Adsl line reconnecting randomly?

Recently installed :-
openwrt-21.02.1-lantiq-xrx200-bt_homehub-v5a-squashfs-sysupgrade
on a plusnet bt5A clone with NowTV (Sky) as the ISP.
It works very well but seems to drop the adsl line randomly. I have looked at the system and kernel logs but I do not understand them well enough to work out the issue. Prior to this with the supplied router it would never reconnect over a period of years.

Any help much appreciated.
Best Regards
dataguy

Extract from system log where it reconnected this morning :-

Thu Jan  6 01:20:54 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[2718]: DHCPDISCOVER(br-lan) f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Thu Jan  6 01:20:54 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[2718]: DHCPOFFER(br-lan) 192.168.1.140 f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:44:40 2022 daemon.notice netifd: Interface 'wan6' is now up
Fri Jan  7 09:44:40 2022 user.notice firewall: Reloading firewall due to ifup of wan6 (dsl0.101)
Fri Jan  7 09:44:42 2022 user.info adblock-4.1.3[3542]: report directory '/tmp/adblock-Report' created
Fri Jan  7 09:44:42 2022 user.info adblock-4.1.3[3542]: adblock instance started ::: action: start, priority: 0, pid: 3542
Fri Jan  7 09:44:49 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[2718]: DHCPDISCOVER(br-lan) f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:44:49 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[2718]: DHCPOFFER(br-lan) 192.168.1.140 f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:44:49 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[2718]: DHCPDISCOVER(br-lan) f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:44:49 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[2718]: DHCPOFFER(br-lan) 192.168.1.140 f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:45:00 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[2718]: DHCPDISCOVER(br-lan) f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:45:00 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[2718]: DHCPOFFER(br-lan) 192.168.1.140 f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:45:03 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[2718]: exiting on receipt of SIGTERM
Fri Jan  7 09:45:04 2022 user.notice dnsmasq: DNS rebinding protection is active, will discard upstream RFC1918 responses!
Fri Jan  7 09:45:04 2022 user.notice dnsmasq: Allowing 127.0.0.0/8 responses
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[3904]: Connected to system UBus
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[3904]: started, version 2.85 cachesize 150
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[3904]: DNS service limited to local subnets
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[3904]: compile time options: IPv6 GNU-getopt no-DBus UBus no-i18n no-IDN DHCP no-DHCPv6 no-Lua TFTP no-conntrack no-ipset no-auth no-cryptohash no-DNSSEC no-ID loop-detect inotify dumpfile
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[3904]: UBus support enabled: connected to system bus
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCP, IP range 192.168.1.4 -- 192.168.1.153, lease time 12h
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[3904]: using only locally-known addresses for domain test
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[3904]: using only locally-known addresses for domain onion
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[3904]: using only locally-known addresses for domain localhost
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[3904]: using only locally-known addresses for domain local
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[3904]: using only locally-known addresses for domain invalid
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[3904]: using only locally-known addresses for domain bind
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[3904]: using nameserver 208.67.220.220#53
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[3904]: using nameserver 8.8.8.8#53
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[3904]: using only locally-known addresses for domain lan
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[3904]: reading /tmp/resolv.conf.d/resolv.conf.auto
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[3904]: using only locally-known addresses for domain test
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[3904]: using only locally-known addresses for domain onion
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[3904]: using only locally-known addresses for domain localhost
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[3904]: using only locally-known addresses for domain local
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[3904]: using only locally-known addresses for domain invalid
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[3904]: using only locally-known addresses for domain bind
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[3904]: using nameserver 208.67.220.220#53
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[3904]: using nameserver 8.8.8.8#53
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[3904]: using only locally-known addresses for domain lan
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[3904]: using nameserver 8.8.8.8#53
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[3904]: using nameserver 208.67.220.220#53
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[3904]: read /etc/hosts - 4 addresses
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[3904]: read /tmp/hosts/odhcpd - 0 addresses
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq[3904]: read /tmp/hosts/dhcp.cfg01411c - 2 addresses
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: read /etc/ethers - 0 addresses
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info hostapd: wlan0: STA a4:d9:90:84:68:59 IEEE 802.11: authenticated
Fri Jan  7 09:45:09 2022 daemon.info hostapd: wlan0: STA a4:d9:90:84:68:59 IEEE 802.11: associated (aid 2)
Fri Jan  7 09:45:10 2022 daemon.notice hostapd: wlan0: AP-STA-CONNECTED a4:d9:90:84:68:59
Fri Jan  7 09:45:10 2022 daemon.info hostapd: wlan0: STA a4:d9:90:84:68:59 WPA: pairwise key handshake completed (RSN)
Fri Jan  7 09:45:10 2022 user.info adblock-4.1.3[3542]: blocklist with overall 47653 blocked domains loaded successfully (BT Home Hub 5A, OpenWrt 21.02.1 r16325-88151b8303)
