CenturyLink → [CenturyTel] Questions/issues with Zyxel PK5001Z gateway/online

I recently had a field tech come out to check our lines. He was annoyed about having to come out so often and so he decided that since he could find no source of the issues I was having, he'd install a new modem. Well, and I know some of you say this might not make sense, but since the new modem was installed (he took our old Westell 7500 >), our ping times have been frantic, I'm getting randomly disconnected from Xbox Live party chats and on online game lobbies. I don't know what the deal is. And my laptop, which is literally 5 feet from the modem, is getting this first set of digits:

Tracing route to PK5001Z.PK5001Z [192.168.0.1]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 10 ms 8 ms 9 ms PK5001Z.PK5001Z [192.168.0.1]

That's not normal, is it? Even on wireless? I have no way of testing my Xbox stats, which blows, so I can't give anymore specifics on that.

Here are my line stats:

DSL Power

Levels Downstream Upstream
SNR 27.3dB 22.9dB
Attenuation 8.8dB 2.0dB
Power 14.4dBm 12.4dBm

Which CenturyLink told me was fine, but I'm not a techy in this area. Any info or advice would be appreciated.

*EDIT*

Pinging google.com [74.125.225.67] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 74.125.225.67: bytes=32 time=58ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.67: bytes=32 time=55ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.67: bytes=32 time=49ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.67: bytes=32 time=60ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.67: bytes=32 time=50ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.67: bytes=32 time=52ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.67: bytes=32 time=54ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.67: bytes=32 time=55ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.67: bytes=32 time=57ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.67: bytes=32 time=59ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.67: bytes=32 time=60ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.67: bytes=32 time=49ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.67: bytes=32 time=58ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.67: bytes=32 time=59ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.67: bytes=32 time=61ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.67: bytes=32 time=57ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.67: bytes=32 time=56ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.67: bytes=32 time=70ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.67: bytes=32 time=52ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.67: bytes=32 time=53ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.67: bytes=32 time=55ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.67: bytes=32 time=53ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.67: bytes=32 time=49ms TTL=56

My ping times aren't 'bad', but why are they so all over the place now? On the old Westell modem, they were almost always consistant between 44-46, never bouncing like this. I know a lot of people say a modem's a modem, but this literally didn't happen until we got this new modem.

• Your signals are all good/outstanding. The Power could be a tad lower, but it is OK.

• The ping that you posted is odd. google.com is not 74.125.225.67. That IP resolves to Moffett Federal Airfield (Mountain View, CA)

When I ping google.com I get:

PING google.com (74.125.224.194): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 74.125.224.194: icmp_seq=0 ttl=56 time=16.344 ms
64 bytes from 74.125.224.194: icmp_seq=1 ttl=56 time=15.185 ms
64 bytes from 74.125.224.194: icmp_seq=2 ttl=56 time=14.415 ms
64 bytes from 74.125.224.194: icmp_seq=3 ttl=56 time=15.657 ms
64 bytes from 74.125.224.194: icmp_seq=4 ttl=56 time=15.165 ms
64 bytes from 74.125.224.194: icmp_seq=5 ttl=56 time=13.851 ms
64 bytes from 74.125.224.194: icmp_seq=6 ttl=56 time=25.116 ms
64 bytes from 74.125.224.194: icmp_seq=7 ttl=56 time=14.132 ms
64 bytes from 74.125.224.194: icmp_seq=8 ttl=56 time=13.734 ms
64 bytes from 74.125.224.194: icmp_seq=9 ttl=56 time=13.817 ms
 

This also resolves to Moffett. So that is odd. I did some research and it seems like some of Google's routers were/are hijacked.

• That is a side issue. Look at my pings; they are moving just as yours are. That is normal.

• Your ping to your MODEM/router is high. Do a direct connect and see what your ping is.

Do you have a link? I see resolution thus:

C:\Dig>nslookup 74.125.225.67
Server:  ns1.sonic.net
Address:  208.201.224.11
 
Name:    ord08s07-in-f3.1e100.net
Address:  74.125.225.67
 

And also:

C:\Dig>nslookup 74.125.224.194
Server:  ns1.sonic.net
Address:  208.201.224.11
 
Name:    lax02s02-in-f2.1e100.net
Address:  74.125.224.194
 

As I recall, '1e100.net' is Google. A fitting host name as 10 raised to 100th power (1exponent100) is a, "googol".

Maybe I should not have used the term "resolves to". Maybe I should have said "the location of the IP is".

