struggling to help a disabled friend with his NTL internet
 

Hi i have this very good friend he has parkinsons and dementure, his only happiness is browsing the Internet, with a compute i built for him many years ago and it has a genuine copy of Win XP on it.

I got a call from him today he told me had mistakenly installed a trial version of AVG 2012 and now they wanted paying !!!. He then got blocked from using the internet, he thought, by AVG 2012.

So i appear on the scene and Uninstall AVG 2012 for him and his Internet still doesn't work, i do believe his computer does connect to the router at 10mb on his "local" network, but as for connecting to the Internet it won't do it at all.

He doesnt know his username or password, but despite this i used his Broadband install disc and it stopped with an error "VTruckDbg" so i still havent got anywhere and i dont have a clue what i should do next ?

I took my Apple Lap Top with me and connected up to that with his cable from his router, that didnt work either.

I gave up trying to get it going today, thinking i would be better off going home, joining this forum and hoping some kind soul can give me a few clues what i should try next.

I believe i have 2 options, phone up NTL on his phone and let them sort it out and perhaps come round and fit him a new modem.
or
take his whole PC set up home with me and connect it up to my BT router which will CONFIRM that it IS his Router !!!!!

Any more ideas anyone, please.

tim

Re: struggling to help a disabled friend with his NTL internet
 

Just to confirm are you connecting directly to the modem or a router first then the modem?

Also is this cable or "national"/adsl?

Re: struggling to help a disabled friend with his NTL internet
 

thanks friend, for having a look at my post, i reckon he has a very old Modem/router combined, it isnt wireless either. so there is only box to connect to/from.

It is just a cable from the footpath outside with a branch off for his TV in the back of the house.

tim

Re: struggling to help a disabled friend with his NTL internet
 

Some AV software cannot be simply uninstalled, you need to download it uninstall tool, this is to stop malicious sw uninstalling it.

I did this myself and needed another PC to download it.

Re: struggling to help a disabled friend with his NTL internet
 

Did you have a look at the device itself? If so did it have only one ethernet port or a few? My knowledge does not go very far back but I believe the first combined modem/router to go onto either virgin or ntl's network was the virgin media hub only a few years ago.

If it only has one ethernet port then its most likely a modem and if your laptop connected to it (if your laptop is set to dhcp) does not work then you will need to get virgin out.

Re: struggling to help a disabled friend with his NTL internet
 

If it is a modem, as opposed to a router, and quite likely to be a modem, then when you change the device connected to the modem, i.e. swap computers, you must power cycle (off for 30 seconds, then back on) the modem.

I doubt you need a disc. That system stopped once they ceased use of broadband through the TV Set Top Box, or using USB cable.

Re: struggling to help a disabled friend with his NTL internet
 

OK chaps, thanks for the input, yeah i reckon it is a modem only :) it is reckon getting on for 10 years old.
what is DHCP ?.
my MacBookPro didnt appear to see the NTL Modem using the chaps cable. but then i couldn't find out how to switch off wireless, it looked as if it was giving wireless connections priority cable connections.

PS. it looks as if a call to NTL is on the cards, they should THEN be able to check that the signal is getting through to his Modem I HOPE ?

Tim

---------- Post added at 22:51 ---------- Previous post was at 22:48 ----------

OK thanks Rob, of course i didnt re-boot the modem when i changed computers LOL, DAM, it looks like i shall have to try that when i visit again, which wont be until tommorrow night, he has several hospital appointments tomorrow, poor sod !

tim

Re: struggling to help a disabled friend with his NTL internet
 

I always forget about restarting the modem :(

DHCP is a system for a computer that has connected to a network to get an ip address but chances are if you don't know what it is it will be on.

Re: struggling to help a disabled friend with his NTL internet
 

If its that old it will likely be a modem only.

Can you remember what lights were on and either steady or flashing?

You will probably need to call Virgin up and get them to look at it.

Re: struggling to help a disabled friend with his NTL internet
 

Thanks buddy, me remember his lights ?, well i reckon they were all flashing pretty good LOL.

O yes it is a modem only, bugger how i hate phoning up NTL, that is one of the reasons WHY i went over to PlusNet !!! LOL. and PlusNet is cheaper ! and about 18mb/s with 60gig limit :)

Tim

Re: struggling to help a disabled friend with his NTL internet
 

Its Virgin Media now as they changed name about 5 yrs ago.

Next time you are there make a note of the lights.

Re: struggling to help a disabled friend with his NTL internet
 

"Old habits die hard" is that correct ?, LOL

Of course i know they changed the name ;)

I shall definitely take notice of the lights next time i visit !.

Perhaps i should ask :- what should they be doing, if it is working properly ?.

I have just connected my Lap Top up with a cable at home, which immediately connected after i turned off the WiFi, so if i have another go at doing that, it will help confirm the problem :)

tim

Re: struggling to help a disabled friend with his NTL internet
 

It's probably one of two things

1# Nic isn't set to auto
2# The NTL software has for some reason set a proxy/dialup (just remove the proxy/dialup in Internet options)

Re: struggling to help a disabled friend with his NTL internet
 

ok buddy thanks for those couple of pointers, summat else for me to check out, i have now got all the windows open (on my lap top) that show me all of the relevant "lights" on the modems that i think it might be, so hopefully now, when i take my lap top with me tonight i can check up on the stuff with his modem without an internet connection. LOL.

Tim

Re: struggling to help a disabled friend with his NTL internet
 

UPDATE

http://cl.ly/KE3h

What a load of crap Virgin media are, it was the RDY light on his modem flashing when it should be steady, spent an hour phoning up an Indian fella told me in this chaps area the broadband service is DOWN being fixed, be ok in 2 days.
I didnt believe him and told him so, like water off a ducks back !!!!!
I gor home only to find that, of course the service starus for his post code is GREENhttp://cl.ly/KE3h

tim

Re: struggling to help a disabled friend with his NTL internet
 

UPDATE to the UPDATE above

The above obvious inefficiency really wound me up later in the evening, so much so that i phoned Virgin Media again from my house, I didnt have to wait very long, i spilled my heart out to the more english speaking fella who answered .......

I immediately found this chap was far more helpfull than the other fella could have ever been !!!, i only wished i was back in the old fellas house while talking to him, he was prepared to go to far more trouble to sort my friend out.

He could see like me that the Service Status light was GREEN !!!!!!.

He also confirmed that the folk he works with, ALL have the same qualifications to do the job, but personally i doubt it very much !!!!!!

Am i correct in thinking that this Forum WAS once called "NTL HELL" ?

Tim

Re: struggling to help a disabled friend with his NTL internet
 

i can happily report that the old fella got a new modem fitted very quickly a few days later :)

Re: struggling to help a disabled friend with his NTL internet
 

Glad to hear it - well done, for all your efforts.

Re: struggling to help a disabled friend with his NTL internet
 

They may have all the same qualification, but like many walks of life...there are a few who are willing to go that extra step and those who turn up for work, do the absolute minimum to get through the day.

We employ both, and sadly I don't have the paygrade to sack the layabouts.