Calling all computer network gurus ...
 

A few years ago we had a problem with cable tv reception.
The box on the pole that housed the nodes or taps would fill up with rain water and affect our reception.
Cable people climbed pole and fixed the problem.

Calling all computer network gurus ...
 

In article , says...

On 11/8/2013 8:38 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 11/8/2013 7:26 PM, Hank© wrote:
On 11/8/2013 7:50 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:

I have an issue that is driving me crazy. Or crazier.

We recently had a full upgrade of all our Comcast provided equipment in
our house. It involved a new signal booster amplifier, two new, higher
bandwidth distribution amplifiers for the gazillion cable TV outlets in
the house and a new combination modem/wireless router.

We have a large house and the Comcast tech suggested getting a Netgear
WiFi extender to give the router more range. I purchased and installed
the extender. The extender adds another WiFi signal that has the same
name as the router except it has "ext" at the end of the name.

So, now the computers see two network connections available. "HomeXXXX"
and "HomeXXXX.ext"

The router signal was the stronger of the two from where I normally use
my laptop. So, I tried connecting to "HomeXXXX" and it would connect to
the router, but with no Internet access. Said "Local only".

I tried connecting to the weaker "HomeXXXX.ext" (extender) signal and it
worked fine. Local and Internet access.

Went back to the original router network signal ... Local only .. no
Internet.

I tried all the standard stuff, power down, power up of computer,
router, and even depressed the "reset" on the router. Same results.
Could only get Internet access on the extender's signal.

After about four days (and totally unrelated, I think) the new
modem/router that Comcast had installed **** the bed. The "on-line"
light would never stay on as it should.

After talking to Comcast tech help, I returned it to the local Comcast
service center and exchanged it for another one. Hooked it up, went
through the startup procedure and everything worked again normally. I
could connect to either the router directly or the extender signal and
both gave Internet access with no problems.

It all worked fine like this for about a week. About 2 hours ago, I
lost Internet access again on the router signal connection. Local
access only. Yet, when I connect to the extender's signal, I get both
local and Internet access.

Again tried the re-boots and resets. No change. I even "deleted" the
router connection and had to go through the process of re-installing the
security WPS number to connect to it again. But it still only gives
"Local only" meaning the computer is connected to the router but the
router can't connect to the Internet. When I connect to the extender's
signal (HomeXXXX.ext) everything works fine ... local and Internet
access.

I can' make any sense out of this. The extender signal is nothing but a
"repeater" of the router's signal to my understanding and the extender
depends on the router for an Internet connection. So why can I connect
to the Internet with it but only get a "local network" connection when I
try the router's signal?

Any insight would sure be appreciated. This is driving me nuts.

Sounds like the extender is grabbing your wi-fi and not letting the
router pass signals from your computers to the modem section. But since
you've already swapped the extender try a new modem-router or a
different brand. I'm surprised Comcast couldn't provide the solution
with their own equipment.


I haven't changed the extender. I changed the modem/router. Both
worked for a few days (could connect to either the extender or the
router) but then stopped connecting with the router.


Damn, if everything is working fine in your house, you are "connecting"
to "your" network but not the outside world, do the math:) I have been
through this before with Cox Cable, the worst service provider in the
nation, worst employees, worst attitude, flat out lie to your face about
your bill while you stand in their office with your bill in your
hand.... COX CABLE SUCKS!!!

It's not a cable problem if he can get internet access through the
extender.

Calling all computer network gurus .. solved!
 

In article , says...

On 11/8/2013 9:24 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:

On 11/8/2013 7:58 PM, Califbill wrote:

"Mr. Luddite" wrote:

I have an issue that is driving me crazy. Or crazier.



I would remove the extender first and see if the router problems go
away.
Maybe is the extender over loading the router.


Tried that. Still could not connect to the Internet via the router
signal. Had to plug the extender back in to get Internet access.

and Hank wrote:

Sounds like the extender is grabbing your wi-fi and not letting the
router pass signals from your computers to the modem section.


Spoke too soon. I tried unplugging the extender again and this time
waited a little bit while the computer connected to the router signal.
At first it said "Local only" but, after a few seconds, made
connection to the Internet.

So, I think both you and Hank were on the right track. The extender
is somehow hogging the signal to the router and preventing the computer
from connecting via it to the Internet.

Can't say I understand why, but it seems that's what it's doing.

Tomorrow I will try experimenting by putting the extender even further
away from the router.




