How can I fix internet connection that only goes to part of the house?

Question

We have a westel wireless dsl modem with verizon dsl. One of the four ethernet ports works but the other three don't. The one that works has a linksys wireless router connected to it. This works on a mac that is upstairs.
The other pcs that don't work are in the same room as the modem that is in the basement.
When the router cable was swapped out for an ethernet cable (from one of the non-working computers) the computer still receives and sends packets(at 100 mps) but when a browser is opened, the browser says no connection was made. Also, when I tried to ping on the pc through the command prompt it could not find the internet connection.

Any solutions would be much appreciated.
Thank you very much!

Answer 1

You're details are not very clear but it kind of sounds like the cable you swapped out might have been a cross-over cable. A crossover will look just like a regular ethernet cable but it's internal wiring is different.

Crossovers are usually used for connecting networking devices such as routers/switches directly to each other.

Answer 2

Windows?
Did you setup the internet connection on each computer (run the wizard, do it manually)? Did you set up the network connection on each one?
Does only one ethernet port working? Because the others are really dead? How do you know which wireless is working with the computer upstairs? If you don't have the router and the modem connected with a cable to a computer, how did you set them up to reach the right connections?
Do you power them up in the right order - with a DSL modem (not wireless) and a wireless router, the DSL modem has to be powered up first and finish its initialization before powering up the wireless router and the DSL ethernet has to go to one particular port on the wireless router (#1)

Answer 3

you can check the router setup and make sure it hasnt blocked the other computers for some reason using the default address 192.168.1.1 and the password is set default to : user admin / pw admin or you can reset the router maybe check for firmware upgrade if the other computer isnt allowing you to ping from command prompt then it isnt gettting signal could be a bad router too linksys is notorious for that im on my 3rd one wrt45g

Answer 4

Not all models of wireless routers work with DSL modems. Does yours? When you purchase a wireless router, you need to ask the salesperson if it will work with DSL modems.

Answer 5

Sound like your network is soemwhat working but your port may be blocked by the router software. You could try to reset the router and see if it helps. First check this out:
http://dotancohen.com/howto/linksyssetup/index.php

Answer 6

Check the settings on your ethernet card make sure the LAN settings are set to automatic. That will allow it to set the individual IP address on its own.