Member Avatar for it@61@sec

Hi,
I am connected to my internet router and my satelite set-top box using TP HomePlugs. My desktop computer is on the first floor, while my router and set-top box are on the ground floor.
Sometimes I loose connection to my router, but not my set-top box. The ethernet interface still works, but ping and packets are not travelling to my router. In such cases I have to wait to see if the problem solves itself, or I have to reset the HomePlug connected to my internet router.

My internet router also has wireless capability, and so I'm using a D-Link DWA-140 USB stick to connect to it using the wireless connection.

I was thinking of using the bonding function in Linux to try to solve this problem by bonding my ethernet and wireless interface. But it seems to me that this will only work if the ethernet interface is physically stopping (or is being disconnected).

So: Is there anyone who can point me in any direction which could help me with my problem ?
If I ping a certain host on the internet and this host is not responding (it's a name server belonging to a central Internet provider in my country so it's not very likely that it will not be available...)
then connection via the TP HomePlug is lost, and I want to use the WiFi-connection.

One way to do this is to delete the default route (which is routed via the ethernet interface) and define it using the wifi-adapter.
Or maybe I could use bonding after all ?

Any solutions or suggestions are welcome.

BTW: I'm using Linux Mint 17.3 with Linux kernel 4.2.0-30. (64-bits).

Edited by it@61@sec because: Language correction, more information
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Generated

— the symptoms you describe look like a "silent" powerline failure: the ethernet carrier stays up but Layer‑3 traffic to the router stops. That means simple link-detection (miimon) or NetworkManager metrics often won't trigger a failover. As suggested, start with firmware and physical checks (LEDs, wall outlet vs power strip, swap units/outlets) but also run the following quick diagnostics to confirm whether the problem is layer‑2 (ARP) or higher:

# from the desktop while the problem is happening
arping -I eth0 -c 5 <ROUTER_IP>
tcpdump -n -i eth0 arp or icmp
ethtool eth0
iwconfig wlan0
mtr -r -c 50 8.8.8.8

If arping shows no ARP replies while ethtool still reports carrier, the HomePlug is silently dropping frames and the kernel thinks the link is up. Two practical ways to handle this:

  • Bonding: use active-backup (mode 1) but enable periodic ARP monitoring so the bond can detect path-level failures (miimon alone won’t help for a silent powerline fault). Note: some wireless drivers and station-mode WiFi make enslaving the WiFi interface awkward; check your kernel/bonding docs for exact options before relying on this in production.

  • Route-failover script: simpler and very effective — run a small watchdog that pings a reliable IP and swaps the default route to the WiFi gateway when repeated pings fail. Example skeleton:

#!/bin/bash
PRI_IF=eth0
ALT_IF=wlan0
TEST=8.8.8.8
GW_ALT=192.168.1.1

if ! ping -I $PRI_IF -c 3 -W 2 $TEST >/dev/null; then
  ip route replace default via $GW_ALT dev $ALT_IF
fi

Run that as a background daemon or system service and tune counts/timers. Finally, keep iterating: test with tcpdump/mtr, update firmware, avoid surge strips, and swap adapters to see whether the fault follows hardware or wiring.

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Member Avatar for rproffitt

Here that tells me there's some issue with the network or PC. Did you check TPLink for firmware updates?

Member Avatar for it@61@sec

No, but I'll check it.

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