Unanswered Network problem

[mmonnin]

I oringinally postes this over at AMDMB (http://www.amdforums.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=1852679#post1852679) while this site went down last night.

Well I got cable awhile back I said I would be able to hook up the 2 computers we had at the time using the same connection. (I was on 56k and had them networked via crossover cable).

So we got a Linksys Cable router from newegg. I couldnt get it to work to we RMAed it. Got another. Same problem. Even went to radio shack to make sure. 3 of them, same problem.

Ok so here is the problem:

I hook everything up, starting with just one PC. Wall>modem>router>PC.
Turn off modem and router.
Turn on modem. Wait for lights to stop blinking.
Turn on router.
Go to PC. ipconfig says woh.rr.com which is my RR account's domain.
Check a webpage and it works. About 2 pages work. Then it goes downhill from there. Then no pages work. They all try to but eventually time out. Then once in awhile a page will make it thru the network. Here and there it will work.

All during this time I ipconfig still says woh.rr.com. Usually anytime I switch PCs with the modem and its not getting a connection yet I always get 3com instead of woh.rr.com, brand of modem.

I can get to the router admin page at 192.168.1.1. I have pics of every page and how its set up but I cant attach here.

I thought I should be able to plug it in and go. Not so for me.

Cables are good. They work going from modem to PC and both PCs work like that. That means NICs are good. Modem is good I guess since I can download and surf like it should when hooked directly to a PC.

I had this problem for months now. Finally got some free time to take screenshots of every page. I made a thread at Icrontic when it was still up and any tip someone gave did not help.

I have the summer off and will try anything. I dont have a job yet and I will have loads of free time this summer. Graduation is this weekend along with some parties but I should still have time.

This thing has to be up when I leave for college so I can leave these 3 computers here.

Does anyone have any hints tips for me to try? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for taking the time for reading all of it anyway.

Originally posted by Harryc
mmonnin, a couple of general questions. First, what is the model number on the Linksys router. Secondly, is the cable modem plugged into the WAN port on the router?. Finially, have you removed all of the crossover cables and replaced them with standard CAT5 (straight through) cables?
Originally posted by mmonnin
Linksys Router: Linksys BEFSR41 Instant Broadband EtherFast Cable/DSL Router with a built-in 4-port 10/100 Switch

Cable modem goes to WAN port of the router.

They are all patch cables. I know if I switch a crossover cable with a patch cable it will give me a network cable unplugged error. The lil 2 comps with a red X in the system tray. Well thats not there. Cables are good.
Originally posted by Harryc
Ok, we'll poke around to see what we can find. Meanwhile, try this copied from a Google post- "In Internet Explorer, go into internet options, click the connection tab, then click LAN settings. Check or uncheck, depending on it's current setup, the box for "Automatically Detect Settings" Originally posted by mmonnin
OK I will set it up again in the morning and try that. I dont think I tried that. ATM it is not checked.

And I am running from modem to PC atm.
Originally posted by mmonnin
Well I am back on it. I checked the auto detect settings and it is better but not close to what it should be at.

Pages still take too long to load, sometimes I get server could not be found error.

Couldnt get onto MSN messenger for awhile. Lost Yahoo messenger on trillian for a bit. Kazaa lite wont stay connected. Just got disconnected from mIRC.

Any other ideas?

[mmonnin]

Setup page on Router

[mmonnin]

Password page on router

[mmonnin]

Status page on router

[mmonnin]

DHCP

[mmonnin]

Log

[mmonnin]

Security

[mmonnin]

Filters

[mmonnin]

Forwarding

[mmonnin]

Dynamic routing

[mmonnin]

Static routing

[mmonnin]

DMZ Host

[mmonnin]

Mac Clone

[mmonnin]

ipconfig /all

[mmonnin]

Local area connection

[mmonnin]

Local area connection properties

[mmonnin]

Local area connection advanced

I can take more screenies if needed.

[Black Hawk]

Thumbnails dude. Thumbnails!!! :p

If it's a DSL/Cable router, can't you just directly connect from the wall to the router ?

