Internet issues

[ktoopi]

Hi Aper's

My lap top frequently cannot connect to the internet and I get a message saying that it has an invalid IP address or sometimes the computer doesn't know what the problem is. It seems to come and go....I can go for weeks , months with no issues then suddenly I get the problem multiple times a day!! Sometimes I can get around it by restarting my computer but that has been working less and less. It has been getting worse lately and has now started to happen on my editing desk top computer as well. I am pretty sure it is not a problem with my router or cables or any hardware. It is a software problem. Anyone know anything about this PITA problem or have a fix?

Cheers Karen

ps about 12 months ago an IT capable friend changed the IP address on my laptop which worked temporarily but it started to happen again after a few weeks.

[JJM]

Sometimes I have had similar issues when there is a PC already connected to the network with the same IP address hence why the IP address change might have helped..

I am assuming this is a Wifi network? Do you have this issue with PC's plugged directly into the router?
How many devices access the network?
Does the problem happen when a certain device is connected to the network i.e. xbox or ipad or phone etc?

Couple of things I would be doing

Checking the router firmware is up to date.
Checking via the manufactures website (not windows update) that your network adaptors in you PC's are up to date.
Reset your network adaptors to default settings.
Change your wifi password on your router and delete the network from your PC's and then reconnect them.

[ktoopi]

Thanks Jeremy I will have a go at the things you mentioned.

Yes it is a wifi network and there are three computers on it....my laptop, my husbands work laptop and my editing desktop as well as the printer. I don't usually have this problem with my editing PC which is plugged in to the router but it happened on that computer today Up to today it only happens on my laptop.

[John King]

Gidday KT

Sometimes the computer that is misbehaving is the cable/ADSL modem/router ... The modem/router is just a dedicated computer on your network.

I had a really interesting one this morning. My brother has two wired PCs on an ADSL modem/router. One of them had Internet/network access, the other did not. He had tried lots of stuff including reboots and changing the network cable. I suggested to him to reboot the modem, and lo and behold, it all worked again ... . Funny that ...

[ameerat42]

Mmmm-mmnnn! - An annoyance When you can't putcher finger on the problem!!!

Can't help with this one. I have to re-set the router when I switch off a laptop
that had been connected by WiFi. No matter what - no changes, nothing, pwd
still intact - jest won't connect on next switch on. Soon as the router has been
re-set, Bingo! Modem's OK. Haven't had to touch it.

[thegrump]

Is it just a router problem. I sometimes have to reboot my router several times a day. So sick of it.

[ameerat42]

Is it just a router problem. I sometimes have to reboot my router several times a day. So sick of it.

Easily fixed, TG. Open the back door next time and boot it out the back.
(Of course, after you've installed a new router)

[John King]

Gidday TG

Is it just a router problem. I sometimes have to reboot my router several times a day. So sick of it.

That's not right, mate. Depending on who your ISP is, they will almost certainly GIVE you a new modem/router. My brother is with Telstra, and they gave him a new one for free about a month ago. I have negotiated new modems for clients from time to time over the years. Never had them charged for one yet ... .

Just ring up your ISP and explain the situation/problems you are having and ask them nicely to send you a (free) replacement modem. Chances are they will agree to do this for nix.

[ameerat42]

But that's if it is a separate modem issue. TG said router, but we don't know if it's a modem-router combo. My modem came from the ISP,
but the router is mine. They did replace the modem once, but it was really the modem playing up that time. They said they were going to
charge for the modem but ended up not. I reckon the first reportee didn't know, but the techo came and said it was free. I didn't complain.

Anyway, back to Karen: is your your own router that's being naughty, or is it a supplied modem-router? Might be worth them coming to have a
look (ISP).

[ricktas]

any tablets, and phones that are using the wifi as well?

[John King]

ps about 12 months ago an IT capable friend changed the IP address on my laptop which worked temporarily but it started to happen again after a few weeks.

If your friend changed your laptop to a fixed IP address and another wireless device is taking that IP addy when your laptop is switched off, it would cause this precise problem.

Ensure that your laptop is reconfigured to use the DHCP server ('Obtain IP Address Automatically'), or discover what IP addy your laptop is using, then find out which device is taking this address when your laptop is switched off (it will relinquish its set IP address when it is switched off ... ).

Another, simpler fix is to set your laptop to use an intermediate IP addy such as 192.168.0.148, subnet mask 255.255.255.0 . The '192.168.0' part must be the same as your current internal IP - this could be '10.0.0.' or something else. It can be discovered by running the command 'ipconfig /all' at a command prompt. Get to this latter by typing 'cmd.exe' in the dialog box you get by left clicking on RUN on the Start menu.

You could also install TEAMVIEWER and get a friend to check/fix your configuration. It's a fantastic program. I use it a lot.

Just FWIW.

[ktoopi]

Ok I'm back......internet has been down

Router is my own ...a NETGEAR D6300

Items on the network are : two laptops.....soon to be three ( my daughter just won a MacBook pro!) two ipads, three iphones, a printer and my editing desktop PC

The stuff using the wifi are the tablets phones and laptops

I have rebooted the router a million times, turned it off and started it again a million times and have nearly gone out and bought a new one a million times!!

I am working through Jeremy's suggestions at the moment and then I will work through yours John. Hopefully I can sort this once and for all.

