Problem with internet access on my computer.
Problem with internet access on my computer.
Hey everyone... Over the past few weeks I've faced some trouble connecting to the network on my desktop. The motherboard is an ASRock Z97 Extreme6, the cable is from Buffalo WZR-600DHP, and the router is a WZR-600DHP itself. In Windows on my PC, running ipconfig shows it's getting a 169.254 IP address—essentially APIPA or link-local. On Linux, I can't see the usual tools, but the network icon gives a popup saying it's trying to get an IP and is stuck. I've used both LAN ports, but WiFi works on devices that support it, including my Clevo P750DM-G laptop. However, when using the cable, the laptop also gets 169.254 in Windows 10. (No Linux installed yet.) I don’t have another cable or extra router/motherboard. What could be causing this? I’m not sure if the problem is the cable, or maybe something else. I’ve thought about swapping in a WiFi card for the motherboard (though I missed that Black Friday 2014 sale) or adding a 10Gb network card. Probably not helpful if it’s the only 10Gb device on the network. What should I try next? I’m leaning toward checking the cable first, then looking at the router settings and possibly testing with another port.
your router or modem isn't providing DHCP addresses. as mentioned, you're receiving a link-local IP, indicating no response from a DHCP server on a network adapter. it seems the device you connect to directly isn't responding, while WiFi connections work. The issue likely lies with the physical port you're using—it could be a faulty cable or the other device isn't set up to assign DHCP addresses. You're probably correct if the same behavior occurs on multiple computers; then the problem is more likely hardware-related.
@Sprawlie & @Falcon1986 ... I was able to find a couple other cables laying around - all 6 ends are terminated with T568B wiring. I tested the two longer cables (one is 75 ft, idk how long the other is but I'm guessing 50 ft), and the shorter cable (probably about 10 ft), from one of the ports on the router to one, then the other port on my motherboard. With all of them, Windows knew that something was plugged in, but it couldn't get a connection. Ipconfig in CMD said my autoconfig ipv4 address started with 169.254, and link local ipv6 was fe80. I also tested the 75 ft cable (the one that used to work) on all 4 ports on the router - that didn't work either. I even plugged the network cable directly into the cable modem, and that failed as well. As I said before, WiFi still works fine off the same router, that's how I'm online with my laptop. (My phone has T-Mobile as a fallback.) I'm not sure if it could be a configuration issue. I went into the router settings (via the IP in my browser) and it looks like DHCP is enabled, but I'm not sure if it's for wireless only or in general. (I don't want to post a screenshot for possible security reasons.) If it's a hardware issue, then idk why the wireless part would still be working but the wired part is kaput. I really don't want to be spending money to diagnose the problem (then find out what I bought wasn't the solution after all). I want to find the solution, THEN if necessary buy a replacement part. I wonder if there's any remote possibility my motherboard could be starting to have things fail on it? I JUST bought that ASRock Z97 Extreme6 in January 2015, though. Another issue I've recently had is that graphics either won't display at all on displayport with the iGPU, or at much lower resolution than it should (like 1024x768 instead of 1920x1080) with the dGPU. HDMI seems to be working for now on the DGPU. I have another thread open on that topic.
Noted the occurrence before. I experienced a WAN port failure on a router prior, so it’s possible. Have you attempted configuring a static IP? You can troubleshoot by: 1) Restarting the router (you likely did that already) 2) Turning off DHCP and saving the configuration. Assign a static IP on your laptop to connect to the router, then re-enable DHCP. It’s possible there’s a software issue. 3) Resetting the router—either via firmware settings or a physical reset button. If restoring a wired connection works, I’d recommend updating the firmware.
I haven't tried setting a static IP yet @Donut417. It’s something I need to learn, since I’m preparing for the Network+ certification. I’m still getting comfortable with it and don’t want to risk disrupting what might be our only working setup. (We don’t have much extra equipment—besides my phone, which gives me limited internet.) Maybe I should restart the router; I wasn’t ready to change my IP address so soon. I did reboot it a few months ago during an A/C installation, and the main power was cut briefly. By chance, that got me unblocked from pcpartpicker—though opening lots of parts or tabs quickly isn’t ideal (I can only click a few times at a time). Or maybe my browser crashed all 3000–5000+ tabs when it restarted after a crash. I just don’t want the next reboot to pick an IP that’s banned on pcpp, for example. (But perhaps it did reset its external IP when I unplugged the network cable from the modem while testing a direct connection.) Restarting might be another choice, though I’m not sure how. There’s also a physical switch labeled “router” near the top, but I don’t see a reset button on the WZR-600DHP. I haven’t touched it, so maybe it’s not useful right now. Since Wi-Fi is working and wired connections used to, I’m hoping to try a reboot or factory reset. There’s a firmware update page with a note about build 20180 from November 2012—maybe that’s the one. Another page mentions an upgrade but says it’s running “DD-WRT v24SP2-MULTI (11/04/12) std - build 20180.” I’m not sure why it lists such an old version, though. I think I bought this router around November 2015 or 2016 (or maybe earlier). The cable modem I replaced was probably 12 or 15 years old. There’s a setting to reset it to factory defaults and a backup option for the current settings.
I’m certain Comcast assigns IP addresses based on the MAC address of the device connected to the modem. Changing your router to a PC would give you a fresh IP, but reverting back might restore the previous one—unless the lease has ended. This setup seems outdated since you’re using a wireless N router, which hasn’t been popular for years. You probably don’t know how long it was on the shelf. You’re in charge of keeping the firmware updated; I suspect they don’t offer automatic updates. Your router uses DDWRT, a third-party firmware that’s quite advanced. I wouldn’t upgrade until you check the DDWRT forum thread about updates. The risk is a wrong update could render the router unusable. I’ll try it first. If it doesn’t work, consider updating the firmware if a newer version exists.
We've been using Cox since the early to mid-2000s. I'm considering a router upgrade. It seems we likely got it a bit later than expected—maybe within a couple of years after the cable modem arrived. If replacing is necessary, I'd like a model that lasts a while without frequent swaps. I'm still figuring out the ideal lifespan; besides, I probably need to build a few new PCs beforehand. My current desktop runs an i7-4790K (LGA1150), while the previous one was an Athlon 64 X2 4000+ (AM2 socket). I'm planning to switch to DDR5/PCIe5 once those are available. Thanks for keeping it running smoothly on the wired connection. Here are the recent speedtest results from my desktop, laptop on Wi-Fi (both on Cox), and phone on T-Mobile.
Typically, problems with a router are resolved by applying firmware updates.
I didn't update the firmware, so I restored everything to the original factory state. It makes me question whether loading the backup file before resetting would help. If the problem returns, it’ll be clear if the issue lies with the settings. There’s also the challenge of comparing the saved configuration to the defaults. I opened the file in a text editor—it’s mostly readable by humans, but my network learning isn’t advanced enough yet to interpret it properly. Screenshots could work as a comparison method, though. Also, I was working on the previous post while you replied—mainly about whether we should consider replacing the router.