Netgear DG834G user guide: Chapter 8: Troubleshooting

Chapter 8

Troubleshooting

This chapter gives information about troubleshooting your 54 Mbps ADSL Modem Wireless Router Model DG834G. After each problem description, instructions are provided to help you diagnose and solve the problem. For the common problems listed, go to the section indicated.

• Is the router on?
• Have I connected the router correctly? Go to “Basic Functioning” on page 8-1.
• I can’t access the router’s configuration with my browser. Go to “Troubleshooting the Web Configuration Interface” on page 8-3.
• I’ve configured the router but I can’t access the Internet. Go to “Troubleshooting the ISP Connection” on page 8-4.
• I can’t remember the router’s configuration password. Go to “Restoring the Default Configuration and Password” on page 8-9.
• I want to clear the configuration and start over again. Go to “Restoring the Default Configuration and Password” on page 8-9.

Basic Functioning

After you turn on power to the router, the following sequence of events should occur:

1. When power is first applied, verify that the Power LED is on (see “The Router’s Front Panel” on page 2-8 for an illustration and explanation of the LEDs).
2. Verify that the Test LED lights within a few seconds, indicating that the self-test procedure is running.
3. After approximately 10 seconds, verify that: a. The Test LED is not lit. b. The LAN port LEDs are lit for any local ports that are connected.

Troubleshooting

c. The WAN port LED is lit.

If a port’s LED is lit, a link has been established to the connected device. If a LAN port is connected to a 100 Mbps device, verify that the port’s LED is green. If the port is 10 Mbps, the LED will be amber.

If any of these conditions does not occur, refer to the appropriate following section.

Power LED Not On

If the Power and other LEDs are off when your router is turned on:

• Make sure that the power cord is properly connected to your router and that the power supply adapter is properly connected to a functioning power outlet.

• Check that you are using the 12 V DC power adapter supplied by NETGEAR for this product.

If the error persists, you have a hardware problem and should contact technical support.

Test LED Never Turns On or Test LED Stays On

When the router is turned on, the Test LED turns on for about 10 seconds and then turns off. If the Test LED does not turn on, or if it stays on, there is a fault within the router.

If you experience problems with the Test LED:

• Cycle the power to see if the router recovers and the LED blinks for the correct amount of time.

If all LEDs including the Test LED are still on one minute after power up:

• Cycle the power to see if the router recovers.

• Clear the router’s configuration to factory defaults. This will set the router’s IP address to 192.168.0.1. This procedure is explained in “Using the Reset button” on page 8-9.

If the error persists, you might have a hardware problem and should contact technical support.

LAN or Internet Port LEDs Not On

If either the LAN LEDs or Internet LED do not light when the Ethernet connection is made, check the following:

8-2 Troubleshooting

• Make sure that the Ethernet cable connections are secure at the router and at the hub or workstation.

• Make sure that power is turned on to the connected hub or workstation.

• Be sure you are using the correct cable: — When connecting the router’s WAN ADSL port, use the cable that was supplied with the DG834G v3.

Troubleshooting the Web Configuration Interface

If you are unable to access the router’s Web Configuration interface from a computer on your local network, check the following:

• If you are using an Ethernet-connected computer, check the Ethernet connection between the computer and the router as described in the previous section.

• Make sure your computer’s IP address is on the same subnet as the router. If you are using the recommended addressing scheme, your computer’s address should be in the range of 192.168.0.2 to 192.168.0.254. Refer to “Preparing a Computer for Network Access” in Appendix C to find your computer’s IP address.

Note: If your computer’s IP address is shown as 169.254.x.x: Recent versions of Windows and MacOS will generate and assign an IP address if the computer cannot reach a DHCP server. These auto-generated addresses are in the range of 169.254.x.x. If your IP address is in this range, check the connection from the computer to the router and reboot your computer.

