Why won't router respond?

I've been slaving on this one for weeks and just haven't been able to
solve it. If anyone can shed light on any of the following, I would be
most grateful.

We want two computers to be able to access our broadband connection at
the same time.
On the laptop we need to use the wireless connection
The desktop computer has no wireless connection but an ethernet cable
connection.

We have succeeded in connecting wirelessly to the internet with the
laptop via the router, i.e. the router is on, the laptop is on, and the
laptop communicates with the router wirelessly.

What we have not been able to do is get the desktop to connect with the
internet or even to read the router's setup pages. We have wondered if
the desktop's ethernet socket/card is the problem. However, if I go to
Control Panel > Device Manager > Hardware then I see that I have a
"Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC" and that it is indicated
that "This device is working properly" and enabled.

We have wondered if this "This device is working properly" is in fact
untrue. We thought we could test this by switching off the router,
unplugging from it, putting it aside, and then linking the laptop and
the desktop by a cable between their ethernet sockets. We believed that
once we then rebooted both computers (they both run XP), both of them
ought to detect the other computer as "new hardware". This however
didn't happen on either computer, even when we manually forced both
computers to "Detect New Hardware". So does this mean that the
ethernet socket or card on the desktop is not operating, in spite of the
desktop's XP indicating "This device is working properly"?

We are using a 2Wire Router. I have typed into my browser's address
bar dozens of times the IP address for the router's setup pages but have
never had a page load. The same pages however can be accessed
wirelessly by the laptop!

Before buying this 2Wire Router we were assured that it can be used
simultaneously by one wirelessly-connected computer and one
ethernet-connected computer.

Any helpful suggestions or reflections gratefully received!

Eddy (completely at my wit's end!).

In article <rFZpj.2676$(E-Mail Removed)>, Eddy says...
> I've been slaving on this one for weeks and just haven't been able to
> solve it. If anyone can shed light on any of the following, I would be
> most grateful.
>
> We want two computers to be able to access our broadband connection at
> the same time.
> On the laptop we need to use the wireless connection
> The desktop computer has no wireless connection but an ethernet cable
> connection.
>
> We have succeeded in connecting wirelessly to the internet with the
> laptop via the router, i.e. the router is on, the laptop is on, and the
> laptop communicates with the router wirelessly.
>
> What we have not been able to do is get the desktop to connect with the
> internet or even to read the router's setup pages. We have wondered if
> the desktop's ethernet socket/card is the problem. However, if I go to
> Control Panel > Device Manager > Hardware then I see that I have a
> "Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC" and that it is indicated
> that "This device is working properly" and enabled.
>
> We have wondered if this "This device is working properly" is in fact
> untrue. We thought we could test this by switching off the router,
> unplugging from it, putting it aside, and then linking the laptop and
> the desktop by a cable between their ethernet sockets. We believed that
> once we then rebooted both computers (they both run XP), both of them
> ought to detect the other computer as "new hardware". This however
> didn't happen on either computer, even when we manually forced both
> computers to "Detect New Hardware". So does this mean that the
> ethernet socket or card on the desktop is not operating, in spite of the
> desktop's XP indicating "This device is working properly"?
>
> We are using a 2Wire Router. I have typed into my browser's address
> bar dozens of times the IP address for the router's setup pages but have
> never had a page load. The same pages however can be accessed
> wirelessly by the laptop!
>
> Before buying this 2Wire Router we were assured that it can be used
> simultaneously by one wirelessly-connected computer and one
> ethernet-connected computer.
>
> Any helpful suggestions or reflections gratefully received!
>
> Eddy (completely at my wit's end!).
>
>
One computer wouldn't detect the other as new hardware so forget that
idea.

Are you using a crossover cable? Take the cable linking the PC and the
router out and put the plugs side by side. Looking at the colours of
the wires, are they in the same order or is there a pair different?

Do the little lights on the socket of the network card and/or the
router flash? Is one yellow?



--
Conor

As a Brit I'd like to thank the Americans for their help in the war
against terror because if they'd not funded the IRA for 30 years, we
wouldn't know how to deal with terrorists.

Conor wrote:
> One computer wouldn't detect the other as new hardware so forget that
> idea.

OK, thanks, Conor.

