Can someone save my piece-of-shit computer from an untimely death at my hands by solving a broadband service-related question, please?

xpost

(They asked that the first time I rang up and OPENLY SIGHED when I couldn't say)

xpost

ken - I'm not at home right now. tell me what it should have listed and I can check tonight.

does the modem come with a diagnosis program on the computer (check your start menu)? that might be helpful

what is a telephone jack?

(xposts)

William - there are a couple of BT broadband packages you can choose from, I chose the one with the router which appears to do much the same job, it also has the three green lights.

caitlin - it can be either, I use the ethernet cable as the USB wire is too short.

A telephone jack is something that looks like this:

http://ts.smoothcorp.com/cornerhardware/151155.400x402.jpeg

[ computer ] ******** [router] --------------------[ telephone ]

where
**** = ethernet wire
---- = telephone wire

?

ken - it goes [router]---------[microfilter]--[telephone] but otherwise yes.

I'll try with the USB thing though I don't think it's physically possible, it's just not long enough.

Get to your 'Network Connections' window (dunno what version you're running, but you should be able to get at it through the Control Panel). Right click on the connection labeled 'Local Area Connection' and choose Properties. Now highlight the line (just click once) that says 'Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)' and click the Properties button. Make sure that the options 'Obtain an IP address automatically' and 'Obtain DNS Server address automatically' are selected. Hit 'OK' to close that window, 'OK' to close the next window, and close any remaining windows. Maybe reboot the computer for good measure. You are now DHCP enabled!

thanks teeny! That sounds ace. I will report back tomorrow.

dhcp configured means 'computer will get it's ip address from the server it connects to' (the d is for dynamic). so it WON'T work if you have an ip address configured.

um, i'm on win2000 here but it might be similar:

start menu -> settings -> control panel -> network settings ->
local area connections -> properties -> internet protocol TCP/IP

and make sure the 'obtain an ip address automatically' box is checked (which should grey everything else out). try that.

argh xpost teeny 8)

Is it cable? You may just have to move. Since I've had a cable modem, I've had endless struggles with service outages at all hours of the day and night. It's not really the cable company's fault, or so they say. They can't really fix it at any rate. It's the cable itself, usually in the wall, and always difficult to replace. Most old buildings with cable running into them have had that same cable since the 80's, and it works great for TV, but is not built to carry a broadband signal. Naturally, the cable company is happy to let you live with it rather than replace thousands of miles of old cable all over the country.

bah entirely pointless now x-post, but i'm posting it for the double entendre anyway...

ipconfig /all

into a command window and that'll show you whether dhcp is enabled

see if you can get to their website, too (e.g. http://www.blueyonder.co.uk if you're with telewest-blueyonder etc.).

xp: yeah that's what I'm thinking Keenan, I've been mentioning my problems to the landlord and they said something about 'well the internet people said if someone had a virus it could bring down the whole building because they're using the network too much.' WHAT? Arrgh.

Definitely a shared connection. The 2000 equivalent of a party line. If they had a virus and were eating up bandwidth by launching ddos attacks or something, then yeah, that would hurt your connection. It's even more likely, though, that someone is downloading a big file, or something totally normal that requires lots of bandwidth. "Virus" is a cheap, lazy, blame-the-customer tactic.

So yeah, you were right the first time. Sounds like you'll have to get another commection.

That's the exact opposite of what I've found. Ethernet is partly better because, once you've found out the router's IP address, you can usually configure it through a web interface. Generally speaking, of all the broadband routers I've come across, the ones with ethernet interfaces have been more reliable.

(the default Ethernet-side IP address of the thing should be in the documentation somewhere. If not, then when your machine is switched over to DHCP then it should be listed as the Default Gateway (try "route print" from a command prompt)

http://helpdesk.fsu.edu/internet/ethernet/win98dhcp.cfm

I hope I won't need a new computer, because I can't afford one.

In the Network dialogue there should be an entry that says "TCP/IP->(your ethernet card)". If there isn't, you need to go to your ethernet card's properties, select "Bindings" and tick the "TCP/IP" box. Then, to enable DHCP on the ethernet connection, go to the "TCP/IP->(ethernet card)" properties, select "IP address", and select "Obtain an IP address automatically".

(you don't even need to use the BT-supplied router - just about any ADSL router will do)

I'm still not 100% sure whether BT uses DSL or cable. If it uses DSL:

1) you need to plug the modem directly into the phone jack on your wall. Don't plug the filter between the router and the wall, plug it between the telephone and the wall.

2) If it's DSL, you may need a client on your PC to connect to your DSL connection, because DSL uses PPPoE instead of a straight network connection.

3) If you have an actual ROUTER though, that's probably done from the router.

4) You mention having installed something on your PC...did it include information about your username and password for your new connection? If not, you'll have to figure out if you enter that into a client on the computer (something with an imaginative name like "connection manager" or somesuch) or directly on the router itself. It may be that you have to surf to your router instead, and enter the setup data THERE.

5) If you're plugged into your router, and everything is on, go to your start menu and click "run". Type "command" and hit enter, then when the window opens, type "winipcfg" or "ipconfig" and hit enter. Look for the IP address it says your computer has. If it starts with 192.168.x.x then you have a connection to your router. If it starts with anything else, you probably DON'T have a connection even to the router.

6) If you DO have a connection to the router, it should tell you what your "gateway" is, often 192.168.0.1 or similar. Try tapping the number it gives you into an open web browser and see if it gives you a configuration page. Username admin, password generally admin (or blank).

7) If you CAN get into a configuration page by following these steps DO NOT CHANGE THINGS YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. Just change your username and password to match what BT has given you for login purposes.

Sorry if this seems overly basic.

What you describe sounds a lot like the man on the other end of the BT helpline ran through with me before hitting the block of this 'winsock' thing - we kept doing a lot of things in that command page, but it wouldn't ping (???).

Caitlin, thanks, I'll try that.

I am on the internet at home again! Hurrah!

It's still very odd being on the internet without thinking 'hmm, really should be working' or 'where is my boss?'

It's not working again. Last week it pretty much randomly stopped working while I was actually ON the internet. BT say it's a winsock error (again), but that they can't tell me how to fix it (!!) - neither can Microsoft, and I'd have to pay £50 anyway, and I can't get hold of my computer manufacturer.

It's not the same winsock error as last time - at least, the magic solution last time doesn't work this time because 'obtain an IP address automatically' is already ticked.

if it's any help, every time I try to get to a website the grey bar at the bottom of the IE page says 'downloading from res://C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEMS\SHDOCLC.DLL/dnserror.htm', which it is not meant to.

I'm saving this thread and assorted links to a floppy disk from this weirdo-infested internet café, and will try those solutions tonight... all help v welcome in the meantime.

What happens if you type in http://66.102.11.99/ as a website address? What about http://203.123.80.12/ ?

The odds of this thread being regularly bumped are sadly high.

(Thanks Caitlin for being willing to help out!)