Quote:
Originally Posted by DMcCunney
Aarrgghhh!
I hate computer problems. I especially hate computer problems when I don't know what's going on.
I'm working on the computer, and suddenly realize I've lost Internet connectivity. Okay, shit happens.
Reset the wireless router. Still offline.
Reset the cable modem. Okay, back online.
Not okay. I can get to everything except my router. Trying to reach it times out.
SO's laptop can't even see our network via wifi. Connect it through a cat5 cable to the router and she can get out if I'm not connected, but only one of us can get out at a time.
Call and old friend who is a telecom and network tech, and describe the problems. He tells me it sounds like my router is failing, as he's seen that symptom at customer sites. That was my suspicion, too.
As it happens, I have a spare router. Take the old one out of the loop, plug in the spare, connect everything up. I can get out again, but I can't connect to the spare router, either.
It's as though the router is simply providing a physical circuit to the cable modem, but not functioning as a router.
I refuse to believe both routers failed. The spare worked fine when last connected, and hasn't been used in months.
I can think of nothing my ISP could have done that could cause these symptoms. They should not even be aware their modem is connected to a router.
I can't think of any changes made locally that should cause this.
I suspect this will be a "pound my head on the desk when I figure out what's going on" incident, but that will be good, because it will likely mean I don't have unfortunate hardware failures, but meanwhile, I am very confused.
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Dennis
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Do you (normally) let the routers' DHCP function assign IP addresses to your individual machines, or do you assign the IPs statically? What you are describing would happen if the DHCP server is off on either of the routers and it was just being used as a hub (they may default to this if reset depending on make and model)...When you said you "reset" the router, do you mean power-cycling it (unplugging the power and waiting a few seconds), or pushing the little pinhole-button on the back that resets the router to factory defaults?
Modem = DHCP (you get your one external IP address from your provider) pretty much all the time; if the router is just acting as a hub, then it's the same as if you had no router at all, and you can't have more than one machine use one IP address.
I also refuse to believe both routers simultaneously expired, though I've seen stranger things happen (I'll tell you sometime about how my cheapo Belkin router earned the nickname "Lazarus"). I would try assigning an IP statically to one machine, 192.168.x.y, where 'x' is usually a 0, 1, or 2; then try getting into the router again. If that works you can make the required changes. If not, try a hard reset (the pinhole-button deal) but be careful: each make has a slightly different way of doing that. The hard reset will bring everything back to default factory settings.
I hope this didn't appear "dumbed-down" but I'm tired ATM; hope I was of some help. And of course by all means ask more questions if you feel the need-