Problems connecting to Virgin Broadband

My friend shares her flat for economic reasons. Flatmates come and go.
Due to these personnel changes, the original Telewest, now Virgin,
cable TV and broadband equipment has been shunted from one room to
another. At this stage, cable TV not working and single PC cannot
access Internet via LAN cable to Surfboard 5101 modem.

All the modem lights are green and steady except the "PC activity"
one, which is orange and flickering constantly.
During each attempt to connect, Windows Network Connections shows an
initial "Connected" message which then soon falls back to "Limited
Connectivity..." Windows Firewall is off.

The ipconfig command doesn't show the:

"Connection-specific DNS suffix . : surfboard.com"

as manual suggests but is blank.

Any advice on where to begin please?
Would it be better to circumvent the individual troubleshooting
processess and get Virgin to come in and sort the TV and cabling out?
Is their customer entitled to have a Virgin engineer attend to this
without incurring significant cost?
--
Regards,
Dick Treen

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:9b9816fb-c466-44b8-932c-(E-Mail Removed)...
> My friend shares her flat for economic reasons. Flatmates come and go.
> Due to these personnel changes, the original Telewest, now Virgin,
> cable TV and broadband equipment has been shunted from one room to
> another. At this stage, cable TV not working and single PC cannot
> access Internet via LAN cable to Surfboard 5101 modem.
>
> All the modem lights are green and steady except the "PC activity"
> one, which is orange and flickering constantly.
> During each attempt to connect, Windows Network Connections shows an
> initial "Connected" message which then soon falls back to "Limited
> Connectivity..." Windows Firewall is off.
>
> The ipconfig command doesn't show the:
>
> "Connection-specific DNS suffix . : surfboard.com"
>
> as manual suggests but is blank.
>
> Any advice on where to begin please?
> Would it be better to circumvent the individual troubleshooting
> processess and get Virgin to come in and sort the TV and cabling out?
> Is their customer entitled to have a Virgin engineer attend to this
> without incurring significant cost?

The output from ipconfig /all should show at least two main sections:

1) Windows IP Configuration

- followed by several lines showing details of Host Name, Primary Dns
Suffix, Node Type, IP Routing Enabled, WINS Proxy enabled.

2) Ethernet adapters Local Area Connection

- followed by many lines, starting Connection-specific DNS suffix, including
IP address & mask details, and ending with the DHCP lease expiry time.

Since you say this section does not exist, then the Ethernet adapter does
not exist. In Control Panel | Network Connections, what are the properties
of the Local Area Connection? Is it clear that the interface is Enabled?

It may mean that the ethernet adapter is not connected to the Surfboard
modem. Is there normally a section for the Network Interface Card in
addition to a section for the Surfboard modem? Can you show us the full
output from ipconfig /all ??

If you disconnect the Surfboard modem from the cable connection (WAN)
leaving it connected to the PC via the LAN cable, and power off/on the
modem, what then does ipconfig /all report? I would expect the PC to be
able to communicate with the modem and the network parameters to show a
private IP address. Then if you connect the WAN cable to the modem, the LAN
connection should renegotiate as the modem becomes a bridge to the Virgin
network. There may be some black magic as to the order in which you do
this - it may be necessary to connect the WAN cable before connecting hte
LAN cable, for example.

--
Graham J

"(E-Mail Removed)" wrote:

> My friend shares her flat for economic reasons. Flatmates come and go.
> Due to these personnel changes, the original Telewest, now Virgin,
> cable TV and broadband equipment has been shunted from one room to
> another. At this stage, cable TV not working and single PC cannot
> access Internet via LAN cable to Surfboard 5101 modem.
>
> All the modem lights are green and steady except the "PC activity"
> one, which is orange and flickering constantly.
> During each attempt to connect, Windows Network Connections shows an
> initial "Connected" message which then soon falls back to "Limited
> Connectivity..." Windows Firewall is off.
>
> The ipconfig command doesn't show the:
>
> "Connection-specific DNS suffix . : surfboard.com"
>
> as manual suggests but is blank.
>
> Any advice on where to begin please?
> Would it be better to circumvent the individual troubleshooting
> processess and get Virgin to come in and sort the TV and cabling out?
> Is their customer entitled to have a Virgin engineer attend to this
> without incurring significant cost?