I still bet the Tap on the pole is "hogging" the signal:)

I'll bet it's not.

Calling all computer network gurus ...
 

In article , says...

On 11/8/2013 8:26 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 11/8/2013 7:58 PM, Califbill wrote:

"Mr. Luddite" wrote:
I have an issue that is driving me crazy. Or crazier.

We recently had a full upgrade of all our Comcast provided equipment in
our house. It involved a new signal booster amplifier, two new, higher
bandwidth distribution amplifiers for the gazillion cable TV outlets in
the house and a new combination modem/wireless router.

We have a large house and the Comcast tech suggested getting a Netgear
WiFi extender to give the router more range. I purchased and installed
the extender. The extender adds another WiFi signal that has the same
name as the router except it has "ext" at the end of the name.

So, now the computers see two network connections available.
"HomeXXXX" and "HomeXXXX.ext"

The router signal was the stronger of the two from where I normally use
my laptop. So, I tried connecting to "HomeXXXX" and it would connect to
the router, but with no Internet access. Said "Local only".

I tried connecting to the weaker "HomeXXXX.ext" (extender) signal and it
worked fine. Local and Internet access.

Went back to the original router network signal ... Local only .. no
Internet.

I tried all the standard stuff, power down, power up of computer,
router,
and even depressed the "reset" on the router. Same results.
Could only get Internet access on the extender's signal.

After about four days (and totally unrelated, I think) the new
modem/router that Comcast had installed **** the bed. The "on-line"
light would never stay on as it should.

After talking to Comcast tech help, I returned it to the local Comcast
service center and exchanged it for another one. Hooked it up, went
through the startup procedure and everything worked again normally. I
could connect to either the router directly or the extender signal and
both gave Internet access with no problems.

It all worked fine like this for about a week. About 2 hours ago, I
lost
Internet access again on the router signal connection. Local access
only. Yet, when I connect to the extender's signal, I get both
local and Internet access.

Again tried the re-boots and resets. No change. I even "deleted" the
router connection and had to go through the process of re-installing the
security WPS number to connect to it again. But it still only gives
"Local only" meaning the computer is connected to the router but the
router can't connect to the Internet. When I connect to the extender's
signal (HomeXXXX.ext) everything works fine ... local and Internet
access.

I can' make any sense out of this. The extender signal is nothing but a
"repeater" of the router's signal to my understanding and the extender
depends on the router for an Internet connection. So why can I connect
to the Internet with it but only get a "local network" connection when I
try the router's signal?

Any insight would sure be appreciated. This is driving me nuts.



I would remove the extender first and see if the router problems go away.
Maybe is the extender over loading the router.


Tried that. Still could not connect to the Internet via the router
signal. Had to plug the extender back in to get Internet access.

Weird.

I am going to try contacting Netgear. Maybe they have the answer.



Look for a "weak tap" on the pole.... The old system didn't draw as
much, just call them and have them come out and check.. Could save you a
lot of silly unnecessary aggravation...

How is that possible if, when he connects to the extender that requires
even MORE bandwidth works?

Calling all computer network gurus ...
 

On Friday, November 8, 2013 8:38:34 PM UTC-5, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 11/8/2013 7:26 PM, Hank© wrote:

On 11/8/2013 7:50 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:



I have an issue that is driving me crazy. Or crazier.



We recently had a full upgrade of all our Comcast provided equipment in

our house. It involved a new signal booster amplifier, two new, higher

bandwidth distribution amplifiers for the gazillion cable TV outlets in

the house and a new combination modem/wireless router.



We have a large house and the Comcast tech suggested getting a Netgear

WiFi extender to give the router more range. I purchased and installed

the extender. The extender adds another WiFi signal that has the same

name as the router except it has "ext" at the end of the name.



So, now the computers see two network connections available. "HomeXXXX"

and "HomeXXXX.ext"



The router signal was the stronger of the two from where I normally use

my laptop. So, I tried connecting to "HomeXXXX" and it would connect to

the router, but with no Internet access. Said "Local only".



I tried connecting to the weaker "HomeXXXX.ext" (extender) signal and it

worked fine. Local and Internet access.



Went back to the original router network signal ... Local only .. no

Internet.



I tried all the standard stuff, power down, power up of computer,

router, and even depressed the "reset" on the router. Same results.

Could only get Internet access on the extender's signal.



After about four days (and totally unrelated, I think) the new

modem/router that Comcast had installed **** the bed. The "on-line"

light would never stay on as it should.



