Connection problem with second PC

faded_Glory

Hello All,

I have a very strange problem with connecting a second PC to the internet.

My setup is as follows:
1. an older Windows XP desktop
2. a Netgear DG 834G ADSL Modem/Router with latest firmwear
3. a brand new Vista PC

I have used the old PC and this modem/router for a long time and it connects fine to the Internet (BT Broadband). I bought the new PC and connected it to a second port on the router with an Ethernet cable. As soon as I do this, the Internet connection drops, even before I switch on the new PC! However, the new PC does connect to the router ok, I can enter the config menu by connecting to http://192.168.0.1 and all looks fine. It is just the Internet connection that goes down.

I tried to connect the new PC on its own after disconnecting the old one, and the same thing happens. The PC connects to the router but the Internet connection drops straightaway.

There are no problems with the old PC on its own.

I am really puzzled by this, any ideas?

Thanks,

fG

Shane O' Malley

Any chance that both PC's are using the same IP address.

If you check on the tcp/ip properties on the active network connection on each computer to see if they are set with a fixed IP address.

Hal1

Can the pc's ping each other and are you using dhcp? You could try using manual addresses for each pc. Ex: pc1\\192.168.*.* pc2\\192.168.*.* and manually configure the DNS settings on each pc too.

faded_Glory

Thanks for the replies. Please take it easy because I am pretty much a layman in these networking matters!

I've named the old XP computer PC1, and the new Vista one PC2. I can log onto the router from either one (not from both at the same time, it tells me 'another admin is online' and I have to restart the router to switch access from the one pc to the other). The router tells me that there are 2 attached devices, 'UNKNOWN' and 'PC2'. This is a bit strange because 'UNKNOWN' should be PC1, I suppose. They have different IP addresses, 'UNKNOWN' is 192.168.0.2 and PC2 is 192.168.0.5.

So it doesn't seem to be a conflict with the IP addresses.

I wanted to ping from PC2 to PC1 but I can't find the 'run' command in Vista?

Thanks again for your help,

fG

faded_Glory

Just to add (I went offline as soon as I connected PC2 to the router): I can ping PC2 (Vista) from PC1 (XP) no problems. I don't know how to go the other way in Vista.

As soon as I unplug PC2 from the router, it goes back on line. How strange is that?

fG

Hal1

Disable any firewalls on all pcs including the router, command prompt should be under the programs menu or right click on a shortcut, it should give an option to open with cmd prompt. Check cabling and that nics are ok.

Hal1

Hey, do you have your main internet going into the uplink port and pcs connected in to port 1 and port 2. Just check that they are straight through cables and not crossover cables as that would cause a problem.

faded_Glory

The router/modem is connected to the Internet just as it always was. I've simply plugged the second PC into one of the other Ethernet ports of the router. I've tried several ports, no difference.

I have now managed to network both pc's, they see each other in Network Places. I can also ping them from each other. But the Internet connection drops as soon as I plug the new pc into the router. When I unplug it, the Internet connection re-establishes itself immediately (but of course I lose the network). I am beginning to suspect a fault in the modem/router.

fG

faded_Glory

It must be the router, I tried to connect a laptop using the ethernet cable and the same thing happens - internet drops. The good news is that the laptop picked up the wireless signal from the router straightaway, so the simple solution is to install a wireless adaptor in the Vista pc and that ought to work as well then.

Thanks very much for the replies,

fG

dub45

faded_Glory wrote:

It must be the router, I tried to connect a laptop using the ethernet cable and the same thing happens - internet drops. The good news is that the laptop picked up the wireless signal from the router straightaway, so the simple solution is to install a wireless adaptor in the Vista pc and that ought to work as well then.

Thanks very much for the replies,

fG

Just a long shot but it might be worth querying Netgear support and see if they can suggest anything I have found them quite helpful in the past.

http://my.netgear.com/myNETGEAR/support.asp

_CreeD_

Or buy a cheap switch and use it for multiple wired-connects instead (since it seems to be a dodgy port or a general malfunction of the switch components inside the router).

Webmonkey

Did you try updating the router to its newest firmware?