Own router (pfSense) Internet going down every 2 hours

[capn783]

Hello everyone. I have an issue here that started around 8 pm last night and I am not really sure what to do here. Basically every 1-2 hours (its been 2 hours so far this morning) the WAN DHCP Gateway on pfSense is going offline and I am getting packet loss. The internet is down at this point. Now if I wait long enough it seems like it will eventually come back up (at least an hour but it has taken more). If I just disable the WAN interface on pfSense and then re-enable it, the internet comes back up and is good for another two hours. My setup is fairly simple. I have ethernet from the ONT ----> pfSense WAN Interface. The Verizon router is connected through its lan port to switch which uplinks to the pfSense. I followed this guide when I set everything up https://nguvu.org/pfsense/verizon/pfsense-verizon/. All the TV services work great and even the caller-id and remote DVR functinos are working. Now I looked at the DHCP logs and it seems like it is trying to renew DHCP every 3600 seconds. From what I have seen this morning, the first renewal goes through and it binds to the same IP it already has. However, when it goes to do it again an hour later, it keeps sending requests to the gateway but gets no response. Eventually it sends a request to 255.255.255.255 and gets a response from a gateway. This is what happens if I power cycle the ONT or Disable/Re-Enable the WAN interface on pfSense. I will post a small amount of logs from this morning below but I can post more if needed. Any idea what I should do here? This have been working fine for 2+ years now and all of sudden last night at 8 all hell broke loose. I haven't called Verizon yet but I may have to do that soon. It is just difficult to talk to them when you have your own router because sometime they don't want to help. Sorry for the long post. I apppreciate your help and time. Thank you. Dec 5 01:19:38 dhclient RENEW Dec 5 01:19:38 dhclient Creating resolv.conf Dec 5 03:19:39 dhclient EXPIRE Dec 5 03:19:39 dhclient Deleting old routes Dec 5 03:19:39 dhclient PREINIT Dec 5 03:19:42 dhclient ARPSEND Dec 5 03:19:44 dhclient ARPCHECK Dec 5 03:19:44 dhclient BOUND Dec 5 03:19:44 dhclient Deleting old routes Dec 5 03:19:44 dhclient Starting add_new_address() Dec 5 03:19:44 dhclient ifconfig igb0 inet x.x.x.x netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast x.x.x.x Dec 5 03:19:44 dhclient New IP Address (igb0): x.x.x.x Dec 5 03:19:44 dhclient New Subnet Mask (igb0): 255.255.255.0 Dec 5 03:19:44 dhclient New Broadcast Address (igb0): x.x.x.x Dec 5 03:19:44 dhclient New Routers (igb0): x.x.x.x Dec 5 03:19:44 dhclient Adding new routes to interface: igb0 Dec 5 03:19:44 dhclient /sbin/route add default x.x.x.x Dec 5 03:19:44 dhclient Creating resolv.conf Dec 5 04:19:44 dhclient RENEW Dec 5 04:19:44 dhclient Creating resolv.conf Dec 5 05:56:00 dhclient 24535 connection closed Dec 5 05:56:00 dhclient 24535 exiting. Dec 5 05:56:28 dhclient PREINIT Dec 5 05:56:28 dhclient 32867 DHCPREQUEST on igb0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 Dec 5 05:56:28 dhclient 32867 DHCPNAK from x.x.x.x Dec 5 05:56:28 dhclient 32867 DHCPDISCOVER on igb0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 1 Dec 5 05:56:29 dhclient 32867 DHCPDISCOVER on igb0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 1 Dec 5 05:56:29 dhclient 32867 DHCPOFFER from x.x.x.x Dec 5 05:56:29 dhclient ARPSEND Dec 5 05:56:31 dhclient ARPCHECK Dec 5 05:56:31 dhclient 32867 DHCPREQUEST on igb0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 