Everything was working normally until my ISP connection briefly dropped and the router restarted around midnight. Since then, several services I need for work have stopped working: the Paychex Flex timeclock will not connect, RingCentral/RingCX Agent lets me log in but will not connect to a session, and Facebook's GIF search only loads a few results while showing broken images for others. A separate issue began a few weeks ago when myEquifax said my connection appeared to be using a VPN; it works over mobile data but not through my home router. I do not use a VPN, and disabling browser extensions and the Windows firewall did not help. Other sites, including Google services, patient portals, Amazon, and Facebook itself, work normally. Could the ISP's change have affected my public IP, routing, DNS, or IPv6 settings?
2 Answers
The timing alone does not prove that an ISP update caused this. The router may simply have restarted for maintenance. First check a “what is my IP” service and confirm that it identifies your expected ISP and location. Also note that the IPv4 address shown in your computer’s network settings is normally a private local address, while the address shown online is your public address, so those two being different is expected.
Since the affected services work over mobile data but fail through the router, the common factor is probably the home connection rather than Windows or the individual applications. A changed public IP, ISP routing issue, DNS problem, IPv6 problem, or an incorrect geolocation reputation could affect only certain services while leaving most websites working. Ask the ISP whether your public IP changed, whether you are behind CGNAT, and whether they can test or reset your IPv4/IPv6 routing and DNS. Keep the work-service tickets open as well, because they may need to whitelist or correct the location associated with the new address.
The online lookup identifies my ISP, but I was comparing it with the address shown in Windows and assumed they should match. I’ll check the public address and location more carefully.