Well, they're certainly entitled to have the cable TV working at no cost.
and fixing that will most likely fix the broadband !

Graham

On 4 Jul, 10:15, "Graham J" <gra...@nospam.zen.co.uk> wrote:
> <treenoa...@googlemail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:9b9816fb-c466-44b8-932c-(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>
>
> > My friend shares her flat for economic reasons. Flatmates come and go.
> > Due to these personnel changes, the original Telewest, now Virgin,
> > cable TV and broadband equipment has been shunted from one room to
> > another. At this stage, cable TV not working and single PC cannot
> > access Internet via LAN cable to Surfboard 5101 modem.
>
> > All the modem lights are green and steady except the "PC activity"
> > one, which is orange and flickering constantly.
> > During each attempt to connect, Windows Network Connections shows an
> > initial "Connected" message which then soon falls back to "Limited
> > Connectivity..." Windows Firewall is off.
>
> > The ipconfig command doesn't show the:
>
> > "Connection-specific DNS suffix . : surfboard.com"
>
> > as manual suggests but is blank.
>
> > Any advice on where to begin please?
> > Would it be better to circumvent the individual troubleshooting
> > processess and get Virgin to come in and sort the TV and cabling out?
> > Is their customer entitled to have a Virgin engineer attend to this
> > without incurring significant cost?


> The output from ipconfig /all should show at least two main sections:
>
> 1) Windows IP Configuration
>
> - followed by several lines showing details of Host Name, Primary Dns
> Suffix, Node Type, IP Routing Enabled, WINS Proxy enabled.
>
> 2) Ethernet adapters Local Area Connection
>
> - followed by many lines, starting Connection-specific DNS suffix, including
> IP address & mask details, and ending with the DHCP lease expiry time.
>
> Since you say this section does not exist, then the Ethernet adapter does
> not exist. In Control Panel | Network Connections, what are the properties
> of the Local Area Connection? Is it clear that the interface is Enabled?

I'm not at that location just now so I can't check the details you
mention yet but I will as soon as I can.

The Ethernet adapter worked ok when I took the laptop home and
connected it via my router to the Plusnet service.
It also seems to be installed correctly when trying to access Virgin
net from the flat, except that it indicates limited connectivity.

I've used the basic 'ipconfig' command only so far, as advised in the
modem manual.
The manual states that if the "Connection-specific DNS suffix " shows
this:

"Connection-specific DNS suffix: <nowt>"

instead of this:

"Connection-specific DNS suffix . : surfboard.com"

then there is a connection problem.


I like trying to solve problems and it all provides a good learning
experience but I'm currentlymost interested in how easy it would be
to get the Virgin Engineer to come in person and verify the state of
the cable conection in the flat. I believe the cable has already been
checked by the Virgin technical department by remote mean and
pronounced "OK". But I think they could be wrong about this.


> It may mean that the ethernet adapter is not connected to the Surfboard
> modem. Is there normally a section for the Network Interface Card in
> addition to a section for the Surfboard modem? Can you show us the full
> output from ipconfig /all ??

I will when I can

> If you disconnect the Surfboard modem from the cable connection (WAN)
> leaving it connected to the PC via the LAN cable, and power off/on the
> modem, what then does ipconfig /all report? I would expect the PC to be
> able to communicate with the modem and the network parameters to show a
> private IP address. Then if you connect the WAN cable to the modem, the LAN
> connection should renegotiate as the modem becomes a bridge to the Virgin
> network. There may be some black magic as to the order in which you do
> this - it may be necessary to connect the WAN cable before connecting hte
> LAN cable, for example.