The IPs belong to Google (Resolves To). »www.whois365.com/en/ip/7 ··· .224.194

The following is where I got the location of the IP.

Several sites like this »ipdb.at/ip/74.125.225.67
and »www.ip-adress.com/ip_tra ··· 5.225.67

Several sites like this »ipdb.at/ip/74.125.224.194
and »www.ip-adress.com/ip_tra ··· .224.194
*************
The point was that we both pinged google.com and we have a different IP in the ping. That is odd, no?

No, it is not odd. Google uses distributed server farms. I would expect a different Google IP address for a user in Cardington, Ohio from a user in Las Vegas, Nevada from a user in San José, California.

Ohio user pings Google, gets [74.125.225.67]. Trace route from San José, California:

Tracing route to ord08s07-in-f3.1e100.net [74.125.225.67]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
 
  1    <1 ms    <1 ms     1 ms  192.168.42.1
  2    25 ms    26 ms    23 ms  173-228-7-1.dsl.static.sonic.net [173.228.7.1]
  3    24 ms    24 ms    24 ms  gig1-4.cr1.lsatca11.sonic.net [70.36.243.13]
  4    24 ms    24 ms    25 ms  0.xe-7-1-0.gw.pao1.sonic.net [69.12.211.5]
  5    25 ms    25 ms    24 ms  0.xe-6-0-0.gw3.equinix-sj.sonic.net [64.142.0.185]
  6    26 ms    26 ms    27 ms  eqixsj-google-gige.google.com [206.223.116.21]
  7    27 ms    27 ms    27 ms  216.239.49.168
  8    28 ms    27 ms    27 ms  209.85.250.64
  9    54 ms    53 ms    53 ms  216.239.46.240
 10    63 ms    63 ms    64 ms  216.239.46.55
 11    73 ms    73 ms    73 ms  72.14.232.140
 12    74 ms    73 ms    74 ms  72.14.237.111
 13    75 ms    74 ms    73 ms  209.85.250.30
 14    72 ms    72 ms    73 ms  ord08s07-in-f3.1e100.net [74.125.225.67]
 
Trace complete.
 

RTT is about right for San José, California to Chicago, Illinois. Host name is
ord08s07-in-f3.1e100.net, where ORD is the airport code for O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois.

Nevada user pings Google, gets [74.125.224.194]. Trace route from San José, California:

Tracing route to lax02s02-in-f2.1e100.net [74.125.224.194]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
 
  1    <1 ms    <1 ms     1 ms  192.168.42.1
  2    25 ms    27 ms    24 ms  173-228-7-1.dsl.static.sonic.net [173.228.7.1]
  3    24 ms    24 ms    24 ms  gig1-4.cr1.lsatca11.sonic.net [70.36.243.13]
  4    24 ms    24 ms    24 ms  0.xe-7-1-0.gw.pao1.sonic.net [69.12.211.5]
  5    24 ms    24 ms    25 ms  0.xe-6-0-0.gw3.equinix-sj.sonic.net [64.142.0.185]
  6    26 ms    26 ms    26 ms  eqixsj-google-gige.google.com [206.223.116.21]
  7    27 ms    26 ms    56 ms  216.239.49.170
  8    26 ms    28 ms    26 ms  209.85.250.66
  9    35 ms    36 ms    35 ms  64.233.174.206
 10    34 ms    88 ms    35 ms  64.233.174.187
 11    35 ms    35 ms    36 ms  72.14.236.13
 12    36 ms    35 ms    35 ms  lax02s02-in-f2.1e100.net [74.125.224.194]
 
Trace complete.
 

RTT is about right for San José, California to Los Angeles, California. Host name is
lax02s02-in-f2.1e100.net, where LAX is the airport code for Los Angeles International Airport.

San José user traces route to 'www.google.com', and gets:

Tracing route to www.google.com [74.125.224.145]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
 
  1    <1 ms    <1 ms     1 ms  192.168.42.1
  2    27 ms    23 ms    26 ms  173-228-7-1.dsl.static.sonic.net [173.228.7.1]
  3    25 ms    24 ms    25 ms  gig1-4.cr1.lsatca11.sonic.net [70.36.243.13]
  4    25 ms    24 ms    24 ms  0.xe-7-1-0.gw.pao1.sonic.net [69.12.211.5]
  5    25 ms    24 ms    25 ms  0.xe-6-0-0.gw3.equinix-sj.sonic.net [64.142.0.185]
  6    27 ms    25 ms    26 ms  eqixsj-google-gige.google.com [206.223.116.21]
  7    26 ms    28 ms    26 ms  216.239.49.168
  8    27 ms    27 ms    28 ms  64.233.174.119
  9    27 ms    27 ms    27 ms  nuq04s09-in-f17.1e100.net [74.125.224.145]
 
Trace complete.
 

