Internet Connection

[Harry Tidby]

Hi.  I purchased my B2 (480G SSD) in February 2021 and joined the forum, from which I have gained much welcome information and advice, shortly after.  Overall, I am pleased with the performance of the B2 - except for its ability to connect to the internet.  My B2 is physically located within 3 metres of my router (a BT Smart Hub, but not the 'version 2' of that family).  Initially, I used the WiFi dongle but, noting that signal strength was in the region of -54dB, removed this and changed to a hard-wired connection, connected to the unit via a short male/female tail.  I do not believe that this yielded much of a change, except for the fact that I have now lost the 'retry WiFi' option which was available to me initially with the dongle fitted.  Having tried (I believe) all of the recommended actions, i.e. power off/power on cycles for both the BT hub and the B2 (which incidentally, has a dedicated port assigned at the hub), I still find that making a connection between the two is an extremely hit and miss affair.  Having ruled out the interconnecting cable I am now wondering if this could be a problem within the B2.  I reseated the SD card whilst fitting the internet cable but that did not make any difference. Is it possible that the SD card itself is at fault here?  Any suggestions and/or advice would be greatly appreciated.  Many thanks, H.

[JFBUK]

Hi,

Can you expand on the symptoms you are seeing ?

When you say

"  I still find that making a connection between the two is an extremely hit and miss affair "

What are the two ? Assuming you are trying to connect to B2 what are you trying to connect from and how ?

John

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Hi H,

Yes I agree with John, From what you say it is not clear exactly what you problem is.

When connected to your router via the Ethernet cable (WITH THE WIFI DONGLE REMOVED FROM THE UNIT PLEASE), then when you boot the B2, it should just show the IP number (which you say you have fixed on your router) on the front screen

when it has booted. There is no "extra" step you have to do to make the connection to your router, it will just happen).

If this is what you have done/are doing and the IP number is NOT appearing then yes there is an issue!.

Fred.

[Harry Tidby]

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Hi also..

OK from what you describe there is possibly a problem with (go through the steps below in order - stop if you get a cure on a step)

1) the Ethernet cable you have used (to test this could you swap it with another) 

2) lets look at the router - if you have a laptop, unplug the B2 end of the Ethernet cable and plug it into your Laptop. Does the laptop see the Ethernet connection - if yes go to 3, if no go to 4

3) the  short male/female tail you have used (to test this swap it out and make a direct connection. Also at the same time check that the Ethernet cable is seated firmly in the B2 - it needs to click into place). If this works then it is the tail that is faulty.

4) If you are here then the problem is at the router end - are there any more free Ethernet sockets on the router? if so try them all with the Laptop Ethernet and see if you can find one that works.. If you find one then use that and connect up the B2 - it should now work OK.

5) If you reach here, Your router is faulty or has some strange configuration.

hope this helps

Fred

[PMB]

Hi H,

Usually Ethernet is a rock solid connection - have you removed the WiFi dongle?

If all of Fred's suggestions fail, please email me on -   thenbrennanb2   @   gmail   .   com   - no spaces, with a brief description of issue and we send a new SD Card for you to fit.

Please let us have an address for delivery and mention that the SD Card is 'internal'.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[HarryT]

Hi Fred. Many thanks for the list. My laptop sees the internet connection ok when using the cable, tail and router port usually utilised by the B2.  It also sees the internet via any of the other router ports, so cables and router seem good to me. Reinstalled tail into B2 and connected to internet but still no connection made by the unit.  Paul has offered to send me a new SD card and so I will contact him as the next step.   Thanks again for your help and advice. H. 

On Thursday, June 3, 2021 at 2:45:03 AM UTC+1 fred.w....@gmail.com wrote:

[Dennis]

On Wednesday, June 2, 2021 at 6:56:14 AM UTC-4 also...@gmail.com wrote:

....BT hub and the B2 (which incidentally, has a dedicated port assigned at the hub),

Does this mean that you have assigned the B2 a fixed IP address on a table in the router? Typically this is done by assigning a specific IP address to a specific MAC address, but the MAC address for the B2's ethernet port is probably different than the MAC address used by the WiFi adapter. It would be interesting to remove the fixed IP address for testing purposes, and create one once the connection is stable.

 

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Well spotted Dennis.

I agree this would cause problems with the UI, BUT the problem is he does not seem to be getting any IP number assigned to his B2 when connected via Ethernet.

