Can't access router without changing adapter settings

"dave_t" hath wroth:

Try: http://192.168.1.1 instead.

Thanks for the reply. The 192.192.1.1 address is deliberate. I changed the Linksys default because I was having trouble connecting with a laptop that uses a VPN. That much seems to be working.

Compare the working and non-working host configurations using ipconfig/all.

I think without you rebooting the machine, the static or specific IP you have assigned is still being used, even though you have changed the NIC back to Obtain an IP Automatically. You can check this using IPconfig /all at the Command Prompt to see what IP the machine is using a static IP on the router you assigned or a DHCP IP from the DHCP server on the router. You boot the machine again, then the computer tries to Obtain a DHCP IP automatically from the router and it cannot do it and the O/S is most likely assigning the 169.254 IP to the NIC meaning that the O/S couldn't get an IP from the DHCP server on the router and has timed out, which again you can see what IP the machine has by doing IPconfig /all.

If the IP is 169.254.xxx.xxx, then the IP will allow the machine to access other machines on the LAN but the IP will not allow the machine to access the Internet or the router's Admin. Setup, since it's not using an IP from the router.

This is usually due to some kind of mis-configuration or something is going defective, like the NIC, the router or the cable something along those lines that.

You can try IPconfig /release and IPconfig /renew to see if the machine will Obtain a DHCP IP from the router after you have set the NIC to Obtain an IP Automatically.

Try swapping the NIC with another machine and see if the problem follows.

Duane :)

"dave_t" hath wroth:

Yep. You need to have different private LAN IP blocks at both ends of the VPN. If the remote LAN is at 192.168.1.xxx, it won't work if you're using the same IP block at your end.

However, the real question is why you're having trouble connecting to your router while using DHCP. Let's start with testing the basics. Set your computer to obtain IP address automagically (DHCP). Power cycle the router (just for fun) and run: Start -> run -> cmd IPCONFIG Yours should be something like: IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.192.1.100 (the 100 varies) Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.192.1.1 If it's all 0.0.0.0 wait a little while longer. If it's 169.254.xxx.xxx, then the DHCP client or server is not working correctly. If the IP address is something else, then there's another DHCP server on your system or your wireless client is connecting to someone elses router.

If you're using wireless to test this system, I suggest you turn off the wireless temporarily and use a direct ethernet LAN cable for testing. That eliminates one possible source of trouble. When it's working, try it again with wireless.

Incidentally, if you're using DD-WRT firmware in your WRT54GS, there were some problems with the DHCP server in the v23 releases from around the first of the year.

If the IP address is correct, try to ping the router with: ping 192.192.1.1 If that works, then you have something screwy with your browser. It may be trying to read junk out of the browser cache. Flush (clear) the browser cache and restart the browser.

If ping does NOT work, either your router is set to block ping requests or there's something broken. The problem is that I can't tell where. Some things to try:

1. Reset the router and try it with the default 192.168.1.1 settings. I can't imagine why a change of IP address might cause a problem but it's worth a try.
2. Right click on IE6 icon and select: properties -> connection -> LAN settings and uncheck all the check boxes. However, if you're using a proxy server or anonymous browsing service, the setting will need to be preserved.
3. Disarm you VPN temporarily. I don't know if it's causing a problem but it's possible. The most common VPN related screwup is that as soon as you connect to the VPN, the internet connectivity dies. Dive into the settings and UNCHECK the box labelled "use remote gateway to internet".
4. I've noticed that on my WRT54G boxes, it takes a while for the web browser to display the login box. I'm not sure why but I've noticed that if I add a "/" to the end of the URL, it goes quicker. Something like: http://192.168.1.1/with the slash at the end. Don't ask me why.

That sounds suspiciously like symptoms reported in the old Apache 1.3 FAQ. Check out URL

JS

Thanks very much for all the replies. I've got some things to try out now.

Dave_t

I had the same problem after I installed BW-Meter 2.40 (cracked). After I removed this program all works fine.

D.