Comcast wireless Internet connectivity problem

[MARIO_84]

Im having issues getting my internet back up and running correctly again. First off, I have Comcast service with a cable modem set up in my roommates room. When installed from comcast it worked great, I had a linksys wireless router hooked up and we all had internet working correctly.

Heres the issue, One day everything stopped working… So I went through and re-setted the modem and the router. It now only works on the computer that’s hardwired from the modem, the router doesn’t seem to be working. I can find the wireless signal on my computer as well as my other roommates computer and can connect fine, but no internet.

The weird part is that if the Ethernet cable is unplugged from the computer and plugged back in I have to restart the computer everytime to get back on the internet, same with my laptop when I plug it in, I need to restart.

I got my hands on another router thinking maybe the router was messed up, same issue was occurring, so I called comcast and they had a guy come and try to fix the issue, he put in a different modem and connected it to my roommates computer again, and it worked for him only… Again. So I told him to look at the router and he couldn’t figure anything out and just left. I know the router was fine because I took it over to my friends house and hooked it up and it worked fine. The weird thing about this modem is that it was flashing when plugged in anywhere in my house… The wireless signal light would turn on for about 30 seconds and then turn off for about 30 seconds and repeat.

So now I have a new modem working correctly only when hardwired into the computer. EXACT SAME ISSUE I HAD BEFORE. I thought it might be a signal interference issue since the last router was flashing, so I purchased a Netgear wireless N duo router just to see what would happen… Same issue. I can find the router and connect to it, but I get no internet.

Help!

[Words]

Well, since the Internet is working for the hard-wired computer it's probably not an issue with the Comcast modem. Maybe there's something wrong with the setup of the wireless router. Silly question, but is the wireless router hooked up correctly to the Comcast modem? I assume it is but the directions can tell you...

Can you access the wireless router from the hard-wired computer by typing in the IP of the wireless router into a browser? Generally this is 192.16.0.1 or 172.16.0.1. You can find out what yours is (using the non-hard-wired computer if they see the router) by opening a command prompt and typing "ipconfig."
Start -> Run -> "cmd" -> "ipconfig"
The "default gateway" is the IP address of your router. You should be able to connect to it and see if there are any security options that may or may not be set that may interfere with computers connecting to it.

If this doesn't work you can try it with the hard-wired computer. If you can only access the Comcast modem and cannot access the wireless router, or can't access either, then it may be because both the modem and the wireless router are trying to use the same IP address. They would need to have different ones. Say, the Comcast modem could have the IP 192.16.0.1 and the wireless router could have 172.16.0.1. I imagine you'd connect a computer directly to the wireless router to be able to access it but the booklet that came with it could say better.

Let me know how it goes.

[MARIO_84]

Well, since the Internet is working for the hard-wired computer it's probably not an issue with the Comcast modem. Maybe there's something wrong with the setup of the wireless router. Silly question, but is the wireless router hooked up correctly to the Comcast modem? I assume it is but the directions can tell you...

Can you access the wireless router from the hard-wired computer by typing in the IP of the wireless router into a browser? Generally this is 192.16.0.1 or 172.16.0.1. You can find out what yours is (using the non-hard-wired computer if they see the router) by opening a command prompt and typing "ipconfig."
Start -> Run -> "cmd" -> "ipconfig"
The "default gateway" is the IP address of your router. You should be able to connect to it and see if there are any security options that may or may not be set that may interfere with computers connecting to it.

If this doesn't work you can try it with the hard-wired computer. If you can only access the Comcast modem and cannot access the wireless router, or can't access either, then it may be because both the modem and the wireless router are trying to use the same IP address. They would need to have different ones. Say, the Comcast modem could have the IP 192.16.0.1 and the wireless router could have 172.16.0.1. I imagine you'd connect a computer directly to the wireless router to be able to access it but the booklet that came with it could say better.

Let me know how it goes.

I can access the router from the hardwired computer by typing the IP address in the browser... I've messed with the security and what not with no luck.

[online_p]

I helped Mario with the routers, and let me tell you, I can't figure it out.
We've tried three wirerless routers, including a Wifi-n running at the 5 ghz frequency because I thought it could be an interference problem.

The comcast cable modem works for a single computer. I plugged in a small hub/switch (wired, not wireless) and it worked fine to connect other computers. But for the life of me I can't figure out why none of the wireless products work.

What could it be?

We were able to access the routers admin panels through the IP address in IE. It didn't matter though, I couldn't get the signal to work and I couldn't even get the wireless routers to work as wired hubs.

As for the IP idea, comcast is using a dynamic ip that I keep track of using ipconfig at the command prompt. Is there another command or series of commands I should be using?

Thanks for all your input, anything helps at this point.

[z1p]

I know some of this will be things you've done before, but I'm looking to get a known starting point and continue from there. When lots of things are changed, it can be hard to know if something works, but something else breaks it.


First off, if you do a factory reset on the router and don't setup encryption, can you connect wirelessly and get a valid IP?

Also, make sure you can connect wired and access the internet.

Also, lets pick a router and stick with it. Please let me know which one you go with.

[Words]

Another thing you could try is manually setting your IP address instead of letting it be assigned automatically, to 192.16.0.whatever. This just worked for me in public library where the router for some reason refused to give me an IP address though it worked fine for my wife and apparently for everyone around me.