Hi, I have a horrible home network that I believe has multiple problems with (but they might be the same problem). About a week ago, I had a small virus infestation on my laptop. I used a bunch of tools and I am pretty sure I got all the malware off it. I also decided to do the same thing to my desktop.

About 2 days after that, my desktop computer's DSL connection claimed to be connected even though the Local Area Connection wasn't. Therefore, it claimed to be connected, but I couldn't actually access the internet. Additionally, my home network including my laptop, my PS3, and my PSP were all working. After trying for hours to fix it, my entire network went down as I tried to reset my router thinking that maybe that was the problem. Quick Note: One thing I did notice was that I would not be able to ping the default gateway on my desktop most of the time. After losing hope, I basically made my laptop's connection from wireless to wired thereby taking out the Ethernet cable out the router from the equation and having a wired connection to the Desktop. This did not work either and so giving up hope, I made a last ditch effort to connect my laptop via a wired connection (to where the desktop was, still no router in equation). This worked fine.

Since I REALLY needed the desktop, after a couple of hours, I turned it off, plugged the router and its cables back in, and it worked fine. Unfortunately, my laptop, PS3, and PSP had lost their internet connection in the process due to resetting the router. Now, here is the weird thing, I entered all the routers info back in exactly as it was before, and the laptop basically had the same problem the desktop had. It claimed to be connected but it didn't actually receive packets. When I tried connecting my PS3 and PSP, they gave me "DNS Error Has Occurred (80410410)". So since then, I have been using just my desktop.

Now, before I continue, I should tell you that before all of this, my connection was pretty bad. I had regular disconnects especially when I connected my laptop and PS3 to the internet. Most of these required either a re-connection or in most cases, I had to take out the power plug from the router and modem, plug the modem in, wait, plug the router in, and wait.

Now, on with the saga. My desktop connection was not actually anywhere close to perfect with the connection. Regularly, it would not connect upon start-up or it would go back to its old ways. (During this period, I did have it connected through the router). Occasionally, I would have to unplug the router and modem, turn off the computer, plug them back in, and turn on the computer. Other times, it would come up with Error 711. (I did fix it through the instructions provided by help and support when it came). Another error that came up was that AOL and internet explorer would not work but Firefox would. When I tried to connect through IE, it would give me "Sign in with Windows Live ID" popup. The problems with the desktop were becoming intolerable and occasionally random, so I took the router out of the equation and the desktop has been working almost perfectly for a full day. I do, however want wi-fi again, so I'd really appreciate it if all of this can be fixed. An hour ago, I re-connected the wi-fi and everything seems to be working fine so far (I haven't restarted the computer yet). Now, on with the data:

Figure 1. Setup:
- - - - - -Laptop
/
Modem------Router----------Desktop
| \
| - - - - - -PS3
|
|
- - - - - - - - - -PSP
Key: ------- = wired
- - - - = wireless

Modem = Verizon Wireless 768kb DSL

Router = Lynksis WRT54GS

PS3 = Sony Playstation 3 Firmware 2.0?

PSP = Sony Playstation Portable Firmware 3.54????

Desktop =
Compaq ?????????????????
Windows XP SP2 with .NET 3.0
Local Area Connection using Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC
1394 Connection using 1394 Net Adapter
Verizon Wireless DSL using Broadband WAN PPPoE

Laptop =
Acer Aspire 5610
Windows XP SP2 with .NET 2.0
Local Area Connection (Disabled) using Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller
Wireless Network Connection using Intel (R) PRO Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection (meant to be indented)

Router Settings exactly as they appear when you type in the router IP:

Connection Type: Automatic Configuration - DHCP
Router Name: WRT54GS
Host Name:
Domain Name:
MTU: Auto
Size (can't change): 1500
Local IP address (standard lynksis): 192.168.1.1
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
DHCP Server: Enable
Starting IP Address: 192.168.1.100
Maximum number of DHCP users: 50
Client Lease Time: 0 minutes
Static DNS 1: 0.0.0.0
Static DNS 2: 0.0.0.0
Static DNS 3: 0.0.0.0
WINS: 0.0.0.0
DDNS Service: Disable
MAC Clone: Disable
Operating Mode-Gateway: Nothing has been set by me or the router on any number but when I click Show Routing Table, the following comes up:

