Navigating Unusual Internet Connectivity Issues: A Case Study

In my decade of experience in the IT sector, I’ve encountered my fair share of challenges, but recently, I faced a particularly perplexing internet connectivity issue that left me scratching my head. I’m sharing this experience in hopes of gaining insights from fellow professionals who might have faced a similar situation.

Background

I’ve built a strong working relationship with a long-time client who relies on me for their IT needs. After several years of successfully addressing their technical issues, I was recently contacted regarding a connectivity problem that seemed straightforward. Initially, I anticipated a quick fix involving a modem reset or a few driver updates—an estimated 25-minute task. Little did I know, I was about to embark on a two-day troubleshooting odyssey.

The Challenge

The connectivity crisis manifested as computers redirecting all internet traffic to msftconnecttest.com, with Windows indicating there was “no internet access.” This behavior typically suggests a lack of a reliable connection, prompting Windows to guide users to this Microsoft page in an attempt to establish a connection.

To address the issue, my first step was to reset the modem (a Frontier/Verizon unit). Unfortunately, that did not yield any positive results. I proceeded to reset the network settings and drivers on all affected computers. It’s worth mentioning that both Mac and PC systems were unable to connect, but only the PCs were being redirected. Even after disabling entries related to msftconnecttest in the registry, attempts to load any website were futile, as the redirection persisted.

During my tests, I attempted to ping Google, which unexpectedly resolved to an IP address of 172.19.1.254—definitely not Google’s IP and returning a response time of less than 1ms. In fact, any ping test I conducted resolved to that same IP, suggesting a significant underlying issue. At this point, neither wired nor wireless devices on the network could even successfully ping the modem.

An Unexpected Interaction

After reaching out to Frontier’s technical support, I received an astonishing response from one technician, who jokingly claimed, “The modem has been hacked by Russia.” I wish I had recorded that call! Eventually, after some back-and-forth, I received a replacement modem, only to encounter the exact same issue with the new device.

However, here’s the twist: when I activated a mobile hotspot, everything functioned smoothly. This clearly pointed towards an issue related