RTT is about right for San José, California to Mountain View, California. Host name is
nuq04s09-in-f17.1e100.net, where NUQ is the airport code for Moffett Federal Airfield (which the locals still call, "Moffett Field", a holdover from its time as a Naval Air Station).

It isn't uncommon for providers to use nearby airport codes in host names.

It is quite common for CDNs (such as Google) to route users to servers closest to the users' geographical locations; with corresponding differences in IP Addresses.

Thanks for the words of wisdom; but how does this apply to the OP's issue?

What did they do at Moffett?

Can we get back to the issue at hand?

Have you been able to do a direct connect to the MODEM/router to compare that to the wireless?

It's virtually the same, aside from the first hop. I'll post specifics in a bit. I'm still getting disconnection issues and CenturyLink tech support is useless on this one :/

I originally posted this on another question on this forum but if I understand your problem correctly it may apply to your issue also.

"The PK5001Z (and several other modems) has sporadic issues with its WPS system. I had similar issues with mine and had a friend who is in the business of setting up networks research it and look at the Modem/Router.

if you go into the router settings and turn the WPS off it will cure your problems. In fact if you turn the feature off on any brand of router it will likely cure most of your disconnect problems.

This type of issue with this and several other routers is becoming more common. Many devices are confused by the WPS feature and keep trying to reset there ip address or sign off the network sporadically."

Well, I disabled WPS as suggested and the problem's still ongoing. CenturyLink still insists that nothing's wrong. I get random ping drops using throughout the night, first hop to router's still high and I'm getting disconnected from Xbox Live parties constantly. This is 'so' annoying.

Just to make sure that we are on the same page.

The old Westell did not exhibit this first hop ping spike; correct?

It started when the new MODEM/router was installed; correct?

If this is correct, call CL and ask for a new MODEM/router, and see if this corrects the issue.

(Why did the tech come out in the first place?)

If there is any concurrent Internet activity during a ping test, it will skew your latency. Have you secured your wireless against unwelcome guests? Run a malware check?

@Irish The tech came out because we were having packet drops throughout the night hours and they wanted to check the lines. He did his little portable modem test and didn't see anything wrong, so he went out and got the new modem.

@Norman I've done several ping tests, with only one device running (tried on 2 difference devices, actually) and it was the same. I'm ridiculously rural and no one can milk off of us, really. I leave the wireless open incase my little cousin wants to come down and use her iPod lol. Other than that, no one's on my internet. I keep a 'very' close eye on the network activity. And malware wouldn't be the issue, as the problems are almost exclusively on my Xbox. I mean, the bouncing ping times are PC-related, but they're not that bad. It's the party disconnects that plague me.

I'm a layman when it comes to this stuff, so I'll post some modem stats now.

DSL Power

Levels Downstream Upstream
SNR 27.5dB 22.9dB
Attenuation 8.9dB 2.1dB
Power 14.4dBm 12.4dBm

-----------------------------------------

DSL Transport

Transport Downstream Upstream
Packets: 7945234 7944417
Error Packets: 17 0
24 Hour Usage: 678.036 MB 5.748 MB
Total Usage: 5236.130 MB 164.652 MB
15 Minute Discarded: 0 0

-----------------------------------------

DSL Channel

Levels Near End Far End
Channel Type: Interleaved Interleaved
CRC Errors: 17 60
15 Minute CRC: 0 0
RS FEC: 63135 274
15 Minute FEC: 0 0

-----------------------------------------

Wireless Settings

Wireless Parameter Setting
SSID: KincaidFarms
Channel: 6
Best Available Channel: 11
Second Best Available Channel: 1
Wireless Security Type: SECURITY OFF
SSID Broadcast: SSID Broadcasted
MAC Authentication: Disabled
Wireless Model 802.11b - 802.11g - 802.11n Mode
WPS State: Disabled
WPS Type: N/A
WMM QoS: Enabled
WMM Power Save: Disabled
WDS: Disabled
Wireless Access Scheduler: Disabled
Wireless Packets Sent: 978075
Wireless Packets Received: 603896

-----------------------------------------------

Modem Sessions

Session Status
Maximum Number of Sessions: 20480
LAN TCP Sessions: 160
LAN UDP Sessions: 5
Modem Sessions: 14
Total Open Sessions: 181
Session Status: OK
Recommended Action:

-------------------------------------------------

Can't think of anything else that would matter. If anyone sees any problems there, please let me know. I'm almost at the insanity line with this lol.