Destination LAN IP 192.168.1.0

Subnet Mask 255.255.255.0

Gateway 192.168.1.1

Interface LAN & Wireless

Wireless Network Mode: Mixed
Wireless Network Name: I'll give it out if you want me too but I have set it to something.
Wireless Channel: 6-2.437GHz
SSID broadcast: Enable
Status : SES Security Parameters Configured
Security Mode: WPA Personal
WPA Algorithm: TKIP
WPA Shared Key: I never changed it from before
Group Key Renewal: 3600 seconds
Wireless MAC filter: Disable
Authentication Type (I can't change it): Auto
Basic Rate: Default
Transmission Rate: Auto
CTS Protection: Disable
Frame Burst: Enable
Beacon Interval: 100
DTIM interval: 1
Fragmentation Threshold: 2346
RTS Threshold: 2347
AP Isolation: Off
Secure Easy Setup: Off
Block Anonymous Internet Requests : Check
Filter Multicast : Check
Filter Internet NAT Redirection : Not-check
Filter IDENT(Port 113) : Check
IPSec, PPTP, and L2TP Pass-through’s all enabled
Access Restrictions: Nothing is filled out
Port Range Forward: Nothing Filled in
Port Triggering: Nothing Filled in
DMZ: Disable
QoS: Nothing filled in
Access Server: HTTP
Wireless Access Web: Enable
Remote Management: Disable
UPnP: Enable
Log: Disable
Status of Router:
btw, I have tried releasing, renewing, flushDNS, ect.
Desktop-when it works with router:

Ethernet Adapter Local Area Connection 4:
Connection Specific DNS Suffix:
IP address: 192.168.1.100 ping-Works
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0 ping-Destination Specified is Invalid
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1 ping-Works

PPP adapter Verizon Online DSL:
Connection Specific DNS Suffix:
IP: Not sure I should give this out ping-Works
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.255 ping-Could not find host
Default Gateway: Exact same as IP ping-Works

Laptop:

Ethernet Adapter Wireless Network Connection 3:
Connection Specific DNS Suffix:
IP address: 196.168.1.101 ping-Works
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0 ping-Destination Specified is Invalid
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1 ping-Works


I'm really sorry that this post is so long but I wanted to make sure I got as much information as I could. I hope this is fixable and I'd like to thank anyone who bothers to read through all of this, Thanks in Advance.

Welcome to PCHF

Wow that was a lot of information to digest at 4am. If I read that correctly, when you try connecting wirelessly, it doesn't work, right?

Have you tried switching the channel that the router broadcasts at? I used to have lots and lots of problems with mine till I switched it to channel 3, and then suddenly it worked fine, I suspect it was picking up interference from other wireless devices.

Out of curiosity, what version of the router do you have? Should say it on the back

Cheers

Thanks for the welcome
Yeah, when I try to connect wirelessly, it doesn't work (but the wired connection through my router to my desktop does).
I tried switching to channel 3 and restarting my laptop but it didn't seem to do the trick.
By router version, I assume you either mean firmware or model:
Firmware 1.52.2
Model: WRT54GS
I'm sorry if you meant something else.
Thanks for the reply.

I'm REALLY sorry for double posting but I have an important update to my problem.

It turns out that I can still transfer files between my desktop and laptop. I transfered a large file between them an hour ago and it came out perfectly. I hope this helps you reading this come up with a solution.

Ok, I think I have solved my problem. I had a hunch that it was the DHCP that was messing up so I went into the router configuration, set the connection type to PPPoE, and set all the IP, DNS, ect. number to be configured manually on the computers (so basically, the router and computer DHCP's were turned off). I then set everything manually in each computer and it seems to have solved that problem.

BUT!!!!

Before you mark this as resolved, my desktop's internet connection now only works with Firefox, not IE. I know I don't really need IE with Firefox, but can someone please tell me if it is possible to fix that? Thanks in advance.

Hey,

Sorry I've been gone for a long time, does IE give any type of error except "Page could not be displayed" or "Connection timed out?"

It's set to online mode right? Tried clicking offline mode, typing in a URL and clicking "Connect" when it brings up the dialog prompt box?