This Wednesday morning I woke up to find I couldn't get on the internet. It was working fine the night before. It was giving me a 'page loading error'. My knowledge of network connections is pretty weak, so I did all the usual things like turn the computer off and back on, turn the cable modem (Comcast) off and on. I though maybe the servers at Comcast are having problems or my cable modem is bad (I just had it replaced about a month ago). I called them up and they had me take my ethernet cable out of the modem and plug it directly into the computer. Then they had me type in a few prompts and see if my computer could ping their server- it could and they could reach my modem. I still couldn't get to the internet.
They set up an appointment and he came out and tested everything to confirm, even trying a different cable modem. Nope, everything SHOULD be working, but wasn't. He said he didn't know what the problem was and maybe I should try the Geek Squad. Well, I called them up and their fee of $108/hour quickly shot that idea out of the water.
I had no idea what was going on and took my computer tower over to someone's house that had DSL- it was able to connect right away. I brought it back about to call the cable company again, when, on a whim I decided to put my phone line into the dial-up modem jack (which I never used). It wouldn't really connect, so I figured I may not have the right plug or something, but this time, when I plugged the ethernet cable straight into the computer- I could connect! But not when I plugged it into the router. Somehow, somewhere, for some reason, the settings for my connections had been messed up (I think that's the technical jargon) and perhaps plugging the phone jack in caused a 'reset' or something. I don't know.
All I know is I could get to the internet and get a resource on what my problem was. Turns out that I'm not the only one this happens to, though I have yet to figure out why. How I finally got my router to work was by following some of the steps on this forum page:
http://forums.linksysbycisco.com/linksys/board/message?comm_cc=US&comm_lang=en&board.id=Wireless_Routers&message.id=44595&query.id=77067#M44595Especially, the part about resetting, I tried the reset button, but I didn't leave it on for long enough. Here is the part that I followed, but not exactly:
1) Power down all computers, the router, and the modem, and unplug them from the wall.
2) Disconnect all wires from the router.
3) Power up the router and allow it to fully boot (1-2 minutes).
4) Press and hold the reset button for 30 seconds, then release it, then let the router reset and reboot (2-3 minutes).
5) Power down the router.
6) Connect one computer by wire to port 1 on the router (NOT to the internet port).
7) Power up the router and allow it to fully boot (1-2 minutes).
8) Power up the computer (if the computer has a wireless card, make sure it is off).
9) Try to ping the router. To do this, click the "Start" button > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt. A black DOS box will appear. Enter the following: "ping 192.168.1.1" (no quotes), and hit the Enter key. You will see 3 or 4 lines that start either with "Reply from ... " or "Request timed out." If you see "Reply from ...", your computer has found your router.
10) Open your browser and point it to 192.168.1.1. This will take you to your router's login page. Leave the user name blank, and in the password field, enter "admin" (with no quotes). This will take you to your router setup page. Note the version number of your firmware (usually listed near upper right corner of screen). Exit your browser.
If you get this far without problems, power down the router. Using an ethernet cable, connect the ethernet port on your modem to the "Internet" port on the WRT54GS. Power up the modem and allow it to fully boot (1-5 minutes). Power up the WRT54GS and allow it to fully boot (1-2 minutes). Power up your computer. Now try to connect to the Internet. If you still have trouble, in your computer, temporarily turn off your software firewall. If you still have trouble, verify that your ethernet card is set to "Obtain an IP address automatically" and "Obtain a DNS address automatically". After you get the router working, you can go back into the router and manually adjust the settings, if needed.
I don't think I actually turned my computer off (much less unplugged it), but I did unplug the modem and the parts regarding the router I did exactly. In step 10, I don't get how you're supposed to direct your web browser anywhere since the modem is still off! Disconnect the cable from the router and connect straight to the computer from a powered-up modem to get on the page. From there, I set up my router from scratch following these instructions for my specfic model (WRT54GS, pretty similar to yours I think):
http://linksys.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/linksys.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=3686You can find the instructions for your specific model by searching for it here:
http://www.linksysbycisco.com/US/en/supportThe instructions seem identical to mine. After you have it set up, change your password and put it somewhere you'll remember (I put mine on masking tape and taped it to the bottom of the modem).
It's shit like this that makes me want to take a sledgehammer to computers sometimes. It shouldn't be this involved just to get onto the internet, and the fact that I couldn't connect even when bypassing the router was driving me bonkers. Hours of my life wasted. Hope this helps in some way.