Fri Jan  7 09:45:17 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPDISCOVER(br-lan) f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:45:17 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPOFFER(br-lan) 192.168.1.139 f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:45:20 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPDISCOVER(br-lan) a4:d9:90:84:68:59
Fri Jan  7 09:45:20 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPOFFER(br-lan) 192.168.1.44 a4:d9:90:84:68:59
Fri Jan  7 09:45:20 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPDISCOVER(br-lan) a4:d9:90:84:68:59
Fri Jan  7 09:45:20 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPOFFER(br-lan) 192.168.1.44 a4:d9:90:84:68:59
Fri Jan  7 09:45:20 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPDISCOVER(br-lan) a4:d9:90:84:68:59
Fri Jan  7 09:45:20 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPOFFER(br-lan) 192.168.1.44 a4:d9:90:84:68:59
Fri Jan  7 09:45:20 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPDISCOVER(br-lan) a4:d9:90:84:68:59
Fri Jan  7 09:45:20 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPOFFER(br-lan) 192.168.1.44 a4:d9:90:84:68:59
Fri Jan  7 09:45:20 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPDISCOVER(br-lan) a4:d9:90:84:68:59
Fri Jan  7 09:45:20 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPOFFER(br-lan) 192.168.1.44 a4:d9:90:84:68:59
Fri Jan  7 09:45:20 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPDISCOVER(br-lan) a4:d9:90:84:68:59
Fri Jan  7 09:45:20 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPOFFER(br-lan) 192.168.1.44 a4:d9:90:84:68:59
Fri Jan  7 09:45:20 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPDISCOVER(br-lan) a4:d9:90:84:68:59
Fri Jan  7 09:45:20 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPOFFER(br-lan) 192.168.1.44 a4:d9:90:84:68:59
Fri Jan  7 09:45:20 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPDISCOVER(br-lan) f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:45:20 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPOFFER(br-lan) 192.168.1.139 f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:45:20 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPDISCOVER(br-lan) a4:d9:90:84:68:59
Fri Jan  7 09:45:20 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPOFFER(br-lan) 192.168.1.44 a4:d9:90:84:68:59
Fri Jan  7 09:45:20 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPREQUEST(br-lan) 192.168.1.44 a4:d9:90:84:68:59
Fri Jan  7 09:45:20 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPACK(br-lan) 192.168.1.44 a4:d9:90:84:68:59 Martin-s-Galaxy-A50
Fri Jan  7 09:45:28 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPDISCOVER(br-lan) f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:45:28 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPOFFER(br-lan) 192.168.1.139 f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:45:32 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPDISCOVER(br-lan) f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:45:32 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPOFFER(br-lan) 192.168.1.139 f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:45:42 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPDISCOVER(br-lan) f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:45:42 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPOFFER(br-lan) 192.168.1.139 f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:45:48 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPDISCOVER(br-lan) f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:45:48 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPOFFER(br-lan) 192.168.1.139 f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:45:56 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPDISCOVER(br-lan) f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:45:56 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPOFFER(br-lan) 192.168.1.139 f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:46:00 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPDISCOVER(br-lan) f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:46:00 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPOFFER(br-lan) 192.168.1.139 f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:46:10 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPDISCOVER(br-lan) f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:46:10 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPOFFER(br-lan) 192.168.1.139 f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:46:14 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPDISCOVER(br-lan) f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:46:14 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPOFFER(br-lan) 192.168.1.139 f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:46:27 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPDISCOVER(br-lan) f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:46:27 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPOFFER(br-lan) 192.168.1.139 f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:46:28 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPDISCOVER(br-lan) f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:46:28 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPOFFER(br-lan) 192.168.1.139 f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:46:28 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPREQUEST(br-lan) 192.168.1.139 f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 09:46:28 2022 daemon.info dnsmasq-dhcp[3904]: DHCPACK(br-lan) 192.168.1.139 f4:a9:97:14:49:e8
Fri Jan  7 10:14:35 2022 daemon.notice netifd: wan (3254): udhcpc: sending renew to 2.127.238.48
Fri Jan  7 10:14:35 2022 daemon.notice netifd: wan (3254): udhcpc: lease of 90.211.149.163 obtained, lease time 3600
Fri Jan  7 10:14:48 2022 daemon.err uhttpd[1801]: luci: accepted login on / for root from 192.168.1.7

What are your DSL stats?

Is it the DSL line going down, or the internet connection to NOW going down?

What is Line Uptime reported in LuCI -> Status -> Overview?

How does it compare to Uptime reported in LuCI -> Network -> Interfaces for 'WAN' interface?

Thx bill888
The times appear about the same. The status overall time is 1m longer than the lan time which is 4 min longer than the dsl uptime.

