SMC2804WBR problems

Archived from groups: alt.internet.wireless (More info?)

On 2 Aug 2004 05:36:25 -0700, fatboyrider@hotmail.com (G) wrote:

>I have an SMC2804WBR wireless router. I am running with Road Runner
>and a PC wired to the router and a laptop running wireless. I am
>running v1.10 firmware with no security (at least until I work out my
>problems!).I am running Win2000 on my PC and XP on my laptop. Both on
>my PC, and on my laptop, when I navigate to a new page or click a
>link, about 50% of the time I get the "Cannot find server or DNS
>Error" screen. I have to go to the address line, hit enter, and the
>page will come up. If I connect my PC directly to my modem, bypassing
>the router, I never have this problem.
>
>Has anyone had this problem, or any suggestions on a fix would be
>greatly appreciated!

Well, let's check for packet loss before assigning the blame.
Open a DOS (cmd or command) window on the laptop and run:
ping -t 192.168.1.1
Replace the 192.168.1.1 with whatever you're using for the IP address
of your access point. Any lost packets and timeouts? If yes, then
there's probably something wrong with the radio link. The web based
configuration of the SMC2804WBR should (not sure) also show some link
statistics and packet loss. A problem reported in this newsgroup is
that the intrusion detection threshold is set too low by default which
causes the router to block traffic thinking it's being attacked. Use
Google to find the details. There may also be problems on your laptop
but lacking any supplied details, I can't offer any specific advice.


--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 AE6KS 831-336-2558

Archived from groups: alt.internet.wireless (More info?)

"G" <fatboyrider@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:600c339e.0408020436.4813365c@posting.google.com...
> I have an SMC2804WBR wireless router. I am running with Road Runner
> and a PC wired to the router and a laptop running wireless. I am
> running v1.10 firmware with no security (at least until I work out my
> problems!).I am running Win2000 on my PC and XP on my laptop. Both on
> my PC, and on my laptop, when I navigate to a new page or click a
> link, about 50% of the time I get the "Cannot find server or DNS
> Error" screen. I have to go to the address line, hit enter, and the
> page will come up. If I connect my PC directly to my modem, bypassing
> the router, I never have this problem.
>
> Has anyone had this problem, or any suggestions on a fix would be
> greatly appreciated!

You are running the correct version of firmware. Don't upgrade to 1.11a. I
recommend that you check the router's log to see what complaint it has about
your failed attempts to connect to certain sites. My guess is that you'll
see SPI Firewall alarms blocking your connections, but the symptoms that you
described are different than the ones that I experienced. Let us know what
you find in the log.

Ron Bandes, CCNP, CTT+, etc.

Archived from groups: alt.internet.wireless (More info?)

G <fatboyrider@hotmail.com> wrote:
> I have an SMC2804WBR wireless router. I am running with Road Runner
> and a PC wired to the router and a laptop running wireless. I am
> running v1.10 firmware with no security (at least until I work out my
> problems!).I am running Win2000 on my PC and XP on my laptop. Both on
> my PC, and on my laptop, when I navigate to a new page or click a
> link, about 50% of the time I get the "Cannot find server or DNS
> Error" screen. I have to go to the address line, hit enter, and the
> page will come up. If I connect my PC directly to my modem, bypassing
> the router, I never have this problem.

Some routers DHCP make them your DNS server, others make whatever server is
provided to them as your DNS server.
My SMC routers (7004VWBR and 7004WFW) both make themselves the DNS server,
and I have no problem with that.
From a CMD prompt, ipconfig/all will show what the DNS server address is.
From the router status page, you can see what the DNS server is that is
being provided by your ISP.
You might configure your PC to set the DNS server to the one provided by
the ISP instead of, or in addition to, the one that SMC is providing.

I haven't had the problem that you describe with my SMC, but I see
it occasionally at work, where our network gateway is overloaded.

--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5

Archived from groups: alt.internet.wireless (More info?)

Thanks for the advice that fixed me right up. Thanks again!

<dold@SMC2804WBR.usenet.us.com> wrote in message
news:celrdd$rbu$4@blue.rahul.net...
> G <fatboyrider@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > I have an SMC2804WBR wireless router. I am running with Road Runner
> > and a PC wired to the router and a laptop running wireless. I am
> > running v1.10 firmware with no security (at least until I work out my
> > problems!).I am running Win2000 on my PC and XP on my laptop. Both on
> > my PC, and on my laptop, when I navigate to a new page or click a
> > link, about 50% of the time I get the "Cannot find server or DNS
> > Error" screen. I have to go to the address line, hit enter, and the
> > page will come up. If I connect my PC directly to my modem, bypassing
> > the router, I never have this problem.
>
> Some routers DHCP make them your DNS server, others make whatever server
is
> provided to them as your DNS server.
> My SMC routers (7004VWBR and 7004WFW) both make themselves the DNS server,
> and I have no problem with that.
> From a CMD prompt, ipconfig/all will show what the DNS server address is.
> From the router status page, you can see what the DNS server is that is
> being provided by your ISP.
> You might configure your PC to set the DNS server to the one provided by
> the ISP instead of, or in addition to, the one that SMC is providing.
>
> I haven't had the problem that you describe with my SMC, but I see
> it occasionally at work, where our network gateway is overloaded.
>
> --
> ---
> Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5
>