Exploring a Curious Case of Internet Connectivity Issues

As an IT professional with a decade of experience, I’ve encountered my fair share of troubleshooting challenges. However, I recently faced a connectivity dilemma that left me both baffled and seeking insights from the community. Allow me to share the peculiar situation involving one of my long-standing clients.

The Scenario

This client has relied on my IT services for several years, reaching out to me whenever they encounter issues. The latest call, however, was unlike any I had dealt with before. They reported having connectivity problems, which I initially assumed would be a straightforward fix: reset the modem, check a driver or two, and I’d be done in less than half an hour. Little did I know that this simple call would stretch into the second day of troubleshooting.

The Issue Unfolds

Upon investigation, I discovered that their computers were redirecting all internet traffic to http://msftconnecttest.com, while Windows displayed an error message indicating a lack of internet access. This typically suggests a connection problem, whereby Windows directs users to the msftconnecttest page.

To begin resolving the issue, I first reset the modem (provided by Frontier/Verizon), but unfortunately, this did not yield any positive results. Next, I proceeded to reset the network settings and drivers on the affected computers. It’s worth noting that both Mac and PC devices were unable to access the network, although only the PCs were seeing the problematic redirection.

I also attempted to disable the msftconnecttest reference in the registry, but to no avail—when trying to access any website, the page would seemingly load before redirecting me back to the msftconnecttest page.

Diagnostic Steps Taken

During the diagnostic phase, I performed a ping test to Google, which resolved to an unexpected IP address of 172.19.1.254, returning a ping response of less than 1 ms. Strangely enough, this same IP was returned for any website I tried to reach. Neither wired nor wireless devices on the network could ping the modem during this time.

Frustrated, I contacted Frontier’s support. To my utter astonishment, a technician suggested that “the modem has been hacked by Russia.” Although I wish I had recorded that call for its surreal content, I quickly replaced the modem at a local Frontier store only to discover that the same