Router problem: DHCP works for WLAN, but not LAN?

[theJesus]

Problem as it stands right now:
My Asus RT-N16 router will assign IP addresses to wireless clients, but not wired clients. Additionally, even with a manually assigned (static) address, wired clients can't connect to anything (although Windows will say they're connected). With DHCP enabled on wired clients, they just get APIPA.

I've tried (in no particular order):
-ipconfig release/renew
-Reverting to factory default settings on router.
-Reloading latest firmware onto router. (It was already at up-to-date)
-Rebooting everything.
-Different cables.
-Different ports.
-Different machines.
-Cursing at it under my breath.
-Probably some other stuff I'm forgetting.
-Different combinations of the above.

What happened before the problem:
The onboard ethernet NIC in my parents' computer seems to have died sometime between last night and this morning, possibly during a storm. No link/activity lights on it no matter what it's plugged into, so I threw in a random 10/100 NIC I had laying around. I saw the link/activity lights go up on it and got happy, but then I noticed it wouldn't get a DHCP address, so that's when I tried all the troubleshooting above.

I'm beginning to worry that the router may have been damaged somehow during a storm or something. I noticed since last night it was rebooting itself a lot, but that stopped today after I reloaded the firmware and loaded default settings.

Anybody else have any ideas?

 

[remixedcat]

have you tried rebuilding the TCP/IP stack:

Use a manual method to reset TCP/IP
Note This section is intended for advanced computer users. If you are not comfortable with advanced troubleshooting, ask someone for help or contact Support. For information about how to contact Support, see the Microsoft Help and Support contact information Web site:
http://support.microsoft.com/contactus
The reset command is available in the IP context of the NetShell utility. Follow these steps to use the reset command to reset TCP/IP manually:

To open a command prompt, click Start and then click Run. Copy and paste (or type) the following command in the Open box and then press ENTER:
cmd
At the command prompt, copy and paste (or type) the following command and then press ENTER:
netsh int ip reset c:\resetlog.txt
Note If you do not want to specify a directory path for the log file, use the following command:
netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt
Reboot the computer.

When you run the reset command, it rewrites two registry keys that are used by TCP/IP. This has the same result as removing and reinstalling the protocol. The reset command rewrites the following two registry keys:

SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\
SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DHCP\Parameters\


To run the manual command successfully, you must specify a file name for the log, in which the actions that netsh takes will be recorded. When you run the manual command, TCP/IP is reset and the actions that were taken are recorded in the log file, known as resetlog.txt in this article.

The first example, c:\resetlog.txt, creates a path where the log will reside. The second example, resetlog.txt, creates the log file in the current directory. In either case, if the specified log file already exists, the new log will be appended to the end of the existing file.

Click on Start button.
Click on Accessories.
Right click on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator.
Type netsh int IP reset C:\resetlog.txt in the Command Prompt shell, and then press the Enter key. Do not restart computer.
Type winsock reset in the Command Prompt shell, and then press the Enter key.
Restart the computer.

 

[theJesus]

have you tried rebuilding the TCP/IP stack:

No, and I don't think that will work either, because the problem isn't on just one machine. However, I'll try it on one of them anyways.

 

[remixedcat]

Ok Hope it works!

That's the last thing I can think of that's non router here shy of trying DDWRT or something.

If not you may need to get a new router.

 

[jsfitz54]

Try uninstalling the onboard nic from device manager that is not working, then do hard shut down.
Upon booting, turn of that nic in the BIOS so when you get to Wndows its not looking to install new hardware.

Trouble shoot from that point.

 

[theJesus]

Ok Hope it works!

That's the last thing I can think of that's non router here shy of trying DDWRT or something.

If not you may need to get a new router.

No worky. Don't I need a wired connection to install DDWRT anyways?

In any case, I may call Asus tomorrow.

Try uninstalling the onboard nic from device manager that is not working, then do hard shut down.
Upon booting, turn of that nic in the BIOS so when you get to Wndows its not looking to install new hardware.

Trouble shoot from that point.

It's not exclusive to that machine though. Neither of my wired clients will get an IP.

edit: Although I should probably do that anyways. I just don't have admin rights on that one atm.

 

[jsfitz54]

Did you reset the router with the software/firmware or did you press the little hidden pin hole button in the back of the unit?

You did not indicate that you unpluged power from cable/dsl modem for 5 minutes. There is a reset sequence for that hardware as well.

Did you set router to CLONE IP ADDRESS for primary wired pc(((could be parents pc that was cloned and the NIC is dead)))? For some routers this is a MUST! Clone the new NIC IP Address.

How many PC's hard wired? Some ISP's only allow 3 pc's Max. Then you use router to circumvent issue.

Did you reset the clock/time on the router?

 

[remixedcat]

yeah I would call asus.... I thought your router had USB ports and you could have installed with that but I don't think you can ;-(

 

[theJesus]

Did you reset the router with the software/firmware or did you press the little hidden pin hole button in the back of the unit?

I used the firmware to revert to default settings. I'll try the actual button in a sec.

 

[theJesus]

You did not indicate that you unpluged power from cable/dsl modem for 5 minutes. There is a reset sequence for that hardware as well.

Not for 5 minutes, more like 10 seconds. In any case, my computer upstairs is connected wirelessly and accessing the internet just fine, so I'm not too worried about the modem.

Did you set router to CLONE IP ADDRESS? For some routers this is a MUST!

