Got DSL! Now Got Problems! (Long Post)

[LadyGrey]

Hello All,
Well, after waiting for years here I have finally got DSL. It's with Verizon. I've been hitting my head against the wall now for two days. Been on the phone with Verizon and actually got someone who spoke the same computer language as I do. He helped me get it up and going. I don't even know where to start with this. Ok, installed the verizon software, told me I didn't have a NIC, which I do, it's onboard so had me connect USB. That's when I called support, just wouldn't connect. Got connected and went to do some updates of things that required a reboot. Now, I don't know where I made the mistake but I stopped the USB connection and rebooted my computer. It crashed. Computer tried to start again, it crashed.
It finally came back up but with errors about corrupt files. Uninstalled and reinstalled the Verizon software, rebooted. Same error messages. So, did a restore from Backups (bless you Budfred) and started all over clean. This time the Verizon software told me I had a NIC and to use ethernet. So I did that. Got connected somehow. Started to update programs again, rebooted and the computer came back up but no connection, when I tried to get the connection back it said "modem hardware failure". So uninstalled and reinstalled the Verizon software, booted back up and the computer decided that it was going online all on it's own. The problem with that is that it won't let me open a browser, wants to make a dial-up connection. Yes, I have disabled and uninstalled my dial-up modem.
So, uninstalled and reinstalled the software again, told me I didn't have a NIC again and had to go USB. I hope by now you have the general idea. I've been doing this last night and all of today. What am I doing wrong?? Sometimes it will tell me I have a NIC, then tells me I don't. No matter what if I end the connection it will not let me have it back. I tried the online Verizon tech support but that was a total waste of time. Kept telling the darn girl that I didn't have a firewall installed or antivirus enabled when I installed their software. Told her I was connected USB (at the time). She said it was a faulty ethernet card ( which I told her it was onboard and again that I was USB connected at that time) and to contact the manufacturer. Oh boy. :rolleyes:
Any body got any ideas??
Thanks much!
LG ;)

Westell Wirespeed 2100 ( which is same as the 2110 as far as I can figure)
Verizon software 6.0 (newest)

[PrntRhd]

Have Verizon RMA the modem.

[Fruss Tray Ted]

When you get the NICs and modem working again, if you do a reboot and end up disconnected, try unplugging and replugging the modem so it will re-establish the connection with Verizon.

When your connection is lost, does the WAN light blink slowly? If so, it is searching for the ISP and can't find it. Mine does this from time to time. I just put up with it has never lost connection while online, just once in awhile on reboot.

Other than that, it's great to here from you again! Don't be a stranger! ;)

[PrntRhd]

If it was the NIC on the MB, it would not have the symptoms on the USB, if it was the USB it would not have the symptoms on the NIC. Their modem is the only link between the two, so that's why I recommended pushing for RMA.
What color is the WAN light when you plug it in? Also, did you remember to put the DSL filters on ALL the other phones/faxes/answering machines and the computer modem line if still connected?

[LadyGrey]

Thanks FTT glad to be back, missed you all. Thanks much for the help.
Yep, microfilters on everything, only two jacks in the house, one has a phone and satellite and used to have Donnie's computer, he's down now till I get this figured out, and the other is in here with me, computer and phone. Don't have the modem lines plugged in any more. All green steady lights on modem, whether it's USB or Ethernet. Which ever one I can get to work at the time. Only time I get a flashing light on the USB or Ethernet is when it's working, downloading something or I'm surfing. That's as it should be from what I've read. So far I've been up here for about 3 hours but then again I haven't tried to reboot the computer either.
I'll try the power cycling the modem FTT and see if that helps. Seems I've done that, I've done so many things that I can't remember what I've done and what I haven't :rolleyes:
Maybe I'm not rebooting the computer the right way?? I'm so new to DSL, never even been on a computer that has it. Is there a right way and a wrong way to reboot after a download with DSL?? I've got to be able to reboot, I know my 2K computer is so stable that I never have a problem, but if I have updates and things that require a reboot then this is gonna be a major hassle. Is there something I need to disable to stop it from getting online itself after a reboot??
If I can't get this straightened out here shortly I'll start yelling at Verizon about a new modem. With all the yelling I did about getting DSL maybe they will just be tired of hearing me and not give me any problems! :D Yeah, in a pigs eye!
I'm gonna go look at some more info and see what I can find.
Thanks!!
LG ;)

[Fruss Tray Ted]

The thing about DSL and cable is that you are ALWAYS internet ready but you are not ON IT until you open your browser. You are more or less on a network with your ISP such as would be with a network in an office. With an always on modem, you need security enabled. A/V and firewall at-all-times!

