Lost/Dropped Internet Connectivity
Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 11:39 pm
Our stake family history center houses the stake center's internet access for the FHC, the stake administrative computer (stake clerk), and three ward administrative computers (ward clerks). The internet connection is provided by AT&T by way of a 1.5 MB DSL line. Prior to the authorization to use collocated Church Communications Network (CCN) broadband connections for administrative computers the issue of lost/dropped internet connections was more of a nuisance than a problem. Now the issue is elevated to more of a problem because of the inconvenience to the ward users at critical times.
For unknown reasons and at random times the internet connection goes down. By this I mean that the internet connection at the DSL modem is lost. This is indicated by the Internet light on the modem being off and of course the lost ability to connect to the internet on networked computers. Because the commercial power grid for the stake center has interruptions that last anywhere from less than a second to up to a few seconds I installed an uninterruptable power supply for the DSL modem, Cisco PIX 501 firewall, two Linksys network hubs and one WAP. This only lessened the number of outages but did not eliminate them. For this reason I don' think the power grid blinks are the cause of the problem.
I have the same ISP and DSL service at home. I too lose connectivity occasionally at home. The two differences are that my house is on a stable power grid and I have full access to my router and to my modem electronically to reset them if needed. Unlike the internet connection at the stake center I seldom need to do more at home than open my browser or ping a remote address such as Google.com to get a communications reset. At the stake center I cannot access the PIX 501 or the modem electronically to reset them. Therefore I must temporarily wire the modem directly to one of the FHC computers to force a communications reset. A high percentage of the time merely connecting the modem directly to a computer and opening the browser is sufficient to reset the internet connection. Some times I must access the modem's browser based interface and initiate a reset that always re-establishes the connection.
After all that, this is what I need help with. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to access the modem's browser based interface without bypassing the PIX 501 firewall? I do not know the modem's IP address. Nor can I find out what it is when it is connected to the firewall. I am also wondering if using a switch instead of hubs would increase the possibility that the request for internet access would get to the modem to cause it to reset. AT&T claims that the modem is not the problem nor is there anything on their end causing the problem.
If anyone has any experience in this or similar situations and found a solution would be appreciated.
Just for further information power cycling the modem or firewall or both only re-establishes the internet connect a small percentage of the time.
For unknown reasons and at random times the internet connection goes down. By this I mean that the internet connection at the DSL modem is lost. This is indicated by the Internet light on the modem being off and of course the lost ability to connect to the internet on networked computers. Because the commercial power grid for the stake center has interruptions that last anywhere from less than a second to up to a few seconds I installed an uninterruptable power supply for the DSL modem, Cisco PIX 501 firewall, two Linksys network hubs and one WAP. This only lessened the number of outages but did not eliminate them. For this reason I don' think the power grid blinks are the cause of the problem.
I have the same ISP and DSL service at home. I too lose connectivity occasionally at home. The two differences are that my house is on a stable power grid and I have full access to my router and to my modem electronically to reset them if needed. Unlike the internet connection at the stake center I seldom need to do more at home than open my browser or ping a remote address such as Google.com to get a communications reset. At the stake center I cannot access the PIX 501 or the modem electronically to reset them. Therefore I must temporarily wire the modem directly to one of the FHC computers to force a communications reset. A high percentage of the time merely connecting the modem directly to a computer and opening the browser is sufficient to reset the internet connection. Some times I must access the modem's browser based interface and initiate a reset that always re-establishes the connection.
After all that, this is what I need help with. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to access the modem's browser based interface without bypassing the PIX 501 firewall? I do not know the modem's IP address. Nor can I find out what it is when it is connected to the firewall. I am also wondering if using a switch instead of hubs would increase the possibility that the request for internet access would get to the modem to cause it to reset. AT&T claims that the modem is not the problem nor is there anything on their end causing the problem.
If anyone has any experience in this or similar situations and found a solution would be appreciated.
Just for further information power cycling the modem or firewall or both only re-establishes the internet connect a small percentage of the time.