> Are you using a crossover cable? Take the cable linking the PC and the
> router out and put the plugs side by side. Looking at the colours of
> the wires, are they in the same order or is there a pair different?

Have just put them side by side with their plastic clips uppermost, and
one is Left Red, Right Green, and the other is Left Green, Right Red.

> Do the little lights on the socket of the network card and/or the
> router flash? Is one yellow?

There is no light near the ethernet socket.

I'm not connected to the internet via the router right now of course but
during the many experiments the three lights (power, broadband, and
local network) have all been displaying one colour or another at
different times. Can't recall any flashing though. (I have the router
plugged in at the moment and obviously only the power light is showing -
and I can hear the router clicking every 15 seconds or so.)

Eddy.

On Tue, 05 Feb 2008 13:38:31 GMT, Eddy
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>I've been slaving on this one for weeks and just haven't been able to
>solve it. If anyone can shed light on any of the following, I would be
>most grateful.
>
>We want two computers to be able to access our broadband connection at
>the same time.
>On the laptop we need to use the wireless connection
>The desktop computer has no wireless connection but an ethernet cable
>connection.
>
>We have succeeded in connecting wirelessly to the internet with the
>laptop via the router, i.e. the router is on, the laptop is on, and the
>laptop communicates with the router wirelessly.
>
>What we have not been able to do is get the desktop to connect with the
>internet or even to read the router's setup pages. We have wondered if
>the desktop's ethernet socket/card is the problem. However, if I go to
>Control Panel > Device Manager > Hardware then I see that I have a
>"Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC" and that it is indicated
>that "This device is working properly" and enabled.
>
>We have wondered if this "This device is working properly" is in fact
>untrue. We thought we could test this by switching off the router,
>unplugging from it, putting it aside, and then linking the laptop and
>the desktop by a cable between their ethernet sockets. We believed that
>once we then rebooted both computers (they both run XP), both of them
>ought to detect the other computer as "new hardware". This however
>didn't happen on either computer, even when we manually forced both
>computers to "Detect New Hardware". So does this mean that the
>ethernet socket or card on the desktop is not operating, in spite of the
>desktop's XP indicating "This device is working properly"?
>
>We are using a 2Wire Router. I have typed into my browser's address
>bar dozens of times the IP address for the router's setup pages but have
>never had a page load. The same pages however can be accessed
>wirelessly by the laptop!
>
>Before buying this 2Wire Router we were assured that it can be used
>simultaneously by one wirelessly-connected computer and one
>ethernet-connected computer.
>
>Any helpful suggestions or reflections gratefully received!
>
>Eddy (completely at my wit's end!).
>
>
Dont know if the following helps.
Had similar problem. Found linux ubuntu live CD on desktop could
connect to my ISP but a new install of Windows couldn't even though
the wired ethernet showed connected.
My fault, forgot to install motherboard drivers which XP needed (
ubuntu found its own).

Eddy wrote:
> Conor wrote:
>> One computer wouldn't detect the other as new hardware so forget that
>> idea.
>
> OK, thanks, Conor.
>
>> Are you using a crossover cable? Take the cable linking the PC and the
>> router out and put the plugs side by side. Looking at the colours of
>> the wires, are they in the same order or is there a pair different?
>
> Have just put them side by side with their plastic clips uppermost, and
> one is Left Red, Right Green, and the other is Left Green, Right Red.
>
>> Do the little lights on the socket of the network card and/or the
>> router flash? Is one yellow?
>
> There is no light near the ethernet socket.
>
> I'm not connected to the internet via the router right now of course but
> during the many experiments the three lights (power, broadband, and
> local network) have all been displaying one colour or another at
> different times. Can't recall any flashing though. (I have the router
> plugged in at the moment and obviously only the power light is showing -
> and I can hear the router clicking every 15 seconds or so.)
>
> Eddy.
>

Are you saying there are only TWO wires in the connectors? If so, you
have a "modem" cable (almost always red and green wires in the centre of
the connector) with (probably) RJ11 connectors. An ethernet cable will
have 8 conductors usually orange+white/orange trace pair at one end and
brown+white/brown pair at the other, blue+white/blue in the middle,
either side of which are green and white/green. In a cross-over, the
orange pair and green pair change places (they are the ones used for
10/100, all 4 pairs for gigabit).

