Digital Wild West

Today’s tip concerns broadband Internet (aka DSL, ADSL) not working despite the computer, the modem, the phone line (DSL over copper) AND even the house being new!

The symptom?

I plugged it all but there’s no connection. In fact, when I plug the broadband modem in, I lose dial tone. And yep, I checked filter placement, even tried another filter.

Seems an open and shut case at first. Must be the the service provider (ISP). But, no, they claim it’s ready and waiting.

Next suspect is the modem, a new one supplied with the computer. Suggested another be swapped in to at least remove that from the list. In fact, experience suggests you should have a spare anyway for that inevitable time when the service stops and the ISP tells you there’s nothing wrong at their end. If you can afford fast Internet and a PC then you can afford to be somewhat self-reliant with not only knowledge but equipment.

Bring your computer and the modem to our workshop and we will at least confirm they talk and that your provider’s details are correctly entered.

He did and we did. The problem? Quite a few, actually.

1. The "modem" was a "broadband wireless router" less the modem! From a leading vendor like Dell one would wish such a vendor would stamp "gotchas" all over this ever-so-common area of confusion amongst non-cognoscenti. One needs a modem FIRST. A modem plus router is BETTER. A modem plus router plus WIRELESS is nicer, too. They can be in separate plastic boxes for separate purchase. Unless you have the MODEM part, you cannot connect to the Internet.
   
2. The ISP was a slack tart. They provided a username and login but NOT the type of service.  Our victim was never going to hit  the Internet unless he could tell the modem/router what flavor of protocol!! [PPPoE, PPPoA, etc.] This needs to be entered in the ‘modem’ department via the next step. This wonderful ISP emailed the information to its victim - the information he needed in order to connect and collect the email (sigh!).
   
3. Our hapless friend did figure, from careful reading of the router’s brochure, how to ‘browse’ into the web page living inside the little plastic box (that he believed was a modem) by entering a "web address" in the typical form http://192.168.1.1 or similar into his browser. Note, I’ll repeat, the plastic box has a website inside it. Web pages do not have to be on the web. A simple idea that most people find hard to get their brain around at first.
   
4. The web page allows configuration of the modem so it can connect to your ISP and supply the magic words "Connected" - our friend saw only "Not Connected." He knew something was up!

I could write a novel on this but suffice it here to say that this is the most common, even notorious, reason people who have just purchased a new computer with "broadband" routers cannot make it happen. The vendors simply do not care that you don’t know the difference between "routers" or "switches" or "modems."

It has the magic word "Broadband" so you naturally assume it’s the goods. Who wouldn’t.

PS: One other common scenario where, perhaps, one loses dial tone when the broadband "modem" is connected - and normal phone operation when it is disconnected - is after an electrical surge (typically lightning, or a nearby electrical storm) has "fried" your modem’s input.

The phone could survive, or not, of course.  Either way, you become obsessed over the loss of Internet and blind to the obvious. In both cases (wrong new device, or faulty old device) the input socket electronics - either damaged or electrically mismatched - places an incompatible load across the phone line. "Impedance" is a term describing the signal loading on a circuit. A "dead short" is another term, suggesting too-low an impedance while "open circuit" means too high :0)

Either case will prevent a circuit (that’s your home and the phone exchange and the copper/cable connecting them) from operating. It’s the "short circuit" that cripples the circuit when the cooked modem, or "Ethernet router" (not modem) is placed across the phone line.

Lesson to take away? Look for the magic word "modem" when buying for an Internet connection. The word "modem" is well known from dialup days and derives from the original box designed to convert a phone signal to digital-speak for computers.

Think: "Is it a modem? Or does it have a modem in it?"