Unraveling a Connectivity Conundrum: Seeking Expert Advice

Having spent a decade in the IT field, I thought I had encountered every possible network issue known to mankind. However, a persistent problem with a long-term client has left me scratching my head and seeking input from fellow professionals.

The Situation

This particular client has been with me for years, and whenever they call with a technical issue, I am generally able to resolve it promptly. When they reached out recently regarding internet connectivity troubles, I anticipated a straightforward fix. Perhaps a modem reset or a driver update would resolve the glitch—easy enough, right? Well, here I am two days later, confounded and reaching out for assistance.

The Problem Unfolds

Upon their call, the client reported that all internet traffic was being redirected to msftconnecttest.com, with Windows showing a frustrating “no internet access” notification. Typically, this situation indicates a lack of connection, prompting Windows to steer users to a troubleshooting page.

Taking my usual steps, I began with a modem reset (the modem in question is a Frontier/Verizon unit), but alas, this did not remedy the issue. Next, I attempted to reset both the network settings and drivers on the computers involved. Here is where it gets intriguing—while both Mac and Windows systems were unable to connect to the network, only the PCs experienced the redirect.

Despite disabling the msftconnecttest entry in the registry, any attempts to navigate to a legitimate website resulted in the same redirection. The browser’s loading icon would spin, only for the msftconnecttest page to appear once again, leaving me empty-handed.

Further Diagnostics

Running a ping test to Google yielded an unexpected result: an IP address of 172.19.1.254, which, as you can imagine, is not Google’s. Even more bizarre was the ping response time of less than 1 millisecond. This anomaly persisted across any website I attempted to ping, and the devices—both wired and wireless—couldn’t even reach the modem itself.

In a desperate attempt for clarity, I contacted Frontier’s support. The technician, in a rather unbelievable statement, suggested that the modem had been “hacked by Russia.” I wish I could say this was a joke, but it was deadpan serious. After obtaining a replacement modem from the Frontier store, I was astonished to find that the exact same issue persisted.

Here’s the twist: when