Modem failure

[Magicman]

In the midst of a session yesterday, it just died.  The wireless alerts said "lost wireless connection".  No problem, just go to the hardwired laptop and see if it works.  No go, it doesn't work either.  The neighbor still has high speed internet, so it's me.  Gotta be the modem.  Rebooted and all of that stuff.  Checked everything this AM.  Still no go.

Tried the obvious.  Unplug everything.    ;)

Simple things still work.   

[Tom]

So-o-o-o....

How did you get it to work with everything unplugged.  I need to try that.  It might cut down on my electric bill  :P :D

[ronwood]

I suspect there is a connection that is iffy. If I move my Ethernet cable on the back of my dsl modem just right I lose connectivity.
Ron

[Warbird]

Do you have a cable modem or are you on DSL?  What is the physical path from the ISP wire?  That is, does it come in from the wall, go to the 'modem', then go to a wireless router, then go to each of your computers?

You said you unplugged everything.  Did you power cycle the modem and your router?  Did any lights come on when you plugged each back in?

[Magicman]

DSL.  The Netopia modem is also the wireless router.  Ethernet cable goes to Magicwoman's laptop.  Mine is wireless.   I also have a wireless D-Link for the printer.

I was using my laptop and the "lost connection" flag on "Network Magic" showed up.  No power blink or anything.  Finally, disconnecting (and reconnecting, Tom  ;) )the power from the Netopia solved the problem.

[Warbird]

Ah, I see.  I misunderstood your post.  Glad it is working.    And yeah, simple can be oh so good.

[Magicman]

Anything that will fix itself, will fail again.  It failed again this afternoon.  I turned the modem off and then back on and it restored.  I'm supposed to have a new modem on the way.  The time is coming that it will not restore.

[Ianab]

Yup, they are a little computer in those routers. When they get sick they are prone to locking up at random, just like a faulty PC. A power reset restarts them, and they go for a while again, then lock up. If it happens once a month you can put it down to power glitches or random happenings and live with it.

When you need to do it every day, it's on it's way out. Whatever is wrong electronically is usually going to get worse over time, until it wont run long enough to get through it's boot-up process.

Ian

[Warbird]

Alternatively, it could simply be overheating.  That happened to one of mine a long time ago.  Blow the dust out of it and make sure it has adequate ventilation.