subnet mask problem?

[brinn]

Firstly please forgive if this forum is for experts only, but I have searched for many hours for help on this subject.

problem is my adsl isp has been allocating me a 255.0.0.0 subnet mask for three weeks now, which is they claim the reason I cannot access any web pages from home on a 98 pc (not networked)the connection itself is fine. I am a bit sceptical about their claim as an engineer visited plugged his 2000 laptop in and had no problems on the same connection.
All other settings including DNS servers seem valid, ip pings suceed but url pings fail. all modem protocols are correct.

Various repairs have been tried, reinstalling dial up networking, communications protocols and winsock. Different type of modem has been tried without success.

Is the isp passing the buck? If so can anyone point me in the right direction, as I don't want to have to reformat and reinstall unless I really have to.
Alternatively if the subnet mask is the problem is their anything I can do from my end to fix this.

 

[Morsing]

> Is the isp passing the buck?

As usual :-( THey're simple too stupid.

What you need to do is setting the DNS. You must have been given a DNS ip number to use??

Cheers Henrik Morsing
Certified AIX 4.3 Systems Administration
& p690 Technical Support

 

[Accessdabbler]

Subnet mask of 255.0.0.0 does seem wrong. Normally it is 255.255.255.0 for individual users. You probably don't want to say what your IP address is so if it starts with a number between 192 and 224 then the subnet mask should be 255.255.255.0.

Go to a command prompt (Start > Run > type CMD or COMMAND) and try:

ping 207.61.132.11

and

ping

http://www.corel.com

Both ping the Corel website. If the second ping doesn't work, you have a problem with DNS. Double and triple check your DNS IP address settings.

 

[brinn]

The ISP's primary and secondary DNS have already been specified, even though the service normally works on auto allocated for DNS and IP.
IP normally starts with 214., which from what I understand should give the 255.255.255.0 subnet mask
Is there anyway I can make the pc get the right subnet?

 

[Morsing]

I can see that the subnetmask is wrong but that shouldn't stop the connection from working??

Cheers Henrik Morsing
Certified AIX 4.3 Systems Administration
& p690 Technical Support

 

[Accessdabbler]

You get your settings through DHCP or are you assigned a specific IP address?

Something you are saying is confusing me. You have broadband ADSL but your friend was able to connect? You have to run a PPPoE program to connect to the ISP (unless you connect through a router). What is your configuration?

 

[brinn]

The ADSL service I use has all its settings assigned via the ISP each time I log on.
The modem is a USB pre configured to UK ADSL settings using ATM protocol. Because it is in effect a dial up modem each time I boot up I have to make an initial log on
The ISP sent an engineer around after I had complained about the problem, he simply plugged my modem into his laptop and said the line and modem were fine, which seems to me to contradict the supposed problem of the wrong subnet mask from the ISP, unless I am totally misunderstanding the way the ADSL service works

 

[Serbtastic]

When the service person connected, how did he connect? Also, did he pull the same subnet mask, gateway and DNS server info that you did?

 

[Accessdabbler]

Well, I'm a little puzzled. I wasn't aware that ATM was used for ADSL connections. Usually you use PPPoE and run some software on the computer.

Having a USB modem should mean that you need to install some driver or software to use the modem since you are not going through a NIC.

I don't think I can help you.

 

[ChrisAC]

The standard for ADSL in the UK is PPPoA (ATM), not PPPoE.

If the engineer was able to get a perfectly good working connection from his laptop using your modem then the problem must lie with your PC, not the modem, line or ISP.

If IP pings work but URL pings fail then you simply have a DNS problem. If you ping by URL is the URL resolved to an IP address? What DNS servers are you using and are they set up on the correct dial up connection?

Chris.
**********************
Chris Andrew, CCNA, CCSA
chris@iproute.co.uk
**********************

 

[johnny99]

I am a little puzzled too.
To me it seems that a lot of different problems are mixed together here.

Just to complie what you say about your connection:

The ADSL is ATM (25 Mbit/s interface or something like that)
The connection from your PC to the ADSL stuff from your ISP is using the USB port on your PC.
In USB cable runs from your PC to some kind of box that is connected to the ATM connector from you ISP
You are using a PPPoE program on your PC to connect to the internet

Is this correct?

What do you get from an "IPCONFIG /ALL"?

I would debug the IP part before trying to look into the other problems.

Can you ping any IP-numbers on the internet?

 

[ChrisAC]

He isn't using a PPPoE program on the PC. No one in the UK uses PPPoE (to my knowledge anyway!).

In the UK you have a POTS splitter fitted on your telephone line with two ports, one normal analogue phone socket and one RJ-11 socket for the ADSL. The modem goes in the DSL socket and then usually plugs into the PC via a USB port, although many people use routers with ethernet connections to their PC. USB modems is the standard ISP product.

You then create a DUN connection to the internet using the ADSL modem or a LAN connection to the router, no PPPoE software required. The DSLAM in the local exchange feeds the traffic to the BRAS via the telcos ATM network ...PPPoA.

So, as far as troubleshooting goes on the PC, it's no different than using a normal dial up modem.

So, Brin, as johnny99 has already said, what does a ipconfig /all show? If you do an 'nslookup

http://www.tek-tips.com'

what do you get?

Chris.
**********************
Chris Andrew, CCNA, CCSA
chris@iproute.co.uk
**********************

 

[Accessdabbler]

Thanks for clearing that up iproute. I am in Canada and we use a PPPoE connection. Although I am vaguely familiar with ATM I couldn't understand how his system was configured using ATM and a USB modem. Don't you need a driver for this type of modem on USB though?

 

[ChrisAC]

Yeah, you need to install the drivers for the modem. We supply either a Speedtouch or Fujitsu modem with our service, although many people (including myself) use a router via a NIC.

Here's a good site for explaining how DSL works in the UK ..

http://www.adslguide.org.uk/howitworks/

Chris.
**********************
Chris Andrew, CCNA, CCSA
chris@iproute.co.uk
**********************