Strange connection issues...
 

If this where easier to google I would have found my answer by now, but this is a strange problem to put into a short phrase:

So my PC (Running windows xp) connects to both the wifi and ethernet coming from my router (D-Link) supposedly, but can't seem to use it. The computer doesn't say it's having issues, it just won't actually use the internet it's supposedly receiving from the router. The same issue is happening to my PS3 strangely enough. So the obvious issue lies with the router... so I thought.

Upon further investigation, the router doesn't seem to think it has problems, and even after reseting it and the modem (this is cable internet, by the way) the issue won't resolve. Further investigation lead me to realize that connecting both the PC or the PS3 directly to the modem creates no issue... so what's the problem?

So there are two Mac users here in the house and although this is quickly becoming an ad for Apple products, both can connect with no problem via wifi or ethernet with the dlink before and after the resets.

So what gives, obviously there's a problem with the router since both the ps3 and my pc won't connect... but the Macs can? I'm not sure how to access the D-Link router options on a Mac, I know typing in the IP in a web browser will take me there but I only knew how to find the actual address by typing in "ipconfig" in msdos. I'm not sure how to do that on a Mac.

Any help? I feel like this is a simple problem that is eluding me.

Thanks in advance!

On your PC, go to the command prompt (msdos thing) and type "ipconfig /all" in the setup where you are connected to the dlink router.
Print Screen that shit, or copy it into [code] tags for us to see.

Also, don't have both the ethernet and wireless enabled and connected to your router.

Ah, I should have clarified: I tried using both but not simultaneously. If I'm using ethernet I always disable my wifi connection. I will take a screen of that when I get home, thanks!

Additional Spam:


Clearly I have no idea what this means!

Somewhere, somehow I will figure this out. I've tried updating and downgrading the firmware on the router. I've relentlessly searched the config page for it while being confused about what each thing does... and google provides no results. How would you phrase this problem?

Okay, sorry I haven't gotten back to you on this.

Can you ping google from behind the router?
(ping www.google.com)

If not, can you ping 209.85.225.99?

Also, what are the specific models of your modem and router?

I can't ping at the moment but this is the router: D-Link DIR-615

And by modem I presume the actual source of the internet: Scientific Atlanta DPC2100 Series Modem (provided by Comcast)

I'll get back with ping results... in a couple hours.

Additional Spam:
Hmm, no bueno.

I tried posting this on the official D-Link DIR-615 forum with no response in over a week. It seems like this is a quick solve by buying a new router, that's the only solution I can drum up. =/

Can you access the wireless router from your other computers in the same location as your PC that's having the problems? Maybe there's some sort of interference problem preventing it from communicating properly. It might be worth a few minutes trying to fiddle with the Channel # your network is running over.

Other things I can think of is turning off all firewalls/security features on Windows and your router and seeing if that lets you connect.

Also, can you ping the Macs with your PC when using wireless, or vice versa?

And, if you don't know how to connect in to the router (which I'd recommend trying to do from your PC), it's usually either the IP address 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1. You can generally find the default password online if you look around a little bit (common defaults are blank/blank, admin/blank, admin/admin, admin/password, admin/1234, etc).

Have you looked for any sort of updates for your wireless card?

Finally, and I know this shouldn't effect anything, but is it a Wireless N router that, for some reason, isn't properly backwards compatible with B/G?

I'm not sure what you mean exactly, Racin, with your first paragraph. Channel number? It sounds like that might be the problem because I can access the router with the two macs in the house.

The thing about the PC and PS3 is that it isn't just wireless I'm having trouble with, but wired as well. Neither work through the router, which has lead me to believe that this isn't a problem with my computer, since I can connect with everything or anyone else's connections elsewhere.

I am familiar with accessing my router which I've been doing. I haven't been messing around too much with it with the exception of installing new firmware for it as well as restoring the factory defaults.

I don't quite understand your last statement.

Channel number is the frequency at which the router works. So, like, say you have a wireless phone right next your desktop or PS3 that could cause interference since many wireless phones and home networks run on the same frequency. I know in one of my old apartments I'd lose wireless whenever my neighbor or I would use a microwave.

If you can't connect to the internet through the router even when you're plugged in, then there's probably something crazy weird with the router and the only suggestion I could try is bring it to a friend's house and see if their PCs will work with it.

