Broadbanc connection.

[david eaton]

Hi Folks. Hoping someone knows an answer to this one.

A friend has just got broadband internet access, and being him, he chose the self-install option. He has an alcatel USB modem, and all the bits set up and it works, straight out of the box just as it should. Next day - no internet access. I have checked everything at his end, removed and reinstalled the modem, still nothing. The modem status says it is connected but nothing is coming down the pipe! (or going out). Call the helpline, and after trying all the options, they can only suggest "Reinstall Windows! "

As that seems a policy of desperation and very much a last resort as he has only a "restore disc" I hope someone here has some other ideas, as I am getting fed up with banging my head against a wall on this one.

OS win98SE, IE6 on PIII 733Mhz machine. No firewall (as yet)AVG running (but disabling it makes no difference.

David

[diurnal]

Wow reinstall windows. Try to go to control panel/internet options/connection tab/

Then Lan settings
Go to automically detect settings

If checked uncheck it and try it
If not check check it and try it

Cya

[Jiggy]

find out your friends ISP then take a look HERE, look in there ISP and in general talk to see if anyone else has had that prob.

[mjc]

Also, open an MS DOS prompt, when it is open type in [b]ping www.{his ISP here}.com (or net or whatever it is), if that goes through but no web pages load then the is a config problem with the borwser. If that doesn't use a numerical (IP) address for the ping... a good one to use is the ISP's. (can be found by doing a traceroute on a working machine....)

[david eaton]

Jiggy. Thanks for the link. Reading it now!

MJC. Ping no response on anything, tracert "could not resolve domain" or similar. According to the modem diagnostics window, no bytes are going out or coming in under any conditions.

Thanks for the help

David

[classicsoftware]

Who is your ISP?

Dewey, Cheatum & Howe?

Call the ISP and ask for upper level tech support. Bening a cable user for several years there are some things you should know.

The cable modem needs enough voltage to carry the signal. You cant just splice into the cable feeding your TV set. You need to splice in right where it comes into your house/office.

Also, all splices use connectors and they sometimes come loose or if they are outside, they get wet and decrease the signal.

Call the cable company again as if the first call did not take place. If the first level of support cannot help you, ask for a second level tech support engineer. If it worked yesterday then there is something wrong with the cable unless you messed with netowrk/NIC settings.

[david eaton]

Thanks for the info/suggestions.

Finally cracked it today. It was not the ISP at fault, it was the local computer. &*(^$% Tiny computers!. Turns out that there was a scanner installed on the other USB port, and when the DSL mocem was working, the scanner was turned off. Turn it on and there isn't enough juice to power the modem correctly!

Believe it or not, this machine (Plll, 733Mhz, 128 Meg Ram, 40 Gig HD, DVD & CD/RW) has a massive 135 watt power supply!! Marginal or what? Got a new Ethernet modem, with it's own power unit and zoom! works like a dream. Now all I have to do is get this working as a firewall machine with two network cards.

[classicsoftware]

Glad you solved it. How did you come to that conclusion?

As for a network, get a Linksys 4 port hub/router. This will work as a firewall and DHCP server to the internet will only see the IP address assigned by your isp, but will also provide private IP addresses to each user on the network.

Setup 15 minutes as long as everything goes ok.

[david eaton]

classicsoftware. Solved by serendipity mostly! Went to try the other USB port. Unplugged the scanner and them when I looked at the modem the LEDs seemed brighter! tried the connection and it worked. I didn't check the voltages on the PSU, perhaps I ought to , or just get him to buy a bigger poer unit.

Have tried a linksys router, and your estimate of 15 minutes is wrong I'm afraid! Three hours of fiddling and bad language and it still doesn't work! Is there a GOOD idiot's guide to installing these beasts?

David

[classicsoftware]

I have never had a problem with them.

Please be specific as to what problems you are having.

You MUST power down the cable modem so it will get a new IP address and transmit it to the router.

If you want, we can hook up by phone & I'll talk you through any problems you are having...

[david eaton]

The problem seems quite simple, and the fix might well be!

The router works with the two computers connected i.e. the LAN works.

If I connect the modem directly to one machine, it works. Broadband OK.

If I connect the modem to the WAN port of the router - nothing. the LAN works, but neither machine can see the internet connection. The installation instructions for the router only show how to connect, and then just say that the router may be configured from the setup menu, without stating how to access it . Will look for an online manual tonight. It might help. Any suggestions gratefully received.

David

[classicsoftware]

David,

There are lights on the router that show the status of the WAN connection.

To access the setp:

open the browser

in the location car type in http://192.168.1.1

The browser login comes up

leave the user name blank and the password is admin in lower case.

Please change the password after the setup is complete and everything is working.

There is a button the back of the router that indicates if the WAN connection is striaght through or crossover. Change it and see what happens.

Pay attention to the lights on the front of the router.

Also, now that you are connected via LAN, re-set the router.

The way I see it, your router is not picking up and IP address from the modem....

Please let me know if you can load the router software

[david eaton]

classicsoftware

Thanks for the info. I have downloaded a manual for the router, and will have another look at the setup tomorrow.

From what I remember, the IP address 192.168.1.1 is used by the router? Should this be changed if the modem is using it? I also suspect that themodem is acting as a DCHP server as well as the router, which may be contributing to the problem. Will check and report back on either sucess or failure.
First time I have had to deal with this sort of setup, so I have to rely on manuals!
Thanks.

David

[classicsoftware]

The Router acts as DHCP server (that is it provides IP address to all users of the LAN). The 192.168.1.1 is the internal LAN IP address of the router itself.

The modem will provide an IP address from the ISP and use this external or MAC IP address when submitting requests to the ISP despite what internal IP address requested the information.

[david eaton]

Thanks for all the help on this one. It won't need any more work - today when the computer was switched on there was a loud bang, sparks out of the back, and all the smoke escaped, so there is no way this machine will ever work again!

Seems that the PSU went, and fried the Mobo. My friend is going to buy another machine in a week or two. I know, why not build it? He doesn't want to, and I don't have time! At least the HD is still OK, so all his data can be saved to the other machine.

David