I'm not aware of an option for that. The router gets it's WAN IP from the ISP's DHCP server without issue and has worked fine for a while until now.

yeah I would call asus.... I thought your router had USB ports and you could have installed with that but I don't think you can ;-(

The USB for connecting storage devices and printers.

 

[remixedcat]

that sucks how you can't install the F/W with USB.... ;-(

 

[theJesus]

I used the firmware to revert to default settings. I'll try the actual button in a sec.

Forgot to mention that this didn't make a difference when I tried it.

Anyways, I logged into the router via telnet and ran "ifconfig -a" so here are the results if anybody wants to help look for clues there.

BusyBox v1.7.2 (2010-10-22 10:00:52 CST) built-in shell (ash)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.

#
# ifconfig -a
br0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 48:5B:39:E7:BA:17
inet addr:192.168.1.1 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::4a5b:39ff:fee7:ba17/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING ALLMULTI MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:58152 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:44717 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:25616412 (24.4 MiB) TX bytes:10454022 (9.9 MiB)

eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 48:5B:39:E7:BA:17
inet addr:174.100.210.171 Bcast:174.100.223.255 Mask:255.255.224.0
inet6 addr: fe80::4a5b:39ff:fee7:ba17/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING ALLMULTI MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:66782 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:56636 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:11382673 (10.8 MiB) TX bytes:26244913 (25.0 MiB)
Interrupt:4 Base address:0x2000

eth1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 48:5B:39:E7:BA:17
inet6 addr: fe80::4a5b:39ff:fee7:ba17/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING ALLMULTI MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:58132 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:24523
TX packets:45453 errors:42 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:26421989 (25.1 MiB) TX bytes:10958008 (10.4 MiB)
Interrupt:3 Base address:0x1000

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:15 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:15 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:3361 (3.2 KiB) TX bytes:3361 (3.2 KiB)

sit0 Link encap:IPv6-in-IPv4
NOARP MTU:1480 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

tunl0 Link encap:UNSPEC HWaddr 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00
NOARP MTU:1480 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

vlan1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 48:5B:39:E7:BA:17
inet6 addr: fe80::4a5b:39ff:fee7:ba17/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING ALLMULTI MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:63 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:1448 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:8855 (8.6 KiB) TX bytes:215710 (210.6 KiB)

#

 

[newtekie1]

So there was a storm, and it killed an onboard NIC(or something killed it anyway, likely a power surge). I'm willing to bet it also killed the LAN switch in the router too.

I know I just had a Gigabit switch that got fried in a recent storm(as well as 3 TVs and 2 cable boxes.).

 

[theJesus]

So there was a storm, and it killed an onboard NIC(or something killed it anyway, likely a power surge). I'm willing to bet it also killed the LAN switch in the router too.

I know I just had a Gigabit switch that got fried in a recent storm(as well as 3 TVs and 2 cable boxes.).

That's what I was thinking

 

[twilyth]

I'm putting my money on the hardware being bad. Having the wireless side of the router work and the wired side not work doesn't seem to be a common problem, but I've seen a few threads like that here. Sometimes it's the other way around.

I've had lots of router problems the past few years. I've gone through routers from belkin, linksys, dlink and trendnet. I'm using a buffalo AirStation now and it's been the best so far.

You can at least be grateful that it died outright and didn't instead give you intermittent problems. Those are impossible to track down but since you are still under the impression that the router is functional you waste many hours trying anyway.

RMA that POS but get another router to have as a backup since this probably won't be your last router thread - at least if your experience ends up being anything like mine. I have a 100mbps router that's NIB if you're interested - free + shipping.

 

[remixedcat]

I got a spare NETGEAR as well. LOL.

 

[theJesus]

I've got a spare Airlink router, but it's had almost the exact same problem since I bought it

 

[remixedcat]

WOW those routers love you

 

[Mussels]

from what you said about a NIC dying, i think a power surge fried the link between the router and the built in ethernet switch.

 

[theJesus]

A very awesome member of the forums here sent me a $30 Newegg gift-card to get a temp/replacement router while I deal with Asus for the RMA.

So, what's a good 802.11n router in that price range?

 

[newtekie1]

D-Link DIR-601 Wireless Broadband Router IEEE 802....

Probably the best you will get in that budget, and it is DD-WRT compatible I believe.

If ou can scrape together another $5 you can go with D-Link DIR-615 Wireless Broadband Router 802.11b/g...

 

[theJesus]

D-Link DIR-601 Wireless Broadband Router IEEE 802....

Probably the best you will get in that budget, and it is DD-WRT compatible I believe.

If ou can scrape together another $5 you can go with D-Link DIR-615 Wireless Broadband Router 802.11b/g...

Thanks, I just ordered the DIR-615.

 

[remixedcat]

Good you made sure it ran DDWRT!!!!! careful with dlinks they do overheat a good bit. same with belkins. my sister bought a belkin and it overheated all the time. she took it back and got a netgear LOL.

 

[Mussels]

why does everyone love DD-WRT? its dogshit compared to the stock firmware of my TP link router... harder to use, and less features (not more!)

 

[brandonwh64]

why does everyone love DD-WRT? its dogshit compared to the stock firmware of my TP link router... harder to use, and less features (not more!)

Being a network technician, I must disagree. I have used a TP link router as an access point once and the firmware it comes with is less customizable compared to DD-WRT or tomato. I have gotten much better performance from DD-WRT firmware than any other but thats just personal experience.