LAN help (still) (Now with added experiments !!)

[Ivelliis]

So I buys a one of these.

Click for amazon's linkage.

And it has worked for months. Suddenly, like a few days back, I can just get limited connectivity. Tried switching cables, tried swapping the adapters about, tried using different plugs, different sockets, different extension leads...nada.

I don't suppose anyone has any idea why it's doing it just all of a sudden. I can't think of anything that we have new that could be affecting the network, or the electrics.

And all the reviews just say "Yeah great product no problems!" with only one suggesting I ring whassisname, Devolo, the company that makes them.

Maybe the dohickey, adapter is faulty. I'm gonna ring them tomorrow, perhaps Friday, depending on what time I get in from work.

Might have to resort to begging my dad to help me run a cable...he'll be happy !

So yeah, any help would be mucho appreciated guys !

[ 04-19-2007, 01:29 PM: Message edited by: Ivelliis ]

[Spirits Reborn]

okay, well if its just limited connectivity. Usually its an ip conflict.

Have you checked on the more details of the error?
because if it is an Ip conflict, you can just go onto each computer and manually give them different IP. that usually takes care of the Limited connectivity.

Another possibility is your firewall. Your firwall might've been upgraded/updated to include high security features? and that's limiting it.
It might be windows firewall (if you use XP) that's conflicting. usually the limited connectivity goes away if you turn it off (if this is the case).

let me know what the more details says.

And man! Seeing a sig that I made still stand makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside

[Hivetyrant]

What happens if you connect the same computers with the same cables without the power adapter? I know it's a pain in the ass to run the cables, but if you can eliminate the power thingy's from the problem we can get somewhere [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Ivelliis]

Hey Spirits...what can I say. I loved the sig ever since you showed me it, was totally how Ive looks in my mind [img]smile.gif[/img]

The conflicting IP address thing sounds right...it tells me the residential gateway is offline, whatever that is (not very technically-clued up).

*scrolls up, to see if he mentioned that before*

Nope...gateway is offline it says...

[Spirits Reborn]

Hmm.. Gateway is offline?

This may be redundant. But are you sure your ethernet is connected/ drivers installed et.c lol

Because that happened to me with my laptop.

And yeah if its conflicting Ip, you're better off just going and manually giving Ip for your comps.

To do this you'd go to my networks
find the network places,

then you go to View network connections,
find the connection that you're having problems with. Then right click that, and go to properties. And go to TCP/IP settings
and manually give an Ip. I don't know if it matters what subnet # you put, I usually put 255.255.255.0 but that's just me
but make sure both of them have the same subnet number but DIFFERENT Ip numbers.

this should settle the conflict.

[Ivelliis]

So I just give them any old random number IP, as long as they are different?

[Bungleau]

Not exactly. If you just change the last number in the grouping of four, you should be set. For example, from 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.0.131.

The only things you have to watch for...

1. Don't use someone else's IP (that's what got you here!)
2. If your firewall is set to allow access based on IP range, you may need to expand it.

[Spirits Reborn]

Exactly what Bungleau said

[Ivelliis]

And I do that on *both* computers?

So I do all that jazz, change the last number in the IP address to something else (keeping the subnet # the same) and then what?

[Bungleau]

Well, in truth there's a whole lot more that's dependent on how your LAN is set up....

IP addresses fall into one of two categories: dynamic and fixed. A fixed address always has the same address, and a dynamic one checks in with a special server whenever it needs one. Typically, that means when you turn it on.

That server, better known as a DHCP server, keeps track of the addresses and makes sure that no address is duplicated.

In my network, printers and servers have fixed IP addresses while computers have dynamic ones.

If your computer fails to get an address back from the DHCP server, it will take a default address of 169.254.something or other. If you see that, you're not getting a connection back from the DHCP server. I check the address by going to a command prompt and typing "ipconfig".

In my home network, my Linksys gateway/router serves as the DHCP server. If it's misbehaving, rebooting it can sometimes clean things up nicely.

So....

In your environment, if you've got a DHCP server already, you don't want to muck with that. You want to fix the problem with the DHCP server, and rebooting it is the best first step. Resetting it is a second step, but before doing that, you should make sure you know what settings were on there. It can be hard to recreate it from scratch...

Soooo..... again... what's your overall environment look like?

*edit* and after taking a look, your Devolo critter is just an ethernet card. It's not a self-contained DHCP server or anything like that, so the advice above about trying to string wire to your router/gateway makes sense. The problem appears to be either there or in your connection to there. Do other machines work in the network? Can you maintain the router (or modem, or whatever)? Are you suffering from geek overload yet?

[ 04-06-2007, 10:32 PM: Message edited by: Bungleau ]