Dec 5 05:56:31 dhclient 32867 DHCPACK from x.x.x.x Dec 5 05:56:31 dhclient BOUND Dec 5 05:56:31 dhclient Starting add_new_address() Dec 5 05:56:31 dhclient ifconfig igb0 inet x.x.x.x netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast x.x.x.x Dec 5 05:56:31 dhclient New IP Address (igb0): x.x.x.x Dec 5 05:56:31 dhclient New Subnet Mask (igb0): 255.255.255.0 Dec 5 05:56:31 dhclient New Broadcast Address (igb0): x.x.x.x Dec 5 05:56:31 dhclient New Routers (igb0): x.x.x.x Dec 5 05:56:31 dhclient Adding new routes to interface: igb0 Dec 5 05:56:31 dhclient /sbin/route add default x.x.x.x Dec 5 05:56:31 dhclient Creating resolv.conf Dec 5 05:56:31 dhclient 32867 bound to x.x.x.x -- renewal in 3600 seconds. Dec 5 06:10:45 dhclient 33442 connection closed Dec 5 06:10:45 dhclient 33442 exiting. Dec 5 06:11:26 dhclient PREINIT Dec 5 06:11:26 dhclient 2852 DHCPREQUEST on igb0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 Dec 5 06:11:26 dhclient 2852 DHCPNAK from x.x.x.x Dec 5 06:11:26 dhclient 2852 DHCPDISCOVER on igb0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 1 Dec 5 06:11:26 dhclient 13852 dhclient already running, pid: 2852. Dec 5 06:11:26 dhclient 13852 exiting. Dec 5 06:11:27 dhclient 2852 DHCPDISCOVER on igb0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 1 Dec 5 06:11:28 dhclient 2852 DHCPDISCOVER on igb0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 1 Dec 5 06:11:28 dhclient 2852 DHCPOFFER from x.x.x.x Dec 5 06:11:28 dhclient ARPSEND Dec 5 06:11:30 dhclient ARPCHECK Dec 5 06:11:30 dhclient 2852 DHCPREQUEST on igb0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 Dec 5 06:11:30 dhclient 2852 DHCPACK from x.x.x.x Dec 5 06:11:30 dhclient BOUND Dec 5 06:11:30 dhclient Starting add_new_address() Dec 5 06:11:30 dhclient ifconfig igb0 inet x.x.x.x02 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast x.x.x.x Dec 5 06:11:30 dhclient New IP Address (igb0): x.x.x.x02 Dec 5 06:11:30 dhclient New Subnet Mask (igb0): 255.255.255.0 Dec 5 06:11:30 dhclient New Broadcast Address (igb0): x.x.x.x Dec 5 06:11:30 dhclient New Routers (igb0): x.x.x.x Dec 5 06:11:30 dhclient Adding new routes to interface: igb0 Dec 5 06:11:30 dhclient /sbin/route add default x.x.x.x Dec 5 06:11:30 dhclient Creating resolv.conf Dec 5 06:11:30 dhclient 2852 bound to x.x.x.x02 -- renewal in 3600 seconds. Dec 5 07:11:30 dhclient 45844 DHCPREQUEST on igb0 to x.x.x.x port 67 Dec 5 07:11:30 dhclient 45844 DHCPACK from x.x.x.x Dec 5 07:11:30 dhclient RENEW Dec 5 07:11:30 dhclient Creating resolv.conf Dec 5 07:11:30 dhclient 45844 bound to x.x.x.x02 -- renewal in 3600 seconds. Dec 5 08:04:44 dhclient 13797 connection closed Dec 5 08:04:44 dhclient 13797 exiting. Dec 5 08:05:51 dhclient PREINIT Dec 5 08:05:51 dhclient 31658 DHCPREQUEST on igb0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 Dec 5 08:05:51 dhclient 31658 DHCPNAK from x.x.x.x Dec 5 08:05:51 dhclient 31658 DHCPDISCOVER on igb0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 1 Dec 5 08:05:51 dhclient 70555 connection closed Dec 5 08:05:51 dhclient 70555 exiting. Dec 5 08:05:52 dhclient PREINIT Dec 5 08:05:52 dhclient 77571 DHCPREQUEST on igb0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 Dec 5 08:05:52 dhclient 77571 DHCPNAK from x.x.x.x Dec 5 08:05:52 dhclient 77571 DHCPDISCOVER on igb0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 1 Dec 5 08:05:52 dhclient 77571 DHCPOFFER from x.x.x.x Dec 5 08:05:52 dhclient ARPSEND Dec 5 08:05:54 dhclient ARPCHECK Dec 5 08:05:54 dhclient 77571 DHCPREQUEST on igb0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 