Troubleshooting Internet Connectivity: A Tech Dilemma

As a seasoned IT professional with a decade of experience, I thought I had encountered nearly every possible issue in the realm of technology. However, a recent situation involving a long-term client has left me both puzzled and seeking advice from fellow experts in the field.

The Situation

My client, whom I’ve supported for many years, reached out to me with a seemingly straightforward problem: they were experiencing internet connectivity issues. Typically, this would entail a quick fix—perhaps resetting the modem or updating a few drivers. I expected to have everything resolved in around 25 minutes. However, two days later, I find myself perplexed and still troubleshooting.

The Issue Unfolds

Initially, the symptoms appeared clear. All internet traffic redirected to msftconnecttest.com, accompanied by Windows’ notification of “no internet access.” This usually indicates an underlying connectivity issue, prompting Windows to redirect users to a connection verification page.

To tackle the problem, I began with the basics—a modem reset (the device in question is from Frontier/Verizon), but unfortunately, that didn’t solve anything. Next, I attempted a complete network settings reset on the affected computers. It’s worth noting that both Mac and PC devices were unable to access the network, but interestingly, only the PCs were being redirected.

In my attempts to resolve this, I even disabled the msftconnecttest entry in the registry; however, this did not yield the desired results. Despite attempting to visit various websites, most appeared to load partially before reverting to the same msftconnecttest page.

The Technical Investigation

A ping test to Google resulted in an unexpected IP address—172.19.1.254—which is clearly not Google’s IP, returning a response time of less than 1ms. In fact, every ping test resulted in that same odd IP address. Additionally, computers both wired and wireless could not even ping the local modem at this point.

After reaching out to Frontier’s customer support, I received an unexpected reply. One technician suggested that “the modem has been hacked by Russia.” Yes, I wish I were making that up. The recommendation was to replace the modem, which I promptly did at a local store. However, to my dismay, the exact same issue persisted with the new device.

A Glimmer of Hope?

Interestingly