After talking to Comcast tech help, I returned it to the local Comcast

service center and exchanged it for another one. Hooked it up, went

through the startup procedure and everything worked again normally. I

could connect to either the router directly or the extender signal and

both gave Internet access with no problems.



It all worked fine like this for about a week. About 2 hours ago, I

lost Internet access again on the router signal connection. Local

access only. Yet, when I connect to the extender's signal, I get both

local and Internet access.



Again tried the re-boots and resets. No change. I even "deleted" the

router connection and had to go through the process of re-installing the

security WPS number to connect to it again. But it still only gives

"Local only" meaning the computer is connected to the router but the

router can't connect to the Internet. When I connect to the extender's

signal (HomeXXXX.ext) everything works fine ... local and Internet

access.



I can' make any sense out of this. The extender signal is nothing but a

"repeater" of the router's signal to my understanding and the extender

depends on the router for an Internet connection. So why can I connect

to the Internet with it but only get a "local network" connection when I

try the router's signal?



Any insight would sure be appreciated. This is driving me nuts.



Sounds like the extender is grabbing your wi-fi and not letting the

router pass signals from your computers to the modem section. But since

you've already swapped the extender try a new modem-router or a

different brand. I'm surprised Comcast couldn't provide the solution

with their own equipment.





I haven't changed the extender. I changed the modem/router. Both

worked for a few days (could connect to either the extender or the

router) but then stopped connecting with the router.

There's an issue with the cable modem/wireless router. The repeater can't "tell" the modem to only send the internet connection to it, and the fact that the repeater has internet shows that the modem has a good cable signal and that it also has internet access.

Is there a setting in the modem/router that limits how many (internet) connections it will allow? Maybe if you're disconnecting then reconnecting your device wirelessly, while you're disconnected (powered down?) something else is connecting (cell phone?) and taking the last available connection. Then when you try to connect it won't serve you. The extender has been connected the entire time, so it still has service.

Good luck!

Calling all computer network gurus .. solved!
 

On 11/9/2013 10:48 AM, iBoaterer wrote:

In article , says...



I still bet the Tap on the pole is "hogging" the signal:)



I'll bet it's not.


It's not. Comcast tested the signal at the road when they recently
upgraded our equipment and it was fine. Our house sits back about 950
feet from the road and all the utilities, including the cable run are
underground. When they tested the signal at our house there was a very
small loss due to the length of the underground run from the road but it
was still within spec. The tech added a 15db amplifier anyway, just to
make sure there wouldn't be problems in the future.

Calling all computer network gurus .. solved!
 

On 11/9/2013 11:30 AM, Charlemagne wrote:
On 11/9/2013 11:24 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 11/9/2013 10:48 AM, iBoaterer wrote:

In article , says...



I still bet the Tap on the pole is "hogging" the signal:)



I'll bet it's not.


It's not. Comcast tested the signal at the road when they recently
upgraded our equipment and it was fine. Our house sits back about 950
feet from the road and all the utilities, including the cable run are
underground. When they tested the signal at our house there was a very
small loss due to the length of the underground run from the road but it
was still within spec. The tech added a 15db amplifier anyway, just to
make sure there wouldn't be problems in the future.




Fair enough... But if it was Cox, I wouldn't believe them:)

I think he mentioned Comcast a half a doezen times, so I'm pretty sure
it isn't Cox.

Calling all computer network gurus ...
 

On 11/9/2013 11:19 AM, wrote:
On Friday, November 8, 2013 8:38:34 PM UTC-5, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 11/8/2013 7:26 PM, Hank© wrote:

On 11/8/2013 7:50 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:



I have an issue that is driving me crazy. Or crazier.



We recently had a full upgrade of all our Comcast provided equipment in

our house. It involved a new signal booster amplifier, two new, higher

bandwidth distribution amplifiers for the gazillion cable TV outlets in

the house and a new combination modem/wireless router.



We have a large house and the Comcast tech suggested getting a Netgear

WiFi extender to give the router more range. I purchased and installed

the extender. The extender adds another WiFi signal that has the same

name as the router except it has "ext" at the end of the name.



So, now the computers see two network connections available. "HomeXXXX"

and "HomeXXXX.ext"



The router signal was the stronger of the two from where I normally use

my laptop. So, I tried connecting to "HomeXXXX" and it would connect to

the router, but with no Internet access. Said "Local only".



I tried connecting to the weaker "HomeXXXX.ext" (extender) signal and it

worked fine. Local and Internet access.



