Problems... very frustrated!

[Hykster 0]

Okay.. here goes. I have just got a DSL connection with a DSL modem. I bought a Linksys 4-port Router so I can connect my computer and my new labtop together to share an internet connection.

 

I have the DSL modem connected to the Router while having an ethernet cable connect to my ethernet port on my computer. For some reason, the data recieved from the internet comes directly from the modem, instead of goin' to the router and then to my ethernet adapter. I would hook up my laptop to the router and the connections are fine with the LED's but I can't get a connection with the laptop. Any suggestions? Using XP.

[Dirty Harry 0]

Quote:

the data recieved from the internet comes directly from the modem, instead of goin' to the router and then to my ethernet adapter. I

What do you mean? You have a cable from the modem to the router and another cable from the router to the PC? How can the router be bypassed then ?

H.

[Hykster 0]

I have a DSL cable hooked in my Ethernet port on my Modem that goes to my WAN port on my Router. Then, from one of the numbered ports on the router.. let's say port 4, from there I plug an ethernet cable in the end of the router to my laptop ethernet connection.

 

But I still don't get a internet connection through my laptop. When I surf the web, my modem's WAN ACT light blinks crazy saying that it's recieving and transmitting data, but my WAN ACT light on my router SHOULD DO THE SAME, but it doesn't. Any suggestions?

[Bursar 0]

So you have the modem hooked up to the router, and then 2 PCs also hooked to the router?

 

Is your router configured correctly? Are your TCP/IP settings correct?

 

If you remove the router from the setup, does the laptop work with the modem plugged directly into it?

[Dirty Harry 0]

There are many possible error sources here, and your description is not very precise, I'm sorry to say. Here a few questions so we can start to get somehere:

 

1) does the setup work with the other computer or is it only the laptop that has a problem?

 

2) have you followed the setup instructions in the manual exactly? Go over it again. Checkout Linksys site for Q & A 's

 

3) have you changed any settings in the routers setup screen ?

 

4) is the LAN on DHCP or are you using fixed IP's? Is the DHCP service running on the laptop ?

 

5) What happens if you connect your modem directly to the Laptop? Are you connecting your laptop to other LAN's also (work, college etc)?

 

I have the same Linksys (BEFSR41), marvelous piece of hardware !

 

H.

[Hykster 0]

It works fine on the laptop as the main connection but if it's connected to the router nothing happens. I followed everything in the manual and I know everything is hooked up correctly because I've had the same setups before with no problem, except I was using a NETGEAR router which had no setup screens or anything. It was just plug everything in and go and it worked beautifully. I can't enter the 192.168.1.1 on my browser because it just brings up my MSN DSL status page of my connection and not the LinkSys Setup screens.

 

Perhaps you can walk me through the exact same steps you used to hook your computer up with the same router as mine including IP addresses and DHCP. When I used the NETGEAR one, I didn't have to do any type of setup.. like I said.. just plug everything in and it worked. With this LinkSys, it's all confusing. =(

 

Hykster

[clutch 1]

First, do the PCs talk to each other properly across the built-in switch? If not, make sure they are set to use DHCP as the router will host them. Next, it sounds like you don't have the DSL modem plugged into the right port. Are you *positive* that the ethernet port from the modem is connected to the WAN port on the router? The reason why I wonder about this is that your router should sit on 192.168.1.1 and yet you are getting the modem stats. Next, if you are sure about the connections, try using the reset button (with a paperclip) on the router to clear any settings it may have. Also, did you have to give the MAC address or any stats for your laptop to your ISP? Sometimes they bind your account to your MAC and that would make the default setup not work properly (although you would still see Linksys router).

[Hykster 0]

The ethernet port from my modem is connected to the WAN port on the router. I've tried reseting the router and it still does the same thing. I can't access the LinkSys router info because the 192.168.1.1 is the DSL modem's stats and not the router. The only way I can get to it is if I go to the Network Connections control panel and disable the USB adapter that plugs into my modem and then to my computer.

[Davros 0]

eh...

so what's going on here? USB? I'm confused.

The DSL modem should only be plugged into the router's WAN port, and nothing else.

