Internet connection failing for no reason.

This used to never happen, until about 10 - 15 days ago. I'm using a
dlink router, and have a cable modem. Sometimes when I come home, I can't
use my connection at all. Like, I'll do links www.google.com/linux, and
I'll get an error about no host. I then try other sites, like yahoo.com,
but get the same ridiculous errors. Then I try to ssh to the other box on
my LAN; I can't do it, it says that there's no such host.

The only way I can get my connection back is to hard reboot the whole LAN.
If I simply reboot, it starts up with no connectivity.

I'm worried about what might be causing this; I've been a linux-only user
for about three years now, and never saw anything like this.

Thanks for any help available.

naota

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On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 02:33:49 GMT, Naota <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> This used to never happen, until about 10 - 15 days ago. I'm using a
> dlink router, and have a cable modem. Sometimes when I come home, I can't
> use my connection at all. Like, I'll do links www.google.com/linux, and
> I'll get an error about no host. I then try other sites, like yahoo.com,
> but get the same ridiculous errors. Then I try to ssh to the other box on
> my LAN; I can't do it, it says that there's no such host.
>
> The only way I can get my connection back is to hard reboot the whole LAN.
> If I simply reboot, it starts up with no connectivity.

What does ifconfig show for your IP at that point?

To restore everything do you just have to power cycle the Dlink, or are
you rebooting PCs too? Which Dlink? Have you checked for firmware
updates? You might check the Dlink hardware forum at
http://www.broadbandreports.com/ to see if there are any particular
problems with your Dlink router and firmware version

--
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http://www.autox.chicago.il.us/ http://www.berniesfloral.net/
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On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 02:43:24 +0000, David Efflandt wrote:

> What does ifconfig show for your IP at that point?

When I do ifconfig at that point, everything looks as it does when the
connection is normal; although it's hard to compare normality to abnormal,
because I have the bad habbit of only looking at ifconfig when I'm having
the problem. This is what I see when I do ifconfig now, with a good
connection:
RX packets:533259 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:354979 errors:1 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:2
I think when I'm having the problem, every number above that isn't zero
is a zero. As for all of the addresses, they all look like internal
addresses.

> To restore everything do you just have to power cycle the Dlink, or are
> you rebooting PCs too?

I've never tried power cycling the router or the cable modem. Can that be
done without a reboot? If so, why would I all of a sudden have to power
cycle the modem and router once or twice a day for performance?

If I type reboot on both machines, they both, unlike in the past, boot up
without an internet connection. All of the computer stuff in my living
room (two computers, router and cable modem, printer, etc) are connected
to a "power center" with master on/off switch; I have to use that switch
for the LAN in order to boot into internet able boxes. Now that I think
of it, that's like power cycling, since the modem and router are plugged
in through the "power center."

> Which Dlink? Have you checked for firmware
> updates? You might check the Dlink hardware forum at
> http://www.broadbandreports.com/ to see if there are any particular
> problems with your Dlink router and firmware version

The dlink type is D[I1]-604. That's what I see on the front of my
router. I'm not sure if the that's an I or a 1, so I showed my
unknowingness in the ol' fashioned unix way.

I am not familiar with the term firmware; googling for it right now, I am.
From what I just read, it has something to do with upgrading my router
drivers, or something to that effect. I should do this, yes, but how
would that suddenly make my system behave this way?

Thanks, Dave.

Naota

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On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 02:43:24 +0000, David Efflandt wrote:

> To restore everything do you just have to power cycle the Dlink

Alright, about 30 minutes ago my internet connection failed, and I turned
off, as you suggested, the Dlink router for a minute or so. When I turned
it back on, my connection was back to it's beastly self.

Still don't know why this is suddenly happening.

Thanks for your good suggestion; sure as hell beats hard rebooting the
entire LAN.

Naota

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Naota wrote:
> On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 02:43:24 +0000, David Efflandt wrote:
>
>
>>To restore everything do you just have to power cycle the Dlink
>
>
> Alright, about 30 minutes ago my internet connection failed, and I turned
> off, as you suggested, the Dlink router for a minute or so. When I turned
> it back on, my connection was back to it's beastly self.
>
> Still don't know why this is suddenly happening.

