Intermittent connection to internet - router appears fine.

[nookcolor1]

Hi,
Running NookColor which gets an IP address from the WPN824v3 router (wireless). But the behavior is odd in connecting to the Internet. One day, no connection, the next day connection just fine. All other devices in the house connect wired and wirelessly to router fine. Sitting in front of router so distance isn't the problem. Connects wireless at coffee shops and at work fine. Before the sex change, the nook connected fine to the router and the internet. running CM7

The router shows in the log that it issued the ip address to the device; the device says it has the same ip address; No ip address conflicts with other devices.

Day 1 when it was a NookColor it connected to router and it connected to the internet fine.
Day 2 - jailbroken - got an ip address; but no connection to internet. Tried both dynamic assignment of IP address (via DHCP) and static assignment. No effect.
Day 3 - power on the Nookcolor and viola' I have connection to the internet for 1.5 days. System ran out of power, shut down and the problem reappeared of inability to get internet connection.

Have rebooted router several times. Renewed DHCP lease with Comcast (internet provider).

Any ideas?
Thanks,
Gary

 

[nookcolor1]

More info

Testing results - went out this evening and could connect to 3 different wifi networks at the shopping center. No problems. Back at home, no internet connection.

So, I decided to do some evil testing. I set the ip address of the android/nook to the same as my iphone. I thought one device or the other would throw an error and/or router would report an ip address conflict. But, the router was pretty darn smart. It detected the ip address conflict and since the iphone's ip address was dhcp assigned, the router changed it's ip address to avoid conflict. Pretty sweet. So this proves connectivity to the router and proper behavior. So, why does the device not get to the internet? Anyone else see this error? Comcast is my internet provider.
cheers.

 

[Bullfrog527]

Sounds like we are having the same problems, I don't have the tech knowledge to figure out the solution. I think that the issue is with the router, i have another tablet that won't connect along with my wife's phone. Hopefully we can get this resolved!

 

[nookcolor1]

My plan of action

I want to better understand the networking so I'll look at the info on my current router to document the dhcp server, dns server etc and get and idea of how these things are working together.

Several folks recommended buying a new router as mine is about 6 years old. I've always had problems with apple products connecting on this router anyway.

Buy the new router, unplug old, put new in. If it works with all devices then: success.

Put old router back on network. Return the router to it's factory settings by doing the factory reset. Reconfigure for my network. If it NOW works with all devices, that is good and return the recently purchased router for a refunds and save $100 or so.

That's the plan.

Gary

 

[Bullfrog527]

I am using ATT's router, this is the third one I've had. It seems to be working just fine with my netbook, and my phone. its just the nook, my tab, and her phone that wont connect to the internet . I tried the wireless tether with my wife's phone and the nook, worked like a charm! so i dont know wtf the problem is, i just know its pissing me off to no end. If it was only one device i would think it would be a problem with that device, but its not.

 

[nookcolor1]

One thought

One thing I was curious about is if the internet provider companies have a limit on the number of devices they allow you to attach. This might explain why X number of devices attach successfully but X+1 does not. You might ask...

Now, I was told they have no visibility into the number of attached devices, but don't know enough networking to know if this is true. If you ask them, post here what you find.

Thanks,
Gary

 

[nookcolor1]

I have identified the solution, but not the problem. If I turn off WEP security on the router, I can connect just fine. Turn it back on and I cannot connect again to the internet.

I don't have the time right now (have to go to work at my job at a networking company!) to pursue further, but wanted to share if anyone else had this issue, to try this route. Not sure why this problem would exist, but will pursue later.

I know I don't want to leave my wireless unprotected so this is not a recommended solution.

 

[Davethebrewer]

I have identified the solution, but not the problem. If I turn off WEP security on the router, I can connect just fine. Turn it back on and I cannot connect again to the internet.

I don't have the time right now (have to go to work at my job at a networking company!) to pursue further, but wanted to share if anyone else had this issue, to try this route. Not sure why this problem would exist, but will pursue later.

I know I don't want to leave my wireless unprotected so this is not a recommended solution.

Looks like you have a 802.11g Netgear from the model number. I have a router with a similar age and 802.11g, but from Belkin. I originally had my router setup with WPA2(TKIP) security and was able to get an IP address, but could never connect to the internet with my Nook. When I changed the security to WPA(AES) I was able to connect to the internet. Of course this meant I had to change settings on all of my other wireless devices connected to the router to use AES instead of TKIP encryption. This appears to be an issue with my older router at home because I was able to get all combinations of WPA, WP2, AES, and TKIP to run fine at work with our newer n-router.

Dave

 

[nookcolor1]

Dave,

I've been told that one of the downsides of WEP is exactly this problem of connection to the Internet. I was looking around for more detail on it unsuccessfully.

One reason I was on WEP is that I have older computers in the house. However, I was told that I can buy low cost usb wireless which come with wpa2 or other security protocols. This would be an in-expensive workaround.

Next step is to test WEP2 and/or other security protocols to see which works with the nook and the rest of my devices in the house.

Gary

 

[patruns]

What version of CM7 are you using?

 

[nookcolor1]

Problem Solved!

Switching to WEP2-Personal AES allows nook to connect. All other computers in household switched over as well and all is looking good. So, if you are having a connectivity problem such as mine, try different security methods.

Thanks to those that offered advice!

 

[Bullfrog527]

Thanks alot, that did the trick!! Its crazy that something that simple is the solution.

I changed the security to the wpa2 and everything seems to be working

 

[yeroc40]

Security changed worked wonders for me too. Thanks!