Seeking Assistance: Unraveling a Mysterious Internet Connectivity Issue

As a seasoned IT professional with a decade of experience, I’ve encountered my fair share of technical challenges. However, I recently faced an unprecedented internet connectivity dilemma with a long-standing client that has left me scratching my head and seeking guidance from fellow experts in the field.

The Background

I’ve been the go-to IT partner for this client for years, helping them navigate various technical issues. So when they reached out about having trouble with their internet connection, I initially thought it would be a straightforward fix — a simple modem reset or a quick driver update, taking no more than 25 minutes to resolve. It turns out I was overly optimistic, as we find ourselves on day two without a solution in sight.

The Problem Unfolds

The situation escalates when I discovered that all internet traffic from their computers is being redirected to http://msftconnecttest.com while Windows displays a “no internet access” message. This behavior typically indicates a connectivity problem, leading Windows to redirect the user to a connectivity test page.

I promptly reset their modem (a Frontier/Verizon device), but this action did little to resolve the issue. My next step involved resetting the network settings and drivers on both PCs and Macs — notably, both platforms were unable to access the network. Yet, only the PCs were redirected to the infamous msftconnecttest page. Even after disabling entries related to msftconnecttest in the registry, attempts to access any website resulted in the same redirect, despite the pages appearing to load.

A ping test to Google yielded an unexpected response, resolving to the IP address 172.19.1.254 — certainly not Google’s, and with a response time of less than 1 ms. Strangely, pings to any website returned the same IP, and neither wired nor wireless computers could ping the modem successfully.

When I contacted Frontier’s support, one technician suggested that “the modem has been hacked by Russia” — an assertion that was as alarming as it was absurd. Following their advice, I replaced the modem at a local Frontier store, only to see the exact same connectivity issues persist. Interestingly, when I connected the computers to a mobile hotspot, they worked flawlessly, pointing to a possible issue with the ISP.