TC 1TB keeps dropping PPOE Conection

I am on Verizon DSL 3meg speed. about once sometimes twice a day my TC drops the internet connection. The light starts flashing yellow and no connection and in airport utility is shows PPOE and internet connection problems.
All I have to do is restart the TC and it connects right back up to the net. I know it's the TC with the problem because if I reboot the DSL modem I still have no connection.
Maybe the DSL is dropping but when it comes back the TC doesn't reconnect automatically. That may or may not be the case but either way I have to reboot TC to get back on the net.

Anyone have any suggestion?
TC is 7.4.2 firmware

Imac Aluminum 2.8 Intel core duo 2 Extreme, Mac OS X (10.6.1), 4 Gig Ram

Posted on Oct 25, 2009 7:46 AM

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11 replies

Oct 25, 2009 8:35 AM in response to Machine3

Welcome to the discussions, Machine3!

It sounds like you have your Time Capsule configured to provide the PPPoE service, correct? To confirm, open AirPort Utility, click Manual Setup and then click the Internet icon. Connect Using will be set to PPPoE. Make sure that the Service Name area is completely blank.

Click the PPPoE tab just above Connection Sharing and make sure that your Connection is set for Always On.

If you still don't see any improvement, the next step would be to hard reset the Time Capsule by holding in the reset button until it blinks quickly. (This usually will take 5-10 seconds.) Then, reconfigure the Time Capsule again.

Oct 26, 2009 9:00 AM in response to tomvs

+"If all else fails, configure the modem to connect via pppoe and provide a public IP address to the router."+

Yes, this is an option if the modem can be configured this way. In this case, the TC would Connect Using: Ethernet, not PPPoE.

You will probably see a Double NAT warning if you configure things as suggested, but usually you can ignore this without problems.

Most modems can be configured by entering an IP address for the device...usually something like 192.168.1.254 or similar. Check your documentation or check with your ISP on this.

Oct 26, 2009 3:15 PM in response to Machine3

A couple of thoughts:

If the modem can't be configured, that would imply that it is either a very inexpensive device (if new) or an older modem (4-5 years or more). I had to replace my old Speedstream modem some time ago because I traced my intermittent PPPoE connection problems to it after I had mistakenly blamed my router for the problem. But, your issue may of course be different.

I don't know how to test a router for an intermittent PPPoE connection problem.
If you have the time and inclination, I would setup a PPPoE connection on my computer, power down the Time Capsule for a few days and watch the connection to see if there are any drops. If there's not, that points to the TC. If there are, that points to the modem.

Post back if you decide to do this and need some instructions on setting up your computer for a PPPoE connection.

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TC 1TB keeps dropping PPOE Conection

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