> Graham J
I'll give those procedures a try. Thanks very much.
--
Regards,
Dick Treen

On 4 Jul, 10:30, Eeyore <rabbitsfriendsandrelati...@hotmail.com>
wrote:
> "treenoa...@googlemail.com" wrote:
> > My friend shares her flat for economic reasons. Flatmates come and go.
> > Due to these personnel changes, the original Telewest, now Virgin,
> > cable TV and broadband equipment has been shunted from one room to
> > another. At this stage, cable TV not working and single PC cannot
> > access Internet via LAN cable to Surfboard 5101 modem.
>
> > All the modem lights are green and steady except the "PC activity"
> > one, which is orange and flickering constantly.
> > During each attempt to connect, Windows Network Connections shows an
> > initial "Connected" message which then soon falls back to "Limited
> > Connectivity..." Windows Firewall is off.
>
> > The ipconfig command doesn't show the:
>
> > "Connection-specific DNS suffix . : surfboard.com"
>
> > as manual suggests but is blank.
>
> > Any advice on where to begin please?
> > Would it be better to circumvent the individual troubleshooting
> > processess and get Virgin to come in and sort the TV and cabling out?
> > Is their customer entitled to have a Virgin engineer attend to this
> > without incurring significant cost?
>
> Well, they're certainly entitled to have the cable TV working at no cost.
> and fixing that will most likely fix the broadband !
>
> Graham

That would be nice! You've quite cheered me up.:-)
--
Regards,
Dick Treen

> > > My friend shares her flat for economic reasons. Flatmates come and go.
> > > Due to these personnel changes, the original Telewest, now Virgin,
> > > cable TV and broadband equipment has been shunted from one room to
> > > another. At this stage, cable TV not working and single PC cannot
> > > access Internet via LAN cable to Surfboard 5101 modem.

If it has been shunted from one room to another, shunt it around again
until you find the room in which it (TV for starters) works.
Who is paying Virgin?
If they are not getting any money, or a DD has been cancelled,
they could have turned it off. In which case it won't work in any
room.
Once you know who is paying for the service, then that is the person
who has the contract with Virgin, and who needs to ask what
the status of the service is.
Their customer service may be able to do some basic diagnostics
from their end, like finding whether there is a Scientific Atlanta (or
whatever) box on line at the customers end. As the box
provides BB and TV the BB side may have an IP address and
be pingable (if it is working, switched on, and connected) from
Virgins end. As it the way to the outside world (gateway) it
should have an IP address on the customers side, at least
on the RJ45 LAN network side, can't speak for the USB.
Virgin should at one time provided a setup disk and setup
(username/password) information. Their Welcome and getting
started pack.
You may need this for them to know who is their customer,
or maybe was their customer.
Then if their customer service is happy they know who you are,
that they are being paid, and having ascertained that something
looks fooked at your end, they may send their Mr Fixit around.
If you have the original Welcome pack you may find it has
some diagnostic interpretation of what the LED's are trying
to tell you.
There are diagnostic utilities that can sweep through
(ping) a range of addresses to see if there is an IP address
that the router responds to, but that's getting a bit
technical. Talk to Virgin first.

On 4 Jul, 15:48, ato_...@hotmail.com wrote:
> > > > My friend shares her flat for economic reasons. Flatmates come and go.
> > > > Due to these personnel changes, the original Telewest, now Virgin,
> > > > cable TV and broadband equipment has been shunted from one room to
> > > > another. At this stage, cable TV not working and single PC cannot
> > > > access Internet via LAN cable to Surfboard 5101 modem.
>
> If it has been shunted from one room to another, shunt it around again
> until you find the room in which it (TV for starters) works.
> Who is paying Virgin?
> If they are not getting any money, or a DD has been cancelled,
> they could have turned it off. In which case it won't work in any
> room.
> Once you know who is paying for the service, then that is the person
> who has the contract with Virgin, and who needs to ask what
> the status of the service is.
> Their customer service may be able to do some basic diagnostics
> from their end, like finding whether there is a Scientific Atlanta (or
> whatever) box on line at the customers end. As the box
> provides BB and TV the BB side may have an IP address and
> be pingable (if it is working, switched on, and connected) from
> Virgins end. As it the way to the outside world (gateway) it
> should have an IP address on the customers side, at least
> on the RJ45 LAN network side, can't speak for the USB.
> Virgin should at one time provided a setup disk and setup
> (username/password) information. Their Welcome and getting
> started pack.
> You may need this for them to know who is their customer,
> or maybe was their customer.
> Then if their customer service is happy they know who you are,
> that they are being paid, and having ascertained that something
> looks fooked at your end, they may send their Mr Fixit around.
> If you have the original Welcome pack you may find it has
> some diagnostic interpretation of what the LED's are trying
> to tell you.
> There are diagnostic utilities that can sweep through
> (ping) a range of addresses to see if there is an IP address
> that the router responds to, but that's getting a bit
> technical. Talk to Virgin first.

