Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with dsl and wifi

Lousy connectivity on my new DSL

soviet sleepover — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 11:13:50 -0800

Diagnose my wifi difficulties, please! New DSL installation with intermittent, slow connectivity and occasional weird pings/notifications. I'm somewhat computer savvy, but I'm definitely missing something basic, so assume I'm a beginner with all this!

I just got DSL (with SBC Global) and an inherited modem and linksys router. I followed the instructions on the SBC Global installation cd, installed the phone filters, etc. Connectivity is intermittent (and extremely slow), even though the signal always appears strong, and roommates also have the same problems. I'm usually able to connect to the router (though not reliably). Pings return occasionally weird results (posted below), and every once in a while this error will pop up:
"192.168.1.64 in use by 00:90:4b:b4:ef:dc, DHCP Server 192.168.1.254"

The intermittent connection also seems to happen when I'm connected directly to the modem via an ethernet cable, but I don't think it's a problem with the physical lines: I've already checked the phone box outdoors, and there's no corrosion (plus, I'm pretty sure the previous tenants have had wireless here without complaint).

Here's the last minute-or-so of a ping:

64 bytes from 69.13.72.249: icmp_seq=8227 ttl=55 time=64.149 ms
64 bytes from 69.13.72.249: icmp_seq=8228 ttl=55 time=72.922 ms
64 bytes from 69.13.72.249: icmp_seq=8230 ttl=55 time=72.530 ms
64 bytes from 69.13.72.249: icmp_seq=8233 ttl=55 time=62.075 ms
60 bytes from se5-l0.pltnca.sbcglobal.net (151.164.186.133): Communication prohibited by filter
Vr HL TOS Len ID Flg off TTL Pro cks Src Dst
4 5 00 0054 2cc6 0 0000 3e 01 fff4 192.168.1.64 69.13.72.249

64 bytes from 69.13.72.249: icmp_seq=8612 ttl=55 time=81.776 ms
64 bytes from 69.13.72.249: icmp_seq=8613 ttl=55 time=61.918 ms
64 bytes from 69.13.72.249: icmp_seq=8614 ttl=55 time=61.946 ms

I don't think I've left anything important out, but I'm not sure what to do and ordinary fiddling hasn't seemed to fix anything. Help, metafilter! You're my only hope!

Can I use my DSL modem/router to act only as a wireless router?

ocha-no-mizu — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:04:33 -0800

Can I use my DSL modem/router to act only as a wireless router? I'm replacing my DSL service with cable internet. Instead of paying for the cable company's wireless router, I'd rather use my existing DSL modem/router if I can. Is it as simple as plugging the cable modem into the DSL modem/router?

For what it's worth, my DSL modem/router is a 2wire 2700HG-B.

DSL troubles

Beaufort — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 06:07:16 -0800

I have an Embarq DSL 660 modem (bridged) connected to a Dynex DX-WGRTR Wireless-G Broadband Router. The computer connected directly to the router can access the internet, but not my wireless laptop. What do I need to change to get my wireless to connect to the internet through my router and the DSL modem? Do I need to clone the connected pc’s MAC address, or just connect with PPPoE, or a stactic IP or something else with Embarq? I have never set up a router with DSL only with a cable modem. Thanks.

Home internet networks over large distances?

zaebiz — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 18:48:45 -0800

I have a wireless router in my house. 150 metres away I have a shed where I want to be able to use the internet on my laptop. There are electricity outlets in the house and in the shed but not in between. How do I get the signal from the house to my shed? For example are there battery-powered boosters that I could lay between the two places and recharge them at night? Can I buy a more powerful router? Can I buy some sort of signal magnifier to attach to the router? Or .... is it crazy to run a telephone cable all the way from the ADSL port in my house to the router in my shed? Any other ideas?

What's the Latvian for "is this DSL and if it is can we do the whole wifi thing, and oh yes, what's in that locked box?"

mdonley — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 02:59:59 -0800

How, exactly, am I connected to the Internet? This is in Latvia, by the way. Here's what I can tell you. Today a tech from Balticom Internet (which you can examine at balticom.lv if you feel up to deciphering some Latvian and Russian) stopped by after someone at work ordered a connection for my apartment. He worked for about an hour - I'm not sure if all of that was work, or work and cigarette breaks - in a little box just outside the the front door that I can't open that looked like it contained some sort of connection to something; I didn't get a good look when he was in there, though I did see a largish gray box emblazoned with the Lattelcom symbol, which I presume is for landline phones, which we don't have.

From my computer, a standard-looking Cat-5 cable goes out a hole in the concrete wall next to my front door (things are a little homebrew in my charmingly post-Soviet apartment) and into the box. I didn't see if the Cat-5 cable went into the Lattelecom box or somewhere else. There were a variety of cables running to this box from the other apartments on our landing, I think.

The ad for the service we purchased said we'd get speeds of up to 10 MB/sec; it seems at least as speedy as my cable internet back in the States, which was advertised as 3 MB/sec.

This would all be fine, but my housemate and I both have laptops and we'd like to be able to use the connection simultaneously and via wifi. We don't have a modem or anything in the apartment - just the end of the network cable and the configured settings on my computer (which the tech wrote down - things like IP addresses and DNS servers).

So:

- Is this DSL or something else?
- What is at the other end of the cable running from my computer and into the box?
- Can we plug a wifi router into the end of the cable and both be on that network, or do we need the modem itself - which we don't have - to connect the router to?

If it matters, he's got a Dell Inspiron 8600 running XP and I've got a Macbook running OS X 10.4.10. I'll try to answer any questions you have.

Paldies!

Wireless-less

Packy_1962 — Fri, 26 May 2006 13:57:04 -0800

Can I connect to my wireless internet? I live in an apartment with wireless DSL already set up and used by a mac, but I started trying to use my Windows machine with it, and it's not working. It's a wanadoo thingy with the service provided through France telecom. The signal is perfect, but everytime I try to connect I get the limited/no connectivity message. A physical address, IP address, subnet mask value are all assigned, but it gets held up at the default gateway. I don't know what a default gateway is. Our mac laptop is at the shop so I can't tell if the wireless network is working period. I don't know anything about networking, and all the manuals are in a foreign language. Please help!

Secure WiFi from 1 miles away?

BrodieShadeTree — Thu, 24 Jun 2004 14:02:53 -0800

Wifi networking question. My brother lives 1 mile away, nearly direct line of sight as I am up on a hill. I can get DSL, but his house cannot. Is there a cheap-ish way to get hi-speed into my house and create a secure wifi network to span to his house as well? (MI)