Then each computer gets it's NIC connected to its own port on the router, with DHCP enabled on each computer.

[clutch 1]

I kinda figured he had something jacked on it. Do this; can the USB adapter in the network settings of the laptop (and make sure that it's unplugged), and disconnect the modem from your router. Now, try the IP again and you should hit the router. I bet that your USB installation is taking precedence over your NIC install and it's going out to the modem directly. You should *not* have both the USB and NIC connected at the same time to reach the Internet. You use one OR the other.

[Hykster 0]

Gotcha, that's probably the problem.. lemme try it out and I'll see.

[Dirty Harry 0]

Quote:

I can't access the LinkSys router info because the 192.168.1.1 is the DSL modem's stats and not the router.

If they are connected Modem->Linksys->Computer and you type in 192.168.1.1 in your browser the signal cannot go to the modem without passning the router, and should open the Linksys settings page. Now, if you have some USB connection bypassing the whole thing this could of course happen, but as our resident LAN guru Clutch already said: unplug the USB (for good). What happens then, and what happens if you do this without the modem plugged in?

Two easy checks if you still have trouble after unplugguing the USB:
Did you buy the Linksys new (i.e are you sure the settings are at factory default)?
Are you sure the two involved cables are standard Ethernet cables (as opposed to crossover cables) ?

H.

[Hykster 0]

Okay, I can access the router setup broswer page, but I am unable to access the internet connection with both computers. Both of them won't work now. Here's my current setup:

 

DSL Modem into phone line, ethernet port from modem connected to WAN port on Router. Port 4 ethernet cable from router goin' to my desktop computer ethernet card... port 3 ethernet cable from router goin' to my laptop ethernet connection. Router says that it recognizes both port 3 and 4 and they are functioning correctly with the LED's on router. Click on Internet Explorer... "Cannot find page requested" error.

[Hykster 0]

Quote:

If they are connected Modem->Linksys->Computer and you type in 192.168.1.1 in your browser the signal cannot go to the modem without passning the router, and should open the Linksys settings page. Now, if you have some USB connection bypassing the whole thing this could of course happen, but as our resident LAN guru Clutch already said: unplug the USB (for good). What happens then, and what happens if you do this without the modem plugged in?

Two easy checks if you still have trouble after unplugguing the USB:
Did you buy the Linksys new (i.e are you sure the settings are at factory default)?
Are you sure the two involved cables are standard Ethernet cables (as opposed to crossover cables) ?

H.

I bought the LinkSys new and everything was in the box. My cables are the standard RJ-45 Ethernet cables.

[Hykster 0]

Even if I just disconnect my laptop from the router and try to just use my Desktop computer to get a internet connection through the router, I still get the "Cannot find page requested" error. Do I need to use the Network Wizard prog in WinXP to set something like a network up to share internet connections through a router?

[Dirty Harry 0]

Connect either computer to the Linksys but leave the modem unplugged (just one cable between PC and the router, skip internet for now).

Try with both computers but not at the same time.

 

What happens when you type http://192.168.1.1 in IE and hit enter?

What happens if you open a DOS box and do ping 192.168.1.1 ?

 

First thing here is to get to the Linksys setup screen - have you ever been there ?

 

H.

 

H.

[Alien 1]

Hykster - just playing a hunch here, try the following in this exact order:

1. [*]Turn off & unplug from mains all computers concerned & router & DSL modem.[*]Leave them like this overnight.[*]In the morning plug in & turn on DSL modem & wait until it's doing whatever it does to show it's connected properly to the ISP.[*]Plug in & turn on router [it may need a few seconds to say hello to the modem so wait a few before next step].[*]Turn on 1 computer & try internet & if it works, try other computer as well.[/list=1]Like I said - it's just a hunch, but it can't hurt to try it.

[clutch 1]

Quote:

Okay, I can access the router setup broswer page, but I am unable to access the internet connection with both computers. Both of them won't work now. Here's my current setup:

DSL Modem into phone line, ethernet port from modem connected to WAN port on Router. Port 4 ethernet cable from router goin' to my desktop computer ethernet card... port 3 ethernet cable from router goin' to my laptop ethernet connection. Router says that it recognizes both port 3 and 4 and they are functioning correctly with the LED's on router. Click on Internet Explorer... "Cannot find page requested" error.

