Network hangs every time NOD32 updates

[joaer 3]

Hello,

I started to notice about a week ago that my wifi connection occasionally stopped working for a while and then reconnected again. Most often this happened when i started up my computer, but could also occur while it was running. I confirmed using another computer that the problem was not the wifi.

Today when it happened again, I was going through the NOD32 logs, and I found that this network outage (I have clocked it to be a little over 3 minutes) occurs at the same time as NOD32 updates the detection engine which it does regularly, or, if the computer was shut down by that time, when the computer starts up again. Needless to say, I find this very annoying. Can
somebody here assist me?

ESET NOD32 was updated on July 12 to product version 13.2.15.0, but the problem did occur before the update. The computer runs windows 7.

Best regards,
Joakim

[Marcos 5,072]

If temporarily switching to the pre-release update channel in the advanced setup doesn't make any difference, I'd recommend opening a ticket with your local ESET support.

[joaer 3]

Thank you for your reply!

I did as you suggested, but unfortunately it did not seem to help, soon (some seconds up to a minute or two) after I install the updates, the network stops responding for three minutes and then comes back again. So I am returning to the regular update channel again.

Looking through the logs, I found an entry dated 10th July, that is, after the problem started, that says (in translation): "Undocumented serious error (500b)", with no further information. Can this be a lead?

[Marcos 5,072]

Could you please uninstall EAV, reboot the machine and install ESET Internet Security using default settings? You can activate a trial version. The thing is EIS can generate advanced network protection logs which might help with troubleshooting the issue.

[itman 1,659]

Are you using a VPN connection?

[Dimi 0]

Имам същия проблем! Инсталиран антивирусен Windows NOD 32 10. Прекъсва неприятно Wi-Fi връзката по време на първоначалното сканиране след стартиране на Windows Това прекъсване продължава от 10 до 30 минути. Когато първоначалното сканиране приключи, връзката се възстановява. Този проблем се появи преди седмица. Вярвам, че разработчиците ще решат проблема.

 

Machine translation:
I have the same problem! Windows NOD 32 antivirus installed 10. 10. Interrupts the Wi-Fi connection during the initial scan after starting Windows This interruption lasts from 10 to 30 minutes. When the initial scan is complete, the connection is restored. This problem appeared a week ago. I believe that the developers will solve the problem.

Edited July 16, 2020 by Marcos
Machine translation added

[Marcos 5,072]

Since this is an English forum, we kindly ask you to post in English so that the others can understand you and be able to help.

As for the issue, please make sure that you have the Cleaner module 1211.1 installed.

[Dimi 0]

Dear Marcos, I apologize for not writing in English! On the issue - I have the appropriate module installed. The problem remains. During the initial Wi-Fi scan, the connection is interrupted annoyingly and unacceptably. Please suggest a solution!

[Marcos 5,072]

7 minutes ago, Dimi said:

Dear Marcos, I apologize for not writing in English! On the issue - I have the appropriate module installed. The problem remains. During the initial Wi-Fi scan, the connection is interrupted annoyingly and unacceptably. Please suggest a solution!

Please see my answer above. Try uninstalling EAV, temporarily install ESET Internet Security with default settings and activate it with a trial license. Does the problem persist?

[joaer 3]

Marcos,
I do have the Cleaner module 1211.1 installed.

And I'm sorry, but to uninstall EAV, install a demo version of ESET Internet Security, then uninstall that before it expires and finally potentially reinstall EAV, is way too much of a hazzle for me to do on this old computer, which I am soon to replace anyway. I am just worried that this problem will show up also on my new computer, should I choose to install EAV on that one as well. I have used EAV for many years and I have never experienced any problems with it, until now.

However, if no solution can be found for my current computer, I'll just have to live with it. I did find the alert letting me decide whether to install updates or not, so at least I can postpone my three minutes of wifi blackout to a suitable point in time.

@itman, I am not using a VPN connection, thanks for asking.

[itman 1,659]

32 minutes ago, joaer said:

Marcos,
I do have the Cleaner module 1211.1 installed.

Can you run an Ethernet cable from the device to an available Ethernet port on the Wi-Fi router? Then switch to the Ethernet connection in Win 10 and see if Eset updating causes loss of connectivity. If not, this would isolate the problem to the Wi-Fi connection.

Also are you running Win 10 2004?

[joaer 3]

itman, I connected my computer using Ethernet cable before doing an update, and this time the network remained up. I should test it one more update before I can say it works, but it looks like it does. What does that tell us?

Btw, as I mentioned, I am running Windows 7, not 10.

EDIT: And I now just did a second update with Ethernet cable, and there was no network failure. I also noticed that the little icon in the system tray did spin for almost exactly three minutes after updating, similar to the time that the wifi is down. Is that a lead?

Edited July 17, 2020 by joaer
Additional information

[Dimi 0]

I reinstalled as you recommended. I now have a temporary license. The problem with the interruption remains. In the process of initial scanning, the connection is broken. I hope you solve the problem !!!!