Went back to the original router network signal ... Local only .. no

Internet.



I tried all the standard stuff, power down, power up of computer,

router, and even depressed the "reset" on the router. Same results.

Could only get Internet access on the extender's signal.



After about four days (and totally unrelated, I think) the new

modem/router that Comcast had installed **** the bed. The "on-line"

light would never stay on as it should.



After talking to Comcast tech help, I returned it to the local Comcast

service center and exchanged it for another one. Hooked it up, went

through the startup procedure and everything worked again normally. I

could connect to either the router directly or the extender signal and

both gave Internet access with no problems.



It all worked fine like this for about a week. About 2 hours ago, I

lost Internet access again on the router signal connection. Local

access only. Yet, when I connect to the extender's signal, I get both

local and Internet access.



Again tried the re-boots and resets. No change. I even "deleted" the

router connection and had to go through the process of re-installing the

security WPS number to connect to it again. But it still only gives

"Local only" meaning the computer is connected to the router but the

router can't connect to the Internet. When I connect to the extender's

signal (HomeXXXX.ext) everything works fine ... local and Internet

access.



I can' make any sense out of this. The extender signal is nothing but a

"repeater" of the router's signal to my understanding and the extender

depends on the router for an Internet connection. So why can I connect

to the Internet with it but only get a "local network" connection when I

try the router's signal?



Any insight would sure be appreciated. This is driving me nuts.



Sounds like the extender is grabbing your wi-fi and not letting the

router pass signals from your computers to the modem section. But since

you've already swapped the extender try a new modem-router or a

different brand. I'm surprised Comcast couldn't provide the solution

with their own equipment.





I haven't changed the extender. I changed the modem/router. Both

worked for a few days (could connect to either the extender or the

router) but then stopped connecting with the router.

There's an issue with the cable modem/wireless router. The repeater can't "tell" the modem to only send the internet connection to it, and the fact that the repeater has internet shows that the modem has a good cable signal and that it also has internet access.

Is there a setting in the modem/router that limits how many (internet) connections it will allow? Maybe if you're disconnecting then reconnecting your device wirelessly, while you're disconnected (powered down?) something else is connecting (cell phone?) and taking the last available connection. Then when you try to connect it won't serve you. The extender has been connected the entire time, so it still has service.

Good luck!



Good thoughts. I don't know, but I'll check into it. I am going to
relocate the extender a little further away from the router and see what
happens.

I did a Google search yesterday for problems with the Netgear extender.
There are many people who have had trouble getting it set up to
provide access to the Internet, but I haven't found a single example of
the extender preventing Internet access when your computer or device is
connected to the main router.

Calling all computer network gurus ...
 

On 11/9/2013 11:25 AM, Charlemagne wrote:
On 11/9/2013 11:19 AM, wrote:
On Friday, November 8, 2013 8:38:34 PM UTC-5, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 11/8/2013 7:26 PM, Hank© wrote:

On 11/8/2013 7:50 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:



I have an issue that is driving me crazy. Or crazier.



We recently had a full upgrade of all our Comcast provided
equipment in

our house. It involved a new signal booster amplifier, two new,
higher

bandwidth distribution amplifiers for the gazillion cable TV
outlets in

the house and a new combination modem/wireless router.



We have a large house and the Comcast tech suggested getting a Netgear

WiFi extender to give the router more range. I purchased and
installed

the extender. The extender adds another WiFi signal that has the same

name as the router except it has "ext" at the end of the name.



So, now the computers see two network connections available.
"HomeXXXX"

and "HomeXXXX.ext"



The router signal was the stronger of the two from where I normally
use

my laptop. So, I tried connecting to "HomeXXXX" and it would
connect to

the router, but with no Internet access. Said "Local only".



I tried connecting to the weaker "HomeXXXX.ext" (extender) signal
and it

worked fine. Local and Internet access.



Went back to the original router network signal ... Local only .. no

Internet.



I tried all the standard stuff, power down, power up of computer,

router, and even depressed the "reset" on the router. Same results.

Could only get Internet access on the extender's signal.



After about four days (and totally unrelated, I think) the new

modem/router that Comcast had installed **** the bed. The "on-line"

light would never stay on as it should.



After talking to Comcast tech help, I returned it to the local Comcast

service center and exchanged it for another one. Hooked it up, went

through the startup procedure and everything worked again normally. I

could connect to either the router directly or the extender signal and

both gave Internet access with no problems.