Your signals and stats are all very good.

Try turning WMM QoS off.

On a side note, enable some form of Wireless Security. Try WPA.

I did both, Irish. Still having the issues.

As I said above, have CL swap the MODEM back to the same make and model that you had before.

That is when the issues started; after the the swap.

So I got the last Westell 7500 gateway in the area it seems, which is the modem we have prior to the Zyxel PK5001Z and it fixed our problems. The pings have stabilized and the problems with Xbox Live have been fixed. All that crap and it 'was' the modem. Go figure.

Pinging google.com [74.125.225.142] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 74.125.225.142: bytes=32 time=47ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.142: bytes=32 time=47ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.142: bytes=32 time=46ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.142: bytes=32 time=46ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.142: bytes=32 time=45ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.142: bytes=32 time=46ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.142: bytes=32 time=47ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.142: bytes=32 time=46ms TTL=56
Reply from 74.125.225.142: bytes=32 time=46ms TTL=56

See how much more stable?

Tracing route to dslrouter.westell.com [10.0.0.1]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 2 ms 1 ms 2 ms dslrouter.westell.com [10.0.0.1]

A world of difference there.

Transceiver Information Downstream Path Upstream Path
DSL Speed (Kbits/Sec) 11775 892
Margin (dB) 31.1 19.5
Line Attenuation (dB) 12.5 2.9
Transmit Power (dBm) 0.0 12.6

I'm a little concerned about the first Power number, but it hasn't been giving me any physical problems, so I doubt it's anything to worry about.

There is something in that other unit that just does not fit in your configuration. There have been other reported problems.

So far so good. Just keep an eye on everything in case there is a latent defect in you connection.

I would not worry about the Transmit Power. The only thing I have seen as acceptable limits is that it should not exceed 15 dBm.

"Output or TX Power

How much power modem (upstream) or DSLAM (downstream) is using. Maximum recommended is about 15dB. The lower the power the better for this measurement. Not all modems have the ability to provide output power. "

What do the speed tests show?

»www.speedtest.net/result ··· 1805.png

»www.speedtest.net/result ··· 3765.png

Pretty consistant.

Looks good.

After multiple trips from the Centurylink team to fix my problem......I have solved my issue. I had DSL installed a month ago and have had Internet disconnects every 15 to 16 minutes from day 1. After all new lines to my house....3 different new modems....and 5 different ports at the phone company, I still had the same problem. I could watch my modem stats for IPV4 uptime and it would count up to 15 to 16 minutes and then it would reset and start back over from 1 second. At the same time this happened I would lose my internet connection...but my DSL signal stayed on. It is the same problem that I have seen over and over on the internet with people playing different online games and getting disconnected with the PK5001z modem. The fix was to replace this modem with an older stlye 660 modem. My internet works like a charm now!!!! Obviously Zytel needs a firmware update for this modem to shut off the IPV4 uptime counter to fix this problem. As this is one of their newest modems in service, there is still no firmware upgrade as of yet. I really like the modem and would like to use it again so PLEASE update the firmware in this modem soon!!

anyone have any updates with this? I've got the same issue on a newly installed pk5001z unit.

He went back to the MODEM that he had before it was swapped.

Westell 7500

I am having the exact same problem with my new Zyxel PK5001z modem from CenturyLink. Basically makes playing online games that need to connect to a server unplayable because every 15 to 30 minutes I'll lose the connection to the server. I read somewhere else that setting the modem to bridge mode and then setting up a wireless router in bridge mode would solve the problem, but I am having an issue getting my Netgear WNDR3700 setup in bridge mode. Looks like it might be easier to get an older modem like the 660 and use that instead.

exact same problem here, because of that cant watch or listen any streaming media, not longer than 10-15 min anyway. I watched for hours that ipv4 counter. Stupid thing and centurylinjk customer service was no help[ either.

Not to glob onto old posts....

...but I am having the exact same problem with the ZyXel PK5001z router.

I've watched the system log while streaming things, and like clockwork every 15-16 minutes, the internet cuts out no matter what, dropping my streaming connection. Insanity for trying to play a game online.

