Why is it so hard to connect with a cable modem and router?
I've gone through various combinations of cable modems, routers, computers, and apartments in my life, and one thing has always puzzled me. Why is it so difficult to get these things to connect to the internet? Once I'm connected, they work great, but establishing the initial connection is always painful.
I dread the days when I need to unplug my modem or router, because it usually results in something like this:
- Plug everything back in.
- Wait, fruitlessly trying to load google.com every few minutes.
- Check router's status, and see that it has IP 0.0.0.0.
- Unplug one device at random.
- Wait five minutes, while facing Jerusalem.
- Plug device back in.
- Check router again, now it has a private address like 192.168.x.x.
- Unplug something else.
- Call my cable company.
- While waiting on hold, google.com finally loads.
Why is this? Is this an inherently difficult problem? Is there a foolproof technique that I'm not aware of?
I have often found that if you plug in the cable modem and give it a minute or so to fully boot and get the necessary IP info, then power up the router, things go more smoothly. However, that experience has all been with Rogers in Canada
Like DaveM, I have learned that you need to get your cable modem squared away first, before you hook anything else up. I follow this procedure whenever I have to reconfigure my networking for any reason:
- Power everything down, including cable modem and routers
- Let cable modem sit for about a minute, then power it up, and wait for it to initialize
- Power up router, and wait for it to initialize, and let it sit for a minute
- I have a Linksys E3000, which, while powerful and feature filled, MUST fully initialize before any device, wired or wireless, is connected to it
- Power up one system at a time, and wait for it to completely connect before moving on to the next
- You may need to rerun any router setup disc you have to properly reconfigure the router (depends)
While I can't say this is 100% foolproof, but it is very reliable. (I have a variety of devices I connect to my router, including a NAS, wireless laptop, iPhone, as well as hardwired computers, so I am not sure if the diversity of devices causes the infrequent glitch or not...but most of the time, this procedure is stable and effective.)
For me, when ever my internet goes down (most likley due to my el-cheapo router) I simply unplug everything, wait a minute, plug in in my router, wait for it to initialize, plug in in my cable modem, walk to my computer, and go to google. This has worked on two networks, one with 3 computers over wireless and wired, and another with 7 devices over wireless and wired and a vonage middleman device.
If you have a 0.0.0.0 issue, have you even tried checking the drivers/settings on the computer? Are you waiting for the router to fully initialize? Are you waiting for even the connection phase to finish? Is this reproducible with other routers (borrow one if you have to)?