You should be able to boot/reboot or shutdown then boot per normal if things are as they should be. If it continues, do as Prntrhd suggests and try another modem.

What happens to me on occasion, is after security scans or installations or something else (CRS) my modem has all the lights as a steady green but my pc doesn't communicate with it until I remove either, the phone line or the power cord and reconnect them and it goes through finding the ISP's server.

I notice it when I click on a link and the usual firewall alert that should pop up doesn't and the screen stays white with FireFox or IE header at the top. I click out of the browser, unplug/plug the wire, wait ~30 seconds until the WAN light becomes steady and then click on the link again.

Happens up to about 2-3 times a week depending how many boots or how much work (program installs etc) is performed on the pc.

With myISP (GWI through Verizon's lines), and should be for you as well, they offer 50 hours of free dial-up access along with the DSL. So don't be throwing those dialup modems away yet, they come in handy for pc's in other rooms or if you bring one to a friend's or relatives. You can even get your emails when away from home on such pc's as a library or friend's as long as you have all the info needed like passwords and dialup tel#'s to your ISP. But if you do retrieve them and you want them forwarded to your home, you'll need to 'remail' them to yourself and not open the email prog again till you get home.

BTW it's $29.95/mo for me too. ;)

[classicsoftware]

My Lady:

Please let me offer my sevices to you. I support many many many clients with broadband access both DSL and cable.

Please tell me which modem they sent you. They usually send Westel modems. The model number is important, why I'll explain later if we need to. Also need to know your OS.

I hate to disagree with FTT, but alas, I must. The definition of connected to the internet is the acceptance of an IP address from your ISP. Cable is an ALWAYS ON connection. The cable modem gets an IP address and keeps it for months at a time. It's not static, but it's pretty close.

DSL, is not the same. If you have Verizon, you have what is called a PPPoE connection. Point to Point to Point to over Ethernet. This is means you need fake dial-up software to instruct the DSL modem to dial in and get an IP address just like any other dial up connection.

The problem you have, I have experienced many times. The problem is the crappy, buggy, retararded software :mad: they provide.

1) Go to BestBuy or Staples or Comp-USA and purchase a Linksys router. I am partial to Linksys though other brands are also good. If you are connecting more than one computer you will need an additional cat-5e patch cable. If you have XP or 2000 and a certain modem, you will need to contact verizon to take the modem out of bridge mode.

2) uninstall the software and burn the diskettes.

3) Turn off all computers.

4) Turn off DSL modem.

5) Connect the ethernet cable provided with the DSL modem (usually yellow) to the WAN or internet port on the router and the ethernet port on the back of the modem.

6) Connect the ethernet cable provided with the router (usually blue) to the ethernet port on the PC and any one of the four ports on the linksys router.

7) Turn on the DSL modem and wait for the Power light the ready light and the Link/ethernet light to be lit solid.

8) Turn on the router. Wait for the LAN and WAN lights to be solid green. Red lights that stay on are bad sign.

9) Turn on the PC. When you get to the desktop, confirm the router is acting as a DHCP server.
A) If you have Windows 9X or ME: Start--> Run--> WINIPCFG.
Select your NIC from the pull down menu and check to see
What the IP address is. It should be 192.168.1.100

B) If you have Windows XP or Windows 2000. Go to the
Command Prompt and type IPCONFIG. Check the IP
address and again it should be 192.168.1.100

10) Click on internet explorer or Firefox. It will not work, do not be alarmed. Click the stop button as soon as possible.

11) In the browser address bar type http://192.168.1.1 and press enter. You will be presented with the login for the router firmware. Leave the username blank and the password is admin in lower case. Once you are up and running, you can go back into the router firmware and change the password.

12) Now comes the dicey part. Depending on the version of firmware (the age of the router) where you put the information will vary. You will look for apull down menu that usually begins with obtain IP address automatically or a choice of radio buttons. Either way you are looking to select PPPoE. Once you choose PPPoE, the firmware will ask for the user name and password supplied by the DSL provider. Once entered, click save settings.

13) Once the settings are saved. Click on the status or connection tab at the top of the page. Under PPPoE it should say connected with a button to disconnect or disconnected and a button to connect. It's obvious, but if it says disconnected, click on connect and it should connect. If it says connected your done. Exit the browser.

14) Re-start the browser and your on line.:D

15) For any other PC you want to bring on line, just make sure the the NIC 's on the PC's are set to obtain an IP address automatically. and once your plug it into the router your on line and ready to go.

If you want me to talk you through this on the phone, please let me know and I would be happy to do it.