[itman 1,659]

On 7/17/2020 at 2:35 AM, joaer said:

itman, I connected my computer using Ethernet cable before doing an update, and this time the network remained up. I should test it one more update before I can say it works, but it looks like it does. What does that tell us?

This tells us the problem is related to your Wi-Fi network connection.

As to why an Eset update would interfere with the Wi-Fi connection is a mystery. One possibility is that the security encryption for the Wi-Fi connection has not been properly set-up. This might be causing the Eset update download to hang. This in turn hangs the Wi-Fi network connection.

Best to open up an Eset technical support request on this.

[Marcos 5,072]

If you have Windows 8 or Windows 10, does temporarily disabling Protected service in the HIPS setup and rebooting the machine make a difference? If not, please carry on as follows:
- in the adv. setup -> tools -> diagnostics enable all advanced logging options
- run update to reproduce the issue
- disable logging
- collect logs with ESET Log Collector and supply us with the generated archive.
 

[joaer 3]

17 hours ago, itman said:

This tells us the problem is related to your Wi-Fi network connection.

As to why an Eset update would interfere with the Wi-Fi connection is a mystery. One possibility is that the security encryption for the Wi-Fi connection has not been properly set-up. This might be causing the Eset update download to hang. This in turn hangs the Wi-Fi network connection.

Best to open up an Eset technical support request on this.

Sorry, I believe I haven't been completely clear in my problem description. The download of the update works fine, and it seems to install correctly as well, but it is (more or less immediately) after the update has been installed that the network connection goes down. I use ping towards another node in my network, and I get "Request timed out" and "Destination host unreachable", until the connection is restored again after three minutes.

Please note that this Eset update operation has worked without any problems for many years, up until around two weeks ago. I checked if I had installed any software at that time, but I had not.

Could you please give directions on how I go about opening a support request?

[Marcos 5,072]

It's weird since ESET NOD32 Antivirus cannot affect ICMP in any way so ping must always work. Only EIS and ESSP which have a firewall might affect ping.

[itman 1,659]

59 minutes ago, joaer said:

Could you please give directions on how I go about opening a support request?

Refer to the below screen shot. Ensure you mouse click on "Details for Technical Support" first and copy the details shown into your support request.

Edited July 20, 2020 by itman

[itman 1,659]

1 hour ago, joaer said:

The download of the update works fine, and it seems to install correctly as well, but it is (more or less immediately) after the update has been installed that the network connection goes down.

Again, something about the Eset server connection is taking down the Wi-Fi connection.

@Marcos is IDS protection part of NOD protection? The activity being described mirrors that of like IDS response behavior where the network connection would be set to block all incoming traffic when an inbound attack is detected. Another possibility is the Wi-Fi router has like IDS protection and it is being triggered for some unknown reason after Eset update activity is completed.

Again and of note is this behavior does not manifest on an Ethernet connection.

Note that Eset IDS has an Intrusion detection setting to block unsafe addresses after an attack. Assume the Wi-Fi router if has built-in IDS protection performs the same activity. 

[joaer 3]

4 hours ago, itman said:

Note that Eset IDS has an Intrusion detection setting to block unsafe addresses after an attack. Assume the Wi-Fi router if has built-in IDS protection performs the same activity. 

I checked my Tilgin router, provided by my ISP, and I could not find any intrusion detection settings in it. (Although, I consider the setup of that router to be rather complex and somewhat hard to get a grip on, so I might have missed it,)

[itman 1,659]

On 7/20/2020 at 12:54 PM, joaer said:

I checked my Tilgin router, provided by my ISP, and I could not find any intrusion detection settings in it.

The only difference between and Ethernet connection and a Wi-Fi connection is that the network traffic is encrypted; and only for connections between the router and a local network connection device. So whatever is going on during an Eset update to the Wi-Fi based local network device, it appears to be adversely affecting the status of the Wi-Fi router connection to that device. What that could be I really have no idea. This is the first I have ever heard of such an occurrence.

I would contact your ISP and maybe they could provide an explanation for this Wi-Fi connection behavior.

Edited July 21, 2020 by itman

[itman 1,659]

Here's an idea,

Temporarily uninstall NOD32. This will result in Window Defender being activated. Then observe if the same Wi-Fi connection disabling occurs after a WD update. Make sure you force a signature update and don't wait for one via the next Win Update check.

[joaer 3]

22 hours ago, itman said:

Temporarily uninstall NOD32.

I'm sorry, but I as I mentioned earlier, I won't go through the hazzle of uninstalling and reinstalling on this old Win7 computer; it might as well make things worse.

[joaer 3]

Hello again,

for the record, as of last week, the update process started to work again without network failure. I do not know the reason for this; I have not during this week modified or updated my computer in any way, apart from NOD32 signature updates and MS Defender.  I don't know if ESET or Microsoft changed anything, but I am happy. :-)

 

Regards, Joakim

[Marcos 5,072]

We have released a new cleaner module with some exceptions for scanning the registry which resolved the issue. It also revealed a weakness of Windows when a very simple python command can reset bluetooth and wifi connections.