Rogers → [ Ultra/Lite] Account suspended because of DHCP requests????

Ok, so I come home yesterday and Rogers is not working. So after calling tech support, they transfer me to the "security department". Talking the the security guy, he says that my modem on sunday was making a very high amount of DHCP requests. He would not explain any more then that. After agreeing that I will virus check my computer, update my router firmware blah blah blah he would reactivate my account.

This is the first time I've had any problems with Rogers. I have a wireless router with one desktop and one laptop. Both were off on Sunday as nobody was home. I checked my router logs and saw nothing out of the ordinary. I have WEP enabled. It is unlikely that someone would try to hack it as there are about 4-5 unsecured networks on my small street. We only use do web browsing, no P2P or any other downloading other then me using VNC to check my office computers.

Any suggestions on what happened???

DHCP requests doesn't make sense. Only 2 DHCP requests would come from your site ... one for the modem and one for your own system, unless the modem/system was disconnecting and reconnecting all the time.

I know, it doesn't make any sense. But that is what the Rogers Security Department said. They threatened if it happens again, they will terminate my service! Pure BS. I'm ready to cancel my Rogers TV package, Internet and Cell Phone.

did you get the techs name call back and demand a manager what he told you is bs... and demand to know the truth. if it was a modem issue. It's their problem not yours. Rogers loves to blame the end user instead of admitting it when it's their fault

Exactly the same thing just happened to me. My internet stopped working, so I called Rogers, and was told that my account had been suspended because "my router was sending hundreds of ip requests per minute". They said that I should unplug my router and call Belkin. I didn't unplug my router, but I did call Belkin.

They were basically no help. They said (1) that they have gotten many calls from Rogers customers lately, and it's Rogers' fault (surprise, surprise) and (2) they think it is because Rogers sends a weak signal, so the Belkin router keeps requesting the IP and (3) I should "google Rogers, and go to ihaterogers.ca to find other people who have probelms"

I then called Rogers back. They will not tell me if my router has persisted in sending these repeated requests, but if it continues to happen they will suspend my account for a week. They think I should unplug my router.

?? I have no idea what an appropriate solution is: to live without a router? to buy a new router? to just hope that it was related to running utorrent and not run any peer-to-peer? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

well I've heard of Belkin routers having issues where they are sending multiple DHCP requests every second! Besides, if you've taken out the router, then you have nothing to worry about since the router is the only device that would've been making DHCP requests to the Rogers DHCP server... not you're PC.

hmmmm. Well I do have a Belkin router. Do you have any links regarding this issue?

I think its just another way for Rogers telling you if you want to run 2 computers then you need to pay for the extra IP address..

no, dl0711 ... unless they actually go specifically packet sniffing then normally they can't tell that you have multiple computers. The only way otherwise they can know if you have a NAT router is if you don't clone the MAC away from the manufacturer's assigned MAC numbers.

We hear very little of "home networking" issues from Rogers these days compared with a few years ago.

I had a similar problem with a older Linksys router and the older non-DOCSIS Terayon modems. The signal between the NAT router (linksys BEFSR55 I think ) and the cable modem was dropping out causing the router to re-request an IP# from the modem. After a power failure it would take a lot of requests ( time ) before I got a proper IP from the cable modem. Alas the Terayon C/M did not have any logs I could get to... IIRC.

The way I got around it was to install a cheapo hub in between the modem and the router to boost the signal. Somewhere deep in the Linksys suport pages was a note on Terayon C/Modems having signal problems.

I upgraded to a Mot SB modem and a new wireless router so I never figured out which component was to blame.

What cable modem do you have ? Does the Belkin router have any diag LEDs or logs to indicate the dropping of the signal ?

I just had a friend call me, and her Rogers Lite service was suspended for the same reason, and she has a Belkin router as well. I told her not to bother arguing with Rogers, just disconnect the router for now and buy another one.

She's a very light web/email surfer, does not do any P2P or any other intensive tasks. She was quite surprised.

Hey guys, I'm a Lite user and I got this email from Rogers today:

Please be advised, a device using your Rogers Hi-Speed connection appears to be making continuous unnecessary DHCP requests.

DHCP is the method your computer/router uses to request an IP address for use on our network. Once our server assigns your computer an IP address, your computer/router can communicate on our network. After a set period of time, called the IP lease time (usually a couple of days) your computer/router should contact our DHCP server to ensure it can continue using the IP address it was assigned. Once assigned an IP address from our DHCP server, your computer/ router appears to be immediately asking to be assigned an IP address, and not waiting for the IP lease time to expire.

As this constant DHCP traffic can impede other subscribers' from obtaining an IP address. Please contact our technical support department to check your settings and other possibilities for this activity. They may be contacted by using one of the following: internetsupport@rci.rogers.com" or call 1-888-288-4663.

Due to the severity of the implications of this activity, if it should continue without resolution, we may be required to suspend your service until it can be resolved. For this reason, please follow the above instructions to contact our technical support department.

Rogers EUA Management Team

Sincerely,

EUA Management Team
Rogers Yahoo Hi-Speed Internet

....How can I change my router from refreshing too often? I can't find it in the manual.....using a SMC 7004VBR

Are there any other Lite users being affected by this? Does it apply to only Lite users? thx..

