# Linksys LNE100TX nic and Westell 6100 dsl modem communication issues



## Marwa (Mar 31, 2008)

I have the following:
Dell Dimension 4400 with 756 MB ram 
XP Home SP2
AVG antivirus
Commodo firewallLinksys LNE100TX ethernet card
Westell 6100 DSL modem
Bellsouth DSL Lite​
My original DSL setup was via ethernet using the CNet nic that came with the Dell which worked fine. Several months ago lightening hit nearby and I lost my internet access. The Bellsouth support person was able to determine that it was the network card that was not working properly and had me switch to the USB setup on the Westell. That setup work okay with out obvious issues. 

This past week I tried running some different Linux livecds as I would like to explore using linux rather than Microsoft. I discovered that linux does not play wth USB dsl modems, so I took the opportunity to buy and install a Linksys LNE100TX ethernet card. I updated to driver on included CD, reset the modem. I had to enter my ISP username and password in the modem user interface. And after abit I was able to access the internet in booting to either XP or Ubuntu Hardy Heron beta livecd. 

I went ahead and installed Ubuntu into a separate partion so that I can boot to either OS while I play around with linux. However, I am runnning into issues with accessing the internet. At random moments communication stops between the modem and the nic sometimes in XP and sometimes in Ubuntu. In XP I can eventually get it to reconnect if I fiddle around long enough with trying different Linksys drivers, resetting and/or powering down the modem, disabling the nic, rebooting etc. Nothing works consistantly. If I lose the connection in Ubuntu I can not get it reestablished.

I spent an hour on the phone with Bellsouth tech support. After trying various things, he told me that the modem was working and the nic was working but the nic was not recognizing the modem, which would indicate that either the cable was bad or the nic driver. Since I was using the original lightening-struck cable I bought a new one. That did not solve the problem. If it is the driver, I can't understand why it works sometimes and not others. When I reset the modem, sometimes I can't access the modem interface to reenter my ISP username and password because IExplorer says that it is off-line. Windows diagnostics gives varying repsonses as to the problem, one time it said there was a problem with Winsock. I can access the internet via dialup.

So the question(s) is : where is the solution to this likely to be? does it sond like an XP problem, or a linksys driver problem, or is the linksys card bad? Could the lightening have damaged some thing else in the computer, ie. motherboard or XP, that the modem in USB mode circumvented?

Any assisstance would be greatly appreciated.


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

It sounds like a driver issue, but I'm confused about it not working in Linux or XP, which seems to preclude the driver. The other possibility is a ground potential difference between the modem and the computer, try plugging them into the same power strip.


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## Marwa (Mar 31, 2008)

The modem and the computer are both plugged into the same surge protector/power strip. 

This evening when I am home I'm planning to try resetting winsock which Windows diagnosed as a problem. I don't know if it will fix everything since I don't understand how that would effect linux.


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

That's the mystery here! :smile: That fact seems to indicate a hardware issue, either a bad NIC, bad cable, bad router port, or some grounding issue are my best guesses.


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## Marwa (Mar 31, 2008)

Last night, in response to a Windows diagnostics log which stated I needed to reset Winsock, I reset Winsock using _WinSock XP Fix 1.2_. After rebooting and rerunning the diagnostics, I got the same message complaining about Winsock that it needed to be reset.

It also says that it is unable to renew the IP address. And it can not resolve network addresses. When I look at the properties of the network card it says it is operating correctly with no problems. Like wise the DSL modem lights indicate that it is operating correctly.

I don't understand how these all relate, or if they do.


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

Like I said, two different software environments, same issue. This screams hardware to me.


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## Marwa (Mar 31, 2008)

Last night I 
swapped the nic and usb card from pci slot 3 to 2
updated the linksys driver, 
reset the modem,and 
rebooted​All 4 lights on the modem were lit and I was able to access the modem interface, enter my ISP account info and everything worked in XP and when I rebooted in Ubuntu. This morning in the middle downloading some updates in Ubuntu, the connection stopped working. It appeared to have lost the IP address and couldn't renew it. I rebooted in XP and it didn't work either. Resetting the modem does not fix anything. I eventually got it working again by uninstalling the linksys driver in XP and rebooting into XP. I was then able to access the modem interface by typing in the modems local IP address.

My working hypothesis is that something is flakey with the ethernet side of the dsl modem, since the nic is brand new and using the currnet driver, and the cable is brand new. Does that sound right? Any recommendations on a repalement dsl modem?


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

Well, my feeling is it's hardware somewhere, or the ISP. Since the modem is the last man standing, I guess it's next. :smile:

From the comment, I'm assuming that the ISP didn't provide the modem?


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## Marwa (Mar 31, 2008)

Well, I thought I had narrowed it down to the modem, so I bought a new adsl modem, D-link DSL-2540b. It took awhile to get it configured and working, but eventually I got it up and running in XP with a good internet connection. I then rebooted in Ubuntu 8.04 and it couldn't make any connection. I have it pointed to the modem at 192.168.1.1. It set up to us DHCP.

I then rebooted in XP to find that I had lost my connection, but was able to reestablish it by uninstalling the ethernet card driver and rebooting into XP again. Several hours later while the computer was unattended the connection dropped again, but I was unable to reestablish the connection by uninstalling the nic driver and rebooting as before. 

When I run the XP diagnostics, I get the following error:

info Error attmpting to validate the Winsock base providers: 2
error Not all base service provider entries could be found in the winsock catalog. A reset is needed.
info Redirecting user to support call​
I have previously run the utility WinsockXPFix, but the problem persists.

After alot of fiddling around, trying to repair the connection, uninstalling the network card, rebooting, etc. eventually I get it working again. but if I boot to Ubuntu, I lose it again.

So to recap, I have 
new network card Linksys LNE100TX v5.2 with current driver
new ethernet cable
new dsl modem D-Link DSL-2540b

The dsl light on the modem is solid green 
The network port #1 that is connected to the computer is solid green
and the internet light is solid green.
In XP under Network Connections, Linksys card is shown as operating correctly.

But in XP I have sporadic random internet connectivity. And almost no connectivity in Ubuntu, every once in awhile it will connect.

Any suggestions on where to go from here?


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