Dec 5 08:05:54 dhclient 77571 DHCPACK from x.x.x.x Dec 5 08:05:54 dhclient BOUND Dec 5 08:05:54 dhclient Starting add_new_address() Dec 5 08:05:54 dhclient ifconfig igb0 inet x.x.x.x netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast x.x.x.x Dec 5 08:05:54 dhclient New IP Address (igb0): x.x.x.x Dec 5 08:05:54 dhclient New Subnet Mask (igb0): 255.255.255.0 Dec 5 08:05:54 dhclient New Broadcast Address (igb0): x.x.x.x Dec 5 08:05:54 dhclient New Routers (igb0): x.x.x.x Dec 5 08:05:54 dhclient Adding new routes to interface: igb0 Dec 5 08:05:54 dhclient /sbin/route add default x.x.x.x Dec 5 08:05:54 dhclient Creating resolv.conf Dec 5 08:05:54 dhclient 77571 bound to x.x.x.x -- renewal in 3600 seconds. Dec 5 09:05:55 dhclient 1334 DHCPREQUEST on igb0 to x.x.x.x port 67 Dec 5 09:05:55 dhclient 1334 DHCPACK from x.x.x.x Dec 5 09:05:55 dhclient RENEW Dec 5 09:05:55 dhclient Creating resolv.conf Dec 5 09:05:55 dhclient 1334 bound to x.x.x.x -- renewal in 3600 seconds. Dec 5 10:05:55 dhclient 1334 DHCPREQUEST on igb0 to x.x.x.x port 67 Dec 5 10:05:57 dhclient 1334 DHCPREQUEST on igb0 to x.x.x.x port 67 Dec 5 10:06:01 dhclient 1334 DHCPREQUEST on igb0 to x.x.x.x port 67 Dec 5 10:06:12 dhclient 1334 DHCPREQUEST on igb0 to x.x.x.x port 67 Dec 5 10:06:24 dhclient 1334 DHCPREQUEST on igb0 to x.x.x.x port 67 Dec 5 10:06:35 dhclient 1334 DHCPREQUEST on igb0 to x.x.x.x port 67 Dec 5 10:07:06 dhclient 1334 DHCPREQUEST on igb0 to x.x.x.x port 67 Dec 5 10:07:28 dhclient 1334 DHCPREQUEST on igb0 to x.x.x.x port 67 Dec 5 10:08:01 dhclient 1334 DHCPREQUEST on igb0 to x.x.x.x port 67 Dec 5 10:08:46 dhclient 1334 DHCPREQUEST on igb0 to x.x.x.x port 67 Dec 5 10:09:49 dhclient 1334 DHCPREQUEST on igb0 to x.x.x.x port 67 Dec 5 10:11:01 dhclient 1334 DHCPREQUEST on igb0 to x.x.x.x port 67 Dec 5 10:11:15 dhclient 79393 connection closed Dec 5 10:11:15 dhclient 79393 exiting. Dec 5 10:11:38 dhclient PREINIT Dec 5 10:11:38 dhclient 88470 DHCPREQUEST on igb0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 Dec 5 10:11:38 dhclient 88470 DHCPNAK from x.x.x.x Dec 5 10:11:38 dhclient 88470 DHCPDISCOVER on igb0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 1 Dec 5 10:11:39 dhclient 88470 DHCPDISCOVER on igb0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 2 Dec 5 10:11:39 dhclient 1759 connection closed Dec 5 10:11:39 dhclient 1759 exiting. Dec 5 10:11:40 dhclient PREINIT Dec 5 10:11:40 dhclient 6562 DHCPREQUEST on igb0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 Dec 5 10:11:40 dhclient 6562 DHCPNAK from x.x.x.x Dec 5 10:11:40 dhclient 6562 DHCPDISCOVER on igb0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 1 Dec 5 10:11:41 dhclient 6562 DHCPOFFER from x.x.x.x Dec 5 10:11:41 dhclient ARPSEND Dec 5 10:11:43 dhclient ARPCHECK Dec 5 10:11:43 dhclient 6562 DHCPREQUEST on igb0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 Dec 5 10:11:43 dhclient 6562 DHCPACK from x.x.x.x Dec 5 10:11:43 dhclient BOUND Dec 5 10:11:43 dhclient Starting add_new_address() Dec 5 10:11:43 dhclient ifconfig igb0 inet x.x.x.x netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast x.x.x.x Dec 5 10:11:43 dhclient New IP Address (igb0): x.x.x.x Dec 5 10:11:43 dhclient New Subnet Mask (igb0): 255.255.255.0 Dec 5 10:11:43 dhclient New Broadcast Address (igb0): x.x.x.x Dec 5 10:11:43 dhclient New Routers (igb0): x.x.x.x Dec 5 10:11:43 dhclient Adding new routes to interface: igb0 Dec 5 10:11:43 dhclient /sbin/route add default x.x.x.x Dec 5 10:11:43 dhclient Creating resolv.conf Dec 5 10:11:43 dhclient 6562 bound to x.x.x.x -- renewal in 3600 seconds.

