Lost My Internet Connection & Need Help !

[swarfendor437 14]

No internet with ethernet - have you checked the IP address? is it the infamous 169.254.xxx.xxx?

[jim lyon 11]

 

Hi,

      Bear with me, as I'm self taught on computers & the internet, but I'm guessing you mean provider?

 If so, it's BT

 I have been thinking of moving elsewhere, as they are not the cheapest, & the only reason I'm still with them was I was having lots of trouble using Wi Fi only. So upgrading to fibre optics made sense, & as I needed a land line running to the house to get a router, it was only BT who gave that facility, @ the cost of a minimum contract of one year, plus IIRC £140 for the work !

 So, if you know of a cheap, reliable provider, I'm interested.

   A problem with BT is that while they are a public company, our less than entirely wonderful government insists that the maintenance is carried out by a private company ( Out/Open reach - or similar? ) & they skimp on repairs in order to maximise their profit as they have no interest in maintaining BTs reputation  - so "class war"?

  Although it's too early yet, whilst BT are not admitting to any problems on their side, there is still the possibility of the guy I talked to being a Kafkaesque  "gate keeper"?

- You should be able to Google that?

 

 Cheers,

  Jim

 

 

 

 

[RollingJ 2,042]

3 minutes ago, jim lyon said:

 

Hi,

      Bear with me, as I'm self taught on computers & the internet, but I'm guessing you mean provider?

 If so, it's BT

 I have been thinking of moving elsewhere, as they are not the cheapest, & the only reason I'm still with them was I was having lots of trouble using Wi Fi only. So upgrading to fibre optics made sense, & as I needed a land line running to the house to get a router, it was only BT who gave that facility, @ the cost of a minimum contract of one year, plus IIRC £140 for the work !

 So, if you know of a cheap, reliable provider, I'm interested.

   A problem with BT is that while they are a public company, our less than entirely wonderful government insists that the maintenance is carried out by a private company ( Out/Open reach - or similar? ) & they skimp on repairs in order to maximise their profit as they have no interest in maintaining BTs reputation  - so "class war"?

  Although it's too early yet, whilst BT are not admitting to any problems on their side, there is still the possibility of the guy I talked to being a Kafkaesque  "gate keeper"?

- You should be able to Google that?

 

 Cheers,

  Jim

 

 

 

 

Yep, I meant provider. I'm not quite sure what your problem is, to be honest - whether it is the connection between you and the 'outside world' - i.e. the BT/OpenReach network, or your internal set-up. Difficult to tell when you don't understand the workings, so can't reasonably be expected to answer technical questions.

I'm leaning towards a combination of internal/external issues, but it is difficult to say without actually being there. Have you contacted - was it Ghozer - who offered to have a look for you?

[jim lyon 11]

On 05/04/2022 at 21:26, swarfendor437 said:

No internet with ethernet - have you checked the IP address? is it the infamous 169.254.xxx.xxx?

JL - Sorry, but I'm self taught , & as such you'd have to give me a lot more detail for me to understand - not that I object to learning  

 Though I can say that my provider is BT ( I needed them to upgrade to fibre optics ) - & that, given their prices, I'd hope to leave soon. - So, if you can recommend a value for money, reliable provider, I'd certainly consider them.

[jim lyon 11]

On 01/04/2022 at 16:37, fools said:

The history isn't that important, which is why I asked what is the problem now.  you switch it on, and ...

JL - Ur "history" is my "context", but no point getting into that. - The problem is still the 'same' - boots up OK, but no internet connection ... - & BT deny it's their problem ...

[RollingJ 2,042]

Just now, jim lyon said:

JL - Ur "history" is my "context", but no point getting into that. - The problem is still the 'same' - boots up OK, but no internet connection ... - & BT deny it's their problem ...

Jim - from what I remember earlier in this topic, you say the machine boots up OK and then shuts down without warning. That suggests to me that it is overheating. How long is it since it had a good clean out?

[fools 447]

Threads like this often go nowhere because pertinent questions don't get answered in a timely fashion. It has taken a week for the simple question to be answered, even then it's not that clear.  "no internet connection" might seem informative, but for someone to diagnose this issue blind, it is vague, it's like telling a mechanic the car isn't working. The original post is clear as mud - it will just lead us down a path of dead ends.

 

1. What router have you got, does it have lights on, what colour are they, blue?

2. Is your landline working, does the phone plug into the router or a wall socket.

3. What type of internet connection are you paying for, full fibre, fibre to the cabinet, what speed.

4. If you are with BT, you can use other peoples BT routers in the vicinity.

5. How are you posting this, do you use a smartphone connected to your router?

6. something is saying no internet connection, what is that something, a browser, the wireless network icon?

