be ops normal check the system does on everyone's line as mentioned by lopburi3. Appears your modem/router is not able to automatically resync/renegotiate a connection when this daily check occurs.

5/22/2010 15:39:53> SNMP TRAP 2: link down

5/22/2010 15:40:1> ppp_ready: ch:80531fec, iface:8047ceec

5/22/2010 15:40:1> SNMP TRAP 3: link up

5/22/2010 15:40:1> Accept() fail

5/22/2010 15:40:1> Accept() fail

[MaxLee]

So,... there ARE people with the same problem as me, ever since the curfew...

Every time from around 7.30 pm to now 10.00 pm the internet is kinda inaccessible???

Could it be because of the curfew?

[sambai]

This appears to be ops normal check the system does on everyone's line as mentioned by lopburi3. Appears your modem/router is not able to automatically resync/renegotiate a connection when this daily check occurs.

Thanks for going to the effort of looking into this. No, I see exactly what's happening now. My modem is reconnecting, exactly the same as yours.

Your findings are no different to mine but when using a Web browser or e-mail, this problem is unlikely to ever be noticeable because they are client/server processes which send and receive data only when you ask them to. If the connection has been interrupted since the last "click" for example, it won't normally make any difference to them - they will simply connect to the server regardless. The change of IP address will make no difference in most cases.

However, I use the Internet for a number of other things besides browsing. I transfer files that take quite a while and I also make Voice Over IP calls. When either of these services are being used, the brief interruption to the ADSL connection *will* make a difference, because those processes involve the transmission of a continuous stream of data.

Anyway, it looks as though it's something I have to live with - and I know it isn't normal practice in UK. But, I know that's a fruitless comparison to make! Thanks again, Pib.

[sambai]

As far as I know all providers cut circuit on non dedicated lines every 24 hours - I know that has always been policy for True and they clearly state this in there agreements. It not doing this dead circuits would be tying up needed IP address forever.

They do not need to do this lopburi3, it's just the way the Thailand ISPs are choosing to implement their systems.

Actually what they're doing is forcing a new IP address for the customer's connection every 1,440 minutes, so that in itself is not helping them to clean-up unused IP addresses at all.

There's no reason why an IP address cannot be held until the connection is eventually lost naturally and then released back to the unused pool as soon as the connection is lost.

But it's interesting that you've found something in True's agreement to this effect though. I'd like to see that because with TOT all I got three years ago was a scribbled piece of paper with my user id. and password written down! It was all very heath-robinson, but it worked first time.

I'm beginning to see the way these service providers here work. They make no concession for individual use of the Internet and expect all customers to need the Internet for the same purpose. They then offer the SME package if the customer's requirements are above the standard service, even though the customer's requirements might be simple enough and regarded as such in other countries.

Thanks for the input though.

Edited May 22, 2010 by sambai

[autonomous_unit]

It is every 24 hours, since the connection was established. You can change this to a more convenient time simply by rebooting your modem/router at a time of your choosing, and it will recycle itself every 24 hours at that time (until the next real disruption like TOT outage or power outage).

When this would bother me at home, I'd try to remember to reset the router either right before bed on a night I was awake later than usual, or first thing on waking some morning that I had to get up earlier than usual.

[sambai]

Every time from around 7.30 pm to now 10.00 pm the internet is kinda inaccessible???

Could it be because of the curfew?

No, it isn't because of the curfew, MaxLee. The problem is that precisely every 24 hours, the ADSL connection is momentarily lost and renewed with a fresh IP address.

What I have done with mine, is to wait until my usual bed time and reboot my router then. This then means that I'm unlikely to see the disconnection problem during my usual busy hours during the day because it will be 24 hours before the next reset.

The problem here however, is that if there's a natural disconnection, for other technical reasons (which happen from time to time), the 24-hour reset period then changes beyond your control!

[sambai]

It is every 24 hours, since the connection was established. You can change this to a more convenient time simply by rebooting your modem/router at a time of your choosing

Yes, sure. Our posts have just crossed it seems. I just replied to MaxLee's about this and mentioned the very same solution! I've been doing this myself as a workaround.

It's frustrating though!

[Pib]

It is every 24 hours, since the connection was established. You can change this to a more convenient time simply by rebooting your modem/router at a time of your choosing, and it will recycle itself every 24 hours at that time (until the next real disruption like TOT outage or power outage).

When this would bother me at home, I'd try to remember to reset the router either right before bed on a night I was awake later than usual, or first thing on waking some morning that I had to get up earlier than usual.

