JamieMacdonald

Hi guys. Hoping you can help me out (again) with a problem my parents are having.

Basically I am trying to set up a BELKIN F5D7632-4 wireless adsl modem/router for them. It has been connected to the desktop PC and there is also a wireless laptop that connects to it.

Didn't mention this in the title as I though it might stop people looking, but their ISP is........ AoL

The actual problem is this - I have set up the router to connect to AoHell which worked immediately. Tried to access websites from the desktop - nothing (page cannot be displayed). After a lot of faffing around with connection settings etc. I basically found the problem - I connected the old modem back up and pinged google to get the IP address. I then reconnected the router and connected it to AoL, this time I put the IP address into IE and it took me straight to the google website, which proves the internet connectivity is there. I also notice Windows messenger works ok.

DNS problem, right.

I did an ipconfig /all, and the ethernet card (which is connected to the router) had the routers address as it's DNS server. I don't have a lot of experience with networking so not sure if this is right or not? If you look at the WAN status on the router, the DNS server specified is AoL's actual DNS server, and it gives an IP address which has been assigned (to the router?) by AoL. The IP address of the actual PC is the one assigned by the router.

I have tried editing the TCP/IP properties for the ethernet card to point it to the AoL DNS server but that made no difference, I have also turned of DHCP on the router to no avail. I have also tried lots of other things which I can't actually recall right now!

I also tried hard wiring it to the laptop but it also had the same problem with DNS. The desktop has only recently had Win XP SP2 reinstalled so shouldn't be in too much of a mess if you know what I mean! When I connect the laptop to the router wireless it can also access websites but via IP address only, but at least the wireless side is all working ok.

Had a look on the web but can't find anybody who's had this exact problem, although a lot of people have had issues using routers with AoL (surprise, surprise!).

The area I'm not to clear about is; what should the PC (or should that be 'the ethernet card' ) consider to be it's DNS server? The router, or AoL's DNS server?

Any ideas?

Apart from getting them to leave AoL!

I have spoken to AoL's 'technical' support in India, which is no longer free, who were useless. "We do not support this router so cannot help you in this matter" and

AoL: "Sir, you do not need to type the number into Internet Explorer, only the website name"

Me: "but that's the problem, it only works when the IP address is used, there appears to be a problem accessing the DNS server"

Aol: <silence>

Me: "Hello?"

AoL: "just type in the website name sir"



Jamie

mike1210

the dns server on the pc will show up as the router as will the default gateway, as a process of elimination try the following DNS servers

212.159.13.49 for the primary and 212.159.13.50 secondary, these are plus nets by the way. This should be put (if possible on a belkin) in the DHCP setup on the router itself so when you do ipconfig /all the dns servers are as above.If you cant give it different settings on the DHCP turn the service off and hardwire the IP and DNS servers into the computer

many routers dont work with aol as i believe they use a different authentication method to connect to thier network,

i cant see why the router would be blocking port 53 UDP which is used for DNS lookups so i dont think its that. The DNS servers may be down on AOL's side at the moment??????

JamieMacdonald

Hi mate, thanks for the input. It was like this for a couple of days and was ok using the USB modem so AoL's servers were fine I think.

I just called my Mum and it didn't sound like there was an option to manually put the DNS server on the router, but I got her to update the TCP/IP properties of the ethernet card to use the DNS server that you specified. It appears to be working now as they can browse the web fine by just typing in the web address. Hooray!

The only remaining problem (that I know of) comes when you try to run the AoL software. If you tell it to connect to AoL using the LAN, the first thing it does is, IIRC, 'looking for DNS over TCP/IP'. At this point it fails with the error 'DNS server unreachable' as I guess AoL is trying to access it's own DNS server, and can't for some reason?

Getting there ...

J
p.s. looking into other peoples AoL/router problems on the web, it is not normal practice to have to manually choose DNS servers - I'm not sure why we have had to do this.

mike1210

there was an article i read in PC pro recently (or similar mag) about a similar problem, ill try to dig it out. I think it stated that belkin routers dont work with AOL, some others i think also have problems. It may be a case of change either the router or the ISP....... id choose the latter, ill try and dig that article out either tonight or tomorrow

JamieMacdonald

Cheers mate

Nicks VR4

AOL only support these below

HTH Nick

Thomson SpeedTouch 510 4-Port ADSL Router No • 4 ports to connect up to four computers, or three computers and a games console, via Ethernet cable
• Straightforward setup wizard

View the setup guide

£54.99
(plus P&P)
from
DSL Shop


Netgear DG834 ADSL Router No • 4 ports to connect up to four computers, or three computers and a games console, via Ethernet cable
• Simple to set up

View the setup guide

£79.99
(plus P&P)
from
DSL Shop

Thomson SpeedTouch 576 Wireless ADSL Router Yes
• Connect multiple computers via 802.11g wireless connectivity with the addition of wireless adapters (see below)
• Up to five times faster than 802.11b and works with both 802.11g and 802.11b
• Connect one computer or a games console, via Ethernet cable
View the setup guide

Download our AOL Easy Installer for the SpeedTouch 576. This step-by-step tool helps you to set up your modem router in minutes.

