Bizarre network problem

[Hiawatha Bray]

I have a Motorola WR850G router connected to a Westell WireSpeed DSL modem,
and I use Verizon DSL service. Everything was going fine until yesterday
afternoon when something very odd began.

I have several computers connected to the router. I'm writing this message
on my Linux computer, which is working fine. But my Windows XP machine
won't connect to the network properly. I can't use my e-mail or Usenet
software at all. I can connect to the Web only here and there. For
instance, I typed the word "smith" into my Firefox browser's Google window,
and got a bunch of responses. But when I clicked on any of them, I got
"cannot connect" errors. I also subscribe to Live365, an Internet radio
service. This software works just fine; I can listen to all my usual audio
streams.

So some Internet connections work, while others don't. And I can't figure
out why. I have run Microsoft Anti-Spyware, reset my restore point to the
previous day, reset the firmware on my router, turned the firewall on and
off...no good.

Any ideas? Thanks.

 

[Hiawatha Bray]

I have a Motorola WR850G router connected to a Westell WireSpeed DSL
modem,
and I use Verizon DSL service. Everything was going fine until yesterday
afternoon when something very odd began.

I have several computers connected to the router. I'm writing this
message
on my Linux computer, which is working fine. But my Windows XP machine
won't connect to the network properly. I can't use my e-mail or Usenet
software at all. I can connect to the Web only here and there. For
instance, I typed the word "smith" into my Firefox browser's Google
window,
and got a bunch of responses. But when I clicked on any of them, I got
"cannot connect" errors. I also subscribe to Live365, an Internet radio
service. This software works just fine; I can listen to all my usual
audio streams.

So some Internet connections work, while others don't. And I can't figure
out why. I have run Microsoft Anti-Spyware, reset my restore point to the
previous day, reset the firmware on my router, turned the firewall on and
off...no good.

Any ideas? Thanks.

Can you believe it? As soon as I posted this, I realized the problem.
Because of a problem that arose last month with Live365, the company asked
subscribers to use a specific DNS server, instead of the one that Verizon
automatically assigns. I plugged this into my Windows machine and forgot
about it. Why not? This DNS server got me to all my Internet locations
just fine. Until yesterday. Now it seems to be on the blink. I just went
back to my previous settings, so that Verizon assigns my DNS. And sure
enough, everything's back to normal.

Thanks anyway, folks.

 

[Guest]

Are your DNS settings the same on the Windows and Linux PCs? Sounds like a
DNS is your problem, as it knows where URLs you've been to are (like google)
but not new ones.

 

[Chuck]

I have a Motorola WR850G router connected to a Westell WireSpeed DSL modem,
and I use Verizon DSL service. Everything was going fine until yesterday
afternoon when something very odd began.

I have several computers connected to the router. I'm writing this message
on my Linux computer, which is working fine. But my Windows XP machine
won't connect to the network properly. I can't use my e-mail or Usenet
software at all. I can connect to the Web only here and there. For
instance, I typed the word "smith" into my Firefox browser's Google window,
and got a bunch of responses. But when I clicked on any of them, I got
"cannot connect" errors. I also subscribe to Live365, an Internet radio
service. This software works just fine; I can listen to all my usual audio
streams.

So some Internet connections work, while others don't. And I can't figure
out why. I have run Microsoft Anti-Spyware, reset my restore point to the
previous day, reset the firmware on my router, turned the firewall on and
off...no good.

Any ideas? Thanks.

DNS, as the other poster is suggesting, is always a possibility for "cannot
connect". Compare the "ipconfig /all" for your problem computer, and for
several of the other computers.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/reading-ipconfig-and-diagnosing.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/reading-ipconfig-and-diagnosing.html

Next, consider the MTU setting.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/internet-connectivity-problems-caused.html>
http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/06/internet-connectivity-problems-caused.html

Please let us know if any of these suggestions are of any help. What you learn
may help others in the future, and that's the purpose of these forums.