Problem connecting to the Internet

[Gary Shapiro]

Running XP Pro/SP1

Ever since I hooked up my computers to a Linksys WRT54G
I've been having an annoying problem connecting to the
Internet.

When I first boot up my machine there are some
applications that refuse to recognize that I am connected
to the Internet. These apps will give me a message
advising me of this. Two such apps are Quicken for
Windows 2003 and Mailwasher.

I've discovered that if I get onto the Internet using
some other app that doesn't give me a problem I can then
run all my other apps with no problems. One such program
is IE6 itself. It's like I have to 'prime' my system for
these other apps. Mailwasher has an option that tells it
to run even if no Internet connection is recognized.
Setting this option enables me to run Mailwasher as my
first Internet app of the day.

I never had this problem before I got my router. Why
can't some of my Internet apps 'see' the Internet until I
run an app that does.

Strange....

[Chuck]

On Thu, 25 Mar 2004 13:21:07 -0800, Wallydrag
> wrote:

>I just bought a new router for my PC. I have Cox Cable internet so I have the cable modem and the router. The one I was using before was a Linksys BEFSR41 and now I have a WRT54G.
>The internet worked before great. Nice and high speed. After I switched the two out, the PC didn't connect to the internet anymore. I know the ethernet card still works because it says it's connected at 100.0 Mbps and it sends packets. It just doesn't
receive any. I have put in another ethernet card and it does the same thing.
>I got this new router for my laptop because it has wireless capabilites. The wireless internet works fine on the laptop. I've also run a cable from the router to the laptop and the internet works great again. Both my desktop and laptop run Windows XP.

>I'm not understanding how the PC can work fine, then not, but the laptop can still get internet. This is why I think something is wrong with Windows XP on the desktop.
>I'm confident that the PC isn't renewing the IP address because the IP address it says it's connected to (169.254.251.147) is completely different than the one it says I'm connected to on the laptop (of which I get internet fine).
>I've reinstalled the drivers for the ethernet card several times. The TCP/IP is on Obtain an IP address automatically and Obtain DNS server address automaically.
>Finally, I'll try to repair the connection of the Local Area Connection on the PC and it says, "The following steps of the repair operation failed: Renewing the IP address".
>
>Can anyone help me out? I don't know what else to try.
>
>Thanks.

Wally,

The ip address 169.254.251.147 is an APIPA address, which means that the PC is
either not connecting to the router, or the router is not issuing an ip address.

Is DHCP enabled on the router (for how many addresses)? Is MAC address
filtering enabled?

At least you have connectivity between the laptop and the router. So connect
the laptop to the administrative webpage, and verify the router settings.

Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.

[Wallydrag]

I did that and everything was set fine. It seems that the PC isn't connecting to the router. How do I remedy that?

[Chuck]

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 08:46:08 -0800, Wallydrag
> wrote:

>I did that and everything was set fine. It seems that the PC isn't connecting to the router. How do I remedy that?

Assuming that the PC worked with the BEFSR41, and doesn't with the WRT54G, the
problem is most likely with the WRT54G. Either the router isn't physically
connecting to the PC (bad router port or bad network cable), or it isn't
logically connecting to the PC (deactivated router port, MAC filtering enabled
but PC not added to table, router not issuing DHCP address).

The WRT54G has status lights for the wired ports, right? Any indication there
when you connect / disconnect the PC? Try enabling the router log (using the
laptop, thru the router management interface) - any entries in there when you
connect / disconnect the PC?

Since you could connect the PC to the BEFSR41, it's likely that there's no
problem with the PC. If the router is properly setup (and you can check that
using the laptop), then the most likely scenario is a bad router port. Time to
get Linksys Tech Support involved.

Here's a long shot. Some routers have a switchable uplink / data port to
optionally connect to another router. Make sure the port you're connecting the
PC to isn't switched to uplink mode.

Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.

[Chuck]

Xref: kermit microsoft.public.windowsxp.network_web:194432

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 20:11:07 -0800, Wallydrag
> wrote:

>So here's the current deal. I decided to just put the old router back and see if tha worked. It didn't. Also, with the new router, when I plug in the PC to the router, the light for the jack I plugged it into lights up on the router.
>
>I also tried just skipping the router and plugging the the line from the modem directly into the pc. That didn't work either. I've plugged another computer into the new router so that I had two different computers on it and both worked fine. No problem

[Wallydrag]

I got on my PC and got into CMD and typed ipconfig /release. It came up like this once I did that

Ehternet adepter Local Area Connection 6:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Autoconfiguration IP Address. . . : 169.254.251.147
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . :

So I then go and do ipconfig /renew and this is what it said

Windows IP Configuration

An error occurred while renewing interface Local Area Conneciton 6 : An operation was attempted on something that is not a socket.

So I did the ipconfig /all thing you asked me to do. Here are the results for the desktop PC



Windows IP Configuration



Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : pele

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : unknown

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No



Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 6:



Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-50-8D-F3-90-9C

Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 169.254.251.147

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . :



This is what I got for the laptop that works.


