[SOLVED] A myriad of problems

[DoYouKubuntu]

Hey there everybody! I have a bunch of seemingly coincidental problems and thought I'd post here to see if anyone can make sense of them.

1) My Internet connection kept going out. I have Earthlink over Time Warner's cables, so TW bills and services the account. I called TW the other day to tell them it was out...again...and the tech had me connect a laptop directly to the modem--which I had done previously, on my own, to no avail--and, voila!, I had a connection. She said my brand new router--which had worked fine for a week--must be the problem. We hung up. Five seconds later...no connection. (Still hardwired to the cable modem.) I called back. They scheduled an appointment. TW guy came this morning. Swapped new modem for old. Tested. Everything looked GREAT--as far as TW is concerned. Hardwiring anything *BUT* a router to the modem yielded a consistent Internet connection. Plugging in the router yields NOTHING. TW guy says my brand new router must be the problem. I grabbed the old router, and we swapped them. NOTHING. TW guy says BOTH routers must be bad. TW guy left because as far as they're concerned, it's fixed.

2) My big laptop, an HP dv7, had been fine with both wired and wireless connections until my Internet problem started. Then it became sporadic [wireless], so I had it hardwired to the router. Today, wireless works [as far as connecting to the router, but the router is not connected to the cable modem right now], but hardwiring it does NOT work. It says 'cable unplugged.' I tried three different cables, long, short, and in between, all with the same result. And I know all the cables work--including the one I now have plugged in to the laptop [Chromebook] I'm typing this on.

So I'm left wondering, is it all some big coincidence? Is my HP laptop dying? Or at least its networking card? (Its hard drive has been running hot lately.) Was the old cable modem bad, and that's why I did and then didn't have an Internet connection? Are TWO Linksys routers bad? Including a brand new one?

And, finally, if I buy a new HP laptop, am I going to have issues installing Kubuntu on it? You know, that stupid micro$oft thing where you have to jump through hoops to install the OS you want on your hard drive? As always, it'll be a 'wipe window$ off the drive, install Linux' situation.

[NickStone]

At first thought I would say that you have a problem with the phone line. Have you asked your telecoms company to run a test on the line to see if there are any errors on the line?
I would also check the connections from the router to the cable box to make sure the connections are not loose. You might want to wipe the connections with a clean cloth just to make sure the connections are not dirty.
But I still think you may have error or errors on the phone line so I think you should ask your telecoms company to run a test on the line.

[dibl]

In addition to NickStone's suggestion, I think you need to eliminate the possibility of problems with both new and old routers, before buying anything new. Maybe just reset them to factory default and find a friend that will let you test their functionality on a working cable modem. There's something odd going on when a computer connects via the ethernet port but a router won't.

[DoYouKubuntu]

Thanks for the input, Nick. However, there is no phone line involved--it's a cable connection, not DSL.

When TW guy was here I insisted that he go outside and check the cable for any issues--being loose, having tree branches interfering, etc. It was fine.

[NickStone]

Thanks for the input, Nick. However, there is no phone line involved--it's a cable connection, not DSL.

When TW guy was here I insisted that he go outside and check the cable for any issues--being loose, having tree branches interfering, etc. It was fine.

I would still contact your cable provider to carry out a test on the line (cable).

When connecting to the router via wi-fi (wireless) is there a connection from your pc (laptop), does network manager report a connection? If it does, then I would say there is an error on the cable.

[DoYouKubuntu]

I would still contact your cable provider to carry out a test on the line (cable).

TW guy did that when he was here, both from this end and from their end [talking to someone on the phone]. From their end they can see everything at my end--any laptop hardwired to the modem and my wireless router.

When connecting to the router via wi-fi (wireless) is there a connection from your pc (laptop), does network manager report a connection? If it does, then I would say there is an error on the cable.

Yes, it is connecting, but NOT to the Internet. And the cabling can't be bad because the cable modem works (via all testing), it works with a laptop hardwired to it, and it works when connected to other devices I have, such as ADT or DirecTV. The ONLY thing it's not working with is either router.

To summarize: Until a few days ago everything was fine. Wireless connections to my new router were fine. Then my Internet connection started getting flaky. Now, I have a brand-spanking-new cable modem that works with everything EXCEPT either old or new router. Either router, on its own, is picked up via wireless on my computers. But plugging it in to the modem yields NO Internet connection. It's not even necessary to actually test for an Internet connection [when putting a router back into the mix], because as soon as I move the Ethernet cable from the laptop to the router, the PC light goes out on the modem. IOW, cable plugged in to modem at one end, laptop at the other--works; unplug from laptop, plug into router, does not work--PC light goes out immediately on modem.

