ADSL Troubleshooting

Can you get anywhere?  Get your email?

New installation?

  1. Do you have more than one computer?  Did you use the cables GTE sent?  Are you using a hub? Ask about the uplink port.

    A14 = straight cable to one computer, reversing to a hub
    A12 = reversing cable to one computer, straight to a hub

  2. Are all three lights on the ADSL modem on and steady?  Even if they are, unplug the power from the modem, wait 15 seconds, plug it in again.  Wait until the lights steady down and try again.
  3. Make sure they didn't put a surge protector between the phone line and the ADSL modem.
  4. Is the link light on the network card (and/or hub) on?  (Check the link lights on the ADSL modem and on the computer.)  If not, your cabling is bad or wrong.  If you have a single computer, no hub, use the cable that came with the ADSL modem or a reversing cable.  If you have a hub, use a straight-through cable.  (Or if you plug it into an uplink port on the hub, use reversing, but remember that you can't normally use both the uplink and port #1.)(Note:  newer ADSL modems reverse this order.  Isn't it grand!) 
  5. If the link light is on, send a series of ping packets and ask them is the light starts blinking.  If so, the route from us to them is good.  If not, see step 10.
  6. Is it a 100-BT only hub or network card?  (Also, the linksys hubs from Staples are often defective.)  Some cards have a 100BT light.  Is it on?  (ADSL doesn't work if it is.)
  7. Did you just install a new network card?  If so, go into the device manager (right-click on My computer, properties, device manager tab, properties button in the lower right-hand corner).  Look at the IRQ for the network.  card and see if it conflicts.  Windows 2000 can have interrupt conflicts and it doesn't care!.  In XP, go to the control panel and click System, then Hardware.  View Menu, Resources by Connection.  Click the plus in front of Interrupt Request (IRQ).
  8. Have them check their configuration.  Go to the control panel, and click on the Network icon.  Have them read the items on the list.  Is "Client for Microsoft Networks" the first item?  Are they using the proper copy of TCP/IP?  Are the numbers correct (have them read the IP, subnet mask, gateway and DNS numbers)?
  9. If another TCP/IP has numbers in it, even if they're the same numbers, take them out.
  10. Check the Redback box to make sure their line is up.  Warn the customer it will take about 3 minutes.
  11. If we can ping them, but they can't see the Internet, check the DNS numbers.  If the numbers are OK, have them run winipcfg.  If it gives strange errors, their networking is hosed.  They need to remove everything and start over.
  12. If their link light is on, but they can't see ping packets that we're sending, check the redback configuration to make sure they're set up right.
  13. If they have a 3-Com Etherlink XL network card, and you can ping them as the machine is booting but not when it's finished booting, see #5.  It thinks you're going 100BT, not 10BT and there is no way to force it back down.  Replace the card with a D-Link
  14. If they can ping out, they can ping a domain, but can't get on the Internet:

Saving the configuration file so it can be searched

  1. run Telnet
  2. go to 204.188.48.223
  3. login:  tony@local
  4. pink password
  5. enable
  6. save config tftp://207.13.199.34/redback_081800.doc where 081800 is the date.
  7. end

Checking the saved configuration file

  1. In Windows Explorer,
  2. go to Receiving/Ascend
  3. find the most recent file.
  4. double-click it to run Word with that file.
  5. Search it.  Check to make sure their name is the same both places, their IP addresses are correct, etc.

Existing installation?

  1. Are all three lights on the ADSL modem on and steady?  Even if they are, unplug the power from the modem, wait 15 seconds, plug it in again.  Wait until the lights steady down and try again.
  2. Is the link light on the network card (and/or hub) on?  (Check the link lights on the ADSL modem and on the computer.)  If not, your cabling is bad or wrong.  If you have a single computer, no hub, use the cable that came with the ADSL modem or a reversing cable.  If you have a hub, use a straight-through cable.  (Or if you plug it into an uplink port on the hub, use reversing, but remember that you can't normally use both the uplink and port #1.)
  3. Have you changed anything in the physical setup?  Any new software?
  4. Try unplugging the power from the hub.  If the link lights are flashing, it may have been shocked or otherwise gone off the deep end.

Do they have a firewall?  If so, we can't ping them.

Notes:

Early editions of Windows '95 cannot support both a modem and a network card properly.  Just remove dial-up Networking in the network section of the control panel.

Laptops are configuration nightmares.  If people have installed Card Services (the DOS networking stuff) which was necessary under Windows '95, and they've installed Windows 98 over the top, their cards are probably not going to work right.  Sometimes it's best to wipe the hard drive and start over.

troubleshooting:  GTE 888-391-1234

new installation troubleshooting:  877-483-3350

To check if your ADSL modem has shipped, Verizon Logistics 800 414 8107.

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Hardware Matching

There are two models of A-14 modems:  regular and Issue.02.  The Issue.02 modems have a small sticker on the back that says "Iss.02".  Regular A-14 modems get unreliable over 10,000 feet from the Central Office.  Issue.02 A-14's are reliable up to about 13,000 feet.

A-12 modems are reliable up to about 13,000 feet as well.

Verizon prefers to match A-14 modems to the 4-port DSLAM cards in the central office.  A-12 modems to the two-port DSLAM cards.  If an A-12 modem gets onto a 4-port DSLAM card, it's usually fine anyway, but putting an A-14 on a two-port card can be trouble.  We don't know which they will choose when we place an order.

Symptoms of hardware mis-matching:  The customer must re-set his ADSL modem frequently.  Cure:  If we "loaned" him the modem, switch to the other flavor.  If it's a Verizon modem, get them to switch him to another card of the right flavor.

Heavy-Duty Troubleshooting, 888-391-1234.

Make sure the customer's network card and computer are OK.  If they're on a network, can they see the other machines?  If not,

run winIPcfg.  If they have a PPP adapter, the IP for it should be all zeros.  Ask them to read the IP, netmask and gateway for the network card.  It will default to the dial-up adapter, but there's a drop-down box. 

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  1. Call the customer, put them on hold, call Verizon, conference the call.
  2. Say that we can't seem to establish traffic between the customer and ourselves.  Verizon will look at the circuit and tell you there's nothing wrong.  That doesn't mean anything.
  3. If they tell you they see traffic from the customer at this point in the conversation, what they're really saying is that they see status packets from the ADSL modem.
  4. Next, tell Verizon you're going to ask the customer to send ping packets towards the gateway.  Can they please tell you if they see these packets.
  5. Tell the customer to type into a DOS window:  "PING -N 25 (THE GATEWAY IP ADDRESS)"
  6. Ask Verizon if they see those packets.
  7. Even if the customer has mis-typed the gateway, Verizon should still see the ping packets.
  8. If they see the packets, Use a DOS window, and ping the customer's IP address.  Sometimes the router can't find the customer's computer, and so won't send pings.  But there should still be some packets sent.
  9. Can Verizon see these going through?

If they have Windows XP and Norton Internet Security 2000 or 2001, they can't go anywhere.

Symptoms:  They can Ping www.turbonet.com but the web browser will not go to any web sites.

To remove it:  restart the computer and hit F8 when it's coming up..  Pick Safe Mode from the menu.  Go to the control panel, add/remove, and remove Norton Internet Security.  After you re-start the computer it should work.

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If they can go anywhere except a few web sites, check the subnet mask.  255.0.0.0 makes it so they can go anywhere EXCEPT in their own class A.