[delicatefade]

Hello - any help is GREATLY appreciated.

I have two computers:

Dell desktop - Windows XP - wired connection to internet
Dell laptop - Windows XP - wireless connection to internet

AT+T DSL internet service

For the past year, I had been using a Netgear MR814v2 wireless router with no problems. Occasionally it would stop working (the laptop could not connect). I could fix this by shutting off the DSL modem and router and turning them back on.

This past week, it would not work at all. The laptop could not connect to the internet despite a "very good" or "excellent" signal from the network. Also, for the first time, the desktop could not connect to the internet unless connected DIRECTLY to the DSL modem. If I connected the desktop through the router, I could not get to the internet.

After spending a couple hours on it, I went out and bought a D-Link DIR-615. Tried setting it up and had the exact same problem. Spent 2 hours on the phone with customer support with no solution.

At this point, I have everything set up correctly (DSL modem --> router --> desktop) and have a network set up. The network is broadcasting, and my laptop can connect to it without problem. Here are my two issues:

1. Even though the laptop connects to the network and says "very good" to "excellent" signal strength, connection to the internet is patchy. Sometimes I can get a webpage, sometimes it takes 1-2 minutes to load a webpage, sometimes it will not work at all for several minutes.

2. Exact same internet connection problem with the desktop, except that if I have the desktop wired directly to the DSL modem, which obviously takes the network offline, my internet is just fine.

Any thoughts????????? Thanks so much for your help.

____________________________________
Here is ipconfig /all for the desktop. Will post same for laptop as soon as wife comes home from school.

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Andy>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Gallo
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : dlink

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : dlink
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connecti
on
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-13-20-E2-25-8D
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.100
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 4.2.2.1
4.2.2.2
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, December 09, 2007 8:39:58 AM

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, December 16, 2007 8:39:58 PM

 

[delicatefade]

Wireless PC

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Computer
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Cont
roller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-14-22-A3-8F-8F

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Dell Wireless 1370 WLAN Mini-PCI Car
d
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-16-CE-42-CD-CB
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.125
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 4.2.2.2
4.2.2.3
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, December 09, 2007 3:10:43 PM

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, December 10, 2007 3:10:43 PM

 

[johnwill]

You appear to be connected to someone else's network with the wireless connection. Your router can't be dishing out 192.168.0.x addresses and 10.0.0.x addresses at the same time. I think that's your basic issue.

 

[delicatefade]

Any ideas how to fix that?

The laptop says it is connected to my network.

 

[johnwill]

What do you mean, "it says it's connected to my network"? Exactly how does it "say" that?

I'd remove all the wireless profiles and search for new connections. Also, change the SSID of your router to something unique so you can recognize your network.

 

[delicatefade]

OK, maybe I should re-explain this.

My desktop is wired directly to the router which is wired to my DSL modem. The first issue is that the desktop gets a very patchy internet connection this way but if I wire it directly to the DSL modem it is fine.

The router is broadcasting a wireless network with a unique name. I have removed all other networks from my laptop's memory, had it search for new networks, and it does see the network. It can connect to the network, and I know it is connected because it tells me once it has connected (in the task bar) and shows a signal strength of "very good".

Once connected to the network, the laptop also has a very sketchy connection to the internet (just like the desktop!). If I wire the laptop directly to the DSL modem, no problems at all.

I can't figure out where the problem is. Customer support had me change all kinds of things but the basic problem remained the same.

Neither computer, whether wired to the router or connected via wireless through the router, gets a good connection to the internet, but connects just fine when wired directly to the DSL modem.

 

[delicatefade]

By the way, here is a new ipconfig from the laptop. Turns out my wife was still at the coffeeshop when she emailed me the ipconfig results. That's why it looked like the laptop was connected to another network. It was!!!

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Me>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Computer
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Cont
roller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-14-22-A3-8F-8F
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 76.238.40.175
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 76.238.40.174
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
192.168.0.1
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, December 10, 2007 9:04:56 PM

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, December 10, 2007 9:14:56 PM


Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Dell Wireless 1370 WLAN Mini-PCI Car
d
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-16-CE-42-CD-CB
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration IP Address. . . : 169.254.214.127
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 4.2.2.2
4.2.2.3

C:\Documents and Settings\Me>

 

[Mon]

Dear Friend,
what about changing the router if you have spent so much time already with Dell support? Clearly an issue with the router as connection works fine when cable directly connects to system without router in between.

 

[johnwill]

If the previous IPCONFIG was with the router, it's not connected to the modem properly.

Let's start from scratch with a wired connection first.



Reset the router to factory defaults by holding the reset button down for 15 seconds with power on the router.

• Turn off everything, the modem, router, computer.
• Connect the modem to the router's WAN/Internet port.
• Connect the computer to one of the router's LAN/Network ports.
• Turn on the modem, wait for a steady connect light.
• Turn on the router, wait for two minutes.
• Boot the computer.

When the computer is completely booted, let's see this.

Start, Run, CMD to open a command prompt:

Type the following command:

IPCONFIG /ALL

Right click in the command window and choose Select All, then hit Enter.
Paste the results in a message here.

If you are on a machine with no network connection, use a floppy, USB disk, or a CD-RW disk to transfer a text file with the information to allow pasting it here.

 

[delicatefade]

OK, followed instructions above. Here's how it went down. This is for my wired desktop.

1. Reset the router by using a pen to hold down the hidden button on the back.

2. Shut down everything, had it connected as described above, restarted modem, then router, then computer.

3. Got sporadic internet connection (tried IE and Firefox). Could log onto some websites but then connection would be lost. Finally could not connect at all.

3. Tried using D-Link start-up disc. It said the router was configured correctly, had me name my network, but when doing final check said I did not have an internet connection.

4. Ran ipconfig /all and got the following:

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Andy>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Gallo
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : dlink

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : dlink
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connecti
on
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-13-20-E2-25-8D
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.100
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, December 11, 2007 8:50:19 P
M
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, December 19, 2007 8:50:19
AM

C:\Documents and Settings\Andy>

5. Can still connect to internet only if desktop is DIRECTLY wired to modem but not if wired through router.

As I said before, I had this same problem with my previous router and this one is brand new. I thought getting a new one would solve the problem if it were a router problem but since the problem is the same I think it must be something else.

Thanks so much for your help.

 

[johnwill]

Recap:

1. Two different routers fail in the same way connected to the modem.
2. When connecting the computer directly to the modem, everything is fine.

Have you made SURE the cables you are using are good cables? Obviously, connecting the router requires an extra cable, did you test both of these with the computer to modem connection?

 

[delicatefade]

I have tested both cables (modem --> router, router --> computer) and both work when wired directly from computer to modem.

 

[delicatefade]

^^bump

 

[Baldie559]

I would have the same issue sometimes but I found out it was due to my router. What I used to do was connect my desktop directly to my router and surf for a few minutes. Then connect everything back to the way it was and the connection (wireless/wire) was fine. This was a weird way to fix it but it worked for me. I eventually purchased another router though and its never happened to me again. Not sure if this fix will help your issue though.

 

[johnwill]

The only other thing that springs to mind is possibly an electrical grounding issue between the units.

 

[delicatefade]

OK, thanks.

Interestingly enough, we had some friends over for dinner last night and they have been having the EXACT same problem with their router. They even went out and bought a new one like I did and the problem continued with the new one as well.