can't connect to the Internet -- unless..

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 1 Apr 2004 10:35 pm

We got DSL form our phone company SBC a month ago and have had tons of problems.

Since 5:00 PM today I can't connect to the Internet. Internet Explorer gives me : <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>The page cannot be displayed
The page you are looking for is currently unavailable. The Web site might be experiencing technical difficulties, or you may need to adjust your browser settings. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> and Netscape can't get my email.
We couldn't even connect to the SBC dial-up number.
We spent 1.5 hours with our ISP tech support (SBC DSL) during which they led me thru a "TCP/IP rip" and other stuff, eventually giving up and telling me to call Microsoft for free support to replace our Winsock and wsock, whatever that means, which of course turned out to be expensive, not free at all. So much for tech support!

After doing what SBC tech support told us to do, we couldn't even boot the PC without "New Hardware found" alerts but eventually I re-installed Windows ME and got it running again.

I was even able to connect by dial-up (that's how I got here) but not by DSL.

except (and this is the wierd part)

I logged on to the Steel Guitar Fortum from my dial-up connectiopn, and then diconnected the dial-up, and connected the DSL. NOW I cna navigate all over the steekguitarforum site, but I can't go anywhere else.

Similarly, I can use Netscape to get my email on my DSL connection, but only if I have previously used it via the dial=up connection.

If I try to go to google.com, or even to steelguitarmusic.com, I get that old error message ("The page cannot be displayed" etc), and the SBC "self support tool" softarwe pops up telling me that I can't connect to the Internet.

What is missing here and how can I fix it?

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 1 Apr 2004 11:24 pm

It works now!
But I would still like to hear what you think was going on.

Donna Dodd · Post by **Donna Dodd** » 2 Apr 2004 3:24 am

I logged on to the Steel Guitar Forum from my dial-up connection, and then diconnected the dial-up, and connected the DSL. NOW I can navigate all over the steekguitarforum site, but I can't go anywhere else.

Your Forum page wasn't real-time at that point, was it?
Was your cable connected?

Cal Sharp · Post by **Cal Sharp** » 2 Apr 2004 5:30 am

I have this problem all the time with BellSouth's DSL. What I do is power down the modem and the router for a few minutes, then power up the modem and wait for the light to stop flashing and then power up the router and I'm back on line.

Jeff Agnew · Post by **Jeff Agnew** » 2 Apr 2004 6:08 am

Earnest,

Sorry to hear about your DSL problems. In essence, you got screwed by an ignorant support tech (Department of Redundancy Department). You didn't need special software to connect, you didn't need a new WinSock (had to laugh at that one), and they messed everything up so bad you had to reinstall Windows. <sigh>

Never, never, never use an ISP's install disk to set up a cable/DSL connection. They provide it so they can sneak a branded version of IE on you that forces you through Yahoo, MSN, or some other partner paying them big bucks to generate traffic. But I digress.

A cable/DSL connection should be configured exactly like a LAN connection, which is what it is. You need three things: Your PC's dynamic or static IP, the IP of the gateway, and the IPs of the DNS servers. Period. But most ISPs don't want to give you this info, preferring to have you use their installation CD, which is supposed to configure your network settings automatically.

As you discovered, they don't work very well with ME's quirks. What likely happened was that the installation program mucked up your network settings so badly the tech support drone couldn't follow his pre-defined script of remedies. You'll know this has occurred when they 1)tell you to reinstall Windows (universal solution), or 2)tell you to call Microsoft (pass the buck).

As long as everything is working now, your best bet is to leave things in place. If you ever have problems or need to re-configure the network settings, send me an e-mail.

Wayne Carver · Post by **Wayne Carver** » 2 Apr 2004 7:42 am

Jeff, if you dont' use the ISP's install disk how would you do it manually?
I couldn't get on the internet awhile back with AOL dial-up and called their help number. That was the biggest joke ever. I kept getting the missing winsock thing and did the "repair internet exployer" thing and got mine working.

