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Originally Posted by stuartbe
Hi Floop1977 and a great big huge  to the site m8 
Are you using a firewall on the computer ?
Do any of the cable modem lights chnage when you loose the connection ? |
Thanks to you both. I've heard about this site (or the one that existed before NTL bought it, then closed it) but only just realised that it could actually be a useful resource for me, irritated as I am with NTL's shoddy service!
Okay. I am *not* using a Firewall with the computer. Mac OS X has one built-in but it is not turned on currently.
Regarding lights on the modem, this is what the front of my modem looks like:
Cable Modem Power / Cable Modem Status / PC Link Status / PC Link Activity / Cable Activity / FCN
When everything is working fine, the cable modem power and status lights are steady green, the PC Link status light is green to show there is a working ethernet connection between the modem and computer, and the PC Link Activity and Cable Activity lights blink orange as data is passed from the cable modem to the computer.
When things go wrong and I get the 169.x.x.x IP address, usually the cable modem status light blinks orange repeatedly. In my mind, this suggests that the cable modem is having difficulty handshaking/maintaining a connection with NTLs servers.
I just did a test in case it provides useful information. My connection was working fine, and then I unplugged the CATV wire from the back of the cable modem and watched what happened. The Cable Modem Status light started blinking green, then blinking orange, then my computer's IP address changed to 169.x.x.x .
After a few minutes, I plugged the CATV wire back into the cable modem, and the cable modem status light started blinking green, then went to a steady green. However my IP address remained at 169.x.x.x and so I unplugged the Ethernet line to my computer, watched the IP address go blank, then plugged the Ethernet line back into my computer, as I have heard this forces the computer to re-attempt getting an IP address.
Hey presto, my IP address went back to 81.x.x.x and everything is working again.
However at no time did I get a 192.x.x.x address so not quite sure what this means. Could it be because I am running Mac OS X - perhaps my OS always self assigns a 169.x.x.x address when it cannot find anything else (maybe 192.x.x.x only appears on Windows systems - hmmm).
Your help and or suggestions are greatly appreciated!
Floop