Readynas interrupting internet connection on VDSL

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NemoNL wrote:

 

I'm back at the start again unfortunately. Is there a way to see what kind of traffic there is between the modem and the NAS? And what might it want to do to break up the internet connection.

 

 

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There is an audit facility you could try (you'll find it on the system->logs page, as well as system->settings->services).  I don't think that will tell you much, but you should see the IP addresses of the destination.

With apps and upnp disabled, all there should be is NTP (time sync), and the NAS connecting to Netgear occasionally to look for hotfixes and availablity of firmware updates.  You can disable NTP (or change the time servers), but you can't disable the hotfix checks.

Have you engaged your ISP?

Is the NAS the only ethernet-connected device on your network?

I'll disable NTP and try to see what IP it is trying to reach using the audit facility.

I have tried to contact my ISP when this happened initially, their reaction was: hmm, I can't tell what's wrong, so it is probably something wrong with the DSL line. Let me make you a technician appointment.

Then I did some investigations which let me to conclude a connected powerline device was causing issues. At least the modem was clear in the error messages, stating that powerline devices can cause these issues. So I disconnected those and the issues went away, after which the ISP concluded the issue with the DSL line 'went away' and they canceled the technician. Which in my eyes was already unnecessary as I was 99.9% sure it was not an issue with the DSL line. So I am really not expecting any solid technical advice from my ISP unfortunately.

I am still talking with the modem provider (AVM) and they seem quite helpful. This weekend I will send them some logs of the modem in the error state (along with a full network map), perhaps they can give me some ideas what is going on.

The NAS is not the only ethernet connected device. From the modem I have a line going to the livingroom, where a switch is connected to a smart TV, a HUE hub and a sattelite box. And I have several WIFI devices connected (smart plugs and phones obviously). A second line is going from the modem to a second switch, where I have the NAS and a PC connected to. The PC is not permanently switched on.

I can try to replicate the disconnects with everything (but my laptop - need something to check and look at the error logs) disconnected.

One thing to note, is that between the modem and the second switch (connected to the NAS) is quite some length of cabling. The modem recognizes this only as a 100Mb connection, where it sees the connection to the living room switch as a gigabit connection.

I have yet to figure out, if it is indeed the length of the wiring, or perhaps wrong cabling used (though in that case also the other LAN connection should be 100Mb). Would it make sense to try the NAS on a gigabit connection, i.e. move it closer to the modem?

PS: thanks for your patience StephenB !!!

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NemoNL wrote:

 

I have yet to figure out, if it is indeed the length of the wiring, or perhaps wrong cabling used (though in that case also the other LAN connection should be 100Mb). Would it make sense to try the NAS on a gigabit connection, i.e. move it closer to the modem?

 

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The distance spec is 100m - likely longer than your cable run.

You do want at least CAT5e cable - if the cable is CAT5 you'd end up with 100 megabit.  A broken connection in the wire (or connector) could also end up negotiating fast ethernet.  You could also try a different switch port on both the AVM and the switch for that connection.

I think it does make sense to try moving the NAS - ideally connecting it directly to an AVM LAN port.  

On NTP - I'm assuming you are based in Europe.  If so, you could try reconfiguring the NTP servers used in the NAS to 0.europe.pool.ntp.org and 1.europe.pool.ntp.org.  That does no harm, and would give you lower latency for NTP than using the Netgear servers (making the time slightly more accurate).  That's configured using the device time settings wheel on the system->overview page.  There are other options here: https://www.pool.ntp.org/zone/europe

I believe the NAS update servers are hosted in the Amazon cloud.

One possibility is that your NAS was hacked somewhere along the way.  If you want to test that possibility, you can remove the disks from your NAS (labeling by slot), and do a fresh factory install on a single disk.  Whatever is on that disk will be deleted, so ideally it would be a scratch disk (and it shouldn't be part of your current array).  It's just temporary, so there is no need to worry about the hardware compatibility list.  If the problem disappears on a clean install, then you should back up the files, do a factory default, and set up the system again.

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StephenB wrote:

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With apps and upnp disabled, all there should be is NTP (time sync), and the NAS connecting to Netgear occasionally to look for hotfixes and availablity of firmware updates.  You can disable NTP (or change the time servers), but you can't disable the hotfix checks.

