[SOLVED] LAN connectivity problem

MellonCollie · 05-11-2008, 09:17 PM

Ok, so at home we have 2 computers on a network, my computer connects through an Ethernet cable through a router to the Host computer.

We've established a network thats been working fine for a few years....but yesterday I unplugged the modem and router and connected them to my computer, as we were attempting to make mine the host. The net worked fine on mine for the few minutes it was plugged in (although we didnt check the second computer), but we unlpugged the modem and router and now it's back with the original computer, as I didnt want mine to be the host.

Now the problem is, the host computer connects to the internet fine, but mine takes ages to load the page, then I get the ' page cannot be displayed' message. We've tried to do the Network Setup Wizard, on both computers several times, and usually after doing the Wizard, in my 'Network Connections' it will say that the Local Area Connection is connected but Firewalled, even though the Firewalls for our connection are disabled on the host computer. Even when it says it isn't firewalled, the internet still doesnt work.

I tried repairing the local area connection. It says "Windows could not finish repairing the problem because the following action cannot be completed: Renewing your IP address". I've done the Network Troubleshooting, none of that seemed to work. On the bottom right of my screen I get the little icon with 2 computers and it says ' Local Area Connection, Speed:100.0 Mbps, Status: Connected' yet I still cant open any web page. I also get the ' Limited or no Connectivity' icon sometimes.

Usually when our computers start up, the router lights flicker for a few minutes but stop when my computer is connected, however the lights are constantly flickering ever since we connected the modem and router to my computer and then back to the original hosts. We've checked the Device Manager on both computers and there seems to be no errors associated with the Network Controller.

Some details for you:

We're in Australia, Internode is our ISP, we both use IE as our browser, both have Windows XP Home Version 2002 (SP2)

Modem: SpeedTouch USB ADSL RFC1483
Router: Netgear Web Safe Router RP614v3

My computer: Intel Pentium 4 CPU, 3.2 GHz, 2 GB RAM
Host computer: Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.4 GHz, 2.41 GHz, 2 GB RAM

It's really frustrating and I don't know what to do now

Could the modem and router somehow have reset ? Please help, thanks in advance.

*Just to add, when I try to sign in to MSN messenger on my computer, I get the troubleshooting message, and when I hit repair, it tells me there are problems with ' DNS' and ' Proxy settings', what could that be ?*

johnhook · 05-12-2008, 01:08 AM

MellonCollie,

Stupid question - why did you change the connections in the first place if they were working? I don't ask this to insult you - but rather, to understand what you were trying to accomplish by reconfiguring your network that was otherwise working as you expected.

As I see it, your Netgear router is fine. The problem is with your Alcatel SpeedTouch USB ADSL Modem. USB modems/network adapters/routers are VERY limiting in that the drivers/software associated with these devices are problematic and sharing a network/Internet connection via a USB network device is cumbersome and prone to the types of problems you're experiencing. This is because in order to do so, you need to enable Internet connection sharing or routing capabilities on the PC connected to your USB modem in order to make Internet Sharing / Networking of other PCs possible (via your PC's ethernet connection and a router).

My advice would be to contact your Telco/DSL provider and demand a ETHERNET DSL modem rather than the USB device they've outfitted you with. With an Ethernet DSL modem, you can connect your devices as follows:

Telephone Line --> DSL (Ethernet Modem) --> Netgear Router --> PCs (up to 4 PCs directly connected to the router via the Ethernet Ports on the back of the router).

The router you own can be configured to automatically connect to your DSL provider via PPPoE (must supply username/password). This will allow you to connect up to 4 PCs to the router to share Internet access and co-exist on the same home network.

What's causing you problems now is the fact that your USB modem must be attached to one of your 2 PCs - then configured to connect to DSL via PPPoE software and have Internet Connection Sharing enabled - attached to the router that is addressed and "talking" to the other PC. The fact that you reconfigured this is why you're PC's are no longer connecting to each other or the Internet.

Again - DITCH the USB modem and get a "normal" ethernet DSL modem. This will make your entire home network/Internet connection much easier to setup and manage.

- John

MellonCollie · 05-12-2008, 05:49 AM

Thanks for your reply

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnhook

Stupid question - why did you change the connections in the first place if they were working? I don't ask this to insult you - but rather, to understand what you were trying to accomplish by reconfiguring your network that was otherwise working as you expected.

