[SOLVED] DSL Modem or Service?

[Fourth Stooge]

A quickie of sorts. I have AT&T/Bell South DSL which has been very reliable and fast until about 10 days ago.

My configuration is that the modem is connected to a Linksys router and a wired half network. That connects to the other half of the network through a wireless access point.

Every morning I have to reset the modem to get internet access from either side of the network. I can ping from one side to another fine. I can ping from the remote side to the router. I can NOT ping yahoo or google when this is happening.

The modem is a 3-year old Westell. The LEDs are all correct (Power, Network, DSL and Internet). However, the Internet LED flashes at a steady rate during this problem. Normally it would be random along with the incoming or outgoing traffic.

I have a spare router and get the same results with either. I've tried AT&T tech support (several departments), but their main goal seems to be to pass anyone who knows what they are doing off to another department. One tried to get me to call Linksys support. "Uh, no." Not their problem unless two routers are having the exact same problem and they were manufactured about 3 years apart, have different firmware, etc. "Hold please."

In this same time frame, outgoing requests of the internet have gotten slow. Firefox displays the "Looking for ....." for a prolonged period. Once the web site is found, everything is quick and the line speed checks within what is normal.

Any ideas whether the modem is just nodding off after prolonged inactivity or the service is the root of the problem?

My other option is to get Charter cable service. They are just plain awful down here, so I don't consider that a great option.

Thanks.

[johnwill]

You most likely need a new modem from them.

[Fourth Stooge]

Originally Posted by johnwill

You most likely need a new modem from them.

Danka. That's sort of what I figured. The worst that can happen is I wind up with a spare DSL modem to go with the two cable modems not in use and spare router I've collected over the years.

[johnwill]

You need a few spare computers as well.

[Fourth Stooge]

Don't laugh.

I've got one sitting here waiting for its purpose in life to start again (waiting for me to get around to it) and one sitting in pieces on a spare desk in my office, just waiting for me to decide what it's going to be when it grows up! Actually, all it really needs is a hard drive or two. Maybe it will become a Windows 7 test lab, who knows.

And I'm about to have to place an order with Newegg for some cables and general junk, so slipping in a hard drive, some extra memory and a copy of Windows 7 on an impulse could just happen early next week.

[Fourth Stooge]

OK, we seem to have a solution here. Somehow, the modem got reset to its default settings. I don't know how (it's on a UPS so it was not puking over a power issue and I have not messed with my configuration). Whatever happened must have happened about 2 weeks ago. One of the settings that was "helped" was it took the modem out of bridge mode. Essentially that left me with 2 DHCP servers fighting each other.

I discovered it thanks to a recent AT&T change to their password rules. I had to change my password and the router had the old password. This morning the connection threw a fit about the mismatch. I actually found somebody at BellSouth/AT&T support that understood connectivity (1 out of about 7 isn't bad!). While the password change is a stupid thing, it did allow us to sort this out while he was watching my connection status on the provider end.

Moral of the story: AT&T is constantly messing with things these days. Configurations, even on my end of the phone jack, are subject to change without notice.

[johnwill]

Glad you got a solution.