Member Avatar for FC Jamison

I don't know if this is the place to ask...

Last night I was on my computer when the connection failed...limited or no connectivity.

After several hours of reconfiguring the router rebooting the PC, router, uninstalling and reinstalling the network card...still nothing.

If I connect directly to teh DSL modem...I can connect (obviously).

So I went out and bought a new router.

After installing my new NetGear MR814...I had internet connectivity...joy!

When I came back a few hours later...same problem...no DSL connectivity.


P.S. I can't even connect to the router anymore using the or (or anything else for that matter).


Anyone have a clue what the heck is going on here?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Xpenetrator

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A few practical notes and a compact checklist for anyone who sees "Windows XP stopped communicating with the router" symptoms similar to this thread. was right to push the simple physical checks; 's final outcome (faulty router) is a common real-world result — hardware can fail intermittently and look fine for a while. The troubleshooting below fills gaps for future readers.

Start by isolating layers in this order: confirm the PC can reach the modem, then confirm the PC can reach the router LAN address. On the PC run:

ipconfig /all
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
arp -a
route print

Look for the default gateway and for an APIPA address (169.254.x.x). APIPA or no gateway means DHCP failed; if DHCP fails, try assigning a static IP in the router's subnet and ping the router directly. “Destination host unreachable” usually means the host has no route to the gateway or the NIC link is down.

If Windows networking looks correct but you still can't reach the router, try:

netsh winsock reset
netsh int ip reset C:\tcppreset.txt

then reboot. Also temporarily disable any third-party firewall/security software while testing.

On the router side: try a different LAN port and cable, power-cycle and cold-start (hold the reset for a factory reset), check for firmware updates, and avoid vendor setup utilities that force static/odd addresses. Look at router logs (if available) for DHCP or NIC errors. If the problem is intermittent and reproducible, suspect overheating, power supply, or internal board failure and return/replace the unit.

If these checks still leave ambiguity, capture exact ipconfig output and the router's status page results before swapping hardware. That data makes it much easier to decide whether the fault is in the PC, the cable, or the router.

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Member Avatar for FC Jamison

Somebody?


Anybody?


I can't even ping the router...I get

"destination host unreachable"

Member Avatar for Xpenetrator

I don't know if this is the place to ask...

Not exactly... there is a networking section in this forums. :) You might get more help there, but anyway:

Sounds really strange, so let's make sure nothing easy happened:
Since it's very unlikely that something within normal usage killed a second router, too - have you checked your LAN cables carefully? I know from experience that they can be pretty sensible and a broken wire/damaged contact can work for some time until heat/the cat/your wife/coincidence makes the problem show up. The problem is: When it's got good contact again, your LAN card may need up to 5 minutes to re-establish the connection (if it does at all), so it looks broken all the time.

So have you already tried swapping that cord with another? I'm almost sure that this or related stuff could be your problem since your DSL modem (with the other cable) runs fine on the LAN as you reported.

What about the status LEDs on your router? Are they showing normal status on the WAN side and a broken LAN connection? Are they on at all?

Member Avatar for FC Jamison

I thought the same thing...but after trying everything under the sun, including installing and additional NIC card and reinstalling my operating system...I took the new router back and it WAS bad.

Now on my third router.

It initially didn't want to work either...even with the installation CD. After about an hour I found another LinkSys router installation utility...and after another hiccough or two...my network is finally up and running again.

Now I have to reinstall all of my software again...just as soon as the 63 Windows critical updates are done downloading and installing...LOL!

Member Avatar for Xpenetrator

Ok, so let's hope that this was a weird chain of coincidences.:cheesy:

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