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I'm unfamiliar with coax broadband provisioning specifics with new (100/10) service in a residential neighborhood, and intermittently getting Internet disconnections and interestingly discovered the ability to also intermittently reach a neighbors NAT router management interface via my non-routable 192.168.x.x address. Earlier today, I even logged in with default credentials initially thinking it was my router that was reset, spotting the neighbors WiFi keys and such before logging out. My provider (Vyve Broadband) has escalated me past reboot and hope steps to send technician back out in a few days- hopefully sooner.

I'm curious how a non-routable IP address is allowing me to interact with my neighbors router intermittently from my internal logical address space, and tonight I'm again seeing my router login and setup at the address. I would appreciate any suggestions or insights into broadband provisioning with ISP provided NAT routers around this to assist with troubleshooting - seems pretty odd!

Vilican
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user3298772
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  • Do you use something like Powerline or Devolo? I had the same problem, that `192.168.1.1` was suddenly a router that wasn't mine but the neighbours'. This happened when I was setting up a powerline (trying to encrypt my powerline internal connection properly, but it's all TOFU that resets with every time you reboot it, so it automatically tries to look around for devices and sets up sessions with them) – Luc Apr 13 '22 at 14:58
  • My devices are just on WiFi with the ISP's ARRIS NAT router. I have a spare laptop wire Ethernet connected next to this ISP router that is still able to bring up the neighbor's ARRIS NAT router management logon screen at http://192.168.x.x:8082 (port 8082) and experiencing some Internet Connection Monitor (Chrome addon) reported disconnects overnight- very odd. Still waiting on tech support follow-up and will also update if I find out more around this issue. – user3298772 Apr 13 '22 at 16:11
  • Additionally, the ISP Level-1 phone support over several calls each asked me if I had two modems from what they could assess.. I do not at this point and clarified my device MAC address. I'm wondering if somehow clone or duplicate MAC or provisioning misstep is involved - doesn't quite explain how I'm able to access neighbor's device with non-routable Internet IP... :) – user3298772 Apr 13 '22 at 16:27
  • Have you ever logged into your neighbor's WiFi before? And what do you mean by: "spotting the neighbors WiFi keys"? – hft Apr 13 '22 at 22:02
  • New to the neighborhood and I continue being able to access neighbor's NAT router with browser automatically adding port number (https:.168.x.x:8082). When I did log in, I spotted the neighbor's SSID and static WiFi security settings in the browser interface that is similar to mine, ARRIS. I'm also unable to access my own router settings from within my networks at same IP for wired or wireless network, but still able to get on my on protected WiFi with my initial setup of SSID/security key to do so.. kinda odd. – user3298772 Apr 14 '22 at 03:13
  • RFC1918 IP's (like 192.168.x.y) are *not* non-routable, they shouldn't be routed on the public internet. Your ISP can use them in their network and route traffic between end users. – Teun Vink Apr 14 '22 at 05:27
  • So true, RFC1918 defined private network IP ranges are non-routable over the Internet and, like most ISPs, my provider assigns an Internet accessible IP external to their service. In my case I learned I had two (not one) modem that somehow interacted over the my local local MoCA ethernet over coax service to create this situation.. now resolved as outlined in my answer below. I've learned quite a bit more about MoCA - may go my own gear entirely for broadband data service (Ehternet and WiFi) rather than renting somewhat less capable generic gear- my provider apparently allows it! – user3298772 Apr 16 '22 at 19:01

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Update - the same tech that performed my initial ISP/TV service install returned yesterday and helped quickly resolve the issue. I learned there are two network modems on my cable network - one for my primary ISP service, and the other device (tech called it an "abomination") that combines DVR and ISP service. As we are also set up for traditional phone service, there is the need for both coax connected devices rather that just using the DVR.

The DVR apparently was not reset and retained prior settings including WiFi cranked up to max. So, my "neighbor" was actually the DVR device sharing the same local Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) network. At my request, the tech turned off all the WiFi networks on the DVR device, helping declutter primary ISP device WiFi frequencies.

More importantly, the two network coax devices were also seriously conflicting with each other based on the tech reviewing analog service levels history (using phone app to access their coax network infrastructure management information). To resolve the analog conflict issue, the tech added a MoCA filter on the input of my primary ISP router which cleared up my primary service issues.

He also left me an additional MoCA filter if case it may be needed for the inbound coax connection to my home (to be placed at the splitter). For those curious about MoCA networks and filters, the following explains much:

Do I need a MoCA filter & Where do I place it? https://us.hitrontech.com/learn/do-i-need-a-moca-filter-where-do-i-place-it/

All working so much better now- problems solved!

user3298772
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  • Welcome to the community, this is not a forum, but a Q&A site so please edit your question to fit the Q&A format - answer your own question. – Sir Muffington Apr 15 '22 at 19:41