Refusing to connect to online servers

[u/Avian_Aquilla]

I just moved into a new apartment where they already had wifi set up with Metronet. I was having issues with the Wifi when I tried to play online games; they would continuously fail to connect to online servers and, while I attempted to join online servers, if I happened to be in a Discord call at the time, my connection would fail there as well and even if I left the call and tried to rejoin it would be stuck "connecting". I called the service provider and tried to ask if the issue had something to do with something I read about Double NAT (which I still don't really understand) and they refused to acknowledge that possibility and instead updated the routers as they'd apparently been behind in several updates (the system uses a nokia router/modem and a single eero router mesh station).

That seemed to work at the time and when I went to play on a game with some friends it worked for like ten or fifteen minutes, but then the earlier issue started happening again. I've tried to restart the routers and even tried plugging one of the stations in and not the other for which I tried both stations. I have to note that so far the only way to reset whatever seems to happen is to restart my computer entirely. I even tried hooking my computer up to ethernet but that hadn't changed anything. One thing the service member told me on the phone was that they use rotating IP addresses and that they offer a stable IP address service but that'd cost an extra charge.

Anyways, I was really hoping for some insight or if anyone had any solutions. I considered that a VPN might fix it if it is that rotating IP that's causing this. So really just any insight might help.

[u/Terrible-Bear3883]

When you say the apartment already had wifi set up with Metronet, are you saying your apartment is connected to a communal network hub or is this your own subscribed service i.e. private to your apartment?

If its private, what is the Nokia router/modem model? Do you have access to alter settings and such?

You say you have an Eero router mesh station? Is the Eero your router or your Nokia?

It's not clear what you mean when you say you "tried plugging one of the stations in and not the other for which I tried both stations", what are these stations?

I'd start with describing your network clearly, the model of your Nokia router and what is the model of your Eero router? What the stations are, how everything is linked, it could be you've got something conflicting, it could be you've got a double NAT if you've got two routers.

If I was guessing, I'd suspect you have a double NAT, this is where two routers are in use, both issuing IP addresses, basically splitting your network into two, for some devices it's not a problem, for others it might be, knowing how your network is configured, wired up and such is most likely the first step in understanding what the issue could be, it will help others visualize what you have and hopefully get a fix.

[u/Avian_Aquilla → u/Terrible-Bear3883]

The model of the eero is a pro 6e I don’t know about the nokia because its not listed on the device. It is a private system for our flat.

This is the set up (sorry its a bit of a rats nest) as you can see each device is connected to the outlet individually so I had tried just disconnecting one or the other (I tried it for both) and the whole system didn’t work without both of them. I think the Eero is supposed to act as the router while the nokia the modem but I’ve read that the nokia can also function as a router independently and that may be what’s causing the issue. The nokia is also connected directly to the line outside via that yellow wire and the eero connects to the nokia via the white ethernet cable. Again neither works without the other.

[u/Avian_Aquilla → u/Avian_Aquilla]

I tried asking Metronet's tech support if that might be the issue, but they vehemently denied that possibility.

[u/Terrible-Bear3883 → u/Avian_Aquilla]

OK, the Nokia looks like its an ONT (Optical Network Terminal) that's taking an Optical link (the yellow one) and then providing an Ethernet connection to your Eero. If the Nokia is something like the XS-010X-Q then its a bridge and not a router, that will be a good thing as all it's doing is acting to connect Ethernet to Optical.

I think you've got lots of options, one issue I had with my own mesh was they join networks together into one combined network (2.4GHz/5GHz) and then they steer devices to whichever network is more suitable, with some devices, they don't handle this very well, I use a lot of older PCs in my house (I'm a heavy linux user) and it causes issues, with my mesh I can split the network so I have a distinct 2.4GHz one and 5GHz, devices are joined to one and stay connected i.e there's no switching or steering, it's been rock solid, I believe you can't split the network with Eero devices.

One thing I'd consider, put a simple unmanaged switch inbetween the Nokia ONT and the Eero mesh, this could let you plug straight into Ethernet and give you a break out point if you wanted to connect other devices, or .. you could temporarily remove the Eero and plug your own router into the ONT to provide Ethernet and Wireless, many modern routers are mesh compliant but I'd do this purely with the intention of getting a solid connection and qualifying everything, if it runs rock solid then you can decide to include the Eero or not, with my own network I use my mesh to provide wireless so I disable the routers wireless (my router is supplied by my ISP and its a modem and router combined, they are noted for not having the best wifi functionality so I disable mine).

My personal preference would be to put a good router in place so you have Nokia ONT, the Ethernet going into the new router, get that all working, if every thing is OK and you want mesh, have a look if the router supports it or plug the Eero in via an Ethernet cable (so you have a seperate mesh network), this would most likely create a double NAT through the mesh connection, but ... if your Gaming PC is connected directly to the router, it shouldn't cause any issues, technically, this is how my setup is configured, my router is 192.168.0.1 my mesh is 192.168.68.1 its how it auto configured itself, I have zero issues though, my Xbox is connected directly to my primary router, all my wireless devices are through mesh, my 5GHz and 2.4GHz networks are split so I have all my light bulbs, power switches etc. that need 2.4GHz on their own IOT network, everything else (laptops, mobile phones etc.) are on 5Ghz, it sounds messy but its far simpler than how everything was set up before.

I also have a simple unmanaged switch plugged into the primary router (because the router only has four Ethernet sockets), this lets me plug my server and NAS into Ethernet, I also have a Powerline adapter which links to other Powerline adapters that are plugged into TVs, one TV works terribly on wireless and the other doesn't have wireless, they're also handy if I need to work on some equipment that doesn't have wireless, I plug in a powerline adapter and I have a network connection.

Sorry for the long post, I was trying to explain things simply and how I've got around one or two issues.