If you've never used the on-board NIC before, it might not be setup correctly. Go into device manager and make sure there are no yellow ! associated with the NIC.

[Fruss Tray Ted]

Classics,
:o Minor technical error on my part :o

Thanks, but I'm still not clear on the dif :confused: (We can talk later)

That's an excellent explanation of how to hook up a router though and I will print it out for future use. Thanks!

[LadyGrey]

My Lady hehehehehe :)
Classic thank you so very much for all that info. You are a dear for taking the time to do all that for me. You too FTT, both of you have such knowledge of these things, I'm gonna get Donnie to read what FTT wrote about firewalls and antivirus being up to date and running at all times, maybe that will convince him that those are things he must do!!
Ok, I think I understand now about PPPoE. That's why it keeps asking me about wanting to dial-up when it goes online by itself and I try to open the browser. The only thing in that dial up window is 1.1.1.1.1 I think that's how many 1's. That's no phone number I've ever heard of. I had a gut feeling that it wasn't me, or the computer, but their software! Come to think of it,there is just no sense in the computer crashing and carrying on like it was, my computer does not crash!!!. It wasn't doing that before I started working on trying to get this hooked up and after the clean backup installs it wasn't doing anything bad either, just after I installed their software. Router and adapters were going to be my next project but I have to go wireless here, no choice. My computer is on one end of the house and Donnie's is on the other, matter of 75 feet or so. Way to long to string wires and cables and that's what I'm trying to get rid of anyway. When we get the new house it will be the same thing too so getting this setup wireless will sure save me money and headaches down the road.

Westell Modem Wirespeed 2100 (I think it's the same as the 2110)
Windows 2000 pro SP 4

I'm fixin to order a NetGear 4 port router(I've read good things about NetGear) from NewEgg but can't decide on the wireless USB adapters. I just don't think those stick adapters are gonna work, no way to reposition them and they are stuck behind the computer. I need something I can move around to get good signals. The modem will go into the kitchen with the router so it will be about half way between the two rooms. Figure that's my best bet. Now from what I can gather of your instructions I can connect the modem to the wireless router via the ethernet cable and then connect my adapters to the computers and setup goes on from there. When I do get the parts I may have to call you. Let me know when you have some spare time, I have a feeling I'm gonna need alot of help on this.
Thanks and Thanks and Thanks for all the help!!
LG ;)

[classicsoftware]

Dear LG:

Think very carefully about wired vs wireless.
Wired is faster
Wired is more secure
The price difference can be stark


You have to see how much an electrician will charge to run a line from PC to PC VS the cost of a wireless router (more than a wired) and the cost of a wireless card as they are around $70.00 while most PC's have them built in or you can purchase an inexpensive one for $10.00. Wireless also adds another level of complication to the equation. I have wired at home (7 pc's) and wireless at the vacation home. Wired is clearly better.

You do have a router/modem combination. You will need to call verizon and have them take the modem out/in of what they call bridge mode.

As for routers, Netgear and D-Link are good, but IMHO, Linksys is clearly the best and easiest to use and they have great tech support.

Look at
this for wired (http://www.linksys.com/products/product.asp?grid=34&scid=29&prid=561) and this one for wireless (http://www.linksys.com/products/product.asp?prid=610&scid=35)

By the way FTT, while it is a really minor technical issue, cable is an always on network. If your PC is on, it is connected and the need for a software and hardware firewall is critical. DSL (at least via PPPoE) is not. Hence the dialing up process described by LG. The router replaces that software and no dialing in is required and maintains the connection so again a software firewall is critical.

And let this be a lesson to all. DSL via verizon should only be done with a router. You are rsiking your PC if you install their software. You read it first here

[LadyGrey]

Well, finally back. Had a little trouble getting my new email registered and ended up having to email Charles. He was the only one the system would let me have access too. I'm all set now, Thanks Charles!!
Ok, I talked to classic, he called and we had a wonderful talk all about computers, I really enjoyed that. So nice to put a voice and a person with the name. Any way it was just what he said it was, Verizons crappy software. I got a Netgear router and a Netgear wireless USB adapter for Donnie and we are up and flying!!! I'm still having a some trouble understanding a few things but all in all we are doing fine. Donnie has a great signal clear in his room and gets amazing speeds. He's tickled to death. He's not so tickled that Mom found the internet explorer content adviser and turned it on! That'll fix him!
Took me about 5 minutes to set up that router and classic said that's the way it should go when things are working right. The USB took about the same and found the router bang, right from the minute I got power to it.
Classic also told me that whatever brand I choose to use that I should stick with the same for all my computers. They seem to like each other better that way.
I do have one question, does one computer always have to be hooked up by ethernet connection? For instance, my room has the modem and router connected to the phone line and my computer is hooked by ethernet cable to them. Now if I wanted to put the modem and router in a central location, say the kitchen with the phone line hook up there, could I go wireless on both computers??
I'm looking for a Netgear wireless card for my old laptop. Classic seems to think it will handle it but it will just be slow, I'm used to that though and I don't use it for really anything but pulling up recipes in the kitchen and maybe some email. It's running Windows 98SE and it's only got 80 MB of memory and that's maxed out. It serves it's purpose.
Thanks and Thanks so very much for all the help and support with all my little projects!
LG ;)

