I'm staying at a Ramada Inn in the Washington D.C. area for a few months that advertises Ethernet internet access via Comcast in each room.
Normally it is dynamic IP (DHCP) setup. When you run your browser, a Comcast web page comes up and once you click on the "Connect" button, you're up and running for all TCP/IP applications.
Well, in my current room the internet access isn't working. Pings anywhere fail.
I had the hotel "engineer" come and replace the little box on the wall that branches off the Ethernet connector from the TV cable. The replacement was brand new (I watched him take it out of the packaging and install it). No change in net access.
The TV signal is what I would call excellent -- no visible noise, so as far as connection issues, it doesn't look like the obvious cause. All connectors seem tight and no frayed connections. I tried using a known-good Ethernet cable in place of the hotel's cable with no improvement.
The engineer is a bit challenged when talking about computers or electronics, so I think he's "maxed out" as far as troubleshooting. There seem to be several -- nay, many -- rooms where internet access is broken.
What is the network topology in a hotel? Is there a huge router or switch that handles all the traffic? I'd like to get ideas from the network newsgroup readers regarding how to fix this that I can suggest to the engineer -- or do it myself (I'm an electronics technician familiar with networking small offices and homes).
After changing rooms a few times I finally found one with an air-conditioner that didn't keep me awake all night, so I'm not likely to change rooms because of network access. (I have internet access during the day, but meetings take up much of this time, so this really limits my ability to e-mail, etc. during the day.) FYI, Internet access in some of the other rooms I've stayed in worked fine.
Any and all suggestions to help get internet into my hotel room would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,