• If your router’s IP address was changed and you do not know the current IP address, clear the router’s configuration to factory defaults. This will set the router’s IP address to 192.168.0.1. This procedure is explained in “Using the Reset button” on page 8-9.

• Make sure your browser has Java, JavaScript, or ActiveX enabled. If you are using Internet Explorer, click Refresh to be sure the Java applet is loaded.

• Try quitting the browser and launching it again.

• Make sure you are using the correct login information. The factory default login name is admin and the password is password. Make sure that CAPS LOCK is off when entering this information.

Troubleshooting

If the router does not save changes you have made in the Web Configuration Interface, check the following:

• When entering configuration settings, be sure to click the Apply button before moving to another menu or tab, or your changes are lost.
• Click the Refresh or Reload button in the Web browser. The changes may have occurred, but the Web browser may be caching the old configuration.

Troubleshooting the ISP Connection

If your router is unable to access the Internet, you should check the ADSL connection, then the WAN TCP/IP connection.

A DSL link

If your router is unable to access the Internet, you should first determine whether you have an ADSL link with the service provider. The state of this connection is indicated with the Internet LED.

Internet LED Green or Blinking Green

If your Internet LED is green or blinking green, then you have a good ADSL connection. You can be confident that the service provider has connected your line correctly and that your wiring is correct.

I nternet LED Blinking Amber

If your Internet LED is blinking amber, then your modem router is attempting to make an ADSL connection with the service provider. The LED should turn green within several minutes.

If the Internet LED does not turn green, disconnect all telephones on the line. If this solves the problem, reconnect the telephones one at a time, being careful to use a microfilter on each telephone. If the microfilters are connected correctly, you should be able to connect all your telephones.

If disconnecting telephones does not result in a green Internet LED, there may be a problem with your wiring. If the telephone company has tested the ADSL signal at your Network Interface Device (NID), then you may have poor quality wiring in your house.

Internet LED Off

If the Internet LED is off, disconnect all telephones on the line. If this solves the problem, reconnect the telephones one at a time, being careful to use a microfilter on each telephone. If the microfilters are connected correctly, you should be able to connect all your telephones.

If disconnecting telephones does not result in a green Internet LED the problem may be one of the following:

• Check that the telephone company has made the connection to your line and tested it.

• Verify that you are connected to the correct telephone line. If you have more than one phone line, be sure that you are connected to the line with the ADSL service. It may be necessary to use a swapper if you ADSL signal is on pins 1 and 4 or the RJ-11 jack. The ADSL Modem Wireless Router uses pins 2 and 3.

Obtaining a WAN IP Address

If your modem router is unable to access the internet, and your Internet LED is green or blinking green, you should determine whether the modem router is able to obtain a WAN IP address from the ISP. Unless you have been assigned a static IP address, your modem router must request an IP address from the ISP. You can determine whether the request was successful using the browser interface.

To check the WAN IP address from the browser interface:

1. Launch your browser and select an external site such as www.netgear.com.
2. Access the Main Menu of the modem router’s configuration at http://192.168.0.1.
3. Under the Maintenance heading check that an IP address is shown for the WAN Port. If 0.0.0.0 is shown, your modem router has not obtained an IP address from your ISP.

If your router is unable to obtain an IP address from the ISP, the problem may be one of the following:

• Your ISP may require a Multiplexing Method or Virtual Path Identifier/Virtual Channel Identifier parameter. Verify with your ISP the Multiplexing Method and parameter value, and update the router’s ADSL Settings accordingly.

• Your ISP may require a login program. Ask your ISP whether they require PPP over Ethernet (PPPoE) or PPP over ATM (PPPOA) login.

Troubleshooting

• If you have selected a login program, you may have incorrectly set the Service Name, User Name and Password. See “Troubleshooting PPPoE or PPPoA”, below.
• Your ISP may check for your computer's host name. Assign the computer Host Name of your ISP account to the modem router in the browser-based Setup Wizard.
• Your ISP only allows one Ethernet MAC address to connect to Internet, and may check for your computer’s MAC address. In this case: Inform your ISP that you have bought a new network device, and ask them to use the router’s MAC address.

