View Full Version : Annoying Router /Cable problem
Hi,
We have a ntl home:200 cable modem which has been connected to a pc sharing the internet to many others for while, but yesterday decided to get a linksys router.
Plugged it in to the router, hoping it would sort itself out but no dice, no internet available. So i ran an application on the linksys cd, which is put into the old internet sharing pc, finds details out for u like ip, gateway ip, etc, to put into the router. I entered this, but still nothing, so after a while i put the Mac address of the old intenet pc onto the router and then it seemed to work.
Worked all day yesterday. Worked this morning then suddenly stopped, tried unplugging modem etc, but still nothing. So plugged the cm back into the old internet pc rebooted it and wahey it worked. Swapped the wires round, cm back to router, internet works.. Turned modem off/on while still plugged in to make sure it could connect still with no involvement from the old net pc.
Internet worked fine again for a couple of hours, then stopped, Switched cm, and router off/on several times, still nothing. Cm back into old machine and net works fine again.
What's going on?? I dont understand how the new router/cm setup worked for over a day then suddenly stopped. Now i can only make the internet work if i plug the cm into a pc.
Sorry for the long, hard-to-read post, but i wanted to give the whole story.
Any Ideas?
Thanks
Raistlin
14-01-2005, 22:35
Just to confirm that you have done things in this order:
1. Power everything off
2. Leave for a few minutes
3. Power CM back up and leave until lights settle
4. Plug router into CM and tunr router power on, leave until lights settle
5. Connect PC to router, boot PC up
There shouldn't be any need to put the MAC address of the old PC into the router. The CM will re-register itself to the MAC address of the router when you turn the router on during the above steps.
Just confirm that you've done as suggested above and then we'll explore more options.
Would also be useful if you could tell us what model of router you have, what operating system (OS) you are running with, and could you also confirm the connections that you have (ie which machines to the router, how many machines, exactly where the problem lies etc).
Also, do you have a firewall of any sort running?
Thanks very much for the quick reply, i will give it a go, although i think i pretty much did that when originally installing it.
The router is a Linksys EtherFastÂÂÂ ® Cable/DSL Router with 4-Port Switch ( http://www.linksys.com/international/product.asp?coid=6&ipid=367 ), modem a ntl home 200, and all pcs are running xp.
There is one pc connected to the router, and 2 others connected to a hub which then connects to router. In the previous setup the connections going into the router went into a switch instead, which had another computer connected to share the net. There are no firewalls at the moment, apart from when xp sp2 decides to start its built in firewall!!
As i say i am just unsure what could cause it as things worked fine for over a day. But i have suddenly had an idea. When setting up as things didnt work kind of on auto, i ended up enter info into the router like the ip. Now i wonder as the ips arent garenteed to be static, maybe it's changed and doesnt match the ip ntl is giving me. Is that a reasonable idea?
Also, to make things worse, im not even home and i have to describe and talk my girlfriend through all of this... Nightmare!
Thanks again.
Raistlin
14-01-2005, 22:59
Umm, it's certainly possible (I think) that NTL have cycled your IP. That's why it's a good idea not to muck about with it too much.
I think that the way it should be working is that the router should be obtaining an IP address from the CM and then allocating "internal" IP addresses to each computer on the network.
To be honest, networking really isn't my thing (especially not with more than two machines invoved).
The best suggestion that I can give at the moment is to reboot the CM, router, and one machine (after disconnecting the others from the network) and to get that one machine running propelry (following the instructions in my first post should work). But let the router sort out the IP address itself (by obtaining it from the CM) and let the computer sort out its own IP address (by obtaining it from the router).
Once you have that one machine runnning ok it should be a lot easier to get the others connected.
Raistlin
14-01-2005, 23:01
Sorry, meant to say that you should set the router up so that it is managing things automatically and set your computer's network connection up to obtain IP address automatically.
Note to self: Raist, you really need to persuade your boss to send you on that networking course :D
Raistlin
14-01-2005, 23:15
D'oh! I really am tired!!! :dozey:
Where are my manners? Forgot to say:
:welcome: to CF Robtor!
Kick off your shoes, sit back, relax, and enjoy your stay!
Woo thanks very much it seems to be working!
Describing to the girlfriend over the phone how to do it all, and it worked she was connected. Then got her to turn another comp on and it couldnt get internet..Then her other computer couldnt either....