Below is a snippet from the system log, showing the 15 minute routine (which logs 4 distinct activities during the drop). Check the time stamps:

11/17/2012 07:00:20 PM DHCP DHCP send discover packet
11/17/2012 07:00:20 PM DHCP DHCP receive offer packet
11/17/2012 07:00:20 PM DHCP DHCP send request packet
11/17/2012 07:00:21 PM DHCP DHCP receive ACK option
11/17/2012 07:15:58 PM DHCP DHCP send discover packet
11/17/2012 07:15:58 PM DHCP DHCP receive offer packet
11/17/2012 07:15:58 PM DHCP DHCP send request packet
11/17/2012 07:16:00 PM DHCP DHCP receive ACK option
11/17/2012 07:31:35 PM DHCP DHCP send discover packet
11/17/2012 07:31:36 PM DHCP DHCP receive offer packet
11/17/2012 07:31:36 PM DHCP DHCP send request packet
11/17/2012 07:31:37 PM DHCP DHCP receive ACK option
11/17/2012 07:49:12 PM DHCP DHCP send discover packet
11/17/2012 07:49:13 PM DHCP DHCP receive offer packet
11/17/2012 07:49:13 PM DHCP DHCP send request packet
11/17/2012 07:49:14 PM DHCP DHCP receive ACK option
11/17/2012 08:00:12 PM DHCP DHCP send discover packet
11/17/2012 08:00:13 PM DHCP DHCP receive offer packet
11/17/2012 08:00:13 PM DHCP DHCP send request packet
11/17/2012 08:00:14 PM DHCP DHCP receive ACK option
11/17/2012 08:15:49 PM DHCP DHCP send discover packet
11/17/2012 08:15:50 PM DHCP DHCP receive offer packet
11/17/2012 08:15:50 PM DHCP DHCP send request packet
11/17/2012 08:15:51 PM DHCP DHCP receive ACK option
11/17/2012 08:31:26 PM DHCP DHCP send discover packet
11/17/2012 08:31:26 PM DHCP DHCP receive offer packet
11/17/2012 08:31:26 PM DHCP DHCP send request packet
11/17/2012 08:31:26 PM DHCP DHCP receive ACK option
11/17/2012 08:46:59 PM DHCP DHCP send discover packet
11/17/2012 08:46:59 PM DHCP DHCP receive offer packet
11/17/2012 08:46:59 PM DHCP DHCP send request packet
11/17/2012 08:47:00 PM DHCP DHCP receive ACK option
11/17/2012 09:04:36 PM DHCP DHCP send discover packet
11/17/2012 09:04:36 PM DHCP DHCP receive offer packet
11/17/2012 09:04:36 PM DHCP DHCP send request packet
11/17/2012 09:04:37 PM DHCP DHCP receive ACK option

You get the picture....

The condition is unnoticeable if you are simply browsing the internet because it quickly connects again. Doesn't matter if the connection is wired or wireless.

Is the only solution to this a new router? Is there something in the settings that can be changed? Is there something on Century Link's end? The above log was created with the DSL router plugged directly in to the NID test jack outside.

Having the exact same problems. I've had two pk5001z modems and they both drop my connection every 15ish mins. I have a family member who works for century link CMS so I've gotten quite a bit of help but no matter what I do to the settings it doesn't help.
As another poster commented it does it on all devices but is most noticeable on gaming devices.
I've switched back to my old modem/router for now which obviously fixed the problem but the old unit is a bit slower.

Email received from Zyxel :

We're looking into the problem in partnership with CenturyLink because this may require network related investigation. I would like to have the link of where you found other people having this same issue because this is something that has not been brought up to our attention, if there is any more information you can provide would also be helpful in trying to find a resolution to the issue.

Thank you,

Description: sig2Luis Serrano
Tech Support| ZyXEL Communications, Inc.
p: 714.632.0882 - f: 714.632.0858 - @: luiss@zyxel.com
www.us.zyxel.com | 1130 N Miller St Anaheim, CA 92806

I am still using the older 660 modem and have not had a problem yet. I keep checking the modem firmware update page but there is no update as of yet. I suggest if you are having this same problem as I had to email Zyxel and tell them your problem and reference them to this website. Good luck and if anything changes I will update this posting.
Tom

The OP's issue was due to having interleaving added to his profile, which caused the extra latency.

People with DHCP problems is a totally different issue.