Technology gurus, got a question for you...

[Vick]

When my wireless internet craps out, why can't I still connect to my router? I type in the standard 192.168.1.1 and then the username and password, but when the internet dies, it wont let me connect to the router... What does my connection to the router have to do with the internet being up or not?

 

[Saleem]

There are two links: from your PC to your router and from your router to the internet. Not being able to connect to your router implies a drop in the first part of that chain. While you're unable to connect to your router, can other PCs connect to your router and/or the internet?

 

[yraparla]

saleems right, the dual-connection complicates things. It's possible that your lack of connectivity to the router is the issue for the internet (unless you purposefully shut down your cable modem or w/e)

Can you access the router on a wire (192.168.1.1)? Can you access internet on a wire (http://)?
Is your wireless adapter up to date? Did you recently update the driver? Sometimes if more than one laptop is on the computer the router will use the base level channel (i.e. if any laptops connect on a, ALL must connect on a....order is a>b>g>n) so it's possible the router is broadcasting on a channel your laptop doesn't like

hope that helps, you may want to try just giving the router a hard reset

 

[Underground Gabroo]

most likely, you are in an area highly populated with wireless networks, and by default they all run on channel 6... so you're probably picking up interference... i had the same issue at my residence... i got a linksys router and reprogrammed it with ddwrt which lets me boost the antenna output... paired with 7db high gain antennas, i no longer have a problem...

 

[Manjot]

most likely, you are in an area highly populated with wireless networks, and by default they all run on channel 6... so you're probably picking up interference... i had the same issue at my residence... i got a linksys router and reprogrammed it with ddwrt which lets me boost the antenna output... paired with 7db high gain antennas, i no longer have a problem...

that made soo much sense
lol

 

[Underground Gabroo]

i'm almost certain that's what the problem is... just recently manufacturers started shipping their routers with different channels set to default, however chan 6 is almost always going to give the best performance if conditions are suitable...

ddwrt is an open source software platform that you can flash/hack not only onto linksys, but many other brand names as well... this software will completely replace the oem os and give you much more scalability... most routers also have antenna upgrades as well... i upgraded my antennas and i've been very stable ever since, whereas i would get consistent dropouts in certains areas of the house before the upgrades...

everyone and their mother has wifi nowadays, interference is normal given the circumstances... also, though i see most people have upgraded to either 5ghz of dect cordless phones in their homes, there are still people running 2.4 units, which will directly interfere with your wifi network...

 

[Saleem]

Re:Underground Gabroo
Basically all the different wireless devices can interfere with each other. Its rather simple in your existing router's firmware to change the Wireless Channel (check Advanced Wireless Settings).

DDWRT and Tomato are 2 open-source firmwares that can replace your router's firmware. They can do some crazy shit that the average user might be overwhelmed by the options/config.

 

[Underground Gabroo]

While your right about changing the wireless channel, you must also keep in mind that certain wireless frequencies will affect overall coverage area as well... In the OP's case, this may help... However, if he is in a populated area as I am, then many channels will already have traffic and he may need to look furthur to alleviate the problem...

 

[yraparla]

While your right about changing the wireless channel, you must also keep in mind that certain wireless frequencies will affect overall coverage area as well... In the OP's case, this may help... However, if he is in a populated area as I am, then many channels will already have traffic and he may need to look furthur to alleviate the problem...

hahahaha guys i'm sure it's a simple solution.

going back to his original question, why can't he connect to router when internet is out? VICK, there's a property for the wireless connection called something like 'connect even if not broadcasting'. It's one of three checkboxes when you go to the property of the specific wireless network.