[EMT]

The first thing to do will be to examine what's going wrong. Try accessing sites by their IP addresses, for instance, to see if DNS might be the cause of the problem. You can also traceroute to an IP to search for the break in the chain - whether it's on your side or the ISPs. Also check out the cable modem's built in config/status page. Mine is located at http://192.168.100.1 . Look at these things when pages stop working - simple web surfing isn't enough info to diagnose it.

Anyway I would guess that it's not DNS since it's on and off. It sounds a lot like a LAN problem even though you've checked it. When something goes wrong, make sure you can access both the router and thru it the cable modem, then try pinging an IP outside your LAN such as the first one after the router that appears on a traceroute.

Edit- Blackhawk, Cable/DSL routers usually just have an Ethernet connection labeled WAN to connect to the real modem. If it was a DSL router then it would probably function as a modem. But it would be a good idea actually to see what happens when you hook a computer up directly to the cable modem.

[mmonnin]

Do you know that default name/password is for a 3com modem. Mine is also the same IP as yours but the only thing that is useful are some diagnostic LEDs concerning download/upload/IP and some others. I have never been to that page before either.

I forget that the tracing command is on command propt.

[EMT]

Try "User" and "Password", I read that somewhere but it may not work. If it doesn't what model is it?

The traceroute command is 'tracert [ip]'. I usually use tracert -d because it takes too long to look up host names and I'm not interested in them; -d just lists IP addresses.

[mmonnin]

User and password is not it. 3com HomeConnect Consumer Cable Modem, its discontinued. I dont know why RoadRunner gave me that one.

Ahhh tracert, thats it.

[MikeP928]

Marc,

Under the Advanced configuration tab do you have an option to enable MAC Cloning?

[danball1976]

What about purchasing an extra IP from your ISP and seeing if that will help

[mmonnin]

Posted above http://www.short-media.com/forum/attachment.php?s=&postid=1439

I think I have tried this before but I can always give it another shot. Make the MAC address of the router as the same as my PC computer. But then it would have problems connection to a different PC, which it doesnt. I can take the modem and transfer WUs on the other comp with no problem.

dan: It was hard enough to get cable from my parents. Another IP is not an option. And I happened to look at IPs I posted under and the community and I have had 2 since I have had cable.

[Madball]

Did you upgrade the firmware? Have you tried installing Netbios in your Local Area Connection Properties?

[MikeP928]

Run this command: "ipconfig /all |more" , and record your host name and your nics mac address. Put the mac info into the appropriate fields in the advanced page.

Next, go back to the router setup page and where it says Hostname, put in the host name retrieved earlier. Beneath that should be a field for "domain name". Enter "woh.rr.com ", reboot router and let me know what happens.

[mmonnin]

Nope that didnt work. I couldnt go anywhere at all.

Firmware version: 1.44.2, Dec 13 2002

Havent tried installed NetBios, just used what came with XP.

[MikeP928]

Not to be a pain, but did you also power down the cable modem or only the router? Some modems cache previous routes and connection info and need a powerdown to "forget". My old USR was a pain in the @#$ that way.

[TekGamer]

MM i want you to take the DNS server addresses you see in ipconfig and enter them on the dhcp tab of the router..

Then at the command line in windows i want you to do this...

ipconfig /flushdns

then I want you to browse... when the connection slows I want you to do a tracert to the site your viewing as well as ping it.

example commands:
ping www.shortmedia.com
tracert www.shortmedia.com

then mark and copy it into a post so I can see it.

I want to isolate where the problems lies. If both ping and tracert come back and there are no anomolies then we can move on to your local set up.

we will fix this..

Tek

[mmonnin]

MikeP: Still didnt work. So I cleared it.

Did as directed. And got a lot of Request timed out.

[mmonnin]

Another try at it.

[mmonnin]

One I should mention is that they are networked. As in my 2 PCs can share files and such. There is just no internet, which makes me think its just a setting somewhere.