OR

Configure your router to spoof your computer’s MAC address. This can be done in the Basic Settings menu. Refer to the ADSL Modem Wireless Router Setup Manual (see Table 2-2 on page 2-10).

Troubleshooting PPPoE or PPPoA

The PPPoA or PPPoA connection can be debugged as follows:

1. Access the Main Menu of the router at http://192.168.0.1.
2. Under the Maintenance heading, select the Router Status link.
3. Click the Connection Status button.
4. If all of the steps indicate “OK” then your PPPoE or PPPoA connection is up and working.
5. If any of the steps indicates “Failed”, you can attempt to reconnect by clicking Connect. The modem router will continue to attempt to connect indefinitely.

If you cannot connect after several minutes, you may be using an incorrect Service Name, User Name or Password. There also may be a provisioning problem with your ISP.

Note: Unless you connect manually, the modem router will not authenticate using PPPoE or PPPoA until data is transmitted to the network.

Troubleshooting Internet Browsing

If your modem router can obtain an IP address but your computer is unable to load any Web pages from the Internet:

• Your computer may not recognize any DNS server addresses.

A DNS server is a host on the Internet that translates Internet names (such as www addresses) to numeric IP addresses. Typically your ISP will provide the addresses of one or two DNS servers for your use. If you entered a DNS address during the modem router’s configuration, reboot your computer and verify the DNS address as described in “Preparing a Computer for Network Access” in Appendix C. Alternatively, you can configure your computer manually with DNS addresses, as explained in your operating system documentation.

• Your computer may not have the modem router configured as its TCP/IP modem router.

If your computer obtains its information from the modem router by DHCP, reboot the computer and verify the modem router address as described in “Preparing a Computer for Network Access” in Appendix C.

Troubleshooting a TCP/IP Network Using the Ping Utility

Most TCP/IP terminal devices and routers contain a ping utility that sends an echo request packet to the designated device. The device then responds with an echo reply. Troubleshooting a TCP/IP network is made very easy by using the ping utility in your computer.

Testing the LAN Path to Your Router

You can ping the router from your computer to verify that the LAN path to your router is set up correctly.

To ping the router from a PC running Windows 95 or later:

1. From the Windows toolbar, click the Start button and select Run.
2. In the field provided, type Ping followed by the IP address of the router, as in this example: ping 192.168.0.1
3. Click OK.

You should see a message like this one: Pinging <IP address> with 32 bytes of data

Troubleshooting

If the path is working, you see this message: Reply from < IP address >: bytes=32 time=NN ms TTL=xxx If the path is not working, you see this message: Request timed out If the path is not functioning correctly, you could have one of the following problems: • Wrong physical connections — Make sure the LAN port LED is on. If the LED is off, follow the instructions in “LAN or Internet Port LEDs Not On” on page 8-2. — Check that the corresponding Link LEDs are on for your network interface card and for the hub ports (if any) that are connected to your workstation and router. • Wrong network configuration — Verify that the Ethernet card driver software and TCP/IP software are both installed and configured on your PC or workstation. — Verify that the IP address for your router and your workstation are correct and that the addresses are on the same subnet.

Testing the Path from Your Computer to a Remote Device

After verifying that the LAN path works correctly, test the path from your PC to a remote device. From the Windows run menu, type: PING -n 10 <IP address> where <IP address> is the IP address of a remote device such as your ISP’s DNS server.

If the path is functioning correctly, replies as in the previous section are displayed. If you do not receive replies: — Check that your PC has the IP address of your router listed as the default modem router. If the IP configuration of your PC is assigned by DHCP, this information will not be visible in your PC’s Network Control Panel. Verify that the IP address of the router is listed as the default modem router as described in “Preparing a Computer for Network Access” in Appendix C. — Check to see that the network address of your PC (the portion of the IP address specified by the netmask) is different from the network address of the remote device. — Check that your cable or DSL modem is connected and functioning.

