BT Broadband or router?

[Scooby_snax]

How can you tell if a disconnect (now for 1 hr 45 mins) is a BT Broadband fault or a router fault?
I have got all the correct lights on on my router have unplugged it and re plugged it and when I go into the router diagnostics seems to indicate the cable is intact - just not connecting
Presently on dial up on another PC!!!!

[SGirl]

Are you using the BT router thing, a Voyager whateveritis? If you are, power everything down, including the router. Leave everything off for five minutes. unplug the Ethernet cable from the router and the PC, reverse it and then plug it back in. Then switch it all back on. I think you switch on the router first, wait for all the lights on it to go green, then switch on your PC.

If all the lights go green, it's not BT. If you still can't connect, have you installed any new software recently?

[TheExcession]

SGirl said:

Are you using the BT router thing, a Voyager whateveritis? If you are, power everything down, including the router. Leave everything off for five minutes. unplug the Ethernet cable from the router and the PC, reverse it and then plug it back in. Then switch it all back on. I think you switch on the router first, wait for all the lights on it to go green, then switch on your PC.

If all the lights go green, it's not BT. If you still can't connect, have you installed any new software recently?

This (in bold above) is a very new one on me... would you mind explaining it a little more Was it something that a telephone tech support asked you to do?

thanks & best
Ex

[SGirl]

TheExcession said:

This (in bold above) is a very new one on me... would you mind explaining it a little more Was it something that a telephone tech support asked you to do?

thanks & best
Ex

Yep. Last time I had a problem, a BT girl asked me to do this. I asked her to repeat the instruction. She repeated the instruction. I said "are you 'aving a larf?", or words to that effect. She said no, to try it. So I did. And it worked.

[pdV6]

SGirl said:

TheExcession said:

This (in bold above) is a very new one on me... would you mind explaining it a little more Was it something that a telephone tech support asked you to do?

thanks & best
Ex

Yep. Last time I had a problem, a BT girl asked me to do this. I asked her to repeat the instruction. She repeated the instruction. I said "are you 'aving a larf?", or words to that effect. She said no, to try it. So I did. And it worked.

It wasn't the cable, it was the goat that was sacrificed at the call centre - getting you to aimlessly fiddle with the cable just gave them time to sharpen the knife...

[TheExcession]

Scooby_snax said:

How can you tell if a disconnect (now for 1 hr 45 mins) is a BT Broadband fault or a router fault?
I have got all the correct lights on on my router have unplugged it and re plugged it and when I go into the router diagnostics seems to indicate the cable is intact - just not connecting
Presently on dial up on another PC!!!!

Sounds like ther might be an outtage on the BT network.
Not sure of your PC skills but can you Ping your router? Can you Ping Google (64.233.183.104)?

[TheExcession]

SGirl said:

TheExcession said:

This (in bold above) is a very new one on me... would you mind explaining it a little more Was it something that a telephone tech support asked you to do?

thanks & best
Ex

Yep. Last time I had a problem, a BT girl asked me to do this. I asked her to repeat the instruction. She repeated the instruction. I said "are you 'aving a larf?", or words to that effect. She said no, to try it. So I did. And it worked.

• snigger*

We had an old telephone trick of ensuring that a printer/computer had been restarted by asking the person to unplug the pwer lead and tell us how many holes and what shape they were in the end of the power plug...

I've never heard it done for an ethernet cable... My guess is that they just wanted it unplugged and reinstalled, as me knowing lots about ARP and Ethernet leads me to believe that swapping the cable ends around would have no-change-what-so-ever.

reasons for them wanting this would be that:

1. You got the right cable
2. Pulling the cable out would cause the computer to drop its Ethernet Config
3. Reconnecting would cause the computer to go through a new DHCP cycle where it would obtain a new IP Address.

My guess is the only reason the asked you to swap ends was simply to ensure you'd unplugged the correct cable causing all of the above.

Interesting idea, and one that I shall remember for future support. As said, doesn't matter which way round the cable is (it worked before right?) more a cse of making sure the user pulls the right cable, and then DHCP takes over.

best
Ex

[Dogwatch]

I had one of those Voyager contraptions 'free' with my AOL Broadband a year or two back. Had loads of probs with the BB fading out mid-evening. BT and AOL couldn't sort it though engineer checked the line and pronounced it good for 2 meg, so thought it was the way things were.
Shelled out for a Netgear as I wanted wi-fi. No service problems since.
Conclusion - the Voyager is perhaps not the best available piece of equipment to have your Ethernet cable plugged into.

[Scooby_snax]

Thanks for the advice above
No I have a Netgear router.
Did a ping ....ping went out but didnt come back...dead as a dodo
When on the phone noticed a great deal of noise....as i have a direct line to BT Complaints due to a previous unresolved speed issue they established it was a line fault and to expect it sorted by tomorrow afternoon..as it happens by 2030 it was back on...however still at the crap speed of 500kbs as opposed to my usual norm of 2.4Mbs..anyway that problem is wih 2nd level techie guys to resolve.