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Wireless router is no longer a router?

Hi everybody,

A client of mine has just given me a wireless router to check (US Robotics 5462). He no longer is able to connect wireless with a USB key (also US Robotics, 5422) to the router.

So first things first, I tried hooking up my own machine via LAN cable to the router, in order to get access to the configuration of the router.

Here, I noticed that the router just passed through the IP that was given to the router to the first LAN connection! My ISP assigns me an IP in the range 84.x.x.x on my own router, and the wireless router got the same IP.

When I checked the IP on my machine, connected to this router, it was the same as the IP given to me by my ISP! This should not happen, should it?

Naturally, this meant I was not able to connect to the configuration screens of the router (192.168.2.1), so I disconnected the ISP cable and connected to the router with my machine set on a fixed IP of 192.168.2.2 . No success.

I've tried resetting the router, to no avail.

There is no way to connect to the router, no way to get a decent (internal) IP from the router, and when it's turned on I cannot see a wireless router nearby with a US Robotics ID.

Does anybody have any idea as to what is going on here? I'm starting to think the router might be damaged, but then again: why would it pass through the ISP's IP?

Thanks in advance,

Ikke

Reply to
Ikke
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Ikke hath wroth:

Assuming nobody has messed with the internal settings, the most likely cause is that the CAT5 cable coming from the DSL or cable modem is plugged into one of the LAN ports instead of the internet/WAN port. In effect, the router is acting as an ethernet switch and the IP address is coming directly from the ISP. Check the cabling.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Jeff Liebermann wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Thanks for the suggestion. However, when I looked at the router at the client's home, I could verify that the ISP cable was in the correct (WAN) port. The only cable coming from one of the LAN ports went to his PC.

Then when I disconnected it and took it home, I connected it myself and verified the cables again.

Thanks,

Ikke

Reply to
Ikke

Ikke hath wroth:

Well, since it doesn't route and wireless connections are currently impossible, it's possible that the firmware settings have become trashed. I'm not familiar with SMC routers, but on Linksys, I just punch the reset button and start over with all the settings. Lacking any better suggestions, it seems like the next step.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Jeff Liebermann wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Alas, as I stated in the original message, I've already tried resetting the machine. I've even tried resetting it different ways (resetting according to the manual, reset procedure as found on other US Robotics) just to be sure. Nothing helped.

So what's the next step? The machine is no longer under warranty, so getting it replaced is not possible. Apart from buying another one, I'm at a loss here...

Thanks,

Ikke

Reply to
Ikke

Its screwed, in that case.

Throw it away. A replacement will cost under $50, and you will spend more of your own time than that fooling with it.

Reply to
Mark McIntyre

One of my wireless routers is a DLink DI-764 (802.11a/b) that I've had since

2002.

After four years of 24/7 burning, its now starting to occassionaly go squirrely.

The radios sometimes just go off and, similiar to your USR, it also sometimes decides that it would be happier living life as just a switch.

I'd say the USR router is gone. Choking on it's firmware or the hardware just went bad. Either way, its deserving of a proper burial. You did all you could.

Last desperate ditch, look at the online config below to see if it has some sort of weird funky mode to be put into this hard state:

formatting link

Reply to
Eric

If you flash the router with the firmware, which might fix the problem, and the router continues to act up, then the router is through. They don't last forever.

Reply to
Mr. Arnold

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