Very specific wireless router problem

November 3, 2007 6:03 PM

Restarting my wireless router after some failure while I was at work-probably short power outage.

I'm following all of the very easy guidelines from here, http://www.microsoft.com/athome/moredone/wirelesssetup.mspx,
but when I connect a hard wire from the router to the pc it struggles to aquire my network IP and gives me a message saying limited or no connectivity.

I've restarted and reset the router, modem and pc several times, to no avail. I can't finish without this connection to fire up the wireless network. Yea, using standard cat 5e cable and all the lights are flashing on the router except the one I need connecting to the pc. I AM able to connect directly to the modem.

Any ideas? Burnt router? Silly oversight? Please help!!!

posted by snsranch to Computers & Internet (14 answers total)

Maybe you already tried this, but I know that on my router you have to plug into port 1 on the router (not the modem port).
posted by Brian James at 6:50 PM on November 3, 2007

Which router do you have? It's difficult to give specific advice without knowing that sort of thing.

That said, most routers' factory defaults are to have the wireless connection already turned on. Are you sure the wireless network isn't already running? It will use a very generic name, probably the brand of your router.

What happens to the lights when you connect the router to the modem? Do the 'connected' lights come on (or whatever their equivalent is for your router)? When my router was fried the power light kept blinking like it was still booting up, so if your router's lights are all coming on as appropriate, then chances are that your router is just fine. Is it on a surge protector?
posted by philomathoholic at 8:00 PM on November 3, 2007

Make and model of router, please. Will also need to know what the label is on the socket where your PC cable is connected.
posted by flabdablet at 8:07 PM on November 3, 2007

It's a d-link DI-524. When I turn it on the lights are static/on.

I hold the reset for a while, the lights flash but not the link to the pc, which is what's needed to reset everything, passwords etc.

Yes, surge protected.
posted by snsranch at 8:11 PM on November 3, 2007

On preview, modem is connected to WAN. PC connected to #1-I've tried 1 through 4.
posted by snsranch at 8:12 PM on November 3, 2007

When I turn it on the lights are static/on.

I hold the reset for a while, the lights flash but not the link to the pc, which is what's needed to reset everything, passwords etc.

If the light corresponding to the PC connection doesn't flash when you reset the router, that should be ok. You should have a power, status, WAN, and WLAN lights on the front of your router. Which ones exactly are static? Does the WAN one come on at all? According to the manual, it should come on when connected and blink when there is activity.

While nosing around dlink.com, I found that they have a "Quick Router Setup" on this page. Maybe that will set everything up for you?

Have you tried using a different cable to connect to the router? Is your PC set to have a static IP? If your router is trying to give your PC an address that isn't the one the PC thinks it should use (via DHCP), then there could be these sorts of problems.
posted by philomathoholic at 8:47 PM on November 3, 2007

WAN and Status are flashing but #1 for the pc is static and gives "limited connectivity" status. WLAN has no light. So in short, being unable to connect with wire makes it impossible to set up for wireless.
posted by snsranch at 8:56 PM on November 3, 2007

I have a feeling that there is some kind of security issue either with the router or my pc that is disallowing connection.

I've called the help center at d-link and they disconnected when we got into the nitty gritty.

I was running this as an open link here in my neighborhood so I'm not really surprised that it took a crap.
posted by snsranch at 9:06 PM on November 3, 2007

When you say you reset the router, did you fully wipe out all the settings? You have to hold the button down for at least 10 seconds, sometimes 30.
posted by Brian James at 9:15 PM on November 3, 2007

You can reset your internet security settings to the default by going to the Control Panel-Internet Options-Security tab, then either hitting "Reset all zones to the default level" or Default level (while Internet is selected).

The manual indicates that the reset button should be held for 10 seconds, and that the default settings are for the wireless connection to be active.

(Did you try a different cable? Is your computer set to a static address?)
posted by philomathoholic at 9:23 PM on November 3, 2007

Yes, I have a static address. I've done the reset for 30 secs. Just reset to security defaults. Still a no go. This is pretty weird. I'll probably try a new router.
posted by snsranch at 9:53 PM on November 3, 2007

The reason I asked about the static address is because the default settings for your router should be to assign an IP address to your computer. If your computer is ignoring that assigned IP and using its own address (and they aren't the same one), then I could see how you might have a problem connecting to the device. I recommend setting your computer to get its address from the router, and seeing if that makes a difference.
posted by philomathoholic at 10:01 PM on November 3, 2007

Actually no, using a static address is less prone to error, if you are sure the one you are using isn't already taken. The DHCP server can't force an address on you.

Fire up a command prompt and type ipconfig /all, the results may help with diagnosis. Also try ping 192.168.0.1 and see what you get.

Is the cable you are using straight or crossed? Look at the wire colors in the plugs, are they in the same order in both plugs or different?
posted by the number 17 at 1:28 AM on November 4, 2007

Hey, thanks guys. As odd as it may sound, I burned up that router and had to get a new one. Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it!
posted by snsranch at 4:15 PM on November 5, 2007