The reason being, I get home from work late, and usually the ' host' is asleep, therefore i'd have to walk in/out of their room at all hours switching things on and off, they don't want anything left on all night either. So we thought it might just be easier to make my computer the host, as I often use my computer more now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnhook

My advice would be to contact your Telco/DSL provider and demand a ETHERNET DSL modem rather than the USB device they've outfitted you with. With an Ethernet DSL modem, you can connect your devices as follows:

I'm not sure they'd do this since we've changed ISP providers. We used Telstra Broadband for about 2 or so years, and we've been with Internode for around a year. Telstra supplied us with the modem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnhook

What's causing you problems now is the fact that your USB modem must be attached to one of your 2 PCs - then configured to connect to DSL via PPPoE software and have Internet Connection Sharing enabled - attached to the router that is addressed and "talking" to the other PC. The fact that you reconfigured this is why you're PC's are no longer connecting to each other or the Internet.

Again - DITCH the USB modem and get a "normal" ethernet DSL modem. This will make your entire home network/Internet connection much easier to setup and manage.

Is there any way we can configure the modem/router so the PC's connect to eachother again ? and any idea how much the ethernet dsl modems cost ? Surely you wouldn't have to buy a new modem for 2 PC's to connect again....the modem and router were only plugged into the other PC for a max. of 5 minutes

Are there any drivers or anything that might of been reset or would need to be installed again on each computer for them to connect ?

If anyone else has had this problem too let me know.

Thanks.

johnhook · 05-12-2008, 06:34 AM

MellonCollie,

The problem with your setup is that your modem was plugged into the USB port of one of your PCs. This brought the Internet to THAT PC, but then you had to bridge that PC to the other PC via the router. This makes the Internet and co-connections to BOTH PCs dependant on the PC attached to the modem being on and available - not good.

The ideal configuration is to have a DSL Modem plugged into the router - then plug both PCs into that router. This way - the ROUTER connects to the internet and allows both PCs to share the Internet and talk to each other. Your ISP SHOULD offer a DSL modem that's Ethernet, NOT USB based. You SHOULD NOT have to purchase your own DSL modem.

Call your ISP and ask them about this.

- John

MellonCollie · 05-12-2008, 06:38 AM

Thanks for your help John

, i'll give them a call tomorrow and see what happens.

MellonCollie · 05-12-2008, 07:48 AM

Ok we configured our computers so that both of our computers are connected via Ethernet to the Router, then the Router is connected to the Modem. The setup that you briefly explained in your first post. I had also seen this in another post of yours and thought i'd give it a go. And minutes later....we have the interent on both computers again

We'd both like to thank you for your help John, we really appreciate it!

05-11-2008, 09:17 PM	#1 (permalink)
MellonCollie Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 4 OS: Windows XP	[SOLVED] LAN connectivity problem Ok, so at home we have 2 computers on a network, my computer connects through an Ethernet cable through a router to the Host computer. We've established a network thats been working fine for a few years....but yesterday I unplugged the modem and router and connected them to my computer, as we were attempting to make mine the host. The net worked fine on mine for the few minutes it was plugged in (although we didnt check the second computer), but we unlpugged the modem and router and now it's back with the original computer, as I didnt want mine to be the host. Now the problem is, the host computer connects to the internet fine, but mine takes ages to load the page, then I get the ' page cannot be displayed' message. We've tried to do the Network Setup Wizard, on both computers several times, and usually after doing the Wizard, in my 'Network Connections' it will say that the Local Area Connection is connected but Firewalled, even though the Firewalls for our connection are disabled on the host computer. Even when it says it isn't firewalled, the internet still doesnt work. I tried repairing the local area connection. It says "Windows could not finish repairing the problem because the following action cannot be completed: Renewing your IP address". I've done the Network Troubleshooting, none of that seemed to work. On the bottom right of my screen I get the little icon with 2 computers and it says ' Local Area Connection, Speed:100.0 Mbps, Status: Connected' yet I still cant open any web page. I also get the ' Limited or no Connectivity' icon sometimes. Usually when our computers start up, the router lights flicker for a few minutes but stop when my computer is connected, however the lights are constantly flickering ever since we connected the modem and router to my computer and then back to the original hosts. We've checked the Device Manager on both computers and there seems to be no errors associated with the Network Controller. Some details for you: We're in Australia, Internode is our ISP, we both use IE as our browser, both have Windows XP Home Version 2002 (SP2) Modem: SpeedTouch USB ADSL RFC1483 Router: Netgear Web Safe Router RP614v3 My computer: Intel Pentium 4 CPU, 3.2 GHz, 2 GB RAM Host computer: Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.4 GHz, 2.41 GHz, 2 GB RAM It's really frustrating and I don't know what to do now Could the modem and router somehow have reset ? Please help, thanks in advance. Just to add, when I try to sign in to MSN messenger on my computer, I get the troubleshooting message, and when I hit repair, it tells me there are problems with ' DNS' and ' Proxy settings', what could that be ? Last edited by MellonCollie : 05-11-2008 at 09:26 PM.