 

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Both of these services would use DNS of course.  If you are using DHCP, then the DNS server would be using whatever the ISP is providing the AVM.  I think it's unlikely to be related to DNS, but you could reconfigure the NAS to use Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) or Google (8.8.8.8) open DNS servers if you want to rule that out.

If the NAS is using a static address, then you should check the DNS server settings anyway (you don't want to be using the servers from your old ISP).

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StephenB wrote:

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NemoNL wrote:

 

I have yet to figure out, if it is indeed the length of the wiring, or perhaps wrong cabling used (though in that case also the other LAN connection should be 100Mb). Would it make sense to try the NAS on a gigabit connection, i.e. move it closer to the modem?

 

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The distance spec is 100m - likely longer than your cable run.

 

You do want at least CAT5e cable - if the cable is CAT5 you'd end up with 100 megabit.  A broken connection in the wire (or connector) could also end up negotiating fast ethernet.  You could also try a different switch port on both the AVM and the switch for that connection.

 

I think it does make sense to try moving the NAS - ideally connecting it directly to an AVM LAN port.  

 

I know it is Cat5e cable, it is the same cable running to the attic as it is to the living room and indeed should not run over 100m. I am pretty sure, the cables after this (to the switch and the NAS) are Cat5e as well, but will double check. I have tried a different port on the AVM (the same one that is telling me it is 1Gb to the living room) with the same Fast ethernet connection. So it must be the cabling or the switch. I'll do some testing on this later today.

On NTP - I'm assuming you are based in Europe.  If so, you could try reconfiguring the NTP servers used in the NAS to 0.europe.pool.ntp.org and 1.europe.pool.ntp.org.  That does no harm, and would give you lower latency for NTP than using the Netgear servers (making the time slightly more accurate).  That's configured using the device time settings wheel on the system->overview page.  There are other options here: https://www.pool.ntp.org/zone/europe

 

I believe the NAS update servers are hosted in the Amazon cloud.

 

Yeah, that makes sense at least. And indeed, Europe based. Will switch to these servers.

 

One possibility is that your NAS was hacked somewhere along the way.  If you want to test that possibility, you can remove the disks from your NAS (labeling by slot), and do a fresh factory install on a single disk.  Whatever is on that disk will be deleted, so ideally it would be a scratch disk (and it shouldn't be part of your current array).  It's just temporary, so there is no need to worry about the hardware compatibility list.  If the problem disappears on a clean install, then you should back up the files, do a factory default, and set up the system again.

 

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Hmmm, that would be worrying if that were the case. But I've got some spare disks laying around that I can test this theory with, should be easy enough.

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NemoNL wrote:

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I know it is Cat5e cable, it is the same cable running to the attic as it is to the living room and indeed should not run over 100m. I am pretty sure, the cables after this (to the switch and the NAS) are Cat5e as well, but will double check. I have tried a different port on the AVM (the same one that is telling me it is 1Gb to the living room) with the same Fast ethernet connection. So it must be the cabling or the switch. 

To expand on this a bit - fast ethernet only uses 4 wire pairs in the cable, gigabit uses all 8.  So if the cable or a connector is damaged, the gigabit autonegotiation often fails, and you end up using fast ethernet.

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StephenB wrote:

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NemoNL wrote:

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I know it is Cat5e cable, it is the same cable running to the attic as it is to the living room and indeed should not run over 100m. I am pretty sure, the cables after this (to the switch and the NAS) are Cat5e as well, but will double check. I have tried a different port on the AVM (the same one that is telling me it is 1Gb to the living room) with the same Fast ethernet connection. So it must be the cabling or the switch. 

To expand on this a bit - fast ethernet only uses 4 wire pairs in the cable, gigabit uses all 8.  So if the cable or a connector is damaged, the gigabit autonegotiation often fails, and you end up using fast ethernet.

 

 

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Thanks! I'll have a look at this as well while I am at and figure out where this problem is located.

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StephenB wrote:

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Both of these services would use DNS of course.  If you are using DHCP, then the DNS server would be using whatever the ISP is providing the AVM.  I think it's unlikely to be related to DNS, but you could reconfigure the NAS to use Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) or Google (8.8.8.8) open DNS servers if you want to rule that out.

 

If the NAS is using a static address, then you should check the DNS server settings anyway (you don't want to be using the servers from your old ISP).

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It is set-up to use DHCP, but making sure it is assigned the same IP by the modem. So this should not be an issue and as far as I could tell, the DNS servers were reassigned indeed.