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 2 Apr 2004 9:33 am

Never, never, never use an ISP's install disk to set up a cable/DSL connection. They provide it so they can sneak a branded version of IE on you that forces you through Yahoo,

Yes, that's what the SBC install disk did when I got DSL a month ago. I hated their browser and got rid of it ASAP.

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 2 Apr 2004 9:37 am

You need three things: Your PC's dynamic or static IP, the IP of the gateway, and the IPs of the DNS servers.

Thanks Jeff. Where would I get this info, and how would I tell my Windows PC about it?

BTW of course I will take your advice and not mess with it now that it is working.

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 2 Apr 2004 9:43 am

So back to what I was trying to ask at first:
What did IE learn during the dialup connection to steelguitarfroum.com that enabled that same instance of IE to continue browsing steelguitarforum.com after I diconnected the dialup and conmnected the DSL? And why couldn't a new instance of IE browse steeluitarforum.com at that time?
Same with Netscape: What did Netscape do during the dialup connection that allowed it to get more email with DSL, and no dialup connection? Note that at this point if I quit Netscape and restart Netscape while connected via DSL, Netscape could no longer get email.

Jeff Agnew · Post by **Jeff Agnew** » 2 Apr 2004 12:16 pm

Where would I get this info, and how would I tell my Windows PC about it?

The ISP has to supply most of it. I've had several clients who added cable or DSL and I just called around the ISP's support department until I found someone who would give me the numbers. It helps to play the empathy card by telling them you're just a poor network consultant brought in by the client and are just trying to do your job.

Unless you're paying for a business connection you're almost certainly using a dynamic IP. You get that automatically from the ISP's server by enabling DHCP. That's where the gateway address comes in. The DNS server IPs are needed so your PC can translate plain-language web addresses into the numbers computers use.

All these numbers go in the TCP/IP properties section of the Network control panel.

And why couldn't a new instance of IE browse steeluitarforum.com at that time?

Don't know. Perhaps you had IE set to enable offline viewing. But that wouldn't explain Netscape grabbing mail. Another thought would be that you actually had two connections active at some point and didn't realize it. To avoid conflicts between dialup and broadband connections, display the dialup connections properties tab, then select "Never dial a connection". Or, now that you have DSL working, just delete the entry for the dialup connection. [This message was edited by Jeff Agnew on 02 April 2004 at 12:18 PM.]

Post by **Brad Bechtel** » 2 Apr 2004 2:26 pm

The SBC self-install guides are found here. They're in Adobe Acrobat format, so you need a copy of the Acrobat Reader.

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 2 Apr 2004 3:19 pm

Thanks Brad. As your link shows, there are SBC self-install guides for 5 different modems, but not for the momem that they make the customers buy when we sign up for DSL.

RON PRESTON · Post by **RON PRESTON** » 3 Apr 2004 5:17 am

Earnest,
Man, And I THOUGHT I had/Have Problems in the past. I know how you feel. Been there before, and I really just want to "Hide a BOMB" inside the Modem,light it, and RUN, and let it go at THAT.

I guess I really DON"T have THAT many problems to deal with after hearing YOURS.

Good luck. I MUST say that not ONLY do I LOVE this SGF for all it's New's and Knowledge and making friends all the time, But, Our Fearless Leader, Mr. bOb, really thought things out when he put the SGF together for us. I have learned SOOOO MUCH about computers as well as Steels here.

Jeff Agnew · Post by **Jeff Agnew** » 3 Apr 2004 8:14 am

EB, is your DSL modem internal or external? Looking through that SBC list, I noticed they're supplying an Alcatel PCI modem. Gack. What a horrible idea.

If your modem is internal you almost have to use the installation CD to get the driver. I'd try searching first to see if you can copy it from the CD without running the program.

But again, if you have an external modem, do not use the SBC installation CDs.

I cannot believe they're supplying internal PCI modems these days. And they wonder why their support sucks.

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 3 Apr 2004 10:40 am

The modem that they sold me when I signed up is external. It's a Speedstream 5100.