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Possible solution to intermittent UPC router 'disconnects'

  • 22-05-2012 9:44am
    #1
    Siskods9
    Registered Users Posts: 81 ✭✭


    So here goes...

    I have the newly issued UPC Cisco 3925 and have been experiencing the intermittent disconnect phenomena. This was also occurring on the old UPC Scientific Atlanta modem too.

    Step #1
    Log into the UPC provided device and greatly extend the LAN DHCP lease time setting to something like 9999 minutes.
    (Save and reboot the device).

    Step #2
    There may be some compatibility issues re the DHCP clients found in newer versions of Windows and how the DHCP server component on the UPC modem / router works.

    Note: This does not affect Win XP (SP2 and later) but does involve Win Vista and Win 7 clients. The issue here is potentially that at the end of the DHCP lease period, your client may not be able to renew its IP successfully, looking to all intents and purposes like you have been disconnected from the router. When strictly speaking this may not be the fault of UPC but is perhaps rather down to the differing vendors' implementation of DHCP functionality, i.e. Microsoft vs whoever makes your router (Cisco or other).

    If you were to reboot your client here, connectivity should be restored - there should be no need to reboot your UPC router / modem / DHCP server.
    But having to frequently reboot your clients is a pain so hopefully these suggestions will help.

    See the following MS support article: 
    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928233

    After implementing the manual registry fix with a value of "1", DHCP releases and renewals via command line and even via Windows GUI are MUCH faster now. More than that they actually work!

    Additional suggestion (belts and braces)
    It is possible to augment the network adapter settings in Windows to use an 'alternative configuration' in the event of not receiving DHCP settings from the server.

    Just edit the settings of the IPv4 protocol for your network adapter and find the tab / button for 'Alternate Configuration' and manually enter the required static IP and DNS information.

    Finally, it can't hurt to be mindful of the fact that UPC state in their Acceptable Usage Policy that you are allowed a maximum of 10 concurrent connections via their provided modem / router to the Internet. So if you use a download manager tool, ensure you configure it not to exceed this value.
    Note - That's a total of 10 going out through the router to the web at any given moment NOT 10 out-bound connections per client / internal network node on your home LAN.

    I hope this helps folks.
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