Then i found out she plugged the cm into a normal network port on the router! Not the modem port, so got her to do the whole on/off process again, but connected to the right port, and 2 comps have been on the net for the last 30mins... Lets hope it stays that way.
Thanks so much for the help. Why doesnt it just tell u too do that in the router book, rather than insert cd, do this that blah blah?
Raistlin
14-01-2005, 23:57
As with most things 'pooter hardware related the first instruction in every "Quick Start Guide" should always read:
Step 1: Take the shiney round thing (referred to hereafter as a CD-ROM) and throw it in the bin
You're more than welcome :D
Ok apparently it is back to not working now. It seems like the connection only lasts for a day or so, and before it completely cuts out it seems to be a bit off and on. I just dont understand how it is working fine and then just cuts out.
Any ideas?
Raistlin
16-01-2005, 18:51
Hmm. Might be worth asking one of the NTL bod's on here to check your connection from their end..... **HINT** :D
Ha ha...Very subtle.
I dont think it's that as when it was connected via the old pc it was fine.
Not only does it disconnect daily on the router, it also generally seems very dodgey every hour or so now. It really is starting to get irritating.
I just tried installing the latest firmware for the router but i don't think that has fixed anything.
Raistlin
16-01-2005, 19:26
Is it a wireless router? If so, what model is it?
Edit > D'oh! Ignore that, just re-read the thread!
____________
You mentioned that the XP SP2 firewall was working (when it decided to) have you tried completely disabling it?
maverick
16-01-2005, 19:28
It sounds like your firewall on the router is set to deny dhcp requests.
The dhcp server will ask the router if it requires to keep the ip address,if it fails to respond the server will think the ip address is no longer required and drop it.Check the hardware firewall is not blocking dhcp requests.
Interesting suggestion, i'll have a look see what i can find.
This is all made much harder by me now being about 70miles away from the house in oxford and having to use remote access on the girlfriends pc. And ofcourse the internet has to be working there for RA to work!
Hi,
which version of Linksys router do you have , that particular router has a few versions.
I use the same router , version 1. The newer ones are version 3.
I have never had any probs at all leaving everything on default.
Maybe i could upload some screenies for you to check the settings compared to mine.
It is version 3.
That would be great if u could, any help is much appreciated.
I couldnt find any firewall or dhcp settings other than those to assign the computers ips. Have been checking the linksys support site and no luck there either.
maverick
16-01-2005, 20:53
Access the Router's web based utility at http://192.168.1.1.
You will be prompted for a User Name and Password. By default there is no User Name and the Password is admin.
This will bring up the Setup page.
Click on the DHCP tab. This will bring up the DHCP section.
In the †œDHCP ServerÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šà ¬Ã‚Â area, check if this is enabled or disabled,it should be enabled.
____________
Also check this section
click on the Advanced tab, and this will open the Filters area.
Look for "Block WAN Request", when you find the setting, make sure itâ₠¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s set to Disable.
Hi, here's the link http://homepage.ntlworld.com/gnasherman/linksys/
I also understand the advice given by maverick as to disable the "block WAN Request", although in my case i find that NTL don't cycle ip addys very often, but to get things going, you should follow his advice.
ok, the DHCP is enabled.
In the block WAN request section there are 3 options:
Block Anonymous Internet Requests: (just set to disable, default i think is enable)
Filter Multicast: (i think default is disable, i have it on disable)
Filter Internet NAT redirection (default is enable, set to disable).
Do u think these are correct settings? I have tried them in defaults many times (due to power offing and reset button) so i guess they cant make things worse.
This help is really appreciated guys.:tu:
____________
Wow thx for those Nash. Seems most of my settings are or were similar to yours. I have dns 1 and 2 the other way around but i cant imagine that making a difference. Hmmm...
Maybe i should try upload some of my own screenshots?
melevittfl
17-01-2005, 05:05
I wouldn't change the defaults for blocking WAN requests. That's not the problem.
Can you provide a bit more info:
When the connection is working, can you open a dos window on one of the computers and run the command:
ipconfig /all
Ok here's a screenie of one of the computers:
http://wwwusers.brookes.ac.uk/03109189/untitled.jpg
Ok here's a screenie of one of the computers:
http://wwwusers.brookes.ac.uk/03109189/untitled.jpg
I would suggest that you change the DHCP lease time on the router, as it appear to be giving a one day lease..
to do this -
connect to the router on 192.168.1.1 from a browser
click on the dhcp tab
these should be a "lease time" box - this is in minutes - but IIRC setting it to 0 gives the max time.
