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hardware failure (but not all at once)
This morning we had no network, and I work for people who assume that if I'm allowed unfettered access to the internet I'm going to set up a kiddy-porn business fueled by stolen credit card numbers, so I actually do rely on checking email (and LJ) in the morning before work and in the evening when I get home. When our DSL provide said "nope, no problems here" I began to suspect our venerable modem (circa 1999; we tried to upgrade once but then we couldn't use our phone for voice so we reverted). But, it turned out, the problem was in the LinkSys router and intermittant. I connected directly to the modem and was fine, but that obviously doesn't work in a multi-computer household. When I reset things to use the router I had a brief glimmer of network access -- enough to establish an SSH connection and then it died again. I called Dani to warn him that this might not be the best night for his planned Diablo game.
Tonight things had deteriorated; the router wasn't serving bits even long enough to make an outside connection. Dani went off to the land of hardware while I tried to harvest the current machine for its settings (things like static IP address, gateway, etc). Yes, they're now written down and stored in the box the new router came in. The half-life of router connectivity was low and falling -- I turned it on and connected to the admin console and then it failed, and after a pause I did it again and just barely got the second page of settings, and after that no matter how quick I was with the plug and the browser refresh I wasn't getting any more. It's one of the odder hardware failures I've seen; I expect "work" or "don't work", but not this.
Dani came home with two options (after confirming a return policy). First we tried the no-name combination modem/router (with wireless and wired). The installer software (yes, software) was annoying and we couldn't get a connection. The documentation sucked. We set it aside.
So plan B was a newer LinkSys box, on the theory that we'd already climbed the learning curve. It took about 5 minutes to set up. It works fine. It took until 10:00 to get there, but we're back now. Whee.
I'm still suspicious of our modem's remaining lifetime, but with luck that's a problem for a different day.
Tonight things had deteriorated; the router wasn't serving bits even long enough to make an outside connection. Dani went off to the land of hardware while I tried to harvest the current machine for its settings (things like static IP address, gateway, etc). Yes, they're now written down and stored in the box the new router came in. The half-life of router connectivity was low and falling -- I turned it on and connected to the admin console and then it failed, and after a pause I did it again and just barely got the second page of settings, and after that no matter how quick I was with the plug and the browser refresh I wasn't getting any more. It's one of the odder hardware failures I've seen; I expect "work" or "don't work", but not this.
Dani came home with two options (after confirming a return policy). First we tried the no-name combination modem/router (with wireless and wired). The installer software (yes, software) was annoying and we couldn't get a connection. The documentation sucked. We set it aside.
So plan B was a newer LinkSys box, on the theory that we'd already climbed the learning curve. It took about 5 minutes to set up. It works fine. It took until 10:00 to get there, but we're back now. Whee.
I'm still suspicious of our modem's remaining lifetime, but with luck that's a problem for a different day.