8-8 Troubleshooting

— If your ISP assigned a host name to your PC, enter that host name as the Account Name in the Basic Settings menu.

— Your ISP could be rejecting the Ethernet MAC addresses of all but one of your PCs. Many broadband ISPs restrict access by only allowing traffic from the MAC address of your broadband modem, but some ISPs additionally restrict access to the MAC address of a single PC connected to that modem. If this is the case, you must configure your router to “clone” or “spoof” the MAC address from the authorized PC. Refer to your ADSL Modem Wirelesss Router Setup Manual (see Table 2-2 on page 2-10).

Restoring the Default Configuration and Password

This section explains how to restore the factory default configuration settings, changing the router’s administration password to password and the IP address to 192.168.0.1. You can erase the current configuration and restore factory defaults in two ways:

• Use the Erase function of the Web Configuration Manager (see “Backing Up, Restoring, or Erasing Your Settings” on page 5-1).

• Use the Default Reset button on the rear panel of the router. Use this method for cases when the administration password or IP address is not known.

Using the Reset button

To restore the factory default configuration settings without knowing the administration password or IP address, you must use the Default Reset button on the rear panel of the router.

1. Press and hold the Default Reset button until the Test LED turns on (about 10 seconds).
2. Release the Default Reset button and wait for the router to reboot.

Problems with Date and Time

The E-mail menu in the Content Filtering section displays the current date and time of day. The ADSL Modem Wireless Router uses the Network Time Protocol (NTP) to obtain the current time from one of several Network Time Servers on the Internet. Each entry in the log is stamped with the date and time of day. Problems with the date and time function can include:

Troubleshooting

• Date shown is January 1, 2000 Cause: The router has not yet successfully reached a Network Time Server. Check that your Internet access settings are configured correctly. If you have just completed configuring the router, wait at least five minutes and check the date and time again.
• Time is off by one hour Cause: The router does not automatically sense Daylight Savings Time. In the E-mail menu, check or uncheck the box marked “Adjust for Daylight Savings Time”.

8-10 Troubleshooting

Appendix A

Technical Specifications

This appendix provides technical specifications for the 54 Mbps ADSL Modem Wireless Router Model DG834G.

Network Protocol and Standards Compatibility

Data and Routing Protocols: TCP/IP, RIP-1, RIP-2, DHCP, PPPoE or PPPoA, RFC 1483 Bridged or Routed Ethernet, and RFC 1577 Classical IP over ATM

Power Adapter

North America: 120V, 60 Hz, input
United Kingdom, Australia: 240V, 50 Hz, input
Europe: 230V, 50 Hz, input
Japan: 100V, 50/60 Hz, input
All regions (output): 12 V AC @ 1.0A output

Physical Specifications

Dimensions: 6.9" x 4.7" x 1.1"
175 mm x 119 mm x 28 mm
Weight: 0.7 lbs.
0.3 kg

Environmental Specifications

Operating temperature: 0° to 40° C (32° to 104° F)
Operating humidity: 90% maximum relative humidity, noncondensing

Electromagnetic Emissions

Meets requirements of: FCC Part 15 Class B; VCCI Class B; EN 55 022 (CISPR 22), Class B

Interface Specifications

LAN: 10BASE-T or 100BASE-Tx, RJ-45
WAN: ADSL, ADSL2+, Dual RJ-11, pins 2 and 3, T1.413, G.DMT, G.Lite, ITU Annex A (for the DG834G) or ITU Annex B (for the DG834GB)

Technical Specifications A-1

A-2 Technical Specifications

Appendix B

NETGEAR VPN Configuration

DG834G v3 to FVL328

This appendix is a case study on how to configure a secure IPSec VPN tunnel from a NETGEAR DG834G v3 to a FVL328. This case study follows the VPN Consortium interoperability profile guidelines (found at http://www.vpnc.org/InteropProfiles/Interop-01.html).

