Cable Internet service drops every month

[Dave Eyes]

My daughter is living in an apartment in Budapest. She has Internet and TV that comes via a cable into the apartment. The cable splits and goes into the TV and into a Cable Modem. The modem is then connected to a WiFi router.
I visited in November and all appeared to be working but there was no internet service . After much messing around I (randomly) changed the Macc address of the router to be the same as the modem. This didn't seem to have any impact so I then changed it back... at this point the internet service started working again...
I couldn't explain why this had caused the internet service to start up again but I documented the process I had gone though in case she needed it in my absence.
Since then my daughter has had the same problem each month and has carried out the process herself of changing the router address to be the same as the modem and then changing it back - each time this has resulted in the Internet Service starting up again.
Can anyone make sense of this and maybe suggest how we can effect a permanent solution?
Many thanks
Dave

 

[holdum323]

Hi. I have changed my Mac address when I wanted my ISP to provide me a different IP address. I don't see how changing the Mac address and then changing it back would solve the problem. Once I change my Mac address, I restart my PC and my ISP assigns me a different IP address. Some times removing the power from the modem will cause the ISP to assign a new IP address. You may get better answers from members latter. Thanks for joining Techspot
https://www.lifewire.com/change-your-ip-address-818150

 

[DelJo63]

The ISP has implemented Hardware Provisioning to enable access. This means when the account was first created, the MAC of the first device was used as the 'customer identification'. When that Mac can not be found, the service is disabled.

Connect everything and then call the ISP support and tell them you have a new router and they need to enable it as the primary device.

 

[Dave Eyes]

Thanks for the reply. When I changed the Mac address of the wifi router to be the same as the modem it seemed to kick the modem off the network (as you cant have devices with the same mac address on the same network). When I then changed the mac address back, the modem came back on the network - so I was wondering if there was something at the ISP end that 'woke up' and recognised the modem again and so started up Internet Services.....?

 

[Dave Eyes]

Thanks jobeard - that doesnt quite fit with the observed symptoms. We dont actually lose the network - we just lose Internet connectivity - I can still ping the gateway etc and the cable TV still works (if that means anything). Talking to the ISP may be a problem as my hungarian isnt that good....

 

[DelJo63]

Yes, you can't have two identical MACs. That's forcing the ISP side to drop off and when corrected, it says, let's try this again.

Give'm a call. (but don't discuss what you have done).

 

[DelJo63]

Thanks jobeard - that doesnt quite fit with the observed symptoms. We dont actually lose the network - we just lose Internet connectivity - I can still ping the gateway etc and the cable TV still works (if that means anything). Talking to the ISP may be a problem as my hungarian isnt that good....

Can you ping google.com?

 

[Dave Eyes]

Can you ping google.com?

No I dont think that worked - no DNS available.

 

[DelJo63]

Then you DON'T have Internet access. Internet service will be different than Cable TV and you can have one w/o the other.

Basic Internet tests are:

1. ping 8.8.8.8
   
2. ping google.com

On (1), you use an IP address to prove tcp transport to any endpoint.

On (2), you're now using a compound test to (a) resolve a domain name into its IP address and the (b) follow thru to access that endpoint.

 

[Dave Eyes]

Then you DON'T have Internet access. Internet service will be different than Cable TV and you can have one w/o the other.

Basic Internet tests are:

1. ping 8.8.8.8
   
2. ping google.com

On (1), you use an IP address to prove tcp transport to any endpoint.

On (2), you're now using a compound test to (a) resolve a domain name into its IP address and the (b) follow thru to access that endpoint.

Yes thats what I said - We have network connectivity but no internet service. Knocking the modem off the network by the mac address change seems to reestablish the internet service somehow.. my question is why is that and how can I resolve this permanently..

 

[DelJo63]

The ISP needs to enable (condition) your service to the MAC of the router. Until that's corrected, you're stuck.

 

[Dave Eyes]

The ISP needs to enable (condition) your service to the MAC of the router. Until that's corrected, you're stuck.

Why is that? The Internet Service resumes automatically once we reset the MAC address on the router so it doesnt clash with the router. It then works perfectly for a week or so before we have to repeat the whole process....

 

[holdum323]

I'll bow out, but would just like to add this. Your ISP doesn't like you changing your Mac address all the time. If you do it to often, they could stop your service permently. I can change one letter or # and fool my ISP, but they don't like being fooled. I have done this maybe 3 times, but I don't do it every week. Not being from Budapest, I really don't know why this is happening. My suggestion would to be to contact your ISP and explain your issue to them. I'm sure they would work with you.Let us know how things go for you!(y)

 

[holdum323]

Hi! Sorry I just thought of some thing that I'm curios about. I'm wondering if your IP address is really changing. Write down your IP address when it's working, and then see if it changed after you used your method of getting the internet to connect .
PS Also Welcome to Techspot. Log on often.

 

[DelJo63]

Why is that? The Internet Service resumes automatically once we reset the MAC address on the router so it doesnt clash with the router. It then works perfectly for a week or so before we have to repeat the whole process....

I am surprised it doesn't fail every other day per your description. The ISP is reducing its workload by having a longer period of MAC verification.

I was wondering, did you JUST ADD the router and then these symptoms started to occur? If so we can fix it within the router using the Masquerade feature.