It all worked fine like this for about a week. About 2 hours ago, I

lost Internet access again on the router signal connection. Local

access only. Yet, when I connect to the extender's signal, I get
both

local and Internet access.



Again tried the re-boots and resets. No change. I even "deleted" the

router connection and had to go through the process of
re-installing the

security WPS number to connect to it again. But it still only gives

"Local only" meaning the computer is connected to the router but the

router can't connect to the Internet. When I connect to the
extender's

signal (HomeXXXX.ext) everything works fine ... local and Internet

access.



I can' make any sense out of this. The extender signal is nothing
but a

"repeater" of the router's signal to my understanding and the extender

depends on the router for an Internet connection. So why can I
connect

to the Internet with it but only get a "local network" connection
when I

try the router's signal?



Any insight would sure be appreciated. This is driving me nuts.



Sounds like the extender is grabbing your wi-fi and not letting the

router pass signals from your computers to the modem section. But since

you've already swapped the extender try a new modem-router or a

different brand. I'm surprised Comcast couldn't provide the solution

with their own equipment.





I haven't changed the extender. I changed the modem/router. Both

worked for a few days (could connect to either the extender or the

router) but then stopped connecting with the router.

There's an issue with the cable modem/wireless router. The repeater
can't "tell" the modem to only send the internet connection to it, and
the fact that the repeater has internet shows that the modem has a
good cable signal and that it also has internet access.

Is there a setting in the modem/router that limits how many (internet)
connections it will allow? Maybe if you're disconnecting then
reconnecting your device wirelessly, while you're disconnected
(powered down?) something else is connecting (cell phone?) and taking
the last available connection. Then when you try to connect it won't
serve you. The extender has been connected the entire time, so it
still has service.

Good luck!


We just went through this with Cox... The TV worked/works fine but the
internet goes in and out... Last time it was out for three days (with
perfect TV and phone signal over the same network) and when the idiots
finally went through our inside network, the guy climbed the pole, and
changed the tap... Although we still have a bit of slow connections here
and there (they said the "new" tap wasn't perfect and they would come
and change it, they haven't), we are able to connect 99.9% of the time
now...


I don't necessarily trust Comcast but the tech who upgraded our
equipment and checked the signal strengths was a good guy and knew his
stuff. I was there while he tested everything and he showed me the
results on the meter.

Comcast is in the process of upgrading *all* their systems. It will
eventually require that everyone have the latest and greatest
modem/router to the D-3.0 protocol standard and that "splitters" and
other signal devices be entirely eliminated. If you have splitters,
they are being replaced with powered distribution amplifiers.

They have not upgraded all their service areas yet. We had the
original modem/router and distribution system that was installed in the
house when we bought it in 2000. It worked fine until Comcast upgraded
the broadcast standard which includes higher bandwidth and faster
Internet speeds. The old system couldn't handle it which is why we
started having problems and they upgraded the system.

I can say this ... when it's working, the Internet is fast as lightning.
Much, much faster than the old system.

Calling all computer network gurus .. solved!
 

On 11/9/2013 11:29 AM, wrote:
On Sat, 9 Nov 2013 10:48:02 -0500, iBoaterer wrote:

In article , says...

On 11/8/2013 9:24 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:

On 11/8/2013 7:58 PM, Califbill wrote:

"Mr. Luddite" wrote:

I have an issue that is driving me crazy. Or crazier.



I would remove the extender first and see if the router problems go
away.
Maybe is the extender over loading the router.


Tried that. Still could not connect to the Internet via the router
signal. Had to plug the extender back in to get Internet access.

and Hank wrote:

Sounds like the extender is grabbing your wi-fi and not letting the
router pass signals from your computers to the modem section.


Spoke too soon. I tried unplugging the extender again and this time
waited a little bit while the computer connected to the router signal.
At first it said "Local only" but, after a few seconds, made
connection to the Internet.

So, I think both you and Hank were on the right track. The extender
is somehow hogging the signal to the router and preventing the computer
from connecting via it to the Internet.

Can't say I understand why, but it seems that's what it's doing.

Tomorrow I will try experimenting by putting the extender even further
away from the router.




I still bet the Tap on the pole is "hogging" the signal:)

I'll bet it's not.


Me too.

It sounds like an addressing problem.

"Repair connection" does wonders for these things.


Yeah, it's not a signal strength problem. I tried the "repair
connection" a couple of times. Went through the process but then
reported there was still a problem with connectivity to the 'net.

Weird problem.