Spiffy, you're moving forward. Now, can you ping from one system to the other? Have you tried that? Also, can you ping by NetBIOS name from one to the other? Are the clients getting all relevant DHCP info from the router (like gateway and DNS servers)? One more thing, when the router gets the info it needs from the DSL modem, it has to pass on some info to the clients, so what you might want to do is the following to ditch any old information still cached on the clients. From the command line, use:

ipconfig /release (to release DHCP information from the NIC)
ipconfig /renew (for a new subscription)
ipconfig /flushdns (to get rid of old DNS name resolutions that might be giving you errors).

[Hykster 0]

Okay, I'll give these suggestions a try and I'll let ya know later on today. Have some things to take care of today first. =) Thanks for your help. I'll be back soon.

[Hykster 0]

Okay guys, hope you can figure this one out. Alright.. I have MSN DSL.. their Modem Stats page is 192.168.1.1 while the Router Setup page is also 192.168.1.1 also. If I have a direct connection just between my computer and my modem, I have an internet connection. If I run it through the router, I don't get an internet connection because 192.168.1.1 address is used by the Router and the modem needs that address to get a connection. So bascially the Router and the DSL Modem are cancelling each other out to get a connection. So, MSN Tech says that they only support a 1on1 direct connection which means that they don't support networked pc's sharing an internet connection. The MSN techinican said it's up to the customer (which is me) to figure out a way to move the LinkSys DSL Setup page of 192.168.1.1 to a different address so the Router can have access to the MSN Modem address of 192.168.1.1. Otherwise.. I guess I wasted money on a router and an ethernet card. Any ideas? Thanks!

 

Hykster

[Hykster 0]

Update..

 

I've changed the LinkSys Router Device IP to 192.168.1.5 to access the router setup pages. Now, I've restarted my computer and both the modem and the router (power-cycled them both) and turned them back on. I still CANNOT get a connection through the Router, only from a direct connection from my Modem to my PC.. never from the Modem-to-Router-to-PC. HELP!

 

Looks like I won't be able to have a network after all......

[Hykster 0]

Clutch, Dirty Harry, and others:

 

I finally got everything to work!!! Wanna know what the problem was?? MSN uses a Subnet Mask address of 255.255.255.252 and NOT 255.255.255.0. The router's LAN IP Subnet Mask address was set at 255.255.255.0 and not 255.255.255.252. So all I did was set the router's LAN IP Subnet Mask address to 255.255.255.252 to match MSN's DSL connection and BOOM-BADA-BING! It finally works! Now everything works! Thanks for all your help. I need to give myself credit on fixing it myself! So weird.. what service uses 255.255.255.252?

 

I called MSN back and asked them why they use 255.255.255.252 and their reponse was to have the connection set up as a 1 on 1 connection that disables networking through routers because MSN does not want to support it. Therefore, they changed it from .0 to .252. Interesting isn't? Microsoft is the Devil. Anyways, things work! Thanks again!

 

Kevin "Hykster" Hyk

[clutch 1]

Honestly, I don't see why the LAN IP subnet mask of the router would make any difference since you are crossing over the router (the LAN IP of my router has a 255.255.255.0 subnet mask, while the WAN/modem side has 255.255.248.0 and uses 24.160.x.x for the moment), and getting DHCP info from the modem to connect online. Just beware of disconnects because your ISP issues you a new IP and the router doesn't update properly.

[Davros 0]

Congrats Hykster!

 

Maybe the routers LAN subnet mask is applied to the WAN port as well? Can you change the two independently or is there only one subnet mask you can set that applies to all ports, lan and wan.

 

At least it works. I wouldn't screw with it anymore unless MSN tries something else to prevent you from actually using your connection.

[Hykster 0]

Yeah, I can change the two independently to match all the ports of LAN and WAN. Yeah, I won't screw around with it. It's working now. No need to dink around with it anyways. Thanks again, clutch!