Another noob can't connect to the net....
 

Right, I'm running Mepis dual boot with Vista and giving the better part of my hd to Mepis. I've tried Ubuntu, PClinux OS etc. and I've had one common problem with them all. I can't connect to the internet. I'm hooked up to a netopia modem/router through a usb. Please please please save me from saying "Fuck it!" and running back to windows!

Re: Another noob can't connect to the net....
 

Do you have an ethernet port?

Re: Another noob can't connect to the net....
 

Re: Another noob can't connect to the net....
 

Yeah man.... never used it. Tried to get the modem to recognise a ethernet cable yesterday but it just wouldn't. WIll buy a new cable and see if that's the problem....

Re: Another noob can't connect to the net....
 

the cable is probably fine. odds are the router isn't set up correctly to utilise the cat cable. check out the settings.

usb routers are bad news. i doubt they are supported well by linux which explains why you haven't got it working on any distro.

one idea is to search for your router and linux and see if someone somewhere has some drivers.

Re: Another noob can't connect to the net....
 

Chances are you are using a straight-through cable where you should be using a crossover cable.

Re: Another noob can't connect to the net....
 

you don't use crossover cables for routers......

Re: Another noob can't connect to the net....
 

Yeah you do. Computers and routers are both layer 3 devices. You HAVE to use a crossover cable between them.

The "router" you're thinking of is actually more of a layer 3 switch. You would use a straight-through cable to connect a switch to a PC, but in the case of an actual router, you always use a crossover cable. When I say "router", I'm talking like a Cisco 1700 series, not this Linksys blue-box shit. Most people don't actually know what a router is.

The router connected to your modem is a watered-down router that MIGHT be capable of RIP, if you're lucky. Basically, it's a weak router with a switch built in.

Trust me on this bro, if you run a straight through from e0/0 to your NIC, you will not be able to communicate with the router - collisions out the ass.

Also, if you are trying to connect directly to your modem, I would imagine you need a crossover.

Re: Another noob can't connect to the net....
 

i have never heard of anyone intentionally using a crossover cable to connect a computer to a router. hell, many routers (like the one you mentioned) come with automatic detection so you can use whatever cable you feel like.

ive ran simple home networks a number of times and i have never once touched a crossover cable for anything other than computer to computer and occasionally router to router.

instead of trying to sort through your post (i cannot find any reference anywhere to e0/0, what is it supposed to be?), how about you just provide some kind of link. ive checked myself now, and the only time you use crossovers is between two switches (or hubs or whatever) and between two computers. since niether of those apply to the situation at hand, im wondering what you are on about.

Re: Another noob can't connect to the net....
 

No, many HOME routers come with automatic detection. Home routers are MAYBE capable of RIP, if you're lucky. Forget about BGP.

Well, here's you're problem: you've only run simple home networks. You will never touch a real router in simple home networking. The thing you buy in a box at Best Buy that says "router" is not so much a router as it is a switch. Take a networking course; you'll understand.

I am on about everything I've ever learned when I was studying for my CCNA exam, and everything I had to do on the practicals. I have connected routers (as in machines that you would use to route traffic between VLANs or as a border router on a corporate network) to computers, and when you use a straight-through cable, guess what? Doesn't work. I would say "trust me, I'm a CCNA", but that would be a blatant appeal to authority.

Do you know about the OSI model? Computers are layer 3 devices, and so are routers, so as a rule, you need a crossover cable between them. This is not the case for NICs with automatic selection, as many present-day cards have, but for older NICs, a crossover cable is necessary.