Sonic.net / Actiontec GT701 modem configuration tip

[digitalbitstream]

Since I can't edit https://wiki.sonic.net/wiki/Actiontec_gt701_PPPoE, Here's a config tip for users of the Actiontec GT701.

I was getting unexplained web pages that would not load, loss of connection in gmail. Eventually it got bad.

Turns under "utilities" is a "system log" which had lots of:

Code: Select all

(GMT-08:00)15:51:37 Sat Aug 24 2013 syslog: failed dns request len=126,srcip=208.201.224.11, url=www.mp3mahal.in  
(GMT-08:00)15:51:37 Sat Aug 24 2013 syslog: failed dns request len=109,srcip=208.201.224.11, url=urls.py  
(GMT-08:00)16:03:59 Sat Aug 24 2013 udhcpc: Sending renew... 
(GMT-08:00)16:04:00 Sat Aug 24 2013 udhcpc: Sending renew... 
(GMT-08:00)16:04:01 Sat Aug 24 2013 udhcpc: Lease lost, entering init state 
(GMT-08:00)16:04:01 Sat Aug 24 2013 udhcpc: Sending discover... 
(GMT-08:00)16:04:01 Sat Aug 24 2013 udhcpc: Sending select for 50.0.95.31... 
(GMT-08:00)16:04:02 Sat Aug 24 2013 udhcpc: Lease of 50.0.95.31 obtained, lease time 300 

Sonic support said this was due to:

Basically, the initial DHCP lease is sent as a broadcast and your router accepts that. The one after that, 2.5 minutes later, will be sent out as a unicast DHCP lease. This unicast DHCP lease is being blocked by your router

Not seeing any way to adjust the firewall, I switched to a static IP address at https://members.sonic.net/connections/fusion/ip_setup/ and all is good again.

[jon]

Is your GT701D configured for transparent bridging? If so, I'm surprised it would even be using DHCP.

[digitalbitstream]

Configuring the GT701D for transparent bridging might also have solved the problem.
Sonic actually recommends the dual nat non-transparent setup... in my case it was handy because I can more easily read DSL line parameters when it is not bridged.