My friend is a fully paid up subscriber who has just changed the LAN
cable to the modem and connected to the cable service wall socket with
a metre long cable rather than the ones that snakes throughout the
flat. All to no avail I'm told. I asked her to do an "ipconfig /all"
as Graham J suggested and she's going to email me the results of this
from her phone.
--
Regards,
Dick Treen

> My friend is a fully paid up subscriber who has just changed the LAN
> cable to the modem and connected to the cable service wall socket

So your friend could talk to the Virgin box with the long LAN
(RJ45 each end) cable that snakes through the flat ???
But can't talk with a short 1m LAN (RJ45 each end) cable
to a socket on the wall ???
Do you know how the cable service socket on the wall is fed,
has it an RJ45 socket, or is it a coax socket ???
It may be that a through connector is missing somewhere
to pass the Virgin or the LAN Ethernet signal through to the
cable socket on the wall. Which applies depends on whether
the cable socket is RJ45 or coax.
You start with the setup that works, with the long LAN cable,
that snakes through the flat, this proves it can work,
and that the PC is configured ok.
From there it is a case of finding what the wiring setup is,
and whether things are correctly connected together.
From experience if the PC works, and talks, try not to
fiddle with its network settings, otherwise it may
end up misconfigured and stop talking. Then if the
wiring gets sorted you won't know because the PC
needs putting back to its working LAN settings.
I'm assuming that it is not something simple like
the LAN ethernet is not auto-sensing, so there
is a correct cable, which is either straight through, or
a crossover RJ45 LAN cable. Most, but not all,
connections auto-sense. Often there is an LED
built into the RJ45 jack, yellow or orange for crossed,
out for nowt at the other end, and green (or blue) for
correctly connected.

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> My friend shares her flat for economic reasons. Flatmates come and go.
> Due to these personnel changes, the original Telewest, now Virgin,
> cable TV and broadband equipment has been shunted from one room to
> another. At this stage, cable TV not working and single PC cannot
> access Internet via LAN cable to Surfboard 5101 modem.
>
> All the modem lights are green and steady except the "PC activity"
> one, which is orange and flickering constantly.

Cable or ADSL? What modem? is it also a router? Is it Wireless? Is it
the original TW/VM one ? What did VM's CS team say when you called them
to report the TV and BB fault? Who moved the cables and were they
competent?

> During each attempt to connect, Windows Network Connections shows an
> initial "Connected" message which then soon falls back to "Limited
> Connectivity..." Windows Firewall is off.

You're using wireles, correct? Try with a wired connection first. If
this fails then your cable or modem is toast.

> Any advice on where to begin please?

> Would it be better to circumvent the individual troubleshooting
> processess and get Virgin to come in and sort the TV and cabling out?

Absolutely.

> Is their customer entitled to have a Virgin engineer attend to this
> without incurring significant cost?

The service isn't working so as long as you dont admit you moved their
stuff (eg white boxes) without their permisison you sohuld be ok.

On 4 Jul, 21:36, ato_...@hotmail.com wrote:
> > My friend is a fully paid up subscriber who has just changed the LAN
> > cable to the modem and connected to the cable service wall socket
>
> So your friend could talk to the Virgin box with the long LAN
> (RJ45 each end) cable that snakes through the flat ???

Yes, a month or more ago this was possible. Not since, maybe due to
the reshuffle.