Windows IP Configuration



Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Beckham

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No



Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:



Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : National Semiconductor Corp. DP83815/816 10/100 MacPhyter PCI Adapter

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0D-9D-82-5F-CE

Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes

Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.100

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 68.12.16.25

68.12.16.30

68.2.16.30


So there ya go. When I tried the release and renew commands, I did that with to different ethernet card in two different slots and both came up like that.

The only thing that I can think of that I did after I switched out the routers is I tried setting up a network on the desktop PC think that it would work. When I didn't and nothing working, I tried taking it off. I deleted some bridge that was on there.

[Chuck]

On Sat, 27 Mar 2004 09:36:09 -0800, Wallydrag
> wrote:

>I got on my PC and got into CMD and typed ipconfig /release. It came up like this once I did that
>
>Ehternet adepter Local Area Connection 6:
> Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
> Autoconfiguration IP Address. . . : 169.254.251.147
> Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
> Default Gateway . . . . . . . . :
>

OK, Pele is obviously not connecting to the router. If the router is not bad
(you've tried 2 routers), it must be either the network cable or the PC Pele.

You're certain that the DHCP settings on each router allow it to issue more than
1 address simultaneously?

Get another network cable, replace cable between Pele and the router.

From Pele,
1) Ping pele.
2) Ping 169.254.251.147.
3) Ping 127.0.0.1.
Report results.

When you connect to "different ethernet card in two different slots", are you
installing current driver (get from internet) for second card, only after
uninstalling driver for first card?
1) Un install driver for first card.
2) Power down.
3) Physically un install first card, install second card.
4) Install driver for second card.
5) Run diagnostics for card just installed.

Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.

[Chuck]

On Sat, 27 Mar 2004 14:46:07 -0800, Wallydrag
> wrote:

> pinged Pele: Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (100%)
> pinged 169.254.251.147: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (100%)
> pinged 127.0.0.1: sent =4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (100%)
>
>I ran Network diagnostics and it said:
>
>The network adapters passed
>DHCPserver = 255.255.255.255 (Invalid IP Address)
>IPAddress = 169.254.251.147 passed
>
>
>I tried plugging the cable modem directly to the PC, bypassing the router all together, and that didn't work either. I shutdown multiple times and everytime it rebooting it still didn't work. I uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers for the ethernet ca
rd and that didn't help either. I tried releasing the and renewing the IP address and when I tried to renew it it sad that an operation was attempted on something that is not a socket.

Connecting the PC directly to the cable modem requires special procedure.
Depending upon how your ISP issues DHCP, you might have to reset the cable modem
(power off then on) after connecting the PC. Right now, the cable modem has
probably registered the MAC address of the router.
1) Disconnect router from modem.
2) Connect PC to modem.
3) Power modem off.
4) Power modem on.
5) Test PC. Run "ipconfig /all".

Tell me about "I've plugged another computer into the new router". Was that
other computer able to access the internet? Did you do an "ipconfig /all" on
it? Did you use the same router port, and network cable, as you're trying to
use with this PC?

Try LSP-Fix <http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm> for a long shot. Useful to have
that in your toolbox anyway.

Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.

[Wallydrag]

Chuck,

I really appreciate all the amazing help you provided me. I finally got this thing to work. I used that LSP-Fix and using the Advanced option i removed two "controllers", rebooted and now it works great now. I don't know what it was that did it, but now
it's fine.

Many, many, many thanks!!!!

[How about an original opinion please]

On Sat, 27 Mar 2004 20:06:10 -0800, Wallydrag
> wrote:

>Chuck,
>
>I really appreciate all the amazing help you provided me. I finally got this thing to work. I used that LSP-Fix and using the Advanced option i removed two "controllers", rebooted and now it works great now. I don't know what it was that did it, but no
w it's fine.
>
>Many, many, many thanks!!!!

Excellent! Glad to have helped. Thanks for the update.

Keep this from happening again, please.

Harden your browser. There are various websites which will check for
vulnerabilities, here are three which I use.
http://www.jasons-toolbox.com/BrowserSecurity/
http://bcheck.scanit.be/bcheck/
https://testzone.secunia.com/browser_checker/

Harden your operating system. Check at least monthly.
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

Block possibly dangerous websites with a Hosts file. Three Hosts file sources I
use:
http://www.accs-net.com/hosts/get_hosts.html
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm
(The third is included, and updated, with Spybot S&D).

Secure your operating system, and applications. Don't use, or leave activated,
any accounts with names or passwords with trivial (guessable) values. Don't use
an account with administrative authority, except when you're intentionally doing
administrative tasks.

Use common sense. Yours. Don't install software based upon advice from unknown
sources. Don't install free software, without researching it carefully. Don't
open email unless you know who it's from, and how and why it was sent.

Educate yourself. Know what the risks are. Stay informed. Read Usenet, and
various web pages that discuss security problems. Check the logs from the other
layers regularly, look for things that don't belong, and take action when
necessary.