Assorted network/connection/Internet issues

[DoYouKubuntu]

Re: Assorted network/connection/Internet issues

Since that night (3 days ago) when we had a thunderstorm, and my router suddenly went bonkers, ...

Which I think explains it all - the thunderstorm spiked your router and fried a component.

But what? Keep in mind that--after that happened--I had no problems uploading huge image files to my domains (via lftp), but couldn't upload to CafePress (which has to be via browser--they do not allow ftp access).

I'm not arguing with you [exactly] because, OBVIOUSLY, something happened and it happened after that storm. I mean the whole DHCP thing, IP addresses changing constantly, not being able to upload via browser, etc. Yet, on the surface, everything seemed to be fine--wired and wireless connections to the Internet, networking, etc. So I'm quite baffled.

[SteveRiley]

Re: Assorted network/connection/Internet issues

Consumer networking gear is utter crap. I burn through routers and switches with great regularity.

They all basically run software loaded from EEPROMs or other kinds of flash memory. If your thunderstorm somehow caused, say, a few bits to flip, the microcode is damaged in a way that would produce unpredictable results.

Here's an analogy I used in presentations. How many rivets are in the Golden Gate Bridge? (Answer.) If you selected two dozen at random and removed them, would the bridge spectacularly collapse into the San Francisco Bay? Of course not. We can predict how mechanical systems behave in the face of small local failures.

How many lines of code are in Debian 5.0? (Answer.) If you randomly commented two dozen lines and recompiled the code, can you predict how it would behave? Not a chance. It might run for days, weeks, even years -- or it might crash immediately.

I suspect that something damaged the firmware in your Asus router. I wish I would have thought of this before, but it's too late now. I'm wondering if reflashing the firmware, which you can probably download from Asus, would have fixed the problem.

[DoYouKubuntu]

Re: Assorted network/connection/Internet issues

Good analogies, Steve.

Yeah, it'd be interesting to see if reflashing the firmware would've solved the problems but, as you said, it's too late now. (Funny thing, too: I put the box out for the mail carrier to pick up today...and then, hours later, realized THERE'S NO MAIL DELIVERY TODAY--it's a holiday! So I brought it back in.)

[SteveRiley]

Re: Assorted network/connection/Internet issues

So I brought it back in.)

!!!

You must try reflashing! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?

[DoYouKubuntu]

Re: Assorted network/connection/Internet issues

So I brought it back in.)

!!!

You must try reflashing! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?

No. NO. A resounding NO!! I am NOT going to undo my masterpiece of padding, taping, printing the return label, taping it on just so, etc. :P

[SteveRiley]

Re: Assorted network/connection/Internet issues

*sniff*

[DoYouKubuntu]

Re: Assorted network/connection/Internet issues

*sniff*

[DoYouKubuntu]

Re: Assorted network/connection/Internet issues

A little update: I ordered a LinkSys WRT54GL (the newer version of my original router), and it arrived today. Five minutes after ripping open the box and plugging it in I was up and running. The first thing I did after connecting via wireless was upload two images to CafePress (combined, ~60MB), and they went flawlessly. All computers are now connected, both wired and wireless. I hadn't bothered updating this thread to say that my original LinkSys had conked out again, so for the last several days I was down to one computer, wired directly to the cable modem, with Internet access. But now they're all happily humming along.