Need help from wireless/LAN Gurus

[Magnum]

My son in law is having a lot of problems with internet connectivity.

Both wired direct and wireless.

It is thru Comcast.

Here is what I have been trying.

Disconnecting the cables and powering on and off of both the cable box and wireless unit.

I replaced one of the cables.

There is no problem with wireless two houses away.

Thanks,
               Andy

[dedndave]

laptop ? - move two houses down   

don't the modem and wireless router have status lights ?

[Magnum]

On cable box, all lights are green except link which is blinking.

This below was also good.

Andy

If you can ping the cable modem from a command prompt...

    ping 192.168.100.1

or use your web browser on it, that proves the wiring from the
right of the diagram, to the center of the diagram is working.
I got the IP address from the FAQ link below.

[dedndave]

you can talk to the router, as well

192.168.1.1

it will ask for an id/password
if you don't know what that is, you can reset it
some routers have a little button on the back
you hold that button for 10 seconds - and the password is reset

get the make and model on the router and google it for more specific details

here is what ours looks like...

[MichaelW]

You could ask him what he recently installed or otherwise changed on his system.

And assuming that he is running Windows XP:

You could look in System Information at Components/Problem Devices.

You could look in Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Event Viewer.

[Magnum]

When I connect direct from cable box to computer, it can't make a connection.

When I go thru the router, it can intermittedly. ????

Andy

[dedndave]

you may need to call comcast and tell them to reset you   :t
at that point, you should be able to connect directly
there may be a comcast CD with software on it - or, you may be able to go to comcast.com and get it

the way i would approach this...

get it working with direct connection first
then get the wireless router working

[Magnum]

I agree, it's needs to work first with a direct connection.

There is a 3rd computer hooked up, but I don't care about that one right now.

Regarding the wireless part of it, which should be set to automatically connect ?

There are 3 currently set up to automatically connect.

Pinging the router said that everything was connected.

Andy

My other son-in-law who lives close by said he saw several Comcast trucks working nearby.
I want to narrow it down to whatever is/are the culprits before I call Comcast.

This is pretty interesting though.

[Magnum]

You could ask him what he recently installed or otherwise changed on his system.

And assuming that he is running Windows XP:

You could look in System Information at Components/Problem Devices.

You could look in Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Event Viewer.

Michael,

One computer has a bootload of critical messages in the System part of the Event Viewer.
It's windows 7, I made the log file smaller as it seemed ridiculously large.

Laptop that generally uses the Wifi for connection had nothing of significance in the E.V.
I am currently using it as type this and it's not directly connected.

Andy

The E.V. seems not helpful when code writers don't put error handlers in their code to register a message.

I plan on adding some to my code in the future.

Good old Dr. Watson is good about handling the critical errors and making a good log file.
I want to see if Olly can do that .

[dedndave]

when i set up a new connection, i use the appropriate wizard

for a direct ethernet connection, i use the "Network Setup Wizard"
for a wireless connection, i use the "Wireless Network Setup Wizard"
they are in the start menu, all programs, accessories, communications

if you do it manually, it is very difficult to get all the settings just right

[Magnum]

I did not set it up. Just trying to fix it for him.

I have posted other places.
You have a good day.

Andy

[dedndave]

right
well - to fix the connection, i quite often make a new one and delete the old one

[Magnum]

That's one option, but I want to learn why a direct connection won't work, then I can move on to the wireless issues.

It's working now using the wireless, but it goes in and out.

I don't want to start deleting or changing connections until I learn what's is required.

If I eliminate hardware issues, then I can call Bomc$st.  :t

Andy