Changing a router's IP address required a call to SBC! Why?!

My friend recently changed his router's wireless IP address but after that, his wireless laptop failed to connect to establish a connection (although it had winXP setup for DHCP).

Anyways, he ended up having to call the router people, who told him to call sbc, they apparently made some change (bridge? PPP?) and then he called back the router people, and then it all worked.

I couldnt for the life of me explain what happened... why should changing your router's ip address cause such a fuss, Ive changed it dozens of times with no problems, and have never had to call sbc.

Anyone venture to guess what they did and why?

Reply to
benn686
Loading thread data ...

Sure. Did he have 5 static IP address service from SBC with a Netopia

3346 (or similar) router? If so, the IP addresses need to be programmed into the WAN config page in the router. The change may have been going from a bridged static IP account, to one of the stupidly implimented "sticky IP" accounts that use routeing instead of bridging and require a special router. That's a major change but can be done remotely if they know the MAC address of the router.
Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Im not sure he signed up to get static IP addresses, since they are generally more expensive, arnt they? He goes through SBC's dsl $14.95/mo (same isp as mine, except I pay 19.95:( )

But even if the router people (belkin I believe) did remotely configure his router, what part did the SBC support play?

Reply to
benn686

Yes. The under $20 deals, which are intended to bankrupt the former Pac Bell DSL "partners", are all PPPE with a single IP address. Static is about $70/month after taxes. So much for that guess.

Belkin doesn't do remote admin. SBC does not do remote admin without a major ordeal process, and only by level 2 tech's. Generally, it's only for major troubleshooting exercises where there's no other alternative. I've had SBC ship a static IP customer a new router rather than try to do remote admin. However, I've had a good experience with Netopia/Cayman doing remote admin and remote upgrades over the internet. That's almost a requirement as their 3546(?) routers tend to lose their flash RAM, which contains the license information, and causes the router to revert to a single IP, single user, device. The only fix is a remote upgrade and multiple license install, all orchestrated by Netopia support. I really doubt that Belkin is able, qualified, or willing to do all this.

My guess #2 is that there was something wrong with the PPPE protocol implementation in your friends unspecified model Belkin router. There have been some rather odd implementations of PPPoE which may have been the problem. Perhaps the DSL modem does not support the ATM circuit numbers (VPI/VCI) that were setup by SBC. It's possible that SBC modified their DLSAM or authentication server to accommodate such Belkin oddities. However, I'm guessing as I don't have any definitive information on what SBC or Belkin actually were doing.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Cabling-Design.com Forums website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.