--
PeeGee

The reply address is a spam trap. All mail is reported as spam.
"Nothing should be able to load itself onto a computer without the
knowledge or consent of the computer user. Software should also be able
to be removed from a computer easily."
Peter Cullen, Microsoft Chief Privacy Strategist (Computing 18 Aug 05)

PeeGee wrote:
> Are you saying there are only TWO wires in the connectors? If so, you
> have a "modem" cable (almost always red and green wires in the centre of
> the connector) with (probably) RJ11 connectors. An ethernet cable will
> have 8 conductors usually orange+white/orange trace pair at one end and
> brown+white/brown pair at the other, blue+white/blue in the middle,
> either side of which are green and white/green. In a cross-over, the
> orange pair and green pair change places (they are the ones used for
> 10/100, all 4 pairs for gigabit).

Thanks, PeeGee. Yes, there are only 2 wires at each end, red/green and
green/red, and they're both side by side in the middle of the plugs,
i.e. there are vacant wire-slots on both sides of them.

What you are saying sounds like sense. I have been researching after
Conor's post, above, and a crossover cable (in the Wikipedia article)
says there are 8 conductors, all different colours.

So I have the wrong cable then?

Maybe this is all the problem is?!!!! ?

Eddy.

On 05/02/2008 in message <rFZpj.2676$(E-Mail Removed)> Eddy
wrote:

>What we have not been able to do is get the desktop to connect with the
>internet or even to read the router's setup pages.

What IP addresses are being used by the laptop and desktop? (run ipconfig
in a command window).

--
Jeff Gaines Damerham Hampshire UK
Tell me what you need, and I'll tell you how to get along without it.

In article <DF%pj.960$(E-Mail Removed)>, Eddy says...
> PeeGee wrote:
> > Are you saying there are only TWO wires in the connectors? If so, you
> > have a "modem" cable (almost always red and green wires in the centre of
> > the connector) with (probably) RJ11 connectors. An ethernet cable will
> > have 8 conductors usually orange+white/orange trace pair at one end and
> > brown+white/brown pair at the other, blue+white/blue in the middle,
> > either side of which are green and white/green. In a cross-over, the
> > orange pair and green pair change places (they are the ones used for
> > 10/100, all 4 pairs for gigabit).
>
> Thanks, PeeGee. Yes, there are only 2 wires at each end, red/green and
> green/red, and they're both side by side in the middle of the plugs,
> i.e. there are vacant wire-slots on both sides of them.
>
> What you are saying sounds like sense. I have been researching after
> Conor's post, above, and a crossover cable (in the Wikipedia article)
> says there are 8 conductors, all different colours.
>
> So I have the wrong cable then?
>
> Maybe this is all the problem is?!!!! ?

Looks like it.

--
Conor

As a Brit I'd like to thank the Americans for their help in the war
against terror because if they'd not funded the IRA for 30 years, we
wouldn't know how to deal with terrorists.

Conor wrote:
> > Thanks, PeeGee. Yes, there are only 2 wires at each end, red/green and
> > green/red, and they're both side by side in the middle of the plugs,
> > i.e. there are vacant wire-slots on both sides of them.
> >
> > What you are saying sounds like sense. I have been researching after
> > Conor's post, above, and a crossover cable (in the Wikipedia article)
> > says there are 8 conductors, all different colours.
> >
> > So I have the wrong cable then?
> >
> > Maybe this is all the problem is?!!!! ?
>
> Looks like it.

OK. Progress is being made. I have just connected up using an 8-wire
cable between the router and the ethernet socket on the desktop, but
still no joy.

The 8-wire cable heads when laid side by side show the wires to be in
the same order at both ends. And the cable has written on it:
"UTP Patch cord 26AWG 4P ISO/IEC 11801 and TIA/EIA 568 CATS".

Is this the wrong cable?

Eddy.

Jeff Gaines wrote:
> What IP addresses are being used by the laptop and desktop? (run ipconfig
> in a command window).

Thanks, Jeff. Do I run ipconfig while using my dial-up modem, i.e.
while connected as I am at the moment, to the internet, or when
connected to the router (and failing to connect to the internet)?

And do you think the problem is my cable. It's a "patch cable", same
order of 8 wires at both ends.

Eddy.