05-12-2008, 01:08 AM	#2 (permalink)
johnhook Tech Hardware Team Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 810 OS: MS SBS 2003 SP2	Re: LAN connectivity problem MellonCollie, Stupid question - why did you change the connections in the first place if they were working? I don't ask this to insult you - but rather, to understand what you were trying to accomplish by reconfiguring your network that was otherwise working as you expected. As I see it, your Netgear router is fine. The problem is with your Alcatel SpeedTouch USB ADSL Modem. USB modems/network adapters/routers are VERY limiting in that the drivers/software associated with these devices are problematic and sharing a network/Internet connection via a USB network device is cumbersome and prone to the types of problems you're experiencing. This is because in order to do so, you need to enable Internet connection sharing or routing capabilities on the PC connected to your USB modem in order to make Internet Sharing / Networking of other PCs possible (via your PC's ethernet connection and a router). My advice would be to contact your Telco/DSL provider and demand a ETHERNET DSL modem rather than the USB device they've outfitted you with. With an Ethernet DSL modem, you can connect your devices as follows: Telephone Line --> DSL (Ethernet Modem) --> Netgear Router --> PCs (up to 4 PCs directly connected to the router via the Ethernet Ports on the back of the router). The router you own can be configured to automatically connect to your DSL provider via PPPoE (must supply username/password). This will allow you to connect up to 4 PCs to the router to share Internet access and co-exist on the same home network. What's causing you problems now is the fact that your USB modem must be attached to one of your 2 PCs - then configured to connect to DSL via PPPoE software and have Internet Connection Sharing enabled - attached to the router that is addressed and "talking" to the other PC. The fact that you reconfigured this is why you're PC's are no longer connecting to each other or the Internet. Again - DITCH the USB modem and get a "normal" ethernet DSL modem. This will make your entire home network/Internet connection much easier to setup and manage. - John

05-12-2008, 06:34 AM	#4 (permalink)
johnhook Tech Hardware Team Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 810 OS: MS SBS 2003 SP2	Re: LAN connectivity problem MellonCollie, The problem with your setup is that your modem was plugged into the USB port of one of your PCs. This brought the Internet to THAT PC, but then you had to bridge that PC to the other PC via the router. This makes the Internet and co-connections to BOTH PCs dependant on the PC attached to the modem being on and available - not good. The ideal configuration is to have a DSL Modem plugged into the router - then plug both PCs into that router. This way - the ROUTER connects to the internet and allows both PCs to share the Internet and talk to each other. Your ISP SHOULD offer a DSL modem that's Ethernet, NOT USB based. You SHOULD NOT have to purchase your own DSL modem. Call your ISP and ask them about this. - John

05-12-2008, 06:38 AM	#5 (permalink)
MellonCollie Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 4 OS: Windows XP	Re: LAN connectivity problem Thanks for your help John , i'll give them a call tomorrow and see what happens.

05-12-2008, 07:48 AM	#6 (permalink)
MellonCollie Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 4 OS: Windows XP	Re: LAN connectivity problem Ok we configured our computers so that both of our computers are connected via Ethernet to the Router, then the Router is connected to the Modem. The setup that you briefly explained in your first post. I had also seen this in another post of yours and thought i'd give it a go. And minutes later....we have the interent on both computers again We'd both like to thank you for your help John, we really appreciate it!