[TekGamer]

heres the deal.. your tracert.. its dying before leaving verizons network... any pages your seeing are probably cached pages.

its dropping alot of packets. I assume everything works fine with out the router?

Also have you tried setting the router to router instead of gateway??

tek

[TekGamer]

the ping fails for me 2 so it probably getting bounced back of a firewall or something..

here is my tracert to shortmedia...

see the difference... in ms i mean.. mine dont jump till higher which is the way its supposed to be, the farther away the higher the ping, but im sure you know this. This is 1 of 2 things...

1. verizon is hosed, not likely as i just went through roughly the same network with out issues.
2. DNS setting somewhere are not correct or there is like you said a setting thats off.

if changing it to router does not work, then reset it to factory defaults and reconfigure it.

Also are you sure that there is not a crossover cable in the works. Im sure thats not it but gotta ask..

tek

[TekGamer]

after you have done all that and it dont work then I want you to put one your machines in the DMZ... put one in then rerun the tracert to short-media from that machine and post a pic.

Thanks..

Tek

[mmonnin]

I tried going to paged I have never gone to before. I know I have not been to yahoo or lycos in a long time, at least after Temp Int files were completely cleared. It did the same thing then.

I think I tried router once but I dont remember if I rebooted or not so I can try that again.

Any by putting it in the DMZ you mean to change the 0 to 1 or 2 or something other than 0?
Only cross cable I have is in my room and its a different color than all the rest, yellow.

And you said put it back to factory default. The only settings that I have changed are the ones done in this thread.

[danball1976]

mmonnin said
MikeP: Still didnt work. So I cleared it.

Did as directed. And got a lot of Request timed out.

I'm getting the same as you. Do you suppose we are on the same network node?

[TekGamer]

in the advanced setup there is a tab that says DMZ host.

it says 192.168.1.x x= blank space.

I want you to enter 100 for the last octet.

Then browse with the machine with the IP of 192.168.1.100

and let me know how it goes...

Tek

[EMT]

The tracert is stopping for everyone at 192.217.224.138 or wherever. The point is though that you get that far in the first place since clearly the hosts beyond that are neglecting to return the end of TTL.

The problem is still kind of ambiguous. mmonnin, are those tracerts from when your connection stops working? Do you have any more info / experience with the problem?

TekGamer, the DMZ test is going to determine if NAT is functioning properly, right?

Wait, mmonnin, can't you just hook up a single computer to the cable modem? I think that would make it clear whether or not the router is the source of the trouble.

[TekGamer]

im sure the router is somehow related to the problem but i was waiting for MM to reply to that. Yes i wanted to check the nat..

[MrBill]

EMT said
Wait, mmonnin, can't you just hook up a single computer to the cable modem? I think that would make it clear whether or not the router is the source of the trouble.
In his first post, he said that works okay.

Modem is good I guess since I can download and surf like it should when hooked directly to a PC.

I agree with MikeP and would like to see the Mac Address of the NIC that works when hooked directy, cloned to the router and see what happens. I have had Comcast and Charter cable and in both instances, I had to clone the NIC Mac Address to the router.

Lot's of good ideas being posted here. Info that can be used in other instances as well.

[EMT]

Oh, sorry bout that then

[mmonnin]

Changing it to Router and not Gateway made it worse. It was automatic 'cannot find server'. It didnt even wait to time out.

I am now on the DMZ with the final Octet at 100. It started to work ok. They would load but they had a lil bit of wait like it was tring to connect and then once it was connected the page loaded like normally. I dont know if thats what it was but there was a pause before it loaded at normal speed.

Now pages are starting to not load like it was before. Not as bad tho. MSN is still connected but yahoo is having problems tho.

Modem->PC works fine.

The Tracerts were when they stopped working. I tried it again when a page loaded but it only got to like 15 again.

[TekGamer]

try the mac from your nic in the router and take the pc out of the DMZ, by changing the last octect to 0.

after you have tested the mac cloning:

Also, this probably wont make any difference... change your dhcp address range to 192.168.1.2 - 50

then from the command line do a ipconfig /release
then from the command line do a ipconfig /renew


tek

Oh and great to see ya MrBill

xXUSERXx

[EMT]

It looked like DHCP was functioning properly I thought.