We will have to wait and see if the new SD Card corrects the problem (in which case it must be a corruption in the Linux - ethernet code on the old card) OR there is a hardware issue and the B2 will need to be fixed by Brennan under warranty (it is nearly new).

Anyhow Paul (PMB) from Brennan is obviously on it!.

Fred 

[PMB]

Hi Also,

With the B2 connected to the router try powering the router off, wait 30s or so and power on again.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[HarryT]

Thanks for the latest advice.  Fixed IP removed for both internet port and Wi Fi adaptor but no change in symptoms.  I have also (on numerous occasions) powered off the router and waited for a couple of minutes before powering back on.  Occasionally this has worked but no more frequently than running a power off/power on cycle on the B2.  Many thanks for continuing to assist with this issue, particularly to Fred for providing me with an insight as to how a replacement SD card might resolve things.  We will find out in due course, I guess. Thankfully, I am able to revert to the WiFi mode - and with a 4dB improvement thanks to previous advice on the forum regarding short extension leads, bonus!.

[JFBUK]

Hi,

apologies if this is a dumb question but when you assigned fixed IP addresses for the wifi adaptor and the wired connection you were using different IP addresses for each MAC address ?

John

[HarryT]

No need for apologies - there are no dumb questions.  I was using a fixed IP address when the unit was hard wired in order that I could easily access the Web UI.  When the continual difficulty of connecting to the internet became overly tedious I disconnected the hard wiring and reverted to using the WiFi dongle, for which I also set a fixed IP address.  For info, at that time I did not remove the fixed IP association for the ethernet interface - as they were different IP addresses I did not see a need to do so and there was (and never has been) a problem connecting via the WiFi dongle.  However, on receipt of Dennis' note last evening, I went into the BT Smart Hub and took off the fixed IP option for both addresses, just to be sure. H.

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Hi John,

It is my understanding that every device capable of forming an internet connection has built into (at the hardware level) a unique code - called the MAC Address. 

When such a device wishes to "attach itself" to a network, this is identifier is visible to the services on the network responsible for establishing communication to that device. IP numbers for the device being attached to are provided at a software level during the process of setting up the communication (by a DHCP service).

Thus if a computer is plugged into a router by Ethernet cable and also has enabled WiFi capability, each path will present its own MAC Address to the local network and each will therefore get its own IP number assigned. The router would be able to provide a (different) fixed IP number for both of these routes to the computer.

Fred

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Obviously a Brennan (at the front screen) uses just one IP number at a time (I suspect the cable one would win out over the dongle if both were "there") and that would be the IP number you would need to use to get the Web UI for the Brennan.

However if the WiFi dongle is still plugged in, the Linux operating system (at a base level) will still establish and maintain a network link over the WiFi route. Thus if the reason for the Cable connection was to overcome poor WiFi, the benefit will not

be obtained if the Brennan is still trying to maintain that WiFi link - which is why we ask you to remove the WiFi dongle so that code to service that is not loaded when you boot the Brennan.

Fred

[PMB]

Hi Also,

It might be an idea to reprogram the SD Card as this contains the operating software for the B2. It may have got corrupted somewhere down the line.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[JFBUK]

Hi Fred,

all correct but my question was whether two static IP addresses with the same address values had been added to the router reserved address list for the two different MAC addresses ?

If you give two devices the same fixed IP address on the same network segment its a recipe for trouble.

My Virgin Media router will not allow this (just double checked) and I assume most routers will by default including the BT router but sometimes the stupid questions...

John

[Peter Lowham]

Hi All,

We need to be careful about the IP address terminology here.  The reference to 'static IP addresses' here could cause misunderstandings.

There are three types of IP addresses which are:

1.  DHCP addressing which are controlled and managed entirely by the router and are issued by the router upon receiving a connection request from a device.  These will normally be 'floating' addresses and can change each time a device makes a new connection request.  This is this default 'out of the box' setting for most routers.

2.  Fixed DHCP addressing which are addresses that are controlled and managed by the router, but where the router has been instructed to always issue the same address to the same device. The router does this by identifying the device by its MAC address and then issues the IP address that is tied to that MAC address.  The router will not issue that address to any other device and therefore you cannot have multiple connections with the same IP address simultaneously.  Fixed DHCP addresses are enabled by using a 'tick box' in the router IP address table, shown as something like 'Always use this IP address:'  This is the type of connection which the Brennans should use, as it ensures the B2 or BB1 will alway connect with the same address.  I have 2 x B2s and 2 x BB1s and the fixed DHCP addressing works perfectly on all of them.