The software in the Dlink router is probably buggy (broken), and this is
what's causing the router to fail. If you visit the following Dlink website

http://www.dlink.com/products/suppor...id=62#firmware

you'll find information regarding firmware (software) updates for
Dlink's "DI-604" product line.


--
Jim

To reply by email, remove "link" and change "now.here" to "yahoo"
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On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 15:17:49 -0600, Jim Fischer wrote:

> Naota wrote:
>> On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 02:43:24 +0000, David Efflandt wrote:
>>
>>
>>>To restore everything do you just have to power cycle the Dlink
>>
>>
>> Alright, about 30 minutes ago my internet connection failed, and I turned
>> off, as you suggested, the Dlink router for a minute or so. When I turned
>> it back on, my connection was back to it's beastly self.
>>
>> Still don't know why this is suddenly happening.
>
> The software in the Dlink router is probably buggy (broken), and this is
> what's causing the router to fail. If you visit the following Dlink website
>
> http://www.dlink.com/products/suppor...id=62#firmware
>
> you'll find information regarding firmware (software) updates for
> Dlink's "DI-604" product line.

You know what? this is all new to me. Thanks much for the link. A new
chapter in networking is opening. I don't know how, but when I first
bought the router and extra wires, I never installed firmware. It just
worked on it's on.

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Naota <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> Alright, about 30 minutes ago my internet connection failed, and I turned
> off, as you suggested, the Dlink router for a minute or so. When I turned
> it back on, my connection was back to it's beastly self.

When we first signed on with Mediacom cable Internet access, we had this same
problem. It lasted for a few months, and had something to do with Mediacom's
side of the connection. (We use an RCA modem.) So while the problem might be
modem related, software or otherwise, it might be a problem due to your
provider. Maybe email them and ask what's up.

David

On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 23:21:11 GMT, Naota <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 15:17:49 -0600, Jim Fischer wrote:
>
>> Naota wrote:
>>> On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 02:43:24 +0000, David Efflandt wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>To restore everything do you just have to power cycle the Dlink
>>>
>>>
>>> Alright, about 30 minutes ago my internet connection failed, and I turned
>>> off, as you suggested, the Dlink router for a minute or so. When I turned
>>> it back on, my connection was back to it's beastly self.
>>>
>>> Still don't know why this is suddenly happening.
>>
>> The software in the Dlink router is probably buggy (broken), and this is
>> what's causing the router to fail. If you visit the following Dlink website
>>
>> http://www.dlink.com/products/suppor...id=62#firmware
>>
>> you'll find information regarding firmware (software) updates for
>> Dlink's "DI-604" product line.
>
> You know what? this is all new to me. Thanks much for the link. A new
> chapter in networking is opening. I don't know how, but when I first
> bought the router and extra wires, I never installed firmware. It just
> worked on it's on.

Firmware is essentially software in flash memory. It comes with firmware,
but sometimes (more like often) bugs are discovered later or new features
may be added. A firmware update hopefully fixes bugs.

If you can get to the DI-604 configuration and check its logs when you
have your problem, that might reveal something, or at least a page may
show connection status. Maybe it is not properly renewing its IP with
your ISP.

--
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On Tue, 25 Nov 2003 04:44:52 +0000, David Efflandt wrote:

> Firmware is essentially software in flash memory. It comes with firmware,
> but sometimes (more like often) bugs are discovered later or new features
> may be added. A firmware update hopefully fixes bugs.
>
> If you can get to the DI-604 configuration and check its logs when you
> have your problem, that might reveal something, or at least a page may
> show connection status. Maybe it is not properly renewing its IP with
> your ISP.

Thanks. I've been doing some dlink reading, and learned much. Even
though I've not learned what caused my initial problem, I solved others
along the way. To configure DI-604 is as simple as http://gateway (that
is, if gateway points to something in your /etc/hosts). I then fixed my
long standing ssh problem. Now I can ssh into my LAN from school/work
again. I was able make it so that the strictest box allows ssh access and
isn't hidden from the interent.

With all the bells and whistles of the configurator, I'm sure I'll be able
to tackle my initial problem when it next rolls 'round.



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