Have you tried browsing sites by IP address (to check DNS)? e.g. http://198.64.191.210/
It may have been mentioned earlier but I don't remember a conclusive response.

[MrBill]

TekGamer said
Oh and great to see ya MrBill

xXUSERXx Sorry I didn't recognize the new name. Howdy pardner. :)


Did you find a job yet.....I hope you did. :)

[TekGamer]

yeah but its part time. Im a software analyst..

Monday im going to city hall to apply for a nettech position they got open. The wife has an interview as well. Hope she gets something and I hope I can get some full time. I need comp parts bad.

As a side note I got this KT7 running stable. Well... For awhile that is. For weeks it was running great then the other night, randomly it restarts.. no bsod, just a straight restart. Thing is I did nothing to make it stable. I just booted up 1 day and it performed like I expected. Now, after a few hours of gaming I get the reboots. Im thinking either a heat related issue somewhere, proc temps are good, or a PSU issue. I got another 300w i can put in it. Its an enhance or something like that.

Tek

[mmonnin]

Nevermind all this crap. I got a NetGear for $25 AR, plugged it in and I have been on since. Pages load like I was on the modem, speeds are the same, MSN logged on the same, and havent gotten bumped off in over an hour.

I am now a NetGear supported.

Looks pretty sexy too.;)

[khan]

mmonin: I have the exact same setup here, cable modem through a linksys router, and I had a very simlilar problem...pages wouldnt load sporadically, etc etc. It turned out that it wasnt a problem either with the modem or the router

I put up with it for a really long time, but then I realized I could never stay connected to any internet games, DoD, BF1942, etc, and that really pissed me off, so I called tech support for road runner (i also use road runner, here in austin texas) and said look, im getting sporadic disconnects without the modem going off or anything, so they sent a tech out to my site.

first thing: try a tracert next time you have that problem (go to MS-DOS prompt and say "tracert www.google.com" or whatever site, and watch where the trace starts timing out.

second thing: call tech support and insist they send a tech over to check out your line.

when i called they did a check to my address (you read off your MAC address on the modem, or give them you name/address) and theyll run a line check to your modem and check the signals. mine tested irregular, and I think yours will too, so they sent the tech out.

when he got here, he plugged his line meter straight into the cable line and said "holy ****, your signals...". turns out, the wiring in my house was total crap, and had been there for ages...the insulation was frayed off and everything. the line was so full of noise that although the modem would read "connected", packet loss was through the roof. long story short, they didnt know it was the wiring the first time, so they switched out some components in my cable box, and it didnt fix it, so i called back, and on the third technician, they just replaced the whole wire and SUPRISE it works fine. (while you're at it, make them give you the latest version of the cable modem...while it worked after they re-ran the wiring, having a new modem also helped cause it can deal better with the noise in the line). theyll give you the new modem for free if you bug them, and you trade it out.

for some reason they have a definition of acceptable packet loss, so what you can do is find the default gateway for your router (its on the status page of linksys setup) and ping it. do the following to impress the folk on the tech support line: at MS-DOS prompt, enter the following "ping (insert router's default gateway here) -t" and then let it run for a while. push ctrl-break occasionally and watch the percent packet loss. if its less than 3% they wont help ya. mine was reading 46%.

so yeah, give tech support a call, have them send a guy out to check your line, give you a new modem. it cant hurt, and i'll bet it'll solve your problem. hope this helps!

edit: they may not have to do something so drastic as replace your cable line...they can also adjust signal strength by toying with the splitter where it enters your house...different types produce different signal qualities.

[mmonnin]

But it works now. With a new router. And it wasnt just sporatic. I couldnt go anywhere after so long. No where. And it works like it should with just the modem and no router.

I will be leaving for college next week so I wont have to worry

[khan]

well hell. guess thats what i get for not reading to see if the problem had been fixed yet. then you all may feel free to mock my tale of woe...it took 3 months to get decent internet connections.