[capn783]

Hey sorry everyone. Didn't realize it would format it this way. I am going to repost my post below but I have a pastebin link for the logs. Hello everyone. I have an issue here that started around 8 pm last night and I am not really sure what to do here. Basically every 1-2 hours (its been 2 hours so far this morning) the WAN DHCP Gateway on pfSense is going offline and I am getting packet loss. The internet is down at this point. Now if I wait long enough it seems like it will eventually come back up (at least an hour but it has taken more). If I just disable the WAN interface on pfSense and then re-enable it, the internet comes back up and is good for another two hours. My setup is fairly simple. I have ethernet from the ONT ----> pfSense WAN Interface. The Verizon router is connected through its lan port to switch which uplinks to the pfSense. I followed this guide when I set everything up https://nguvu.org/pfsense/verizon/pfsense-verizon/. All the TV services work great and even the caller-id and remote DVR functinos are working. Now I looked at the DHCP logs and it seems like it is trying to renew DHCP every 3600 seconds. From what I have seen this morning, the first renewal goes through and it binds to the same IP it already has. However, when it goes to do it again an hour later, it keeps sending requests to the gateway but gets no response. Eventually it sends a request to 255.255.255.255 and gets a response from a gateway. This is what happens if I power cycle the ONT or Disable/Re-Enable the WAN interface on pfSense. I will post a small amount of logs from this morning below but I can post more if needed. Any idea what I should do here? This have been working fine for 2+ years now and all of sudden last night at 8 all hell broke loose. I haven't called Verizon yet but I may have to do that soon. It is just difficult to talk to them when you have your own router because sometime they don't want to help. Sorry for the long post. I apppreciate your help and time. Thank you. pfSense DHCP Log - https://pastebin.com/ehWKsvYF

[gs0b · Accepted solution]

It is very likely that Verizon will not help you.  They do not support non-Verizon routers nor do they get into technical details like this.

Two hours is the standard timeout for WAN IP leases on FiOS.  A renewal at half the expiration time, or 3600 seconds, is expected behavior.

It sounds like something about the way the pfSense is issue the renewal request is different than what a Verizon router does.  I don’t know what that could be.  If you are handy with WireShark you could hook up your Verizon router as primary and watch what it does.

If there is a pfSense user forum, you might be able to get some answers there if no one here has any experience with this issue.

Good Luck.