Horizon Portal Available and Weird Wifi Network

eb1654

So, recently I switched to the Connectbox Giga and started seeing some really weird issues.

At first, I had to disconnect and connect multiple times from my wifi network until for some reason it started working and for hours it would be like that without any problems. Then next time I would try to use my laptop I would have to go through the same process again.

Well, since I am an IT engineer, troubleshooting problems like this is part of my daily routine. So, at first, I went through the whole process of:

Checking Wifi Signal/Noise ratio
Analyze which channels were busy in my area
Reset Modem
Change DNS servers (I am using Cloudflare's now)

None of that worked. But while doing that I noticed that the IPv4 network settings were different when the internet connection was not working. Both my laptop DHCP assigned IP and Default Gateway were different.

When it was working I got the following from the Connectbox Giga DHCP server:

IPv4: 192.168.178.X/24
Gateway: 192.168.178.1/24

Which is exactly what I configured in the modem settings. However, when it was not working I got this:

IPv4: 192.168.192.X/24
Gateway: 192.168.182.1/24

Now I knew the root cause! But I was really worried since this could be someone trying to attack my home network by creating a network with the same SSID as mine.

So, I kept troubleshooting...

I tried shutting down my Connectbox Giga to see if the network was still showing up. And well, at least after shutting it down my SSID was gone. OK, at least was not someone trying to spy on me.

Well, although that issue was gone the symptoms were still getting weirder and weirder. I tried connecting to the gateway on the 192.168.192.1 address and to my surprise, there was a web portal available! But it was not Ziggo's! (check attachment image).

The portal user and password was admin/admin (OMG xD)!

So, now I think that this might be the portal from the companies that develop the Connectbox Giga and due to a bug it is still available. It is even propagating the network! My guess is that either my Connectbox Giga was misconfigured or there is a bug that is leaving this portal open. Now it's like my Connectbox Giga has 2 access points that are conflicting with each other. One is the normal one from Ziggo and the other is this Horizon one.

I still don't know how to solve this problem and I am afraid that if I change anything on the Horizon portal I might break the modem.

This is why I made this post. Anyone having the same issue?

Steefb

If you have a connect box and a horizon it is advised to dismiss the horizon from your network, because of these issues.

Verwijder uit thuisnetwerk | Klantenservice | Ziggo

If your Mediabox XL is included on the home network, problems may occur. You can solve this by removing the box from the home network. Below we explain how you can do this.

Remove Mediabox XL from the home network
A.
Press the Menu button of the Mediabox XL remote control. Then go to Options and choose My Home Network there.

B.
Choose set home network option, and then press OK.

C.
Select On the Media box and press OK.
The box will now adjust the settings. This can take up to two minutes.

D.
Select Back below and press OK.

E.
If it's okay, you'll see Gateway mode behind Home Network Mode:

F.
Did you connect the Mediabox XL to the network with a network cable? Then remove this cable from the media box.

The box no longer bothers the home network.

Bekijk in context

tobiastheebe

You seem to have connected your Mediabox XL to your Connect Box Giga over UTP. This can cause various problems, including the one you're experiencing.