Centurylink weird fiber internet issue trying to use a Uninterrupable power supply

Hardware Hub Networking
1

So I work from home out in the seattle area and I use centurylink and their fiber internet.
Its pretty cool!
I was a bit concerned about losing power when I was working could knock me quickly off the internet…so I got a APC UPS battery backup and surge protector 850 VA from amazon.

Tonight I set it up, unplugged the casa systems network termination device and modem (C400xg)

Plugged everything back, and my fiber connection would not for the life of me come back online. REset the casa, unplugged re-plugged modem and NTD, would never get a connection and a green light on the modem.

In total desperation, I just plugged the NTD back into a regular power strip and it IMMEDIATELY connected.

Any reports of these NTD boxes not liking UPS battery backup devices???

2

Try it again, I bet it was just a fluke

After all, that UPS is still just providing grid power anyway

3

I did not do my math well!

I think my main computer (a nice computer , but it has a 5900x oc 3080ti and a 1200 watt power supply) was NOT good for this particular UPS unit–especially since its powering a few items. I tried to fire up a game and got beeps from the ups and then a warning of like 3 min or less backup time…unplugged computer and tried the NTD again and quickly reconnected. Also time on the ups went up to 43 min…Also changed voltage regulation filtering to low…at least it seems to meet the goal of when I bought it–keeping my internet going if my portable AC trips a circuit breaker!

4

Sounds like the APC unit you got may be faulty, or putting out a signal that the switching power supply of the modem could not accept.

If you switch back and forth between the wall power and the UPS, and it only happens on UPS, I would return the UPS.

I have had faulty UPSes both from APC and Cyberpower. The only brand so far that has worked without issue is Eaton, but you are paying for that, big time.

Now adays I stick with Cyberpower for non critical loads that I would “like” uptime on, such as a arm based modem or TV, and then Eaton for Servers, and critical Infra.

5

For my low power internet appliances I bought an Eaton 3S power strip-style UPS. It’s simple, has USB monitoring and kept me online multiple times. Even when I had the electricity company screw around in the neighbourhood and voltage was heavly fluctuating.
I suggest you look into one of those, especially from Eaton since they make reliable products.

6

the NTD was making a lot of clicking noises, so I assume it was an issue with the power, but it seems to be working now. I will look into the Eaton 3s as another option if it is much higher rated for the important stuff!

7

Yeah, that could be a sign of something wonky in the checks, or that you have sensitivity set on high when your power is too variant.

I run a Eaton 5P and a 5PX (rack mount) at home and have been happy with both.

My APC tends to go through batteries quicker, and my Cyperpowers work but… eh, low trust i guess? I have gone through 2 cyberpowers and 1 APC over the span of running more computers and devices than any one person should have.

1 Like
8

ah, when I was able to get the computer and software installed, I did lower the sensitivity to low–so maybe that also helped!

I am in Washington state–is there a good place to BUY the eaton models from? amazon seems all resellers with very sketchy store ratings!

9

I’m in the same market. At my last place I had the casa box and an APC UPS 650 (smallest that had USB, seems to be the same as the 850).

I had no issues running the whole network setup off the UPS including the casa box. It was rock solid. I was doing about 30-50 watts with all the gear off the UPS. The one difference I had was I was not using the c4000xg, as it’s good hardware with trash software. I just grabbed my PPPOE creds off that device and used my own router.

The twisted pair casa boxes we had also power the shared fiber termination box, so if I ever powered down my casa box I was maybe resetting down the fiber termination box too. Other properties sharing the fiber terminator would be doing redundant power to it, so I can’t guarantee it was reset.

I’d say your first step is to rule out either the casa box or the modem/router. AFAIK the casa box is just a bridge running VLAN 201 and doesn’t do PPPOE, so you can use pretty much any router that’ll do vlans and pppoe.

10

oh, so I can get my user login and password from, the c4000xg and plug the casa box right into my router? good to know! (I do have an asus RT AX88U with ASUS WRT firmware)

I will try it out sometime! nice to get rid of using the c4000xg if it is not needed.

the next steps will be maybe some moca to get more hard-wired internet into other rooms.

11

Yep, depending what firmware on the c4000xg you have you can grab it more or less easily, and you can always call and get your creds.

13

I have Century Link fiber and do no even use the router they provided. I use pfSense with the wan configured for vlan 201 and pfSense is configured for pppoe so it authenticates with Century Link. Works extremely well. However if you go to their website, it shows my internet as being down. Guessing that their service talks to the modem to determine of the service is up or down. I also have a stack of IPs with them and am able to use these with no issues.