Q’mon, Qwest…
by John Weckerle
I occasionally help people out with network issues. For most complicated things, we have more accomplished individuals, but if it’s simple, I try to handle it. Hooking your existing router up to your new Qwest DSL modem should be easy, right? Well…
Yesterday afternoon, I spent what felt like 3 days trying to work this one out. The issue? In hooking a router up to a gateway (in this case, the Qwest DSL modem), you need to change the IP settings (IP is short for Internet Protocol; IP addresses tell the router where to look for the modem, your computer, and the computers that tell your computer where the web sites you want to view are located) in your router from those relevant to your old internet service provider to those associated with the new one. This is a relatively simple task for anyone who knows how to access the administration panel for the router, which should be covered in the router’s user guides.
I spoke to two Qwest installers and their tech support line, and none of them could provide me this very basic information. In the installers’ defense, they’re trained to work with Qwest’s equipment, so they wouldn’t necessarily know how to do this (although if they worked for me, I’d make sure they did). The tech support line was terrible; I had to sit through an automated test regimen, checking my lines, etc. before I could talk to a representative. We knew there was nothing wrong with the lines, because I was able to hook a computer up to the modem and get online; it was only when I tried to use the router that it was a problem. I finally got to a representative, who insisted on leading me through a scripted set of procedures that I’d already tried and/or were irrelevant. We finally got to the heart of the matter, which was the IP address issue. He gave me two of the settings, but insisted that I had to get the other two (Internet IP Address and Default Gateway) from the router manufacturer. Anyone with even a basic understanding of how these things talk to each other would know that was wrong. After arguing with him for several minutes, I asked to speak to his supervisor. He put me on hold, and left me there.
So I called a network administrator I know, and he gave me a hint on how to work this out. If you have this problem, try this:
- Attach the modem directly to one of your computers.
- Open a command prompt (in Windows, hit your Start button and go to All Programs/Accessories/Command Prompt).
- Type ipconfig and hit Enter. Note: ipconfig does not change anything, so don’t be afraid to do this. It just lists the devices to which your computer has a network connection.
- Write down the IP addresses for Internet IP Address and Default Gateway. These will look something like 192.168.0.X where “X” is a number. Don’t bother writing down the Subnet Mask; your router software probably fills that in automatically.
- Connect the router to the modem, and make sure at least one of the computers is connected to router.
- Open up your router’s Administration Panel. See router manual for instructions on how to do this.
- Put the number you wrote down for Default Gateway into the corresponding field in the router administration panel.
- For Internet IP Address, you need to change the last part of the IP address (the “X” in the example above) to avoid conflicts with other equipment on your network. I recommend a number of 15 or higher, depending on how many computers, printers, etc. you have connected.
This worked like a charm and took about 3 minutes to do. Thanks to Gary Douglas for the tip!