Weird issue with internet

I am not a pro openwrt user so my info may not be complete.

my issue is that recently it seems like my internet becomes disconnected (I get ping timeouts) for 10 seconds.

my internet setup is like this:

ISP —> TD-LTE radio —> connected via a ethernet cable to a poe adaptor —> ethernet to router/wifi-AP —> my laptop

if I want to see what my issue is I should first make sure that I don’t on a wild goose chase.

I have blackouts in my city for sometimes but they were several month ago.

what should I do to see whose fault is this?

how do I check if it is ISP fault or my openwrt router?

btw why do I get new line after every enter when I am typing here?

Simply eliminate your router - connect your PC directly to your LTE device.

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I only have a laptop that I use in my room that has no Ethernet port.

is there any debug command for my to enable and watch when the issue happens what the log is?

Install watchcat on the router and configure it to "Run Script". Set some short monitoring interval, "host to check", etc.
Create your own simple script that only makes a log entry:

#!/bin/sh

logger -t watchcat "No response received"

Once the router detects a connection problem, you should get a log entry.
Next time you encounter a problem on your PC, check your router log for the same time period.

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what does that do for my issue?

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just now I think the issue happened again (I get server not found in firefox when it happens,I think )

so I checked openwrt log and I saw this (replaced the mac addresses):

Sun Oct 19 15:38:20 2025 user.notice nft-qos-monitor: ACTION=remove, MACADDR=odroidmacaddr, IPADDR=192.168.1.102, HOSTNAME=odroid
Sun Oct 19 15:38:21 2025 user.notice nft-qos-dynamic: ACTION=remove, MACADDR=odroidmacaddr, IPADDR=192.168.1.102, HOSTNAME=odroid
Sun Oct 19 15:38:24 2025 user.notice nft-qos-monitor: ACTION=remove, MACADDR=laptopmacaddr, IPADDR=192.168.1.101, HOSTNAME=laptop
Sun Oct 19 15:38:25 2025 user.notice nft-qos-dynamic: ACTION=remove, MACADDR=laptopmacaddr, IPADDR=192.168.1.101, HOSTNAME=laptop

the odroid device is connected via lan (the only lan execpt wan port) and laptop is connected via wifi. there are other devices on wifi connected to router but there are not in the log that is printed at the time of bug.

the other think is that QoS over Nftables is not enabled on my device and this log is the only thing that openwrt prints out when the issue happens (I think, because they I saw it twice now)

I will remove QoS over Nftables and check to see if I get the error again or was that log unrelated or related but not the cause just the symptom.

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Then you need to make sure FF is configured to use regular "system" DNS and your PC is using your OpenWrt router as a DNS server.
In order to see what's going on with the name resolution in OpenWrt you can enable logging in "DHCP and DNS" section in Luci.

I didn’t mean that is the issue.

I meant I cant check the issue to see it happen because it is random. but one the sysmptoms of the internet not working is that firefox giving that error which then I can go check openwrt log to see the log.

the issue is not relevant to firefox.

I get ping timeout to 8.8.8.8 and any other (even national IPs).

Then do the same through watchcat on the router as suggested earlier.
If you observe loss of upstream connectivity at regular intervals, it is likely due to periodic reconnection between your LTE modem and your carrier.

watchcat monitor ping on openwrt, correct?

so I can be sure that this issue is not a openwrt fault (hardware or software) and is the ISP fault?

because my ISP says they have no issue (which can be a lie).

Description:
Restart network interfaces or reboot if pings to hosts fail, or set up periodic reboots. Configured via UCI /etc/config/watchcat

Description:
LuCI Support for Watchcat

the isp own modem has web interface with ping ability.

I ran it from there and it has the timeouts there randomly too.

can you guys tell me if this is the case:

and watchcat:

Sun Oct 19 17:58:24 2025 daemon.info watchcat[6195]: Could not reach 8.8.8.8 via "wan" for "1" seconds. Running script after reaching "1" seconds
Sun Oct 19 17:58:24 2025 daemon.info watchcat[6195]: Running script "/etc/watchcat.user.sh" for network interface: "wan".
Sun Oct 19 17:58:24 2025 user.warn watchcat: cfg01e014: pingperiod cannot be greater than 1. Defaulted to 0 seconds (1/5 of period)
Sun Oct 19 17:58:34 2025 daemon.info watchcat[6195]: Could not reach 8.8.8.8 via "wan" for "10" seconds. Running script after reaching "1" seconds
Sun Oct 19 17:58:34 2025 daemon.info watchcat[6195]: Running script "/etc/watchcat.user.sh" for network interface: "wan".
Sun Oct 19 17:58:34 2025 user.warn watchcat: cfg01e014: pingperiod cannot be greater than 1. Defaulted to 0 seconds (1/5 of period)
Sun Oct 19 17:58:49 2025 daemon.info watchcat[6195]: Could not reach 8.8.8.8 via "wan" for "1" seconds. Running script after reaching "1" seconds
Sun Oct 19 17:58:49 2025 daemon.info watchcat[6195]: Running script "/etc/watchcat.user.sh" for network interface: "wan".
Sun Oct 19 17:58:49 2025 user.warn watchcat: cfg01e014: pingperiod cannot be greater than 1. Defaulted to 0 seconds (1/5 of period)

the timeout just comes and then goes away.

and this is the ping part on modem that I think it happens:

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: seq=140 ttl=110 time=58.460 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: seq=141 ttl=110 time=109.401 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: seq=142 ttl=110 time=733.870 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: seq=143 ttl=110 time=19252.032 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: seq=144 ttl=110 time=18668.973 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: seq=145 ttl=110 time=18262.820 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: seq=146 ttl=110 time=17673.607 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: seq=147 ttl=110 time=16971.372 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: seq=148 ttl=110 time=16389.218 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: seq=149 ttl=110 time=15591.600 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: seq=150 ttl=110 time=14725.292 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: seq=162 ttl=110 time=2800.300 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: seq=163 ttl=110 time=1811.312 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: seq=164 ttl=110 time=1292.063 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: seq=165 ttl=110 time=605.081 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: seq=166 ttl=110 time=1115.588 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: seq=167 ttl=110 time=1089.109 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: seq=168 ttl=110 time=1095.096 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: seq=169 ttl=110 time=958.735 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: seq=170 ttl=110 time=754.846 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: seq=171 ttl=110 time=959.357 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: seq=172 ttl=110 time=1032.688 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: seq=175 ttl=110 time=1093.014 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: seq=176 ttl=110 time=923.104 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: seq=177 ttl=110 time=240.576 ms

257 packets transmitted, 242 packets received, 5% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max = 42.240/803.847/19252.032 ms

so 15 packets gone and 12 of them are one behind another.

Am I correct to think that it is my internet and not my own devices?

another question is that can my own download upload choke the modem like this? my opinion is that it cant do it because modem itself the source of my inernet.

another one while I was writing this

Sun Oct 19 18:06:16 2025 daemon.info watchcat[6195]: Could not reach 8.8.8.8 via "wan" for "3" seconds. Running script after reaching "1" seconds
Sun Oct 19 18:06:16 2025 daemon.info watchcat[6195]: Running script "/etc/watchcat.user.sh" for network interface: "wan".
Sun Oct 19 18:06:16 2025 user.warn watchcat: cfg01e014: pingperiod cannot be greater than 1. Defaulted to 0 seconds (1/5 of period)
Sun Oct 19 18:06:26 2025 daemon.info watchcat[6195]: Could not reach 8.8.8.8 via "wan" for "10" seconds. Running script after reaching "1" seconds
Sun Oct 19 18:06:26 2025 daemon.info watchcat[6195]: Running script "/etc/watchcat.user.sh" for network interface: "wan".
Sun Oct 19 18:06:26 2025 user.warn watchcat: cfg01e014: pingperiod cannot be greater than 1. Defaulted to 0 seconds (1/5 of period)

Yes, it can be assumed that way.

@reza You could double check the network cables from the wall outlet to your modem and from your modem to your router. Just unplug them and put them back in. In case you have spare cables try to exchange them and see if that helps.

the modem is power via POE (the same ehternet cable that brings data from modem to openwrt router).

the modem is not restarted. so I don’t think it is power related.

I have manually restart modem many time to see if it fixes it (from its web interface not cable removal)

so I don’t think it is hardware issue.

I think it is internet (ISP interanet) . Internet in Iran is getting the fiber upgrade but it has a long way to go and ISPs are shitty as f…k and very unresponsive. thought if internet users are to be believed shitty ISP behavior is universal (or at least shared between iran and usa).

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