Tiscali Broadband problem

[Dick Fisher]

I recently installed a Sagem modem on a friend's brand new Dell PC to connect to Tiscali Broadband. It uses a dial up connection and connects to the internet perfectly. However, no matter which website is visited, not a single page makes it back to the PC.

I have done all the obvious things like refreshing the IP stack, pinging uninstalling antivirus and firewall and so on (it almost sounds like I know what I'm doing), but with no joy so far.

Even the very nice Indian chap I spoke to (Tiscali support) couldn't suggest anything else expect installing a new copy of IE, but guess what - I can't do that because Microsoft can't validate my XP software because of the internet problem.

My next thought is to try installing say Netscape or Firefox instead of IE, but before I do, do any of the very knowledgeable folk (creep creep) on this forum have any better ideas?

Look forward to your suggestions!

[frostbite]

Haven't used IE for ages but I'm wondering if you've got some security setting blocking all?

Go with Firefox - you know it makes sense!

[Saab Dastard]

It uses a dial up connection and connects to the internet perfectly. However, no matter which website is visited, not a single page makes it back to the PC.


I assume that by dial-up you mean ADSL.

How do you know that it connects to the internet perfectly?

What do you get when you do an Ipconfig /all from a command prompt? IP address, DNS servers, etc. What happens when you ping www.pprune.org? What happens when you ping 213.161.73.143?

SD

[Dick Fisher]

Saab
I know it's connected because I get an icon pop up saying "connected at 2.3mbps". I'll also check the other things you've mentioned when I get back to my friend's PC tomorrow and respond then. My intention is to try installing Firefox as a first resort, so I can hopefully narrow down the issues.

Thnaks for the help so far.

[Saab Dastard]

connected at 2.3mbps

Actually, all that is showing is that the PC can see the wireless router at a "hardware" level - it may not be actually receiving IP configuration settings from the router via DHCP. It would also suggest that any WEP or WPA security is correcly configured - or not applied.

I doubt that installing another browser will help - I very much suspect that it is a network issue, not an application problem.

SD

[Dick Fisher]

Saab...thanks for your response. According to the connection data, (bytes transmitted, bytes received) there does seem to be some external activity beyond the modem, or am I reading this wrongly?

Are other suggestions you can give in addition to your other recommendations?

From my experience so far, using Tiscali's help pages, I have pinged 127.0.0.1 successfully. That address I assume is the modem, but using IP addresses from the browser itself has resulted in a long delay while the progress meter shows very slow progress - but my patience usually wears out before pages are actually received!

Thanks for all your help.

[Saab Dastard]

127.0.0.1 is the loopback address - i.e. itself.

What that tells you is that the PC can ping itself - that means that the IP stack is loaded and functioning correctly.

The fact that you are seeing TX / RX traffic on the network simply shows that the PC is exchanging packets with the router - probably DHCP requests.

From a command prompt (Run, cmd) type ipconfig /all, then copy the result here - it will show what the IP configuration for the PC actually is.

You should also view the TCP/IP properties for the network adapter - Control Panel, network connections, d-click the relevant adapter and go into properties, scroll down to the bottom of the list - I would imagine that both should be set to automatic.

Have you any way of checking that the broadband connection is working? e.g. by plugging a PC directly into the BB modem?

The next thing to look at is the configuration of the Sagem modem - is it actually configured correctly for the ADSL connection? There are various settings that need to be correct for it to connect to the internet, quite apart from its functions as a WAP / DHCP server / Switch for your local LAN.

BTW, I am assuming it's a wireless connection as you refer to it being "connected at 2.3mbps" - am I correct in this assumption?

[Dick Fisher]

Latest news from the Tiscali saga.

This is some of the information from the ipconfig /all command as suggested.

Windows IP config:
Host name: desktop
Primary DNS suffix:
Node type: Hybrid
IP routing enabled: No
WINS proxy enabled: No

PPP adapter Tiscali Broadband
Connection-specific DNS suffix:
Description: WAN (PPP/SLIP) interface
Physical address: 00:53:45:00:00:00
DHCP enabled: No
IP address: 88.109.54.81
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.255
Default gateway: 88.109.54.81
DNS servers: 80.225.252.58
80:225:252:50

I think that these two are the important bits. If you need more, let me know as there are also references to "Tunnel adapters".

Pinging various addresses from the command line does elicit a positive response, but working via the browser never pulled back any page impression. All this, despite another long session with a Tiscali helpdesk person and a de-installation/re-installation of the modem and its software. I have even installed Firefox as an alternative to IE, but get the same results.

Incidentally, I tried installing the modem on another pc and got exactly the same results. The modem itself is a simple hard-wired device with no switches or user adjustments available, and it's connected to the pc via USB. There is no LAN involved.

I suspect DNS problems, but am not fully aware of how to test for and resolve the issues. Any further help would be appreciated, but a response from me will have to wait until after August 7th, when I return from holiday!

[Saab Dastard]

The modem itself is a simple hard-wired device with no switches or user adjustments available, and it's connected to the pc via USB. There is no LAN involved.


It would have been helpful to have started with this information!

OK, so you can ping ... what?

Can you ping www.pprune.org? Does it resolve the name to an IP address?

If it does, then DNS is not the problem - it's a browser problem. If not, then it's a DNS problem - assuming that you get a response back when you ping 213.161.73.143.

What happens if you paste http://213.161.73.143 into your browser?

In IE, go to Tools, Internet Options, Connections - what's listed? What are the LAN settings - is there a Proxy Server set up? If so, disable it. Ditto for Dial-up and VPN settings.

[Dick Fisher]

Sorry for the late arrival of key info.
As my last mail suggested, I can ping various addresses including your suggestion of pinging PPRUNE - but only by using the IP address - not the name. Using the physical address in the browser address bar does not elicit any response.
The only thing listed on the connections page is the broadband adapter itself, and I've selected the option "always dial my default connection". There's nothing selected in the LAN settings dialogue box.

[Saab Dastard]

OK, I've tried your DNS servers and they don't work for me, although I can ping them.

Could you try pinging the following DNS servers and if you get a response, manually entering them into your network configuration:

62.30.112.39
194.117.134.19
62.30.0.39

Then see if you can resolve names.

SD