3COM Home Wireless Gateway/Internet Connection not working

[TypeSK]

anyone know about this product? 3Com HomeConnect Home Wireless Gateway.

It's been working ever since I got it (it used to be used at my old workplace, and my friend gave it to me 6 months ago).

it has NAT, etc.

setup:
Router with NAT, DHCP, and Firewall turned ON.
Wireless hookups: win98SE machine
Wired hookups: this WinXPH machine with regular RJ45 cable
Crossover cable from cable modem to WAN port
Cable provider: Cox Communications

about 5 hours ago, it was working..i was just working on my site.

i turn off my computer, go take a nap ... then come back, and all of a sudden, internet doesnt work. my cable modem lights are on like normal. but my router says internet is not connected ... i can still browse my home network though ....

but i release all IPs. turn off computer, router, and cable modem. for test, since my cable lights are working fine, i plug my cable modem directly to my computer, turn on computer.

it finds the IP address fine, and my internet WORKS!!!!!!

i turn everything back off, plug cable to router like it was before, turn computer back on, and it DOESNT work!!

so the problem has to be with my router. but i do everything, redo all settings, perform system checks, restore factory settings, etc etc .... still doesnt work!!

i called the cable company, and they say to go check with the router manufacturer company. he tried helping me diagnos things a little bit even though i know he wasnt supposed to since they dont support anything with routers and all.

so what could be the problem? call 3Com?

i also noticed this though, that my IP address that i normally had has changed during those 5 hours. but that shouldnt make any difference, as in the router, it is setup as DHCP for the internet connection, and i have even restored factory settings anyways .....

help?!

 

[Jedi_Master]

Howdy there TypeSK...

What type of router do you have ?

 

[TypeSK]

3Com HomeConnect Wireless Gateway

http://www.3com.com/products/en_US/detail.jsp?tab=support&pathtype=support&sku=3CRWE50194

here is the link...and low and behold, its discontinued grr

 

[Jedi_Master]

The cable that you used to connect the pc to the modem, is it the same crossover cable used to connect the WAN port to the modem ?

If not, do you have another crossover cable to test with ?

Because the problem sounds like it could be the cable or the WAN port...

 

[TypeSK]

yea, ive used other crossover cables....if i bypass the WAN port, plug the cable into one of the LAN ports (to have it acts as a hub), the cable works. im trying to download firmware updates, but doesnt work (i dunno if you have to go through the Router setup page ->firmware updates AND BE CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET to get the stickin firmware to update or what not...if i download it to desktop, i cant do anything with it ..


im gonna try this:

one computer has 2 network cards. i can use one network card to connect to the router ...and then use the other to connect to the internet using its hub ...

hard to explain, but i think this should work...i remember doing this before with a different setup (using two network cards to browse 2 "networks", in this case, one network being the router and the other being cable) to download firmware updates ...