It appears that the lease is expiring and then the system can no longer connect.( I had one of these routers until recently, and did not have this issue)
It may also be worth checking how many DHCP addresses you have allowed (on the same tab), and making sure that it is high enough to allow all your devices (including any printers/PDAs etc) to get a unique IP address.
HTH
so does that mean i want a longer or shorter lease time? Like how long?
so does that mean i want a longer or shorter lease time? Like how long?
as long as you can get...
The ideal lease would not expire, and therefore your machine would get the same IP every tme.
I am at work at the moment, but I will double check my settings on my linksys (the wireless equiv of yours) when I get home, and post the settings.
melevittfl
17-01-2005, 16:08
Just had a thought.
You said you used to share the computers using Internet Connection Sharing. Have you disabled that?
ICS might cause problems.
Yes the old ICS computer is not currently connected to the network at all, and hasnt been since the router was bought.
melevittfl
17-01-2005, 16:37
OK,
At the dos prompt again, try the following:
ipconfig /release
then:
ipconfig /renew
That releases the DHCP assigned IP address for your computer and tries to renew it. If that works, then the problem is probably not your computer.
ok, just checked my setup - the lease is set to 0 (one day :( )
My ipconfig also shows it will expire in one day..
So it's not the expiry that is the issue (as I have not seen the problem).
could you take a screenshot of the screen : mine is attached..
maverick
17-01-2005, 22:17
OK,
At the dos prompt again, try the following:
ipconfig /release
then:
ipconfig /renew
That releases the DHCP assigned IP address for your computer and tries to renew it. If that works, then the problem is probably not your computer.
That will just release renew the ip from the router,its the router dropping connection not the pc,I think earlier on in the thread the connection works fine without the router.
The easiest option as far as settings are concerned is to reset the router using the reset button this should place the router in an out of the box state.
I am not in the house at the moment so i cannot do the ip renew thing, but as suggested i dont think the computers are the problem.
There were up to 3 computers connected, and if the internet stopped working it wasnt on one, it was all of them. Also i had a static ip running on one pc for w while until it first had the connection problems. Also.. (yet another also) one pc which was connected i have taken to my parents house for these few days, and plugged into their router it worked fine straight away. Im quite sure its not computer problems now.
As for the reset button, this has been used many times, as whenever the net stops working (daily or hourly, it depends!) i turn modem off, router off and reset, pcs off, then modem on, router on, pcs on. Seems to be the only way to reconnect.
Right i've come across something interesting, the router in my parents house has been disconnecting a bit whenever msn 7.0 is in use. Bit of searching and it turns out the old firmware will disconnect when msn 6 or later is used.
I wonder if the router in question has a similar fault? A quick search on google for linksys+disconnect+msn+firmware has bought up a few pages suggesting firmware problems.
melevittfl
18-01-2005, 10:10
I wonder if the router in question has a similar fault? A quick search on google for linksys+disconnect+msn+firmware has bought up a few pages suggesting firmware problems.
Yes, firmware could be the problem. I agree that the PCs are probably not the problem, but it helps to eliminate the obvious first.
What's the current version of the firmware? It should be displayed somewhere in the router web page. The latest version is 1.05.00. Here's the link to the firmware page if you don't have the latest version:
http://www.linksys.com/international/firmware.asp?fwid=183&coid=6
About reseting the router, I think the suggestion was to reset it to factory defaults. Usually, pressing the reset button just reboots the router with the current configuration. There should be a way to erase the current configuration and go back to the out of the box defaults.
When the connection does not work, are you still able to connect to the router's web interface? If so, maybe have a look at the status page and see what it says. You may have to manually configure one of your computers with a static IP address in the 192.168.1.x range.
Reading the instructions says on this router the reset button returns to default, and it seems to have done it as a couple of ports i had directed were done. Its one of the tiny buttons u need a pen for and hold it for about 5secs.
I updated the firmware a day or 2 ago, and i think the connection has remained up since so maybe that has helped.
When the internet stops working we can still connect to the router and change settings fine.
It might be fixed now, but to be honest theres a whole lot of other things going on in the house right now and i dont really know how the internet is going lol.
I'll update you soon ;)
Thanks to everyone that has helped, it really is appreciated, this seems a very helpful forum.
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