Router restarts when second pc is booted

j52c · 08-05-2007, 15:05

Hi.

I have a problem that has been happening for the last few weeks.

I have 2 pc's connected by ethernet to NtlFreedom on adsl by a Linksys WAG354G router,
I run the main pc upstairs, but what has been happening recently is that when the pc downstairs is booted up the lights on the router go out and I have to wait for it to connect again to carry on working.
Once the router has all lights up again both pc's work fine.

However, I noticed today that when I switched the downstairs pc on and I went upstairs, the router lights had gone out but the upstairs pc was not running, so it would appear it happens whether upstairs pc is booted or not.

I have a third pc that is only used about 3 times every fortnight, when I start that one I have no problems with the router.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Lord Nikon · 08-05-2007, 18:50

do you have a spare ethernet card you could try in the downstairs PC?

j52c · 08-05-2007, 19:37

Hi.
Thanks for the reply.
Not sure if I do have a spare, will look and try it.

Ethernet is an onboard one at the moment.

Lord Nikon · 09-05-2007, 03:22

It's just a basic check, if you have 3 PCs, A, B and C, and the problem only occurs when you boot PC B, then it's likely to be something on that PC causing the issue. Checking with a different Ethernet car would help identify if it's a hardware issue with the onboard card or not. if it is, use an addin card instead. It's unlikely to be the router that's at fault though.

j52c · 09-05-2007, 09:29

Yeah, I am going into town today to get pci card, I can disable onboard from the bios. Doing this will elimante one cause it could be.

I am sure the problem is with the downstairs pc and not the router, have a spare router just in case.

Thanks for the tip.

EssDee · 09-05-2007, 12:35

Have you tried swapping the ethernet cables around at the router? This would be worth trying prior to changing cards on the suspect PC, i.e. narrow down if the fault follows the PC or the router port.

Worth a try, as it's an easier thing to try first.

dragon · 09-05-2007, 22:00

Is the Downstairs PC near to the router?
Is the PC on a surge suppressor or not?

Does it happen when the pc is disconnected from the router?

Is the third PC running vista?

I have a couple ideas.

1. If the pc is running vista it could be trying to talk IPv6 to the router and crashing it check the router is running the latest firmware and try disabling IPv6 support in vista. (i've seen posts on other forums suggesting vistas Ipv6 upsets some routers)

2. Could be the pc kicking out some electrical noise as it powers up, ADSL can be sensitive to noise bursts its possible the psu or something in the PC might chuck out something for a moment that disrupts the DSL. (RF noise?)

j52c · 10-05-2007, 19:23

Is the Downstairs PC near to the router?
No, 15m ethernet cable.

Is the PC on a surge suppressor or not?
No

Does it happen when the pc is disconnected from the router?
No, router acts fine.

Is the third PC running vista?
Third pc is XP Pro
Main pc is XP Media Centre 2002
Downstairs pc is XP Home

It has only been happening the last few weeks.

One thing that happened was after doing a McAfee definitions update, after the update was completed I got a box up saying that update had failed and to reinstall Antivirus.
I didn't do that because it seemed to be ok..

I am removing McAfee because renewal is due and putting BitDefender on which I got with a 2 user licence.

dragon · 10-05-2007, 19:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by j52c

Is the Downstairs PC near to the router?
No, 15m ethernet cable.

Is the PC on a surge suppressor or not?
No

Does it happen when the pc is disconnected from the router?
No, router acts fine.

Is the third PC running vista?
Third pc is XP Pro
Main pc is XP Media Centre 2002
Downstairs pc is XP Home

It has only been happening the last few weeks.

One thing that happened was after doing a McAfee definitions update, after the update was completed I got a box up saying that update had failed and to reinstall Antivirus.
I didn't do that because it seemed to be ok..

I am removing McAfee because renewal is due and putting BitDefender on which I got with a 2 user licence.

No idea then unfortunately

j52c · 10-05-2007, 20:27

Quote:

No idea then unfortunately

It's ok, thanks for trying. I can save your suggestions for a later date, never know could come in useful sometime.

You mentioned noise on the phone line, could be that but download speeds for the 1m I am on are quite good.

I will let you what it was when I have sorted it, thanks again.

j52c · 20-05-2007, 10:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by EssDee

Have you tried swapping the ethernet cables around at the router? This would be worth trying prior to changing cards on the suspect PC, i.e. narrow down if the fault follows the PC or the router port.

Worth a try, as it's an easier thing to try first.

I swapped the cable into the spare router socket, also checked the other end was sitting good on the problem pc.

So far for the last few days everything has worked ok.
Not sure which of above 2 things may have cured it.

Thankyou to everyone who offered suggestions.

EssDee · 21-05-2007, 12:35

Sounds like a dodgy router port. I've seen individual ports go faulty on switches before, hence my suspicion.

Glad it's ok now........hopefully!