No Service betweeen 11am and 11.30am today (sunday)

gyruss · Aug 16, 2009, 11:43:54

This one still dumbfounds me, its happened before, my connection is reliable for days/weeks, then all of a sudden the light at the top my router (Linksys WAG54GS) is RED rather than the usual green. Nothing can connect to the internet, rebooting the router doesn't work at all, checked the routers status page via a webbrowser it shows DSL link as being up with 8096 downstream shown, but on the page that shows the Interface, that is shown as down, no ip's configured for any of IDNET's servers/infrastructure.

As this has happened at random on multiple occasions, i am not suspecting local hardware (Router has latest firmware), nor cabling (ADSL Nation Master Socket & Twisted Pair throughout also) but more inclined to think there is a fault as yet unresolved, or an outage which never seems to ever be recorded at IDNET.

I reported a fault the other week similar, and all IDNET said was, upgrade the firmware on your router perhaps? Well i've tried 2 routers now and an upgraded firmware. While i get fairly good internet most of the time, its these random occasions that i get that puzzle me.

Rik · Aug 16, 2009, 11:58:37

Are you in the 01220 area?

gyruss · Aug 16, 2009, 12:14:33

Nah, 01244

Rik · Aug 16, 2009, 12:29:33

I wonder if that's a 'dependent' area? Drop support an email, they can check for you.

Simon · Aug 16, 2009, 12:32:29

Well, the 012 bit seems to keep popping up.

Rik · Aug 16, 2009, 12:34:54

Must be a computer person testing a PA system, everyone else does Testing 1..2..3..

Niall · Aug 16, 2009, 16:55:33

Quote from: gyruss on Aug 16, 2009, 12:14:33
Nah, 01244

Oo near me. *stalks*

john · Aug 16, 2009, 17:46:09

I could not connect or receive e-mail fro around 11:30pm last night until about 6:00 pm this morning. I don't know if any others experienced any problems but it did not appear to be my laptop or router that was the problem. I tried pinging various addresses but none were recognized. The diagnotics appeared to suggest a problem with DNS servers.

Glenn · Aug 16, 2009, 17:48:11

Was it not a church break

Gary · Aug 16, 2009, 17:48:53

Quote from: Rik on Aug 16, 2009, 12:34:54
Must be a computer person testing a PA system, everyone else does Testing 1..2..3..

I'm 0124* so maybe who knows, its all a bloody lottery it seems anyway

john · Aug 16, 2009, 17:49:08

No but BT may blame it on an Act Of God

Rik · Aug 16, 2009, 17:50:30

Quote from: john on Aug 16, 2009, 17:46:09
The diagnotics appeared to suggest a problem with DNS servers.

How do you pick up the servers, John, automatically or are they manually assigned?

john · Aug 16, 2009, 17:55:36

Quote from: Rik on Aug 16, 2009, 17:50:30
How do you pick up the servers, John, automatically or are they manually assigned?

I don't know Rik, when my browser could not access the internet it gave me the option of running a diagnostic and reported there may be an issue with the DNS server. All this networking stuff is a black art to me.

I could not access any web page, the e-mail reported pop3 problems (about which I've just read in a separate thread) and every address I tried to ping was not recognized. It did say that my laptop was connected wirelessly to my router okay though.

Rik · Aug 16, 2009, 17:59:56

Try setting up manual DNS on the computer(s). Right-click on the network connection, properties, scroll down to TCP/IP and ahain select properties. On the General tab, select use the following DNS... and enter the IDNet servers, but reverse the primary and secondary, ie us 212.69.40.3 as the primary and 212.69.36.3 as the secondary, see if that helps. It solved a DNS issue I was having.

john · Aug 17, 2009, 08:46:25

Thanks Rik, sorry for the delay in replying but I was not able to connect late yesterday evening and initially first thing this morning. I've now configured it to pick up the DNS servers maunually as you suggested and I'll see how it goes over the next 24 hours or so.

Rik · Aug 17, 2009, 08:47:22

Let us know if it works.

Gary · Aug 17, 2009, 09:00:07

Quote from: Rik on Aug 16, 2009, 17:59:56
Try setting up manual DNS on the computer(s). Right-click on the network connection, properties, scroll down to TCP/IP and ahain select properties. On the General tab, select use the following DNS... and enter the IDNet servers, but reverse the primary and secondary, ie us 212.69.40.3 as the primary and 212.69.36.3 as the secondary, see if that helps. It solved a DNS issue I was having.

why does that help, Rik?

Rik · Aug 17, 2009, 09:03:57

I don't know, Gary, but it did.

One of the servers is on the public side of the network, one on the internal side (as it was explained to me). The internal one is the primary, I believe, but when a router in front of it failed, it became unavailable, while the secondary, on the public side was OK. Switching the two just seemed to produce a more reliable service.

Gary · Aug 17, 2009, 09:09:58

Quote from: Rik on Aug 17, 2009, 09:03:57
I don't know, Gary, but it did. One of the servers is on the public side of the network, one on the internal side (as it was explained to me). The internal one is the primary, I believe, but when a router in front of it failed, it became unavailable, while the secondary, on the public side was OK. Switching the two just seemed to produce a more reliable service.

i'll remember that if I need it, cheers Rik.

john · Aug 17, 2009, 17:51:51

Configuring it to pick up the DNS servers manually does not appear to have resolved the problem as I was unable to access the internet or my e-mails earlier this afternoon.

If Idnet are not having probles with their servers then I don't know what the problem is unless there is either a problem with BT's equipment or it's my router that's only connecting intermittently.

When it happens I've tried another laptop and sometimes it's the same on that and at other times it's okay. Possibly whatever is causing it is so intermittent that it can be working or not working from one minute to the next.

Rik · Aug 17, 2009, 17:53:46

Is it just wireless connections that are problematical, John?

john · Aug 17, 2009, 18:32:28

I only connect to the internet wirelessly Rik, it reports it wirelessly connects to my router ok.

Rik · Aug 17, 2009, 18:34:10

Try changing the channel in the router (you'll need a cable for this) to 1, 6 or 11, see if that helps.

Lance · Aug 17, 2009, 22:38:38

Actually, it's unlikely that you will need a cable. Normally, at worst, the wireless drops and reconnects but often it just automatically switches channels.

john · Aug 17, 2009, 23:34:00

Thanks Rik and Lance, I was able to change the channel number from 11 to 1 in the router set-up but it does say in the notes :

QuoteThis field determines which operating frequency will be used. It should not be necessary to change the wireless channel unless you notice interference problems with another nearby access point.

I don't think I'm getting interference problems but I'll see if there is any improvement with a different channel number.