Configuration Profile

The configuration in this document follows the addressing and configuration mechanics defined by the VPN Consortium. Gather all the necessary information before you begin the configuration process. Verify whether the firmware is up to date, all of the addresses that will be necessary, and all of the parameters that need to be set on both sides. Check that there are no firewall restrictions.

Table B-1. Profile Summary

Reference Manual for the ADSL Modem Wireless Router DG834G

Figure B-1

Note: Product updates are available on the NETGEAR, Inc. web site at http://kbserver.netgear.com/DG834G v3.asp.

Step-By-Step Configuration

1. Configure the DG834G v3 as in the Gateway-to-Gateway procedures using the VPN Wizard (see “How to Set Up a Gateway-to-Gateway VPN Configuration” on page 7-21), being certain to use appropriate network addresses for the environment.

   The LAN Addresses used in this example are as follows:

a.  In Step 1, enter **toFVL328** for the Connection Name.
b.  In Step 2, enter **22.23.24.25** for the remote WAN's IP address.
c.  In Step 3, enter the following:
    - IP Address = **172.23.9.1**
    - Subnet Mask = **255.255.255.0**

B-2 NETGEAR VPN Configuration

Reference Manual for the ADSL Modem Wireless Router DG834G

Click VPN Policies under Advanced - VPN to invoke this screen

Figure B-2

NETGEAR VPN Configuration B-3

2. Configure the FVL328 as in the Gateway-to-Gateway procedures for the VPN Wizard (see “How to Set Up a Gateway-to-Gateway VPN Configuration” on page 7-21), being certain to use appropriate network addresses for the environment. a. In Step 1, enter toDG834 for the Connection Name b. In Step 2, enter 14.15.16.17 for the remote WAN's IP address c. In Step 3, enter the following: * IP Address = 10.5.6.1 * Subnet Mask = 255.255.255.0

B-4 NETGEAR VPN Configuration

Figure B-3

NETGEAR VPN Configuration B-5

3. Test the VPN tunnel by pinging the remote network from a PC attached to the DG834G v3. a. Open the command prompt (Start -> Run -> cmd) b. ping 172.23.9.1

Figure B-4

Note: The pings may fail the first time. If this happens, try the pings a second time.

DG834G v3 with FQDN to FVL328

This appendix is a case study on how to configure a VPN tunnel from a NETGEAR DG834G v3 to a FVL328 using a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) to resolve the public address of one or both routers. This case study follows the VPN Consortium interoperability profile guidelines (found at http://www.vpnc.org/InteropProfiles/Interop-01.html).

Configuration Profile

The configuration in this document follows the addressing and configuration mechanics defined by the VPN Consortium. Gather all the necessary information before you begin the configuration process. Verify whether the firmware is up to date, all of the addresses that will be necessary, and all of the parameters that need to be set on both sides. Check that there are no firewall restrictions.

B-6

NETGEAR VPN Configuration

Reference Manual for the ADSL Modem Wireless Router DG834G

Table B-2. Profile Summary

Figure B-5

Note: Product updates are available on the NETGEAR, Inc. web site at http://kbserver.netgear.com/DG834G v3.asp.

NETGEAR VPN Configuration B-7

The Use of a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN)

Many ISPs (Internet Service Providers) provide connectivity to their customers using dynamic instead of static IP addressing. This means that a user’s IP address does not remain constant over time which presents a challenge for gateways attempting to establish VPN connectivity.

A Dynamic DNS (DDNS) service allows a user whose public IP address is dynamically assigned to be located by a host or domain name. It provides a central public database where information (such as email addresses, host names and IP addresses) can be stored and retrieved. Now, a gateway can be configured to use a 3rd party service in lieu of a permanent and unchanging IP address to establish bi-directional VPN connectivity.