[arthurking83]

The model is a modem router. The modem is for an ADSL connection, and the router does the address allocation for your home network.
(I have the R6300 model which is only a router(no modem part) as I'm on cable and I have a separate modem)
By default(that is if you haven't deliberately changed any advanced features of this modem-router) the addresses this router allocates start in the 192.168.0.x range.

So that is the modem(we'll call it a modem for now, but remember it's both!) should have an internal IP address of something like 192.168.0.1

If you open up your browser(sounds like you have Macs, so I dunno what browser you're using by default) .. but in the address bar just type in that address. You don't need anything else other than those numbers.
This will take you into the config page(s) .. there are heaps, and again by default it will take you into the Basic page(look for the tabs at the very top of the page it opens up)
You can go into the Advanced tab, but no need too.

Hopefully that works for ya and the settings haven't been changed from the default. If they do, we'll need to know what address allocation the router has been set too.

So with the Basic config page open, you will see a small series of hyperlinked boxes.
The main one you are looking for is the top left box named (appropriately) Internet. It will show you a status .. Good(in green) means obviously it's connected.
If it's not connected, it will turn red and say something like not connected.

This is where you now come in:
The next time you have internet issues with any computer, go to that config page to check the internet status of the router.
Make sure it is connected before blaming anything else.
So if the internet status is good(green), but the computer has no access, then for sure you have a dodgy routing problem internally with the router part of the modem/router.

I recommended that my old work get this router, as mine has been perfect in almost every way since I got it years ago(when new), and we had many issues with it(the R6300) at work.
I was convinced that the internet dropouts were not due to the R6300 and to be sure, I conencted an old router at work, took the R6300 to my house and played with it for a few days.
At my place it never dropped out for the few days I had it.
So then, back at work, I changed the line filters(we had two lines) and checked a few connections here and there to be sure.
It still dropped out every now and then.
Called the ISP provider for work and then eventually sent a tech to do line tests.
The line tests came back very bad!
That is the phone line from the street to the depot was horrific, and the tech said he's surprised that we even get any internet at all!
They then sent some other techs to fix up some connection at the depot itself, but they then explained that the 50 yo communication infrastructure of the old asbestos riddled complex(about 10 sheds in total) were all shot to death. Crappy lines coming in from the main box to our sheds.
Nothing they could do, so it was up to the landlord to resolve(with an expensive refit of lines all over the place).
The managers complained for at least two years I was last there, and nothing ever got done.

That's the back story to my R6300 experience .. it worked perfectly for me as I have a fantastic connection, but failed at work due to the seriously deficient infrastructure.

So at a guess(and the problem here is that it could be a result of so many issues here and there!) I'd say start with looking at your fixed line stuff to begin with(ie. modem/phone line splitter/filter).
If you have a fixed line for phoen at home, then you need to have this splitter/filter .. and they can cause issues.
Keep an eye on the internet status of the modem when you experience any dropouts.

There is a Netgear program you can install to your devices to keep a check of the modem/router status.
It's called Netgear Genie.
You can install this program to any currently popular device(PC/Mac/Android/iOS).
In terms of configuration ability .. it sucks. But it does give you an easy way to access the modem to check for status issues .. and what's connected and what's not.
So if you end up using it:
Say if you have devices A, B and C connected to the modem, and the internet drops out suddenly on one device(lets say A):
Use that device(A) to check the status of the modem.
If it doesn't connect, then you know that the router may be having trouble. Use another device(eg. B or C) to check the router too now, and if that device can connect to the router then the issue could be with the device(A) that has issues(this is not uncommon too).
Seen many instances of this. eg. one of the managers at my old work could never get his iPhone to connect to the router .. ever!
it had some Wifi issue itself. Yet his new iPhone and all the other iPhones connected instantly to the router. This is obviously not the fault of the router.

Sorry for the long post, but there are so many causes for your issue, it's not an easy one to describe in a few lines.

Two last thing to do/check.
If you can get the Config page up on your browser, go to the Advanced tab.
Firstly look up in the far top right hand corner and take a note of the firmware version. it'll be some long string of characters like v.1.0.2.80_1.0.58(or whatever .. but in this format)
Let us know what firmware version it uses .. there may be a new one, even if it says there is no new firmware via the firmware update feature.

The other thing to do is check the logs(in the advanced tab).
Here you want to use the LHS list of items, and look for 'Administration'.
Open that and then look for the sub heading 'Logs'.
In the new window you will see a small area of text. Here it should list all the issues that the router/modem has experienced.

Something to watch for in the logs are Dos attacks. It could be temporarily shutting down due to high attack rates.
The listing for that could be something like:
[DoS attack: Smurf] attack packets in last 20 sec from ip [188.40.231.255], Friday, Jan 08,2016 22:11:11

Hope some of that helps.

[ktoopi]

Thanks Arthurking83 as usual, a comprehensive bunch of suggestions......I will attempt try and fiddle around with it and see what I can do based on the advice given here. I was going to update the firmware and see if that helped but I can't even log into the dam router because I don't know what it's called on my computer. I can see all the devices eg my laptop, this computer, mice, storage devices etc but nothing that could be the router So frustrating my computer has recently come back from being repaired for unrelated matters and all my shortcuts, and software has been wiped. I have slowly reinstalled everything. I used to have Netgear genie but it is gone now so will have to get it back again. Looks like this one will take me a bit to work out. Thank you everyone for your advice

[ameerat42]

If it's a Netgear, use http://www.routerlogin.com or .net (both work).

Look on the bottom of the router for an indication of the address to use. It's either as above, or perhaps http://192.168.0.x - type.