If that isn't checked, then that may be your problem. Since the router isn't broadcasting the laptop isn't connecting. Atleast rule this out

 

[Underground Gabroo]

why can't he connect to his router when the internet is out? simple, this indicates that it may not be an issue with his internet provider, but his internal network... as i indicated, wireless frequency interference would cause enough havoc to where he cannot connect to the router's interface...

the "connect if even not broadcasting" is a security feature where you can disable ssid broadcasts so the "general public" won't know there is a wireless network present... the only way to connect to a wireless network when a ssid isn't being broadcasted is to manually enter the wifi network config, and tell your pc to "connect to the wifi network even if it is not broadcasting (the ssid)"

so i highly doubt it's an issue with his ssid not being broadcasted since it works just fine, it just cuts out randomly...

btw, vick, how do you fix it? reboot? refresh dhcp address? disable/re-enable wireless adaptor?

 

[terabaap]

has he tried doing a power refresh on the router? Usually works.

btw, I have a bricked wrt54g router because i tried installing ddwrt and messed up a step...
I haven't tried unbricking it yet.

 

[faysal]

lol reading this topic just confused the shit out of me

 

[Underground Gabroo]

i almost bricked my wap54g but was able to bring it back by using the stepa on the ddwrt website... give it a shot, its a much better os for wifi compared to the oem os...

 

[terabaap]

yeah i followed that. I think I thought i had a tftp server already installed on my pc and then messed it from there trying to install via tftp.

 

[DjDhol-E]

call up your service provider and swear at them for a bit and say how your gonna switch to another "BETTER" service provider and hopefully they will help you solve the problem (cus sometimes its an actual problem with the server and not the modem)

 

[Vick]

fck, I think i just learned more engineering in this thread than I did in 3 years at VT... This is what happens, internet craps out... my connection to the modem goes from 54.0 Mbps to 1.0Mbps... If I use a cat5 and connect to the modem even when the internet is down, I can gain access to the modem. Now this is where it gets a little crazy... If I take the cable wire coming into the modem out(the wire coming from comcast's cable modem), and then fire up the modem, I am able to connect to it. At this point there is no internet connectivity but I am still connected to the modem wirelessly.. But when the wire is plugged into the back of the linksys router and the internet dies, for some reason it won't let me connect to the router... I have to go downstairs and pull the power on the modem(i dont reset it because it changes all the security settings)... After a while the internet comes back up... I just hate going downstairs to reset the modem but I have no choice because it wont let me connect when the internet takes a shit....I'm not illiterate when it comes to computers, but this shit has dumbfounded me for a while... I havent done any firmware updates to the modem in a while, but I dont think I need to because most of the computers connecting to it are old(3+ years)...

 

[Underground Gabroo]

its definately interference... your wireless adaptor will automatically slow the connection rate in favor of gaining a more reliable connection... the slower the data rate, the more consistent of a connection you usually gain...

this was 100% the exact same problem at my residence... when far away from the access point, my connection rate would go lower and lower, to the point where it would no longer connect and communicate... if you buy a new router with higher quality antennas, then that should help... i have heard great things about linksys mimo routers...

also, comcast cable sucks... as soon as you power up the modem, and mac address that first established communication must be used until you power cycle the modem again... you cannot take the cable from the router and plug it into your laptop, as almost always the comcast modem will block this for security (bullshit) purposes...

this is why i am in love with att dsl =) pppoe with no mac filtering, camcast blocks too much shit...

 

[yraparla]

i have heard great things about linksys mimo routers...

also, comcast cable [internet] sucks...

fyi, MIMO = Multiple In Multiple Out, meaning you can use 802.11abg at the same time on the same router, which means that the router can adjust to each laptop, rather than just finding the lowest common denominator. It will probably help, but only really useful if you have multiple wireless connections, otherwise just buy a newer b/g router


edit: ya UG, that was for vick, just incase the router he may look at isn't explicity called mimo

 

[Underground Gabroo]

I knew what MIMO is and what it does/how it works... Thank you for the description though.... Regardless of their ability to send/receive data on several standards, they also yeild higher quality antenna's which typically will give you more range, and/or a more consistent signal whereas you wouldn't get one with a traditional old school router/wap combination...