Just purchased and moved into a house a few weeks ago. The previous owner left behind a router and an elaborate network of internet cables running to all four bedrooms.

I tested the internet ports in each room with my computer - each time my computer connected to the internet with no problem. However, my roommates computers inexplicably got "limited or no connectivity" when they used the EXACT same internet ports I had just tested. I fiddled with firewall and connection settings but nothing worked. Also tried switching cables. No go.


How do I fix this?

2/6/2008 2:08:54 AM

some nics don't play well with certain routers and their respective dhcp daemons

for instance, my macbook pro won't get an ip from dhcp when i connect to the router at my parents house.

look at the IP that your computer is getting from the dhcp server. assign one manually to the computer in question. make sure you set the gateway address to be that of the router.

for instance, if your computer had an ip of 10.0.0.101, try assigning his 10.0.0.50 or something else in that /24 subnet.

2/6/2008 2:14:03 AM

i'm sure he knows what a /24 subnet is lol

2/6/2008 10:43:53 AM

i'm sure he knows what a /24 subnet is lol

2/6/2008 10:47:13 AM

yea, 9 times out of 10, a "limited or no connectivity" means that the DHCP pulled an IP that's in use, set the IP to static and assign it in anything in the .2-.99 range like evan suggested (since DHCP typically is reserved for .100+)

2/6/2008 11:00:28 AM

i thought 9 out of times 10 it meant no response from a dhcp server.

2/6/2008 11:25:00 AM

Quote :

"i thought 9 out of times 10 it meant no response from a dhcp server."

correct

2/6/2008 11:31:08 AM

Did they leave you any specific info regarding the router (ie. how to log into it, static IP addresses)? I would attempt to log into the router. Some have specific settings regarding the size of the address pool and whatnot.

[Edited on February 6, 2008 at 4:12 PM. Reason : owners = they not he...]

2/6/2008 4:12:24 PM

it typically means it can't connect via DHCP because of an IP conflict, thus creating the "no connectivity" since you don't have an IP

at least the 9 times out of 10 times i've seen it, this has been the case

[Edited on February 6, 2008 at 4:20 PM. Reason : .]

2/6/2008 4:19:39 PM

^ that makes no sense. A dhcp client does not connect to a dhcp server using TCP/IP.

I have seen Win XP computers with an IP address that is already used on the network and Windows displays a popup saying something like "Windows has detected an IP address conflict"

2/6/2008 6:00:48 PM

a dhcp server will never hand out an address that it's already assigned to someone else unless someone manually assigns an address in the lease pool, there are multiple dhcp servers that aren't linked, or the dhcp server gets restarted and clears the leases but the leases on the client side haven't expired yet.

the "limited or no connectivity" message only appears if windows gets no response to the UDP datagram it sends out polling for a dhcp server, it's configured to use a dhcp server, and has no alternate configuration. it can also happen if the dhcp server refuses to give a lease out to a client for whatever reason.

dhcp is all done over UDP datagrams.

[Edited on February 6, 2008 at 10:29 PM. Reason : i do this sort of stuff for a living, guys.]

2/6/2008 10:29:41 PM

i believe you, i'm just saying i've seen it because of ip conflicts, that's all, i'm not saying that's the problem, just something to look at

for instance, i had my static IP set for my desktop as 192.168.1.101 (dumb i know it shouldn't be in the DHCP range) then while my computer was turned off, i powered on my Wii which uses DHCP and it pulled the 192.168.1.101 address, which on the next time i booted up my desktop i got the error "limited or no connectivity" and it was because of an ip conflict of my desktop SET to a static ip that the DHCP had given to another client

i'm not saying the DHCP gave out two leases for the same IP

[Edited on February 6, 2008 at 11:46 PM. Reason : .]

2/6/2008 11:46:03 PM

If it helps, both my roommates are using ~2001 Dells using Windows XP.

2/7/2008 12:36:23 AM

^no, that does not help at all

i told you what to try in my very first post in this thread

Quote :

"some nics don't play well with certain routers and their respective dhcp daemons for instance, my macbook pro won't get an ip from dhcp when i connect to the router at my parents house. look at the IP that your computer is getting from the dhcp server. assign one manually to the computer in question. make sure you set the gateway address to be that of the router. for instance, if your computer had an ip of 10.0.0.101, try assigning his 10.0.0.50 or something else in that /24 subnet."

2/7/2008 12:51:16 AM

***Update***

It appears my roommates' computers are not being assigned a valid IP address, even thought the settings are set to automatically get one. I copied the IP address, default gateway, DNS server, etc. from my computer, unplugged the cable, and manually imput the EXACT same settings into my roommates computer. His computer said it was "Connected" (i.e. no limited connectivity warning), yet it still couldn't access the internet.

Is there some kind of patch for XP that can cause/fix this problem? I've been hunting for one without any success.

2/11/2008 2:02:12 PM

use a different IP address (change just the last number to like 50)

edit: I had this same issue last night actually, macbook wouldnt get an IP and had to reset (by holding own the reset button, not just unplugging) the router and it worked fine after that... I dunno why it randomly decided to fuck up but hey it's worth a shot

[Edited on February 11, 2008 at 2:25 PM. Reason : asdf]

2/11/2008 2:24:30 PM

What kind of router did he leave you in the house? Make and model# would be super.