£54.99
(plus P&P)
from
DSL Shop

Thomson SpeedTouch 580 Wireless ADSL Router Yes
• Connect multiple computers via 802.11g wireless connectivity with the addition of wireless adapters (see below)
• Up to five times faster than 802.11b and works with both 802.11g and 802.11b
• Connect up to four computers, or three computers and a games console, via Ethernet cable
View the setup guide

Download our AOL Easy Installer for the SpeedTouch 580. This step-by-step tool helps you to set up your modem router in minutes.

£56.99
(plus P&P)
from
DSL Shop

Netgear DG834G Wireless ADSL Router Yes • Connect multiple computers via 802.11g wireless connectivity with the addition of wireless adapters (see below)
• Up to five times faster than 802.11b and works with both 802.11g and 802.11b
• 4 ports to connect up to four computers, or three computers and a games console, via Ethernet cable
View the setup guide

Download our AOL Easy Installer for the Netgear DG834G. This step-by-step tool helps you to set up your modem router in minutes.

£88.00
(plus P&P)
from
DSL Shop

Steve PPP

[QUOTE=Nicks VR4]AOL only support these below

HTH Nick

Yes, but it will work with any router, just that AOL will not help you to set it up!
Their support is rubbish, I agree, and now you pay for it!

Some pointers:-
AOL is very fussy of the MTU setting, it must be 1400, or you will get some weird things happening, e.g. Yahoo loads but won't search. I used DRTCP to set it, as suggested to me by someone on this site last year (thanks).

You need to enter the right screen name format into the router.

The essential settings are as below:-
Connection Protocol:PPPoA VPI:0 Note that sometimes you will be asked for both figures together (VPI/VCI). In that instance, you enter them separated by a comma: 0,38 VCI:38 Username:yourscreenname@aol.com Password:youraolpassword

We have 2 sets of networked AOL that work fine with US Robotics and Netgear systems.
Also some firewalls upset it, even if you set them to Allow ALL! Download their free Mcaffe one to be certain. Sygate works as well. Switch off windows firewall if you load another.

HTH
Steve W

Steve PPP

Also if you exit AOL and then try to reconnect without re-starting your pc you will get an error message along the lines of Can't find DNS server! You have to re-start every time you exit the AOL software.

Persevere, it does work, it's just a bitch to setup. Once it's done it should be fine.

Steve W

Steve PPP

Wireless Settings: (From AOL Site)
When configuring a wireless router, you may also be prompted for the following:
SSID: This is the 'name' of the router that you are using and is used by wireless adapters when they attempt to establish a connection.
WEP Key: The WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) key is the equivalent of a password on your router. Depending on your setup, it may be necessary to define one of these and ensure that any wireless adapters that connect to the router have the same key in their settings.
Network Type: There are a number of possible choices available here, but, if the option is available, you should choose Base Station.
MTU Setting: MTU (Maximum Transfer Unit) defines the largest data packet size you can transmit in one go across a network. The AOL network runs at an MTU of 1400. Many routers have inbuilt auto-configurations where the hardware identifies that the AOL traffic has an MTU of 1400 and dynamically adjusts. Alternatively you may have to manually change the MTU setting on the modem router. If the router hardware does not have this facility, the MTU setting can manually be changed on the computer to 1400.
You can change the MTU setting on your computer by using DrTCP. This is a free software utility that is a shortcut to editing your registry. This is available at: http://www.broadbandreports.com/drtcp.
MRU Setting: MRU (Maximum Routing Unit) is required by some modem routers and should be set to the same value as the MTU of 1400.
MSS Setting: MSS (Maximum Segment Size) is required by some modem routers and dynamically adjusts the packet size to fit the MTU. It should be set to 1360.

JamieMacdonald

Thanks for the replies .

Re: MTU settings - Used DrTCP right at the start to set this to 1400 (no option on the router).

Wireless - least of my worries at the moment.

All other settings are pretty much as described above. Have not been back to my parents for a while but I'll have another look next time I visit. The bit I still don't understand is why we had to set up the DNS servers manually, I could not see any other mention on the net of anyone (using AoL) having to do this!

mike1210

that article was about a guy trying to get a router to work with AOL, one of the support lines told him "dont tell then youre using a belkin or they wont help you". However with Steves very informative replies above that should sort the problem

JamieMacdonald

mike1210, Steve PPP, Nicks VR4

Thanks for all the advice on this - I am pleased to say that after approaching the setup with a clear head, and fiddling with the AoL connection/location settings everything now appears to be working - wireless/AoL software, secure websites, the lot (had to use DrTCP on laptop too).

Also, I've noticed you can restart the AoL software without having to restart the PC, which is something I read you couldn't do. And... I also found you can run the AoL software using the same screen name that the router is using to connect to AoL without any problems - again this is something I read you couldn't do?

What a kerfuffle though - I work in IT (although not specifically networking) and this one had me stumped for quite a while - how on earth are non-techiel users supposed to work all this stuff out?!

On the plus side, my parents are now even more convinced that I am some sort of PC-god so I think with xmas coming up I might have my own wireless router on it's way, courtesy of 'the bank of Mum and Dad'

Thanks again.

Steve PPP

Well done, glad to help.

With regard to both the above, both our systems have to restart if you exit AOL, and both bump a screen name if you try to log on with the router name. Maybe our setup can be tweaked? Don't think I want to disturb it though.

Steve W