Reboot everything rebootable

[pne]

My Internet connection was really annoying this morning; things took forever and timed out more often than not. Pulling the DSL plug and plugging it back in (so the modem would re-sync the connection) helped briefly but not for long.

This evening, things hadn't gone back to normal, so I decided to pull the power cable from the DSL modem, wait five seconds, and put it back in. Once it had reconnected, things appeared to work fine. So yay!

Now I don't have to go and see who's the culprit (Vista? cable? router? phone line? ISP?).

Comments

[arthur-sc-king.livejournal.com]

I used to work for Shaw Cablesystems here in Vancouver BC Canada doing internet support, and still use their Internet service.

This technique worked so well for most problems that it's now on their hold tape when you call for tech support. It applies to a cable modem (Shaw started as a cable TV company) but I wouldn't be surprised if it works for most DSL/ADSL modems:

• Unplug power cable from modem;


• Unplug internet source cable (TV coax cable or telephone/DSL cable) from modem;


• Wait 30 seconds;


• Plug internet source cable back into modem;


• Plug power back into modem;


• Give modem a few seconds to wake up, then try again.

Hell, I often have to do that to my router at home, too. So this is a pretty normal fix.

At home, we have a complicated setup, partly because we have tenants in two ground-level suites, and we both provide them Internet access and want to keep them separate from our stuff. We also have VOIP phone. So our setup looks something like this:

Cable ====== Cable modem ======= VOIP Gateway ======

                                                                          |

|==================================================|

|

Dumb Ethernet Hub ===== Wired router ===== Our computers

|

|

Wireless router = = = = = = Tenants' computers



Something like that.