[PrntRhd]

Hi LG,
I do have one question, does one computer always have to be hooked up by ethernet connection? For instance, my room has the modem and router connected to the phone line and my computer is hooked by ethernet cable to them. Now if I wanted to put the modem and router in a central location, say the kitchen with the phone line hook up there, could I go wireless on both computers??
Let me put it this way:
How are you going to access the router to troubleshoot the network if & when the system goes down if you go completely wireless? With wired connection you can at least know you are physically making that first connection. It also helps to see the diagnostic lights on the router when troubleshooting from the PC connected to it.
;)

[Mark Miller]

Hi,
I also have a question. I am certantly not the expert Classic is when it comes to this stuff, but when I set up my wireless network with my wifes computer I am pretty sure that notebook needs at least 128mgs of mem for the wireless card.
As far as both being wireless I think it can be done but like PrnRhd said Checking the network might be difficult.
I would like someone to explain how that works anyway. What I mean is 2 wireless computers with router and cable not dsl.
I am having a hard time seeing where you would plug in the modem after hooking it up with the router. Doesn't something have to be hooked up to one or the other computers.
Just curious,
Mark

[classicsoftware]

I also have a question. I am certantly not the expert Classic is when it comes to this stuff, but when I set up my wireless network with my wifes computer I am pretty sure that notebook needs at least 128mgs of mem for the wireless card.
The answer to this is pretty much yes. Unless you jave a stripped down version of Windows 95 or 98 it will not be a pleasant internet experience with only 64 MB RAM. I did it with my laptop and quickly upgraded the memory.

As far as both being wireless I think it can be done but like PrnRhd said Checking the network might be difficult.
Yes they can both be wireless. Unless you have zero connectivity you can still troubleshoot the connection with just wireless. At my vacation spot, I just have my wireless router and my laptop with the wireless card. It does however, help to have the router in view when troubleshooting though the software for the network card usually provides more than enogh info including link and signal strength.

[Mark Miller]

Thanks Classic,
You gave me a great idea for our vacation spot. Now I don't have to haul half the crap I thought I would.
Not for me but my wife.
Mark

[classicsoftware]

We have a small place in the mountains. Between my regular job as a pharmacist (faced pace, high stress) and my hobby/part time job as a computer consultant/programmer/installer/trainer/repair tech (fast paced, high stress) I really enjoy the slow pace of the mountains. As I get older I like it more and more. As my kids get older, they like it less and less. I needed e-mail and IM to keep them happy. Of course O can sit on the porch and catch a great view of the lake while browsing the PC-Guide forums. The best of all worlds...

Since it's a vacation spot, I just pay $35.00/month for the cable service. No charge for the modem :D :D :D and I jsut mail the modem back to them at the end of the season.

[Mark Miller]

Where do you hook the cable modem into. I thought it had to go into one or the other pc's?
Mark

[classicsoftware]

This is how it works:


Plug Coaxial Cable from cable co into cable modem
Power cable modem up.
Using a Cat-5 patch cable connect Cable modem to WAN port on router
Power up wireless modem
Check Lights on cable modem and wireless router
Install PCMCIAA card into Laptop.
Boot lap-top and follow OS dependant instructions.
Use the Linksys provided CD to set the SSID and the channel for the card & router.
Click on your Firefox Icon and enjoy


p.s. make sure your battery is fully charged.....

[Mark Miller]

That's the part I was missing
Wireless modem !!!!
Thanks

[classicsoftware]

That's a boo-boo on my part which I was sure I edited. It's a a regular modem wich is hard wired to the cable and to the wireless router.

If you want to talk this over on the phone instead of dueling posts, PM me and I'll give you call. Log distance is cheaper than local calling now.

[Mark Miller]

Thanks for the offer, I really appreciate it, but since our last post I talked to my son and he explained exactly the same thing.
Silly rabbit, tricks are for kids. And to think I bought him his first, second, and third computer.
Mark
Thanks again