> But can't talk with a short 1m LAN (RJ45 each end) cable
> to a socket on the wall ???

No, not at present, The reason I suggested the short coax cable and
the repalcement RJ45 cable was because the previous setup no longer
worked.
This new alternative arrangement doesn't work either.

> Do you know how the cable service socket on the wall is fed,
> has it an RJ45 socket, or is it a coax socket ???

In the living room, just above the skirting is, if memory serves, a
plastic trapezoidal beige box. I'm not sure now whether it has
Telewest or BlueYonder written on it. It has a coax connection to the
lower edge. I was reasoning on the basis that this was the one and
only connection point from the cable company into the flat but I could
be wrong.

> It may be that a through connector is missing somewhere
> to pass the Virgin or the LAN Ethernet signal through to the
> cable socket on the wall. Which applies depends on whether
> the cable socket is RJ45 or coax.

This may well be, especially if you mean a connection on the company
side of the box.
To reduce the likelihood of it being a bad or missing connection on
the user side, I suggested swapping the original, long, trans-room
coax for the short version.
But it failed to improve the situation. Then again, as I'm currently
trying to help remotely, these sub-failures may be due to other
factors like modem reconnection and reset glitches. Possibilities of
these were referred to by Graham J earlier.

> You start with the setup that works, with the long LAN cable,
> that snakes through the flat, this proves it can work,
> and that the PC is configured ok.

Apologies if I gave the wrong impression here. The "long" cable is the
white coax coming from the cable company box.
it used to terminate (or branch) in another room but was re-routed to
it's current location. I don't know how well the Internet connection
worked before
the coax cable was moved but *something* in the chain doesn't work
now. Nor has it for a month. Before that, apparently, it was fine.

Where the PC (laptop) is concerned. I brought it home at one stage and
connected it to my Plusnet serviced Belkin router with a LAN cable. I
didn't check the ipconfig because it accessed the Internet easily.
Later, if my friend doesn't give up in despair and make some extreme
decisions, I'm going to take the laptop to my daughter's house and try
to access the internet via her Virgin Net serviced Belkin Router. It
might be worth mentioning for the craic, that the owner of this muddle
is seething with angst and frustration. I'm hoping not to catch it
myself. :-) Up to now AOK.

Meanwhile, in it's home setting the original hardware combo stubbornly
refuses to play. The laptop connected to the Surfboard 5101 Modem
consistently fails to display the required ipconfig generated line:
"Connection-specific DNS suffix . : surfboard.com"
and possibly other important IP config settings.

What may be very significant is that when powered up and connected to
the ISP's cable, the Surfboard modem front panel lights seem to show
full, error free operational status. That is the Power, Receive, Send
and On-line green lights are on and constant. The PC Activity light is
doing what it should and the Standby light is off. To me, this seems
to indicate that the connection to the ISP is fully functional.

> From there it is a case of finding what the wiring setup is,
> and whether things are correctly connected together.
> From experience if the PC works, and talks, try not to
> fiddle with its network settings, otherwise it may
> end up misconfigured and stop talking. Then if the
> wiring gets sorted you won't know because the PC
> needs putting back to its working LAN settings.

I see exactly what you mean here but the damage may already be done.
Then again, it may be possible to return to the functional settings if
they've become corrupted.
The problem of How would need looking into for sure.

> I'm assuming that it is not something simple like
> the LAN ethernet is not auto-sensing, so there
> is a correct cable, which is either straight through, or
> a crossover RJ45 LAN cable. Most, but not all,
> connections auto-sense.

I'll need to check this. The cable should be, and is, straight through
I believe but I'll do a retake.

Often there is an LED
> built into the RJ45 jack, yellow or orange for crossed,
> out for nowt at the other end, and green (or blue) for
> correctly connected.

Ever hopeful, I'll look for the light.
Thanks for the greatly detailed help. These things often start out on
the basis of being a simple, easily remedied problem. Sometimes they
turn into a situation like this. I like putting the time and effort in
once I start but I wouldn't like to have to justiify it to my
keepers. :-)
--
Regards,
Dick Treen