Can't get wireless internet access on sister's FIOS anymore

[Janit]

I just discovered this problem while visiting my sister.

She has had Verizon FIOS internet/phone/TV for over a year. It came with a wireless router that she left "open" -- she lives on a large lot and didn't bother to password protect it. I know, I know, but she and her husband are PC people who hate to tinker with ANY software. Their own computers are wired in by Ethernet and the major use for the wireless has been by relatives who come to visit with their laptops. The SSID broadcast by the router is still dd-wrt.

I used to get relatively easy wireless internet access there -- DHCP would assign me an IP address and I was good to go. In the past I've used both a Pismo (10.4.11) with an original airport card and a Wallstreet (10.2.8) with a Macsense Aeocard (both 802.11b).

Now I still get an IP address assigned from the router, but I can no longer get through to the internet. My other sister has had the same problem with her G4 Powerbook, starting the last weekend of September. No one else in the family has tried wireless access there lately.

A call to Verizon was singularly useless. The customer support droid said "they don't support airport" and told us to call Apple about the problem -- yeah right.

Has there been some kind of change/update to the FIOS software/firmware recently? I'm just trying to gather information before running the gauntlet with the Verizon droids again.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[GGD]

> The SSID broadcast by the router is still dd-wrt.

Are you saying that the wireless router, as supplied by Verizon is running dd-wrt firmware?

Are you sure that you're really connecting to the router in that house and not to a neighbors router?

[Ken Sp.]

Have you tried connecting your computers via Ethernet?
If it works then it is likely a wireless router issue

If it doesn't get in the internet, I am just guessing here---could it be a DNS issue

[Janit]

Are you saying that the wireless router, as supplied by Verizon is running dd-wrt firmware?

Are you sure that you're really connecting to the router in that house and not to a neighbors router?

Yes, it would appear that the router is running dd-wrt. I Googled FIOS plus wireless, and it appears to be common for FIOS users have routers running dd-wrt.

This is the strongest SSID in the neighborhood, and the only one NOT password protected.

Have you tried connecting your computers via Ethernet?
If it works then it is likely a wireless router issue

If it doesn't get in the internet, I am just guessing here---could it be a DNS issue.

The Wallstreet I have with me right now has a bum Ethernet port, hence my limited ability to troubleshoot. Maybe I can get my other sister to come over with HER Powerbook if we offer to feed her.

I tried adding DNS numbers manually on my DHCP panel, and it didn't seem to help...

[DCrunch]

I have FIOS internet. Have you opened up the router's utility to see just what is connected to the router? I just went through a cession with my network and it ended up being an IP conflict. Two components had the same IP. I kept getting the message that my computer had a self-assigned IP and wasn't even close to 192.168.1.X. I finally figured it out. I had assigned a static IP to a printer and it should have been outside of the range of the normal router assigned IPs.

[Janit]

DCrunch wrote:
I have FIOS internet. Have you opened up the router's utility to see just what is connected to the router? I just went through a cession with my network and it ended up being an IP conflict. Two components had the same IP. I kept getting the message that my computer had a self-assigned IP and wasn't even close to 192.168.1.X. I finally figured it out. I had assigned a static IP to a printer and it should have been outside of the range of the normal router assigned IPs.

Hmmm... in the past I did have occasional problems with router instability in which DHCP failed to assign any address at all from the router (resulting in that weird self-assigned IP). Rebooting the router would fix the problem so that DHCP would then assign me 192.168.1.141. Alternatively, I could successfully use DHCP with manual address set to 192.168.1.141 (or 192.168.1.142 or 192.168.1.143) if rebooting the router was too annoying to everyone else.

This new problem seems to be different. I am getting assigned 192.168.1.141 as expected, but still no internet access. I have also tried DHCP with manual address set to 192.168.1.142 or 192.168.1.143, and I'm still not getting through. I can successfully ping the router, but that's it. Grrr...

[mikebw]

This just sounds strange to me. Every Verizon FiOS wireless router I have seen has always been password protected by default. It will broadcast the SSID, generally something like 7IWJ32 for example, but you always need the password to connect.

[modelamac]

Wild shot, but it may have happened. Is it possible that an outside party enabled a wireless filter so that only his computer is allowed on the wireless connection? There would not be a password required for this(MAC address filter), so you would not necessarily get a warning or any error message. Just a stab in the dark, as I have no other thoughts on the problem.

[jardster]

Seriously, did you cycle the router off and then on? I need to do this about every month (a pain, but in the end, only takes a few seconds) when my wife's TiBook has difficulty connecting. Clears it right up.

[mikebw]

jardster wrote:
Seriously, did you cycle the router off and then on? I need to do this about every month (a pain, but in the end, only takes a few seconds) when my wife's TiBook has difficulty connecting. Clears it right up.

I was gonna ask the same question, but then he said that there was a call to tech support and this is generally the first thing they would have you do... assuming they knew anything... which may be a poor assumption...