DSL Heck, please advise how to proceed...

kcnychief

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So I arrive at a location to do some contract work. When I arrive, I do a survey and discover it is a DSL connection, feeding into a Linksys BEFSR41 Router/Switch with 4 ports. I upgraded the RAM and OS in all machines to 512MB and XP, which were previously on 2K and 256MB. I had built 3 new computers, which were also 512MB/XP.

I logged into the BEFSR41 router, recorded the PPPoE information that is stored, and powered it off. I hooked up the BEFSR81 I had purchased, entered the PPPoE information, and was not able to connect.

I was like, wtf?

I hook the BEFSR41 back up, and it works like a champ. I went screen to screen, nothing else is different between the two, so I'm at a loss. I tried to hook up the 8 port through the uplink on the 4-port, but that was just havoc because the routers couldn't decide which one was to be a DHCP server.

I guess my question is, should I just purchase a switch strictly, not a hub, and uplink from the BEFSR41?

I hate DSL, PPPoE is a pain in the tush, whereas Cable Internet is relatively plug and play :)
 
hubs? Why would you even consider using one of them dinosaurs. Switch all the way baby.
 
You should be able to turn off the DHCP in the BEFSR81 and use the uplink into the BEFSR41. I'm surprised the 11/41/81 are all the same router just with more ports. Unless it's just that the 81 is a newer model with more features in it to screw up. You could try finding a copy of the 81 firmware that is about the same version as the 41 firmeware.

Or you could just return the BEFSR81 and get a $20 switch like I suggested a couple weeks ago in the other post. If it ain't broke don't mess with it.

I've been using a BEFSR11 on DSL with switches for 7 years now. If it ever breaks I'll get another single port router.

The DHCP tab. At the top it has enable or disable buttons.
 
LeeJend said:
You should be able to turn off the DHCP in the BEFSR81 and use the uplink into the BEFSR41. I'm surprised the 11/41/81 are all the same router just with more ports. Unless it's just that the 81 is a newer model with more features in it to screw up. You could try finding a copy of the 81 firmware that is about the same version as the 41 firmeware.

Or you could just return the BEFSR81 and get a $20 switch like I suggested a couple weeks ago in the other post. If it ain't broke don't mess with it.

I've been using a BEFSR11 on DSL with switches for 7 years now. If it ever breaks I'll get another single port router.

The DHCP tab. At the top it has enable or disable buttons.

Hmm, good points. So basically I would take port 4 of the BEFSR41 and plug that into the "internet" port on the BEFSR81, and turn off DHCP on the BEFSR81, and that would suffice? I thought I tried that, with the exception that I didn't turn off DHCP.

I might also think about going the route of the switch, again from port 4 on the BEFSR41, interesting indeed. I hate PPPoE!
 
Port 4 would go into one of the "LAN" ports on the 81, not the WAN port. Just like daisy chaining multiple switches.
 
LeeJend said:
Port 4 would go into one of the "LAN" ports on the 81, not the WAN port. Just like daisy chaining multiple switches.

So hook port 4 on the BEFSR41 to any of the 1-8 ports on the BEFSR81, turn off DHCP on the 81, and I should be golden?

I'll have to play with the 81 ahead of time to turn off DHCP, change the router IP address, etc.

Although I think I may pack a switch as well, just incase the router is cranky. I would assume I would go from port 4 on the 41 to any part on the Switch as well, just wouldn't have to turn off DHCP?

EDIT: I'm also wondering why I couldn't get it to work exclusively, any ideas on that?
 
I have had this problem with cable internet before, but not with DSL...but, did you try cycling the power on the DSL equipment after you hooked up the new router? Sometimes the ISP equipment logs the mac address of the device connected to it, and it requires a reboot to set the mac of the new device.

Only thing I can think of...
 
My only guess on the 81 is that it has new "features" or a bug in the firmware. I avoid firmware updates like the plague.

My adsl modem plugs into the BEFSR11 and I have switches and a wireless router (dhcp turned off) plugged into the Befsr11. Total of 7 hardware ports and secured wireless net. No problems.

One thing. When I first setup (7 years ago) I had problems with an old 10 mbps Hub I used instead of the switches. You had to power cycle the ADSL Modem, BEFS11 router and Hub at the same time or they would not configure properly. That is not a problem with the new switches (1- Dlink, 1 netgear).
 
LeeJend said:
My only guess on the 81 is that it has new "features" or a bug in the firmware. I avoid firmware updates like the plague.

My adsl modem plugs into the BEFSR11 and I have switches and a wireless router (dhcp turned off) plugged into the Befsr11. Total of 7 hardware ports and secured wireless net. No problems.

One thing. When I first setup (7 years ago) I had problems with an old 10 mbps Hub I used instead of the switches. You had to power cycle the ADSL Modem, BEFS11 router and Hub at the same time or they would not configure properly. That is not a problem with the new switches (1- Dlink, 1 netgear).

In regards to firmware, like drivers, I also do not upgrade unless there is a problem. I can't tell from this picture too much, but it looks like the switch has an uplink port as well, after port 8. See Picture

So, as previously mentioned, just plug the uplink (port 4 from BEFSR41) into 1-8 of the switch, and should be good to go. Sigh, should have listened to you earlier, my bad for trying to be efficient :)
ThePatriot said:
I have had this problem with cable internet before, but not with DSL...but, did you try cycling the power on the DSL equipment after you hooked up the new router? Sometimes the ISP equipment logs the mac address of the device connected to it, and it requires a reboot to set the mac of the new device.

Only thing I can think of...

Yeah, I did try power-cycling with no luck. It's pretty shady that most of the time, that is all you can do in these situations. I also did try to clone the MAC address, but no luck. Thanks for the tips though!
 
kcn i had almost exactly the same issue last week with a customer when i was switching out a wireless router from linksys, i solved it by leaving the router off for 30 mins, supposedly it only takes 30 secs to reset, but in my experince that does not suffice, anyway i left it off for 30 mins because i was trying another one, which also was bust from the get go, so i go back to the linksys and bam it works straight away. I've done this a few times now, i think the memory needs more time to wipe. You could just try doing that, i don't think you need a switch unless you are doing to have more than say 7-8 computers. And if you do buy a switch i would buy netgear ones, always used them, love em, cheap and reliable.
 

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