USB DSL router problems...

[solum]

I have a speedtouch 530 router/modem. I have it connected to my PC via USB, and my xbox via ethernet. All the lights are green (ie power, ethernet, USB, dsl line), and xbox live seems to work (altho' quite laggy agaisnt some SF3 players last night). However, I can't seem to connect to websites properly; the diagnostics say that I am uploading to the router but not downloading. Whats going on???

[Treble]

Basic starting point: have you got XP? Is the XP firewall turned off? If not, do it right now. (Oh, and then sort yourself out with some proper firewall and antivirus stuff).

[solum]

yeah, its XP. The 'activate firewall' box is unchecked (or whatever its called; i'm not in front of my PC right now).

whats the next thing it might be?

[Treble]

I'm no expert, tbh. I'd suggest checking the ports are open correctly - your ISP's help site/PDFs should have some documentation on what ports need to be open. You might even have some instructions installed with the router's software that talks about the ports. Other than that, DNS settings? You're getting into another level of complexity there though, and better off waiting for an anwer from Super Stu/Yashiro/NeilMcrae etc. Hope that's of some use =/

[solum]

cheers man

[Treble]

No problems, but I bet I wasn't much help. How are you getting on?

[yashiro]

Are you saying you've got both a USB cable AND an ethernet cable coming out from your modem? I know the the 530 supports it but personally I'd go ethernet all the way.

Have you tried powering it all off and connecting the PC only? How does that fare once power is back up? Let us know how that goes.

[Super Stu]

Hmm yeah. Don't know the model myself, although I'd hazard that it's a single ethernet port from how you have it wired up. Better off having a cheap switch connected to its ethernet port and all devices connecting to the switch.

I'd do as Yash suggests above.

[solum]

yeah, its only got one ethernet and one USB port. Tonight I'll try your suggestion to disconnect/reboot.

I don't have an ethernet port on my PC...should I just get an ethernet card and a straightforward ethernet router/modem?

thanks guys!

[Super Stu]

Well, not that I want to spend your money heh, but it's a more elegant solution to run it all via ethernet. Surprised your PC hasn't got an ethernet socket, 2 or 3 years old? Anyway, a simple PCI network card can be found for a tenner, and my cousin had his 100meg belkin switch from PC world for 20 quid, iirc.

You say browsing doesn't work via the PC - does anything else? Picking up email, MSN and so forth?

[DjSatansfury]

This sounds a bit like my MTU settings dilema i had before

[solum]

yeah, my PC is a few years old...

outlook express works fine; it's just browsing that doesn't.

[Super Stu]

I saw this issue last night, twas theorised that it was one of two things:

1) conflicting firewall (in this case Sygate and XP SP2)

2) the known browsing bug in SP2

Are you absolutely sure the Windows firewall is off? What error do you get btw, DNS?

[solum]

How can I be absolutely sure the firewall is off? I seem to remember unchecking a box, but that's about it. Also, if there's a firewall in the router itself, should that be off too?

I had been getting an error in the router's diagnostics, under the heading WAN/PPPoA/IP connectivity. Last night howvere, I played Halo on live for ages, no bother, then i put on SF3 and the lag was unbelieveable, and network conditions with anyone (including people i had just played on halo) were classed as 'bad'.

Occasionally xbox live says it can't find DNS (but then rebooting the router fixes it).

[Treble]

How can I be absolutely sure the firewall is off? I seem to remember unchecking a box, but that's about it.

In Control Panel, go to Network Connections. If you're using SP2, there should be a sidebar with "Change Windows Firewall Settings" in it. If not, go to the Advanced tab in your Local Area Connection properties window.