For the last few days my internet has been utterly useless. Incredibly slow (~20kb/s), dropping out constantly and taking forever to connect after resets of the router.
I checked the connection point and there seemed to be a wire loose, removing it had no effect on the internet, which I fixed but the problem remained.
I noticed some strange messages in the security log of the router. It is filled with messages like PPPoE send PADI.
The most recent time I restarted the router, connection took several minutes, status was physical up but no internet (Waiting for response from ISP) and the security log went something like this:
06/01/2005 00:02:12 Dial On Demand(PPPoE1)
06/01/2005 00:02:06 PPPoE send PADI
06/01/2005 00:02:01 PPPoE send PADI
06/01/2005 00:01:56 PPPoE send PADI
06/01/2005 00:01:51 PPPoE send PADI
06/01/2005 00:01:46 PPPoE send PADI
06/01/2005 00:01:41 PPPoE send PADI
06/01/2005 00:01:36 PPPoE send PADI
06/01/2005 00:01:31 PPPoE send PADI
06/01/2005 00:01:31 Dial On Demand(PPPoE1)
06/01/2005 00:01:25 PPPoE send PADI
06/01/2005 00:01:20 PPPoE send PADI
06/01/2005 00:01:15 PPPoE send PADI
06/01/2005 00:01:10 PPPoE send PADI
06/01/2005 00:01:10 Dial On Demand(PPPoE1)
06/01/2005 00:01:10 ADSL Media Up This repeated a fair bit (with a ADSL Media Up/Down thrown in there) until it connected and the log showed:
06/01/2005 00:11:44 If(PPPoE1) PPP connection ok !
06/01/2005 00:11:42 PPPoE1 get IP:121.214.35.75
06/01/2005 00:11:41 PPPoE1 start PPP
06/01/2005 00:11:41 PPPoE receive PADS
06/01/2005 00:11:41 PPPoE send PADR
06/01/2005 00:11:41 PPPoE receive PADO
06/01/2005 00:11:41 PPPoE send PADI
06/01/2005 00:11:41 Dial On Demand(PPPoE1) What does all this mean?
But my main question is if this is an ISP problem or a problem with my router/wiring/virus/whatever.
I have never seen these sorts of messages in the security log before.
12 Answers
PADI is the "initiation" request sent by your router. You should receive PADO from the remote end (in this case, your ISP), then followed by PADR and PADS to establish the connection.
Check the SNR and bit error rate to confirm/eliminate wiring issue. If your noise level is good enough, then this is most likely the ISP problem.
What does this all mean? PADx messages are PPPoE Discovery messages, normal as the connection is built up or torn down, you should not see them normally, it is an indication of a connectivity or configuration issue.
PADI - PPPoE Active Discovery Initiation
PADO - PPPoE Active Discovery Offer
PADR - PPPoE Active Discovery Request
PADS - PPPoE Active Discovery Session-confirmation
PADT - PPPoE Active Discovery Termination
This is most likely a carrier issue between your modem and their DSLAM (Digital Subscriber Access Module), I would contact your ISP... PADx messages are related to PPPoE Active Discovery protocol and if it happens repeatedly (usually) it means the PPPoE connection is bouncing up and down, again this likely an issue between the modem and the carrier's equipment so I would contact them.