I think from that it looks like a system crash? Any further thoughts much appreciated. Perhaps a psu issue ?

Best regards

dataguy

HH5a uptime is also displayed in Status -> Overview below where it reports the time.
0uptime

Date of manufacture of the power adapter is a 4 digit number engraved into the plastic case in the format YYWW for Year and Week number respectively. The barrel plug on end of lead is non-standard size used only by Home Hub5/Hub One and current Smart Hubs.

You could try turning off wifi which may lessen power consumption if a failing power adapter is suspected.

Perhaps unplug HH5a, factory reset, disable DSL_Control (see section 9.9 of installation guide), and just leave it standing and check the HH5a Uptime in Status->Overview. See what happens.

Hi
checked out the psu. Very odd to see a connector like that. I don't think that's the cause.
Tried to find :-

could you post a link to it ?

I could run it overnight like this and check it out.

Many thx
dataguy

Installation guide for HH5a
https://openwrt.ebilan.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=266

@bill888
It looks like disable DSL_Control did the job. I'm at 5Hrs uptime and no resets, normally I would expect at least 2 or 3. It all seems very solid :slightly_smiling_face:.

Thanks for the manual link. It's very useful, I wish I had come across it before.

Virtual beer only I'm afraid :beer:

Best Regards

dataguy

Note with DSL_Control disabled, you won't be able to use the DSL port for connecting to NOW broadband ?

Ok looks like I screwed up - sort of.
I stopped and disabled DSL_Control, but I did not reboot the router, which was quite happily working without resets. The blue B on the front was out but that's not important to me.
When I did reset the broadband was not available.

So, is it possible that just clicking the stop service and disable buttons without reset could fix it. It looks that way from where I'm sitting.

I'll leave it to soak for 24Hrs and see if the fault recurs. Then I'll reset and reenable DSL_Control and see if the resets recur.

Unless you have any other suggestions ?

Best Regards

dataguy

There probably isn't many HH5a owners using ADSL and have NOW.

If it is a new bug in 21.02, only other suggestion is downgrade to older releases which have been around for more than two years to see if it makes any difference.

@bill888
I got hold of a different HH5a, (first was a plusnet one). Having programmed it and set it up it shows exactly the same behaviour, 4 reboots today so far. It is quicker to recover using the high speed bootloader, but its not the result I expected.
The nowtv supplied modem never dropped the line so I can only conclude its the software.
I also couldn't find a way to set the wan mac address.
Such a pity. The reasons for using the HH5a are because it has 4 lan ports and the wifi range is excellent, and on both bands.
Best Regards
dataguy
ps if you have a link to the earlier software it may be worth a go.

did you try older version of openwrt eg. 18.06.4 ?

Also, are you using MER or PPPoA ?

Nowtv is a sky owned isp.
AFAIK it uses dhcp client.
interface is dsl0.101

Best Regards
dataguy

@bill888
Using Luci I installed :
openwrt-18.06.4-lantiq-xrx200-bt_homehub-v5a-squashfs-sysupgrade
(from https://archive.openwrt.org/releases/18.06.4/targets/lantiq/xrx200/)
which has broken my lan access, https://192.168.1.1. Also, no wifi ?? The broadband appears to have connected successfully though I can only surmise from the broadband light behaviour.

I opted to keep my settings during the upgrade (it seemed like a good idea at the time) which may have caused the issue.

I'll attempt to reinstall the earlier image once I get serial reconnected.

Best Regards

Dataguy

It has, 21.02.x comes with https support, earlier versions didn't.

Shouldn't be necessary, ssh access probably works - and https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/troubleshooting/failsafe_and_factory_reset should suffice either way.

1 Like

Factory reset (section 8) using Reset button, and set up from scratch. No need for serial.

https://openwrt.ebilan.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=266

May or may not be related to disconnects, but Sky use MER, also known as DHCP option 61. Did you set it up correctly (ie. ClientID)?

Sky ADSL can also use PPPoA in the past using old 'o2' signin - it may work with NOW.

See section 7.5 of the guide for both fibre and ADSL settings.

(If you wish to try PPPoA, don't forget to delete the ATM bridge. See 7.20 and 9.4)

https://openwrt.ebilan.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=266

@bill888
I was unable to fix the router with any sort of reset. ,although I could get the busybox prompt it would not recognise the usb which scuppered me for uploading. I finally resorted to serial with tftp which sorted it.
I redid the client id using the MAC address. The now TV router reported the WAN mac as a different number to that on the label on the outside of the case. So when I did the client ID this time I used the number on the case.

This seems to have fixed the issue. Its hard to be sure because of the intermittent nature of the resets.

Thank you very much for your assistance. I have made a small donation.

Best Regards

dataguy

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