Hardware: a P4 with XP home, a realtek 8139 NIC, a us robotics 8054 wireless turbo router, an alcatel speedtouch broadband adsl modem, also a switch, various painkillers, a glass of wine and a therapist. If all else fails, a large hammer.
Problem: hooking up straight to the telephone jack, everything is fine, but I'm trying to network in a second computer. When I hook up the router, the computer can no longer see the modem - or access it, for that matter. So far, I would conclude that the NIC card is ok, since I can establish a good connection w/o using the router.
Info: I am aware of known incompatibility between speedtouch modems and this us robotics modem. The incompatiblity can be worked out by using a specially wired cable (I got the wire plan and made one) or by using a switch (I bought one). Problem not solved.
Weird stuff: after messing around for longer that I'm going to tell you, I hit the reset button on the back of the router, and IT CONNECTED!!!! - for about 5 seconds. Then it went off line again. But it really WAS connected.
Other worries: I've been messing around with so many aspect of the config - both in windows and in the router - that I've messed up something important. Is that possible?
That hammer is looking better and better - could someone help out a newbie who, while not unintellegent, is pretty ignert?
thanks!