To use DDNS, you must register with a DDNS service provider. Example DDNS Service Providers include:

• DynDNS: www.dyndns.org • TZO.com: netgear.tzo.com • ngDDNS: ngddns.iego.net

In this example, Gateway A is configured using an example FQDN provided by a DDNS Service provider. In this case we established the hostname dg834g.dyndns.org for gateway A using the DynDNS service. Gateway B will use the DDNS Service Provider when establishing a VPN tunnel.

In order to establish VPN connectivity Gateway A must be configured to use Dynamic DNS, and Gateway B must be configured to use a DNS hostname to find Gateway A provided by a DDNS Service Provider. Again, the following step-by-step procedures assume that you have already registered with a DDNS Service Provider and have the configuration information necessary to set up the gateways.

Step-By-Step Configuration

1. Log in to the DG834G v3 labeled Gateway A as in the illustration.

Out of the box, the DG834G v3 is set for its default LAN address of http://192.168.0.1 with its default user name of admin and default password of password. For this example we will assume you have set the local LAN address as 10.5.6.1 for Gateway A and have set your own password.

2. Click on the Dynamic DNS link on the left side of the Settings management GUI. This will take you to the Dynamic DNS Menu.

B-8 NETGEAR VPN Configuration

3. On the DG834G v3, configure the Dynamic DNS settings. a. Browse to the Dynamic DNS Setup Screen (see Figure B-6) in the Advanced menu.

Figure B-6

b. Configure this screen with appropriate account and hostname settings and then click Apply. * Check the box Use a Dynamic DNS Service. * Host Name = dg834g.dyndns.org * User Name = <user's account username> * Password = <user's account password> c. Click Show Status. The resulting screen should show Update OK: good (see Figure B-7).

Figure B-7

NETGEAR VPN Configuration B-9

4. On the FVL328, configure the Dynamic DNS settings. Assume a properly configured DynDNS account. a. Browse to the Dynamic DNS Setup Screen (see Figure B-8) in the Advanced menu.

Figure B-8

b. Select the DynDNS.org radio button (see Figure B-8), configure with appropriate account and hostname settings (see Figure B-9), and then click Apply.

• Host and Domain Name = fvl328.dyndns.org
• User Name = <user's account username>
• Password = <user's account password>

B-10 NETGEAR VPN Configuration

Figure B-9

c. Click Show Status. The resulting screen should show Update OK: good (see Figure B-10).

Figure B-10

NETGEAR VPN Configuration B-11

Reference Manual for the ADSL Modem Wireless Router DG834G

5. Configure the DG834G v3 as in the Gateway-to-Gateway procedures using the VPN Wizard (see “How to Set Up a Gateway-to-Gateway VPN Configuration” on page 7-21), being certain to use appropriate network addresses for the environment.

The LAN Addresses used in this example are as follows:

a. In Step 1, enter toFVL328 for the Connection Name.

b. In Step 2, enter fvl328.dyndns.org for the remote WAN's IP address.

c. In Step 3, enter the following:

• IP Address = 172.23.9.1
• Subnet Mask = 255.255.255.0

6. Configure the FVL328 as in the Gateway-to-Gateway procedures for the VPN Wizard (see “How to Set Up a Gateway-to-Gateway VPN Configuration” on page 7-21), being certain to use appropriate network addresses for the environment.

a. In Step 1, enter toDG834 for the Connection Name.

b. In Step 2, enter dg834g.dyndns.org for the remote WAN's IP address.

c. In Step 3, enter the following:

• IP Address = 10.5.6.1
• Subnet Mask = 255.255.255.0

7. Test the VPN tunnel by pinging the remote network from a PC attached to the DG834G v3.

a. Open the command prompt (Start -> Run -> cmd)

b. ping 172.23.9.1

B-12 NETGEAR VPN Configuration

Figure B-11

Note: The pings may fail the first time. If this happens, try the pings a second time.

NETGEAR VPN Configuration B-13