Good point. Since mine is reset at 3:40pm, when I could easily be using the computer or maybe doing a VOIP call, I'll going to reset my modem for the O-dark early hours. However, since I routinely see approx 1 second power outages around once a week/usually on weekend (power company throwing switches I guess) and I expect I don't notice some that probably occur while sleeping which resets my modem, I will just need to check my modem periodically to see what time it plans to automatically disconnect/reconnect and determine if that is not the best time based on my computer/VOIP use. If it's convenient for me this afternoon around 3:40pm (next secheduled auto IP reset/check), I will make a VOIP call to the States during the IP reset to see if the brief 5-10 second modem IP reset makes a difference on my VOIP call such as causing a dead period of silence, total disconnect, etc...this will be nice to know info if I ever have to make a call where I can't afford an interruption/disconnect....and it will be one less reason to blame my VOIP provider for a dropped call.

Edited May 23, 2010 by Pib

[Pib]

But it's interesting that you've found something in True's agreement to this effect though. I'd like to see that because with TOT all I got three years ago was a scribbled piece of paper with my user id. and password written down! It was all very heath-robinson, but it worked first time.

I'm beginning to see the way these service providers here work. They make no concession for individual use of the Internet and expect all customers to need the Internet for the same purpose. They then offer the SME package if the customer's requirements are above the standard service, even though the customer's requirements might be simple enough and regarded as such in other countries.

Thanks for the input though.

Here is a link to the TOT generic contract from their web site. The ones I signed were not this long, but I expect they were tailored for the promotion of the day, but I do expect the fine print on the back of the form (all in Thai) I signed (well, actually the Thai wife signed it) basically said the same thing as reflected in this generic contract. Starting around page 4 is where they talk broadband/DSL terms. Didn't see anything about IP reset but we all know now it's apparently standard practice for TOT, True, and probably many others ISPs in Thailand.

http://www.toteservice.com/download/12_App...%20Services.pdf

[Pib]

So,... there ARE people with the same problem as me, ever since the curfew...

Every time from around 7.30 pm to now 10.00 pm the internet is kinda inaccessible???

Could it be because of the curfew?

Hard telling...could be...but 7:30pm to 10pm is probably the heaviest use time for home users as day workers, school kids, etc., are pounding on the keyboard and all farangs are checking out Thaivisa.com.

Since DSL is a shared network, maybe in your particular area the TOT circuits are just being overloaded. For me, the internet access in the afternoon is still there but I can tell the snappiness of browsing is slower and if I do a speedtest the results are also slower. But bottomline is it's working good enough for my basic needs and I never loss access to the protests/riots.

I could me wrong but due to recent events I also expect more people than ever are logging-on in the evening to get news/curfew/info updates, send/receive email, etc. And I expect there are still plenty of damaged internet lines/equipment in central Bangkok which is causing some of the slowdown country-wide. Hopefully over the coming days/by the end of next week, there will be more repairs to get the internet access back to normal (not to imply normal is the desired access/speed).

[h90]

So,... there ARE people with the same problem as me, ever since the curfew...

Every time from around 7.30 pm to now 10.00 pm the internet is kinda inaccessible???

Could it be because of the curfew?

here the internet is also slightly slower since the red actions. I guess the filtering of the government is causing that' But it isn't bad and surely acceptable if it prevents any terrorism.

[h90]

So,... there ARE people with the same problem as me, ever since the curfew...

Every time from around 7.30 pm to now 10.00 pm the internet is kinda inaccessible???

Could it be because of the curfew?

Hard telling...could be...but 7:30pm to 10pm is probably the heaviest use time for home users as day workers, school kids, etc., are pounding on the keyboard and all farangs are checking out Thaivisa.com.

Since DSL is a shared network, maybe in your particular area the TOT circuits are just being overloaded. For me, the internet access in the afternoon is still there but I can tell the snappiness of browsing is slower and if I do a speedtest the results are also slower. But bottomline is it's working good enough for my basic needs and I never loss access to the protests/riots.

I could me wrong but due to recent events I also expect more people than ever are logging-on in the evening to get news/curfew/info updates, send/receive email, etc. And I expect there are still plenty of damaged internet lines/equipment in central Bangkok which is causing some of the slowdown country-wide. Hopefully over the coming days/by the end of next week, there will be more repairs to get the internet access back to normal (not to imply normal is the desired access/speed).

The neighbor is waking up and starting the torrent....maybe