:::

How come suddently there are many Rogers
customer have "continuous unnecessary
DHCP requests" problem??

Do I smell somethings....??

:::

Stating that this could possibly impede other users from getting an ip address is bullsh*t. If you receive a lease from the dhcp server, release and renew, it still gives you the same ip you had before -- which obviously means there are no ips being lost that would be going to other users.

The only way this could possibly be of any threat is if the router is changing its nic address every minute and renewing the lease thus taking up (for a small period) all the ips in your subnet.

The chances of this happening are slim. It's just sad that Rogers customers have to go through this.

Rogers didn't say they were using up the actual IPs. If the DHCP server can handle X number of requests per minute and these systems are maxing out that request bandwidth (as the letter states) this constant DHCP traffic can impede other subscribers' from obtaining an IP address.

While it is always easy to blame Rogers, there are a bunch of NAT routers out there that ship with buggy firmware. I had a Wireless-B Netgear router that had as its default firmware a routine that would continually contact (bomb) a certain timeserver to set its clock.

The only reason I found about it was the PC-World review mentioned that you should upgrade the firmware before deploying the NAT router.

--
The most dramatic bug, however, afflicted several models manufactured by Netgear, including the MR814. Netgear says that its customers should upgrade the MR814's firmware to at least version 4.13; otherwise the router may send a crippling flood of requests to Internet time servers while updating its internal clock. According to Netgear, this problem doesn't affect its 11g router, the WGR614.

»www.pcworld.com/article/ ··· cle.html
--

For those with a Belkin router, is there a firmware upgrade available that addresses any DHCP issues?

I am on Extreme service and had the same problem last night. They gave me model numbers of routers that are causing this issue and both of models are in this list.

So if a bunch of users started having this problem all of a sudden, then how is it customer's problem. I am gonna call them back tonight and cancel. I have had enough with Rogers.

Is there some public list of these routers? I have a Belkin and there has been no new firmware for almost 2 years. So this means I have to go out and buy a new router that (at least on my end) seems to work fine?

According to my status page, my Belkin has newer firware than Belkin's web page says! So, I've got a support request into Belkin to find out what's going on.

My Belkin (recent purchase for kids going to uni) is a model F5D7230-4 with firmware F5D7230-4_US_8.01.07 I have no idea if it's sending lots of DHCP requests.

I went looking and couldn't find anything about this problem except here, and therefore no list of applicable models!

"So if a bunch of users started having this problem all of a sudden, then how is it customer's problem. I am gonna call them back tonight and cancel. I have had enough with Rogers."

If the problem is caused by your router then it is your problem. The fact that it happened all of a sudden, is that Rogers started cracking down on it once they found out what the issue was.

You can of course cancel but that doesn't fix the issue with your router. I would seek out someone with technical knowledge to help you with your problem. These things can happen and it's not always someone elses fault.

Well if its a router problem how come no other cable operator has had any problems like that?? I have searched and haven't come up with anything.

Just because you can't find anything online about it doesn't mean it hasn't happened. Call rogers back and ask them for a reference to where this issue is documented. There are many things you can do. Or have someone more technical help you.

Called them back and they said its a new issue they have encountered and there is no documentation available with more details about this issue. They told me to give them a call sometime next week.

The same thing happened to me... I figured that it was a power outage problem because we have had several power outage in the area over a quick period.... and these were like the power would just go off and then come back on a couple of seconds later... got myself a small UPS.

The funny thing is... the put my account on hold... so I go on the next day and check ums and it said that I had 2.5 gigs worth of transfer while my account was on hold... Pffttt!!!

The issue is a DHCP renew request from routers. Mostly Belkin, Netgear, and some older Linksys are affecting the system. Older firmwares are making thousands of DHCP requests an hour, and Rogers is shutting people down for it.

This affects all Rogers Internet account types.

After wading through the sea of techs at Rogers I discovered that Belkin users (at least those with F5D7230-4) should check their firmware version. If you have 6.00.1x you'll need to find and install the 6.00.21 version. This is a European firmware update, but fixes the DHCP issue for Rogers.

After updating your firmware correctly you should be in the clear!

Beware that there are different versions of the router with different firmware ...

The firmware is available from Belkin, but you'll have to contact their support to get a user name and password since the latest firmware is held on a secure UK site.

Belkin ... 800-223-5546 (Extn. 2263)or 310 898 1100 (Ext. 2263) or usnetsupp@belkin.com

So, check the bottom of your router for a sticker that says something like ver. xxxx If there is no sticker, Belkin should be able to tell from the serial number.

These are the current versions as of today for the firmware.

Version 1xxx or 2xxx BELKIN_RT_54G_UK_4.05.03
Version 4xxx F5D7230_4V4000_6.00.22
Version 6xxx F5D7230-4v6_UK_8.01.09

(x's represent any digit)

My brother is using Roger's Lite and was also suspended. He uses a Belkin wireless router. Rogers support told him to update his firmware but that it was his only warning. If there were anymore problems they would cut him off. I find that really extreme. Surprised they didn't send any warning before cutting him off in the first place