I'd appreciate anyone's feedback on this issue. I just got SBC/Yahoo DSL, Thank goodness I skipped the Yahoo part and got it going. I got the speedstream 5100 modem and a linksys BEFVP41 (Router/Gateway/Firewall/VPN). I set up the modem for PPPoE on the computer and i tell the router to PPPoE w/ my login info and the connection comes up.
The problem is every once in a while my PC says "network cable unplugged" and I lose my connection to the router for a short while. Also, I can force this to happen by running tracert, As soon as tracert gets into the router it stalls, I get the "network cable unplugged," and tracert times out (only made it to the router.)
After the "magical" network cable is plugged back in, I don't have a connection unless I renew my ip (ipconfig /renew).
Yes, with a dlink router on cable internet. Thunderstorm came through last week and I now have a new router. (Didn't bother the modem or any of the computers, just the router died, and yes, it was plugged into the UPS).
How old is your router? What firmware is it using? (Check the linksys website for updates.)
I have Verizon DSL with completely different hardware, so I could be wrong here...BUT... I think that your problem is that you set up both your modem AND your router to do the PPPoE. Try removing your router from the system and see if it works. If it does, set either the modem OR the router to bridge mode so that only one does the actual PPPoE translation.
It may well be a cable problem but does it make any sense that doing "tracert" will trigger "netwrok cable unplugged"? Or that without physically touching the cables the connection comes and goes? Maybe but I don't think so.
I have seen defective Ethernet cables that resulted in similar symptoms.
It is entirely possible to have the LED's come on at the router or Ethernet card indicating that the cable/link is good but the cable still be defective enough to cause erratic or no data transfers.
It was due to problems like this that I purchased a couple of the $7.00 cable testers at
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I found them selling them at an Ebay auction to begin with.
They came in the mail quite quickly and work just fine. For the price I figured I'd give a couple of them to computer friends that donate their time troubleshooting networks at a couple of local charities.
True, it's all a guess at this stage but with one half of a pair missing or a wrong connection in the cable the signal may be degraded enough that the interface may shift between 10/100 and not remain locked during a longer data transmission. When Idle or short polls it may remain at what ever connection it determined was in use during the last transmission.
In the past some combinations of interface cards and routers have had problems locking in on a speed when both devices were set for auto-detect. If your port card and or router will allow you to lock the Ethernet speed to
10 or 100 you might give that a try. 10 would be my first try but usually just locking the port or interface card at a set speed would clear the problem.
The modem comes configured in PPoE mode. Make sure that you've followed these instructions to set it in bridge mode:
Q: How can I put the 5100b in bridge mode? (#8722)
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Next, ensure that your Linksys has the latest firmware. 4 new & out of the box Linksys BEFVP41's that were recently purchased by a client had firmware that went back to the stone age.
Log into your router and check to see what firmware version you are running (upper right hand corner of the screen). For the BEFVP41 it should be: Firmware Version: 1.01.04 For the Linksys BEFSX41 it should be: Firmware Version : 1.50.18
If your firmware is not up to date, go to the Linksys site & download the latest version.
For BEFSX41 (which you said was the correct router vs BEFVP41 in a later post):
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Once you've ensured that you have the latest firmware, then go to the Setup page on your router & enter your PPoE info. On the BEFVP41's that I have, the following are set:
Internet Setup Connection Type: PPPoE
PPPoE Settings User Name: valid SBC email address (e.g., snipped-for-privacy@sbcglobal.net) Password: valid SBC email address password Service Name: blank Connection: Keep Alive: Redial Period (I have mine set for 30 sec)
Optional Settings: blank
MTU: 1492
Network Setup
Router IP Local IP Address: IP for the Linksys Router Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Network Address Server Settings (DHCP) Local DHCP: Enable Start IP Address: 192.168.4.100 (this is an example you should change to whatever you are using) Number of Addresses: use only the actual number of addresses that you need for your PC(s) Client Lease: 0 All else blank/0 unless you are setting up static IP's.
If you don't need DHCP from the router disable it.
If you are running VPN's:
Go to DynDNS.org and set up a free DNS name. On the Linksys go to the DDNS page:
DDNS Service: DynDNS.org Username: your DynDNS.org username Password: your DynDNS.org password Host Name: your DynDNS.org DNS name
Give the above a try and see if that solves your problem.
BTW: I have NIC's of various types & flavors (autoflow, 10/100 autosense, 10 fixes etc.) connecting to the BEF's and haven't had any problems since setting them up as above. I also run 24x7 VPN's between 4 sites with 5100b's BEFVP41's and all works very well.
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