BT Home Hub - no internet access

[oldbeefer]

This one has me beat! XP PC was on TalkTalk. Owner changed to BT. Owner set up router, but setup CD could not complete the setup. Just plugging the ethernet cable in, icon says connected, but clicking IE displays 'could not be connected'.

A laptop connects OK both wirelessly and by the same cable.

Tried a wireless dongle on the PC- says connected, but IE page won't open.

Tried to access the router set-up pages, but can't.

Have brought the PC home where it connects to the internet with no problems!

any suggestions gratefully received!

[green granite]

I think the mistake might have been running BT's disc, try rolling back to the last restore point and just running the network set up wizard, the router should already be set up by BT. The home hub IP address is 192.168.1.254 and the first computer is usually 192.168.1.64

[Milo Minderbinder]

guessing, but I'd say theres a good chance that the default gateway / IP address / DNS server settings have been manually fixed on the computer.
Check those and make sure they're all set to auto

Also its worth resetting the Home Hub to defaults and trying again. Its preconfigured so you wont need to reinput any settings

But Green Granites correct - running the BT disk is a waste of time, and often causes problems. A few years ago I was doing broadband installations for BT on contract though A-Novo, and the BT internal help desk team used to plead with us NOT to use the disk, even though we were contractually obliged to install it through our agreement with A-Novo

PS - have you tried a different ethernet cable? And you are plugging into the YELLOW sockets on the hub, not the red one (which is an upload link for connecting to a FTTC modem)

[oldbeefer]

Thanks - all set to auto. Tried a restore, but couldn't complete (tried several different points). Router reset. Same cable connects a laptop OK. Had a look at the registry and there don't appear to be any BT entries (and nothing on desktop or in Add Remove Progs I would have advised not to use the disk, but he did it without letting me know that the kit had arrived!

I suspect , though, that the partial install of the disk has caused the problem as the PC connects OK to my router.

Any other way of finding leftover entries from that failed install?

[green granite]

I suspect the install disc has changed a registry entry setting or two.

To cure the restore problem try doing a restore in the safe mode, or un-install any anti-virus/firewall programs and try it in the normal mode.

[cwatters]

Compare the network settings on the PC and Laptop.

Perhaps connect both to the router and use the laptop to log into the router set up menu. See if the router is seeing the PC and allocating an IP?

Ping the router from the PC?

[Mike-Bracknell]

Go into the device manager (in control panel), and remove the network adapter.

Reboot, and let it find the network adapter and reinstall the TCP/IP stack.

See whether that works.

[oldbeefer]

Thanks - I'll try a SR in safe Mode. Mike - I tried all sorts, winsock fix, ipconfig /release etc. Nothing seemed to work on his router but was fine on mine, so I don't think those settings are a factor?

[Milo Minderbinder]

That BT software is so pernicious. It installs "BT Broadband Desktop Help" which hooks into the wndows shell in numerous places and monitors just about everything you do on the machine thats concerned with networking. If that goes wrong it can affect the machine badly. I remove it as a matter of routine on all machines I work on

[oldbeefer]

Thanks Milo - i would if I could find it!

[oldbeefer]

Tried a SR in Safe Mode - still couldn't complete, so assume corruption is preventing. I'll clear all points and start that again. BT sent them a new router but, not surprisingly, still no internet connection, although the PC is showing connected to the router.

Reverted back to the Netgear router which is working OK, so think it will have to be left like that.

[Milo Minderbinder]

So, either the problem is with the DNS / IP settings on the PC being hard wired to work with the netgear router, or the BT hub is not connected

Presumably he has one of the new smaller Home Hub 3 models?
Make sure the ADSL cable is plugged into the correct RJ11 socket, NOT into the red RJ45 which is the uplink point for connection to an Infinity modem...

[Fareastdriver]

On the same vein but slightly different.

Just built up a new PC and connected to our secure BT Home Hub. It keeps connecting with a neighbours modem above us. That one is secure so you cannot get past the password stage. You then have to flag up the wireless connections on the toolbar and reconnect it to our Home Hub. None of the other computers in the house do this. It happens everytime you go onto the internet. I cannot find a way of making the internet connection on it default to our Hub.

Anybody any ideas.

[Milo Minderbinder]

just delete it from the list of networks under "manage wireless networks"

and where your network is listed untick "search for a more preferred network"

You are connecting to the right signal on the home hub -not the two "open" signals?

[Fareastdriver]

Thank you Milo. The first option worked when I found out how to get there.

[oldbeefer]

Milo - BT Hub is connected as the laptops can work through it. It's just the PC that won't (either by ethernet or by a wireless dongle).

[Milo Minderbinder]

then either
the IP / DNS / default gateway settings are wrong on the PC
its set to "always dial" when connecting to the internet
the winsock stack is broken
its got a hijack infection

edit
just gone back and reread the thread
it works OK with another router, so it must be the first option
unless - and I've just remembered this - some versions of the TalkTalk software ran the connection through a proxy
Check the internet explorer settings > connections > LAN settings and then tick "automatically detect settings" and untick "use automatic script" and "use proxy server"