Calling all NTL BB users....

Keyzer

Guys, need a little help here.
I have a guy here in work who is having problems with his NTL broadband on his work laptop. Everything works fine on his home pc but he has no connectivity when he tries to use the work laptop.
Everything was working fine up until 2-3 weeks ago, and he promises me he hasn't changed or messed with anything.

I'm wondering if you have NTL bb do you get any software which needs to be loaded onto a machine prior to using the service in order to set it up?

RE*AC*TOR

The ntl modem can be usb or ethernet connected. if he's connecting via usb then he does need software - if ethernet no.

It entirely depends on what setup he has - and if he has any routers connected to the modem.

ntlbell

bit more information on the setup.

what can't he do exactly?

seamus

Depends on the OS. I'd be more inclined to look at the fact that it's a work laptop, there's probably some setup that deliberately prevents him from using a non-work connection, or is not setup to use an ISP direct connection.
Is there an IT dept that can help him?

ntlbell

seamus wrote:

Depends on the OS. I'd be more inclined to look at the fact that it's a work laptop, there's probably some setup that deliberately prevents him from using a non-work connection, or is not setup to use an ISP direct connection.
Is there an IT dept that can help him?

Bit odd tho if it was working fine untill recently

Drapper

Keyzer wrote:

Guys, need a little help here.
I have a guy here in work who is having problems with his NTL broadband on his work laptop. Everything works fine on his home pc but he has no connectivity when he tries to use the work laptop.
Everything was working fine up until 2-3 weeks ago, and he promises me he hasn't changed or messed with anything.

I'm wondering if you have NTL bb do you get any software which needs to be loaded onto a machine prior to using the service in order to set it up?

has his Pc in work got a fixed IP DNS address recently assigned? (btw get firefox)

NTL should have Auto select IP in the Internet Protocal located in the Network Option menu

Keyzer

Its a WINXP machine.
His ip settings are set to obtain automatically for both IP and DHCP.
He has zero connectivity on the work Laptop, the connection is not picked up whether he uses ehternet or usb...
And his machine was reloaded yesterday due to another problem and its still not working...

seamus

ntlbell wrote:

Bit odd tho if it was working fine untill recently

D'oh! Missed that.
Although, just because he says nothing has changed, doesn't mean it's true. Many of our users could say the same, unaware of changes made via logon script, etc.

Keyzer

seamus wrote:

Is there an IT dept that can help him?

Yeah... Me...

seamus

heh.
Right. When you plug in the modem via USB, does it pick it up? If not, does it pick it up if you do a search for it?

ntlbell

Keyzer wrote:

Its a WINXP machine.
His ip settings are set to obtain automatically for both IP and DHCP.
He has zero connectivity on the work Laptop, the connection is not picked up whether he uses ehternet or usb...
And his machine was reloaded yesterday due to another problem and its still not working...

and he knows he has to power off the modem when going from one MAC to antoher yeah?

I.e. PC > Laptop

Keyzer

ntlbell wrote:

and he knows he has to power off the modem when going from one MAC to antoher yeah?

I.e. PC > Laptop

Just confirmed, yes, he does power off the modem when switching from machine to machine.

When he sticks in the ethernet/USB cable, he does receive "local area connection now connected" ...

This sucks ass, I should be able to sort this...

RE*AC*TOR

does his work pc have some sort of proxy setup in his browser?

Keyzer

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

does his work pc have some sort of proxy setup in his browser?

He has no connectivity for any application, but no, the work laptop has no browser proxy configured which could be causing it.

ntlbell

Is he getting an ip from ntl's DHCP server?

can he ping ntl's gateway?

can he ping anywhere by ip/fqdn?

can you show us an ipconfig/all after he connects to NTL

thund3rbird_

firstly, do the ethernet/usb light on the modem light up after connecting the cable?
if no, then check for problems in device manager after making sure the cables are in correctly.
as the modem is fine on the desktop then it's not an issue with it.


yes, try the following..
power off the laptop
connect to the desktop that works on ntl
release the ip either in winipcfg (98 / me) or dos (2k / xp)
power off that pc
remove enet/usb lead
power off modem, wait 60 secs, power back on (don't connect usb or enet yet)
wait for the modem to lock on to a signal
connect usb / enet lead to laptop & switch on
getting lights again?
check ip
can you ping ip addresses or url's?
can you browse by ip ?
might be a dns issue

disable any firewalls (surprised this hasn't been mentioned :eek:)



if all else fails call ntl, assuming you haven't done that yet??

fatherdougalmag

Just to add another dimension to the problem solving, try connecting the laptop and the PC back-to-back and make sure that all is well in the IP world. You should be able to ping between both. Disable any firewalls etc.

With the laptop connected, bring up a command prompt and do 'ipconfig' to see what IP address you're getting. Don't report it here but at least ensure you can ping 192.168.100.1. That's the NTL modem. As a previous poster pointed out, you need to power down/up the modem as it 'latches on to' the first ethernet MAC it gets.

Maybe your best/easiest bet is to invest in a router. That should save you all this bother (assuming you don't encounter the same problem when hooking the router up to the modem). By the sounds of things it's an issue with the machine and not the modem. But the, maybe the modem config is fubar'ed.

causal

Keyzer wrote:

Everything was working fine up until 2-3 weeks ago, and he promises me he hasn't changed or messed with anything.
<snip>
And his machine was reloaded yesterday due to another problem and its still not working...

Keyzer are you saying the machine was rebuilt - i.e. all the software installed on it again?
If so then it was working, then 2 weeks ago it wasn't, then 2 days ago it was wiped. That means the old configuration is long gone and you're starting from scratch.
btw what was the other problem?

Did you fully go through the XP network connections on the laptop to check all the settings - my money is here.
Is Windoze Firewall disabled?

His ip settings are set to obtain automatically for both IP and DHCP.

The laptop IP is automatically assigned by DHCP?

causal

Keyzer

Finally got this sorted for anyway who wants to know.
It turns out that some NTL routers are configured to remember the mac address of the primary machine, thus no other computer with a different mac address will be granted an ip address by the router/modem or whatever NTL use, therefore his work laptop was fine and the problem was with the NTL router.

Powering the router off from the mains for 30 mins allowed the router to "forget" this mac address and then allowed the user to connect with his work laptop....

Ergo, vis a vie, etc etc....

jimmycrackcorm

how did you get an NTL router - I thought they only supplied the cable modem - and it definitely links to a single MAC address until you do a power reset.

I have a similar setup with a laptop for work and use it at home. But I have added a firewall/router and access point at home - the router gets the NTL IP and does NAT/DHCP for all devices at home so my laptop and PDA seamlessly connect along with my main machine at home.

You shouldn't have to wait 30 minutes to get a reconnect though.

SteM

jimmycrackcorm wrote:

how did you get an NTL router - I thought they only supplied the cable modem

I had an NTL installer out a few of weeks ago who reckoned the NTL would be supplying wireless routers ' very soon'. He said that he's just been sent on a course to show them how to set the router up etc...

Keyzer

Router, modem, whatever NTL use... I havent a clue about NTL, it was a guy here asking me, i use Eircom BB...

fatherdougalmag

So this earlier posted step didn't make any difference? It had to be a whole 30 mins? I'm able to switch from one machine to another after just powering down and back up. No waiting for 30 mins.