HELP!!! (to any computer specialists out there)

[sgorny]

I recently got new service from Earthlink - superfast internet, up to 8 mb (they say), but usually at about 6+ mbps. And they told me to just swap it out with my 4-5 year old DSL box I had from them, just to use the new cables with it. So I did. And it didn't work. So I called them, and they told me what to do to make it work. I took my WiFi box out of the lineup, and connected the DSL directly to the computer. Then I manually set the IP and other info, instead of having it go automatically. And it worked. Wonderful!

However, when I tried to put my WiFi box right back in the lineup where it had been? No DSL. But then the computer and printer could communicate again, so I knew that the WiFi box was working. It just wasn't connecting to the DSL. So I fiddled around with it (bad idea), and managed to stop communicating with the WiFi box anymore.

Here's what happened.

I saw that I'd had to change the Internet address info for the DSL to work in my "Network Connections" section of Control Panel. So I copied all that info down... and changed what I thought was the IP address in the Internet Section of the WiFi router from the one that it came with (192.168.1.1) to the one they told me about, which had a different last number group. When I did that, it was processing it... then the computer gave me a message about conflicting IP addresses on the system, and the WiFi box froze up.

So what did I do? I unplugged it, then plugged it back in, and tried to contact it. With first the original IP addy, then the one I was in the process of trying to change it to.

No luck. So now, all I can do is cruise the internet. I have to either figure out how to contact my WiFi router again, so I can fix whatever I screwed up, or find the installation discs and a USB cable so I can connect my printer directly to my computer. And that will leave the laptop without internet access, although I only rarely use it.

*sigh*

Maybe if I just bought a new router box? Seems like an expensive solution, but mine is... 4 years old? So maybe the faster technology doesn't work well with it? Or maybe it was the cable I used to connect the DSL & the WiFi? I originally used the same one I'd had for years, but then I tried it again with one that I knew was a Cat-5, but it still didn't work.

Any help? Please?!?

Comments

[severina2001.livejournal.com]

Wish I could help. Sending good wishes instead.

[chrismm.livejournal.com]

What brand and model is the WiFi box? If you have that, you can go online, find the website/support for the company, and in there, you should be able to find out: A.) How to reset the WiFi box to the factory defaults, and B.) What the factory defaults are, and how to configure them to your new specs.

If the company that makes your WiFi doesn't have that kind of documentation? Then yes, you probably need to buy a new one. Fortunately, they've gone down in price really a lot in the the last four years. But I'll be surprised if you can't find the info you need--that's a pretty basic level of support for a router...

[qafhappy.livejournal.com]

I bought it back when Gateway had stores, instead of online only. And I did find on their site how to configure it... but when I changed the IP address? I can't log back into it! I'll try looking at the site again. Thanks!