Topic: Home plug problem

[Rik]

Latest thoughts, Dave:

These plugs seem to get a mixed review on Amazon they work or they don't, my other thought is that the mains is noisy and this is killing the connection might be worth looking at what else is connected in the rooms where the plugs are situated.

Yes you should see the same when they are hooked up, Dave.

[daveeb]

i chaps
I have tried them in individual power points although they are supposed to work on extensions albeit slower providing they aren't surge protected.
I'll install the software and run the passwords although it never asks for the password directly and they should work without any software intervention..

[daveeb]

I've just connected a vista laptop up, (the one it failed on initially) and it has now worked without killing the router. I have set it up on adjacent power points so how it will fare at distance remains to be seen. Cheers for the ideas tho' not convinced i've solved it yet 

[Simon]

Rik will be back in the morning, but best of luck, Dave.  I bet you thought this was supposed to be easy! 

[Rik]

Another update, Dave:

The IP address on the pc is showing as 192.168.1.101 which apparently is the addy for the linksys router, is that how it should be ?

No no no no! Argh! You'll get an IP conflict on your default gateway. This is an issue I had a while ago when I moved my default gateway but the old one failed to be removed. Systems will then try and route through the most recent system that broadcast itself as that address. In this situation when the laptop connects with the same IP as the router all the PCs will be stuck and confused as all external packets will then try and route through the laptop and the laptop will be quite clueless too (hence it will appear the internet is down). You will be able to intermittently get to the router but with two systems on the same IP it's just going to be quite unpredictable (which is why it took me ages to figure it out). Try setting it to a fixed IP address if you want in the network configuration. Just use IP 192.168.1.200 (or other unused number up to 192.168.1.254) with netmask 255.255.255.0 and gateway to the router IP (x.101)... DNS either set to the router IP or type in the IDNet ones manually.

[daveeb]

Many thanks Rik, but what does this mean in practice. I haven't (knowingly) moved any default gateways, i just plugged in the router when i got it with the only setup being the security for the wireless. Do i have to go to the router home page and change some settings there

[daveeb]

one other thing, i'm fairly sure that until recently the IP addy on the main working pc off the router began 86.xxx.xxx., and now it's 192.xxx.xxx as per the routers own id. Clearly something has gone wrong. Is it as simple as assignig a slightly different IP within the range to each pc using the router. If so how does the homeplug fit into all this    I'm getting confused now 

[Rik]

You shouldn't have to alter anything on the router, Dave, but if they won't work any other way, then it may be worth assigning a fixed IP address to the plugs, if your router supports that.

You should never have seen an IP addy for one of your machines beginning with 86, generally, they will start with 192, the most commonly used of the private IP address ranges.

The homeplug is just another computer to the router, talking to the machine connected to its companion. Setting it up should be transparent, though the Amazon reviews on your model do seem a bit mixed. Unfortunately, I've never used plugs and the only brand I know a bit about is Devolo.

[daveeb]

Thanks Rik that has cleared things up a bit. I could well be wrong about the 86. xxx comment. Do you know how  i assign a fixed IP to the home plugs ?? they don't show as a physical entity on the pc (other than in their own monitoring/security software which is very basic). Also should i go ahead and incrementally tweak the IP addy of each pc using the (wired) network.

[Rik]

I'm afraid I don't know your router, Dave, so I'm not sure what tweaks are available to you. Do you have a friend or neighbour you could visit with the plugs, to see if they work in a different setup?

[daveeb]

I can try it myself Rik, as i have a second router running O2 adsl broadband on a different pc. I suspect now that it could be a DHCP problem, as if i understand it correctly each pc connected to the router should be automatically assigned a different IP address. Anyhow thanks for the input Rik. 

[Rik]

It should, Dave, and the router-connected plug should be seen as a PC.

[daveeb]

Could i ask one last favour Rik/Simon. Assuming you're connected via a router could you ipconfig /all on your main pc and tell me if your DNS ip setting is that of the routers default gateway or of the DNS servers for your isp.

reason i ask is that on the main pc attached to my linksys router the dns addresses specified on the pc are those of virgin media. On my pc attached to my O2 router the dns settings specified on the main pc are for the routers gateway. I've a feeling the latter is the correct setting. If so i'm trying to find a way to change the dns setting on my vm router pc to point the routers gateway. Hope that makes sense.

[Rik]

It is, Dave. The gateway would not normally be the same as the DNS servers, but should be the same as the DHCP server.

[daveeb]

Rik i'm tearing my remaining follicles out here , i just had to reboot twice to get the router back.
All i did was connect a second pc to the router and all connection is lost. (cannot connect to DNS server).
DHCP DOES seem to be working in that successive connections are given an IP address of +1
I incorrectly said that the ip of the main pc was the same as the router.
The problem seems to be looking in the network properties for the pc and also the laptop the address for the prefered DNS servers
is listed as 192.168.4.100  and 192.168.8.100 (the addys for the VM DNS servers)
These details are also on the routers homepage for DNS settings.
I believe the pc's network settings for DNS servers SHOULD be pointing at the routers default gateway to allow the router to contact to he DNS server on behalf of the pc.
Or have i completely lost the plot