2/11/2008 2:29:20 PM

Have you done a hard reset of that router?

2/11/2008 2:40:17 PM

dude

Quote :

"It appears my roommates' computers are not being assigned a valid IP address, even thought the settings are set to automatically get one. I copied the IP address, default gateway, DNS server, etc. from my computer, unplugged the cable, and manually input the EXACT same settings into my roommates computer."

if you are manually entering the IP, gateway and DNS server, than it's NOT set to automatically get one.

set both to "Obtain IP automatically" & "Obtain DNS server automatically"

BTW, POST YOUR SETTINGS HERE (all the IP's you were manually inputing)

[Edited on February 11, 2008 at 3:03 PM. Reason : .]

2/11/2008 3:02:23 PM

^ no shit idiot

2/11/2008 3:35:15 PM

Quote :

"if you are manually entering the IP, gateway and DNS server, than it's NOT set to automatically get one."

Yeah, hence why did that AFTER the computer didn't get a valid IP with the "Auto" setting.

I'll post the settings for both computers later tonight.

2/11/2008 5:59:48 PM

first off limited or no connectivity always means DHCP issue.

Entering in the exact same settings as your pc obtained via DHCP is the right first step. However, I'm assuming you didn't try to do this while your computer was still plugged in. Also did you restart the router after doing this? If the router had some arp problem it might not like that the IP hopped MAC addresses.

Does it work if you plug their machines directly into the router and not through the wall jack?

Does it work if you plug it directly into cable/dsl/whatever modem and then reboot the modem?

If it doesn't work after that i'd say something is really fucked.

2/11/2008 6:05:52 PM

Here's what happened last night:

-Turned my computer off
-Plugged my roommates' computer straight into the modem (bypassing the router)
-Restarted the modem (no connectivity)
-Restarted my roommates' computer - Connection works

BUT... I then booted my own computer back up... and got limited connectivity.

Looks like the router is the problem. Thoughts?

2/12/2008 8:30:09 AM

What was your computer connected to? Modem or router? Are you sure you have it setup to be a DHCP server? It almost sounds like the one computer that connects to the router first is getting an IP from the modem instead of the router--thus the second one won't get an IP.

Tell us the IP that you said you entered, if it's not a 192.168.X.X style one, it's probably wrong.

Also, tell us at least part of the IP you're getting on your roommates computer when connected directly to modem. The point here is that the two should NOT be the same. See, essentially the router itself will obtain an IP from the cable modem, then the router will provide LOCAL IP's to the computers connected to it. From there, it does the translating (or routing, dur de dur) from local network to wide area network for everyone.

Anyways, give us some more info.

[Edited on February 12, 2008 at 9:15 AM. Reason : also, info on router hardware--are you sure its a router and not a hub/switcH?]

2/12/2008 9:14:56 AM

Quote :

"Anyways, give us some more info."

Quote :

"also, info on router hardware--are you sure its a router and not a hub/switcH?]"

Quote :

"Yeah, hence why did that AFTER the computer didn't get a valid IP with the "Auto" setting."

just trying to help... your initial post didn't say "then" or "after", needless to say, posting the settings would help clarify all the confusion

[Edited on February 12, 2008 at 10:45 AM. Reason : ,]

2/12/2008 10:43:58 AM

Quote :

"Tell us the IP that you said you entered, if it's not a 192.168.X.X style one, it's probably wrong."

You're right, and the IP address was in fact wrong. I have an 8-port switch connected to the router. Problem was that the the switch did not have an uplink port. No problem, you just have to use a crossover cable to connect the two. Once I did that everything was fine.

The router needed to be reset and the crossover cable needed to connect the router to the switch.
Amateur mistake.

2/12/2008 11:45:58 PM

That must be an old-ass switch if it needed a crossover cable.

2/13/2008 1:33:18 AM

yeah really... i haven't seen one that wasn't auto in a long ass time

2/13/2008 8:13:44 AM

Agreed. Good job on figuring it out, but I haven't seen a switch without an uplink port (or autosensing capability like the Netgear FS/GS series) in a long time...

Also, if the router has a hard reset/factory reset switch (usually one of those little deals you have to poke with a paperclip or pen) it's a good troubleshooting tool. I've had to do that style of reset on 2 different wireless routers in the past 3 days, but it solved my problem both times. Just be sure that, if you're going to do that, write down any custom settings first (like a list of allowed MAC addresses).

2/13/2008 10:39:47 AM

^and most routers let you save the config file that you can restore if things don't work out.

rule #1 if things are working in regard to hardware is to strip it down to the bare essentials, if things like this weren't working i would have taken the switch out of the equation, plugged both computers into the router to see if the router was working properly first, then it would be more apparent it was an issue in communications between the switch and router... posting your network configuration would have made diagnosing it easier as well. but i'm glad you figured it out and it's working now... if you and your roommates do a lot of sharing you may consider upgrading that switch, gigabit switches are super cheap now

2/13/2008 10:56:26 AM

this thread is the definition of *carl face*

2/13/2008 11:27:12 AM