7. You were using wireless software at some point, does that say connected to the routers ssid (name) or disconnected (when the ethernet cable isn't plugged in)

8. What browser, and security software are you using.

9. Do you have any other equipment connected, or capable of being connected to the router.

10. The wifi aerial, what is this device, a usb wifi dongle, an internal card?

 

(Earlier you said the router light is blue, normally that indicates on bt routers, that the router is connected to the net, so the likely problem is your pc config, it should be very simple to diagnose - shutdown the pc fully, insert ethernet cable between router and pc, switch on pc, tell us what happens.)

 

from a cmd prompt, ping the loopback address, google, and the router, tell us what happens. (If you don't know what a cmd prompt is, google it.)

 

ping 127.0.0.1

ping www.google.com

ping 192.168.1.254

 

Someone sat at the computer would probably follow this procedure

 

go to a cmd prompt, and type

 

ipconfig /all

 

note the ip address, if it starts with 192.168  , then that would suggest the pc is talking to the router. (if you don't get a local ip, then that needs diagnosing, try ipconfig /release, followed by ipconfig /renew from the command prompt, with the ethernet cable plugged in),

 

if so, the next stage is to login to the router config page to see if it is connected to the net or not

 

go to this address in a browser.

 

192.168.1.254

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 7, 2022 by fools

[jim lyon 11]

21 hours ago, RollingJ said:

Jim - from what I remember earlier in this topic, you say the machine boots up OK and then shuts down without warning. That suggests to me that it is overheating. How long is it since it had a good clean out?

JL - The original problem on the W10 tower was the picture froze, a "loading circle" appeared, & after a minute or so that "loading circle" also froze. I selected back, got a repeat, then it came up with a No internet connection. Later I changed over to the W7 tower & initially it appeared OK, , though there was nothing specific that I requested came up. So I left it for about 10 mins to settle down. Instead it went into "Energy Saving Mode" & shut down. During that 10 mins, the Wi Fi light kept pulsing on & off, as it would normally.

  As for cleaning up, I've taken off easy access panels & stuffed a vacuum cleaner inside,which removed mainly dust.

[swarfendor437 14]

In terms of ISP I can highly recommend Zen - an internet company best in the North they are slightly more expensive for a lower speed connection but it is rocksolid - would never go anywhere else. Unlike major ISPs that give you a non-static IP address, Zen provides you with a Static IP address. And unlike other ISP's, if there is any issues you get to speak to real engineers, not script kiddies in a call centre who just follow the script they are given. I'm on the slightly slower fast package, which costs us £29.99 a month, plus just over £6 on top for unlimited land line calls - no need to hang up after an hour - unlimited means unlimited. Downloads of say an .iso of GNU/Linux works out at 4 Mb/s - = about 15 to 20 minutes for a 4 Gb iso. I will never leave Zen as their service is faultless.

Use this page to see if it is available in your area:

 

https://www.zen.co.uk/

 

169.254.xxx.xxx is the ip address that Windows sometimes throws up when networks go wrong - what this is is a private IP network - which means you can access other computers on the network but you will never reach the outside world.

 

This article by Netgear, although for Windows 8, the same procedure applies for 7 and 10:

 

https://kb.netgear.com/24804/Finding-the-IP-Address-and-MAC-Address-of-a-Network-Card-on-Windows-8

[jim lyon 11]

On 31/03/2022 at 16:04, Ghozer said:

from what I can guess, sounds like internet died, and he tried another (older) computer which seemed to work at first, then had issues of it's own which resulted in it now not booting at all..

Sounds like there's 2 or 3 separate issues here..

 

JL - BIG "shout out" to Ghozer! - Despite the fact he was busy, he found the time to come over & sort out my problems - 

 

1) Downstairs on Wi Fi The problem was a 4 port USB connector getting overloaded, & every time that happened, it was degrading ! But with that removed, the Wi Fi works by itself.

 

2) When I moved  everything upstairs, to use the router/ether cable, the problem then was the connection wasn't what it could be. So for the present  that's lashed up with some "bodge" tape

 

3) And for a bonus he managed to find a way to outflank a scammer blocking my access to my main mail box !

 

 So I'm VERY WELL pleased as he's dug me out of a hole when I was stuck in a  crucial life situation !    


Drop me a DM, I could potentially come take a look tomorrow (Friday) if needed

 

[RollingJ 2,042]

Glad you got it sorted, Jim. 👍

I had a feeling Ghozer would be able to sort it, given the chance.