[NickStone]

Thanks for the additional information, the problem appears to be either with the router or the cable modem. Either the router has developed a fault which stops it from connecting to the cable modem or the "brand new" cable modem is faulty or is not compatible with the router.

[oshunluvr]

Sounds to me like the router. I assume you've used different cables during the testing? Any friends close by with a router or switch you can test with?

Normally, I would question your network connection and verify your network routes are correct, but if it worked for a week and then sudden started flaking, I doubt you changed a setting that caused this. Install any new network programs or utilities lately?

[DoYouKubuntu]

Sounds to me like the router.

BOTH routers?

I assume you've used different cables during the testing?

Yes--several. They all work when connecting any device [except a router] directly to the modem.

Any friends close by with a router or switch you can test with?

Unfortunately, no.

Normally, I would question your network connection and verify your network routes are correct, but if it worked for a week and then sudden started flaking, I doubt you changed a setting that caused this. Install any new network programs or utilities lately?

Nope. Absolutely nothing. Computers that I've practically forgotten about [because they're never used directly, and have had no changes in eons--can you say Kubuntu 9.04?] are all affected by this mysterious issue.

I acknowledge that the router(s) would appear to be the problem, except for the fact that the other day I had no Internet connection even when hardwired to the modem. I did, then didn't. Now, the new modem is consistently providing a connection, so it seems like there was a coincidence as far as the old modem being flaky AND some problem(s) with the router(s).

I've ordered a replacement for the new router, so when it comes we'll see if that solves that problem. However, my HP laptop's problem, not recognizing that an Ethernet cable is plugged in, has nothing to do with any of that.

Oh, I reset one of the routers back to its factory defaults...didn't help.

[oshunluvr]

Just to make sure we're on the same page: I doubt your HP laptop would detect the insertion of a cable itself. It should detect an incoming signal if one were provided. I assume that's what you meant.

I had a switch (basically a dumb router) that would freak out if I powered down my desktop. Turned out that since I had two connections from my PC to my switch (port aggregation) that when they were up, no problems. But for some reason, turning off the PC would lock up the entire network. I suspected the dual dead connections to the same mobo caused some sort of loop that the switch couldn't handle. I had to replace it anyway and the new switch (different brand and model and 6 years newer) doesn't exhibit the same behavior. Point being: networks are touchy and strange beasts.

[DoYouKubuntu]

Just to make sure we're on the same page: I doubt your HP laptop would detect the insertion of a cable itself. It should detect an incoming signal if one were provided. I assume that's what you meant.

Yes, yes, I just didn't draw a distinction. Normally, the millisecond that a cable is plugged in the computer reports its presence, so there's not a humanly perceptible difference. But now, as noted, the HP laptop's 'Network Management' [in my taskbar] says 'cable unplugged.' That same cable plugged in to the Chromebook I'm typing this on works fine; its 'Network Management' says 'connected.'

I had a switch (basically a dumb router) that would freak out if I powered down my desktop. Turned out that since I had two connections from my PC to my switch (port aggregation) that when they were up, no problems. But for some reason, turning off the PC would lock up the entire network. I suspected the dual dead connections to the same mobo caused some sort of loop that the switch couldn't handle. I had to replace it anyway and the new switch (different brand and model and 6 years newer) doesn't exhibit the same behavior. Point being: networks are touchy and strange beasts.

Interesting. And, yes, networks can be touchy. In my current situation, it's like a flood of seemingly coincidental issues, all of which make Internet connectivity a problem. Right now I'm down to one connected device at a time. Ugh.

[DoYouKubuntu]

The new router will be here today, so I'll be doing some major finger-crossing. Damn, I HOPE that solves at least one of the problems, i.e., no Internet connection for most of my devices. THEN I'll worry about the non-working hard-wired issue on the HP laptop...or not, if its wireless works again.

[dibl]

But now, as noted, the HP laptop's 'Network Management' [in my taskbar] says 'cable unplugged.' That same cable plugged in to the Chromebook I'm typing this on works fine; its 'Network Management' says 'connected.'

There is such a thing as a broken ethernet transceiver chip -- I'm the proud owner of one. A very nice Dell E6500, with a Broadcom wireless chip. Talk about a fun computer to install Linux on!

[DoYouKubuntu]

YIPPEE!!! I'm typing this on my real laptop, the HP with the great big wide screen!

I just got home from my doctor appointment, and the new router was waiting for me. Ripped it open, set it up, and I'm up and running.

So, from the "I guess we really do learn something new every day" files, I've learned that TWO routers can indeed be bad at the same time, including one that was brand new [and worked for a week].

Thanks for the input and everything. I appreciate it.

[oshunluvr]

Guessing again: The HP and your Chromebook have different NICs and the bad router didn't "like" the HP version. Glad it's solved.