Wireless N is a different protocol for wireless internet in the same way that 802.11b and 802.11g are different. I think it operates on the same frequencies (someone else here probably knows for sure and can verify), so generally it's backwards compatible. For example, 802.11g is rated at 54Mb/sec while 802.11b is rated at something like 11Mb/sec. However, since they're broadcast on the same frequency the router can interact with both b and g devices. What I'm thinking is maybe the Macs are using B while the PCs are trying to use G and there's some sort of issue going on there (or insert N for any of the possible combinations). It might be worth seeing if your macs run on b, g, or n and comparing that to what your PC and PS3 are using.

Ok, well I asked you to ping google aside from that one ip address (and in retrospect that was actually a poor address to ask you to ping, my bad)
Please ping all of the following:

www.google.com
8.8.8.8
192.168.1.1

And just let us know if the pings get through, or whether they time out; no need to copy all the text.

Also, I find it highly unlikely that its a wireless protocol incompatibility issue. If the router were configured to accept n protocol exclusively while he is using g, he will not obtain an IP address through DHCP from the router, as the ipconfig readout indicates he has.

Furthermore, ignore everything about channel number and wireless. It is apparent that the problem does not lie in the physical layer.

Finally, did this router ever work for you?

This router worked just fine for the two years or so that I've owned it. I've never had a problem with getting a connection or configuring it through my browser. It just stopped working on my PC and PS3 suddenly about 2 or 3 weeks ago.

As far as pinging goes, all three timed out. Command Prompt couldn't find Google or Google. Forgive my computer naivete.

DLink firmwares/board apparantly have two reset modes: A soft reset which is issued when you just push the reset switch and a hard reset where you have to do some more stuff (like unplug, replug, etc.).

Google for it ("dlink hard reset"), the instructions may vary from model to model. It's worth a try - but keep in mind that this kills all your settings.

Well, I had already done that, as well as updated the firmware to the most recent: no results.

I even gave up on the D-Link router and bought a Belkin something-or-other and guess what: same. exact. problem.

So I called Comcast, of course everything is fine on their side, plus I can get connected to my internet if I bypass the routers entirely on both my PC and PS3. That and when I explained my problem they had no idea what-so-ever what I could do.

Considering I can connect to anything else on both my PS3 and PC and the routers work just fine for both Macs in the house I'm getting the feeling I need to get a different internet provider. This is far from ridiculous, this is plain old fashioned frustrating. I cannot connect to my own internet, which I pay for, without inconveniencing everyone else in the house.

Argh.

This looks like a problem with the routing tables to me.

EDIT: Did you already try to ping the PS3 from your desktop system when both are connected to the router?

I would first make sure that the switching circuit of the router works, so that you have at least an internal network. If that works you can do some checks why the internal network isn't bridged to the external (the internet) one.

Whenever I was using my D-Link DIR-615 router, I would constantly have issues with IP address conflicts. It did not matter what I set the lease time to. I attempted to reserve IP addresses through the router, but the results would not save correctly. Whenever I would reset the router, I would turn on each system one by one to avoid having another IP address conflict. Have you taken a look at the IP addresses assigned to all the systems in your network? I am assuming that all systems are on when you reset the router and are set to obtain IP addresses automatically.

I'm not sure exactly how to do any of these things you have suggested. How to ping ps3?

Everything is obtaining their IPs automatically and everything is on while the many, many resets have occurred.

I think what he's saying to try is turning all of your devices that use the router off. Then turn them on one by one. So do a factory reset or firmware upgrade or whatever with EVERYTHING off, then just turn on your PC. See if it works then.

Why so complicated? For starters just disable DHCP and assign static IPs to all network clients. It's just 2 systems so no big problem.

Do some pinging test and afterwards start enabling all the bling-bling settings... ;)

Hoping and praying after many, many hours of trying to solve this issue hasn't worked. Two months out and I still have the same problem. I bought a brand new router, from a different company and I'm still having the exact same problem.

I've called Comcast on many occasions to only find out they can't help me because the routers are from a different company, and nothing can be wrong on their end, of course.

I cannot, for the life of me, figure this out. Nobody on this great internet we share knows what my problem is and my own internet provider has left me in the cold. What to do? Cry, cry myself all the way to the bank for internet I can't even use.

All I need to know: is this a router problem or a Comcast problem? That's all I need.

You can answer this question yourself: You state that directly connecting a client to the modem (and not through the router) is working, so the problem should be with the router or the clients itself.

What does the local routing table on your PC look like? (type route print in a command prompt)