3.  Static addressing which are where the device, such as a server (usually) is internally configured with a set IP address and will tell the router that this is the address that it is using.  The router either must conform with this or, if the address is out of the router's IP address range, will ignore the device.  Static addresses are usually only used in Data Centre Server farms, although I do have four servers using static addresses.

About 2 years ago, I accidentally assigned a static address that was already in use to a new server.  The ensuing havoc that occurred on my network ended with me having to do a full factory reset of the router.  With about 40 devices to reconnect, that took some time and effort, so static addresses are not a good idea unless you know how they work!

Regards,

Peter.

[HarryT]

Gosh, lots of useful information to absorb.  As a result of Peter's note regarding types of IP addresses and for the avoidance of any doubt that may be lingering in the minds of any of you helpful people,  I can safely confirm that I was using the BT router to set up Fixed DHCP addressing which, fortunately, is the type of connection that the Brennan should use. Regards, H.

[HarryT]

Hi. Apologies for the delay in providing an update. My fault entirely - it helps if one types in the email address correctly when requesting a replacement SD card!  In fact, the request was actioned in super-quick time (many thanks, Paul).  New SD card fitted but unit still does not see an Ethernet connection, although it functions perfectly well when connected via WiFi.  Could this be an 'on-board' fault within the unit?  Any guidance on what I should do next would be most appreciated.

[Mark Fishman]

You seem to have a good handle on hardware; are you comfortable using ssh on a computer (Windows or Mac) to connect to your B2 and typing a few commands at the command line? (Text window only, at least at the B2 end.)

Also, when you set up the fixed DHCP assignment in your router, did you in fact see a MAC address for the B2 listed as connected to the router? or did you have to type in the MAC address in order to set the assignment? If so, where did you get the MAC address to use?

There should be a list of connected devices in the router's web pages, so if the B2's wired ethernet chip and socket are working its MAC address should show up even if the B2 hasn't managed to acquire an IP address.

-- m.

[HarryT]

Hi Mark, thanks for the input.  The fixed DHCP assignment (now removed) was set up back in the day when the B2 could make the wired connection.  As you point out, the B2 was listed as being connected to the router and so all I had to do was to set the 'always use this IP address' toggle to 'Yes'.  Job done and all was well until I started getting connection issues after any power down/power up cycles.  The problem was intermittent at the outset but, as my latest round of testing has failed to generate a single wired ethernet connection, I fear that the problem has moved on from the 'intermittent' stage.  Consequently, the B2 does not show in the list of connected devices at the router even though I know that the router port and the associated cabling are good.   So, just how serious is a malfunctioning ethernet chip? H.

[Mark Fishman]

It's part of the Raspberry Pi board, soldered on, so you need a replacement board, not a replacement chip. IOW, Brennan repair time.

[PMB]

Hi H,

Have you tried a different Ethernet cable?

Can you 'undo' the 'always use this IP', power cycle the router and B2 and see if it connects.

As Mark says the Ethernet connector is part of the R Pi board which will need to be replaced if there is a fault.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[HarryT]

Hi Paul,

I removed the fixed assignment when I was running through Fred's suggested test list (Forum 3/6/21) and that router port has remained unassigned ever since.  The port is good, as as the other three ports on the router, to anything else I hardwire into it - except the B2.  No matter how many times I run through Fred's test list, or how many different cables I use (with or without the male/female tail that I initially used for ease of the ethernet connection), and how many power down/ power up cycles I run through, I cannot get the B2 to register on my router list of devices.  As I reported  to Mark yesterday -  it was registering on occasions but now doesn't seem to be attempting to talk to the router at all.  It's a real shame, because the unit has behaved impeccably in all other respects but, as things stand, my money is on an internal fault within the B2.   How do I go about getting it sorted, given that it was purchased in February of this year. H.

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Hi Harry,

I think that there must be a hardware issue with the Raspberry Pi unit in your B2.

As your unit is still under warranty I am sure Brennan will fix it for you. 

However just for your information it is possible for a user to change / replace the Pi at home. Open the B2, instructions for this on the Forum, look at the version number on the Pi, order a replacement that is the same version ( circa £30) and swap it, there are no non plugable connections to the Pi board and it is just screw fitted.

Fred

[PMB]

Hi Harry,

Please email me on -   thebrennanb2   @   gmail   .   com   - (no spaces) and we will send you the return for repair instructions.

Paul

Brennan Support.