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[DeeLinkz]

Had a recent DSL outage, and now the connection on our PC is going to 'local only' intermittantly only when connected through the router. When the PC is connected directly to the DSL modem this problem does not occur.

We have a 4-5 year old DGL-4500 with firmware v1.15, and have one hard-wired Vista PC/printer combo, one wireless Vista laptop/printer combo, and one hard-wired connection to DTV equipment.

Any thoughts on what setting might be causing this to happen?

[FurryNutz]

Welcome!
What Hardware version is your router? Look at sticker under router.
What Firmware version is
What region are you located?

What ISP Modem do you have? Stand Alone or built in router?
What ISP Modem make and model do you have?
If this modem has a built in router, it's best to bridge the modem. Having 2 routers on the same line can cause connection problems.
To tell if the modem is bridged or not, look at the routers web page, Status/Device Info/Wan Section, if there is a 192.168.0.# address in the WAN IP address field, then the modem is not bridged.

Some things to try:
Turn off ALL QoS or Disable Traffic Shaping (DIR only) GameFuel (DGL only and if ON.) options. Advanced/QoS or Gamefuel.
Turn off Advanced DNS Services if you have this option under Setup/Internet/Manual.
Turn on DNS Relay under Setup/Networking.
Setup DHCP reserved IP addresses for all devices ON the router. Setup/Networking
Ensure devices are set to auto obtain an IP address.
Set Firewall settings to Endpoint Independent for TCP and UDP under Advanced/Firewall.
Enable uPnP and Multi-cast Streaming under Advanced/Networking.

What wireless modes are you using? Under Setup/Wireless/Manual.
Try single mode G or mixed G and N?

Channel Width set for Auto 20/40Mhz or try 20Mhz only.
Try setting a manual channel to a open or unused channel.
What security mode are you using? Preferred security is WPA-Personal. WPA2/AES Only. Some WiFi adapters don't support AES, so you might want to try TPIK only or Auto.
What wireless devices do you have connected?
Any cordless house phones?
Any other WiFi routers in the area? Use InSSIDer to find out.
Turn off Short GI, WLAN Partition and Extra Wireless Protection if you have it. Under Advanced/Advanced Wireless.

Turn off all anti virus and firewall programs on PC while testing. 3rd party firewalls are not generally needed when using routers as they are effective on blocking malicious inbound traffic.
Turn off all devices accept for one wired PC while testing.

Check cable between Modem and Router, swap out to be sure. Cat6 is recommended.

[DeeLinkz]

DGL-4500 Hardware v. A1 - Original Firmware v. 1.02, updated to v. 1.15.

DSL Modem through CenturyLink, model 'Embarq EQ-660R ADSL Router'stand alone modem. The WAN IP is 192.168.2.#.

Will experiment with the settings you suggested.

Thanks for help with this! 

[FurryNutz]

Thats not a stand alone modem if your seeing a 192.168 address on the WAN side of the 4500.
I hight recommend that you ask the ISP to bridge this modem and use the PPPoE connection type on the 4500. Ensure ALways ON is selected.

If the modem can't be bridged then see if the modem has a DMZ option and input the IP address the 4500 gets from the modem and put that into the modems DMZ.

[DeeLinkz]

Thanks - this modem has never been in bridge mode, and from archived screen shots of the router Device Status Page, that WAN IP address has been the same going back at least 4 years, without this current problem... 

Don't see a 'DMZ' option in the modem menus - could it be called something else?

[FurryNutz]

Understand that it's been working well over the years however anything can happen and as you said, you had a resent DSL outage. During this time frame the modems FW could have been updated and some ISP handle this duty. Something has changed to effect operation of the 4500.

It's preferred to let any external router handle the ISP connection from the modem as the routers are designed to do this well.

Is there any firewall menu option, usually the DMZ is located near this option.

Maybe someone can review your router settings with you using teamviewer if your interested. Its safe and secure.

[DeeLinkz]

Changes made to DGL-4500 from your list, so far:

Gamefuel was 'on', turned it 'off'

My connection is Dynamic IP (DHCP)

Do not have 'Advanced DNS Services'

'Enable DNS Relay' is already checked

All devices already have reserved IP addresses

Firewall settings: TCP was set at 'port and address restricted', now set it to 'endpoint independant'. UDP was set at 'address restricted', now changed it to 'endpoint independant'.

UPnP is already enabled under advanced network.

Multi-cast streaming was 'off', now turned it 'on'.

Questions: How do I ensure that the devices are set to auto obtain IP address?

Also, what does the Multi-Cast Streaming option do? I googled it, but still don't understand. I notice since clicking it 'on' that there are now three entries listed at the bottom of the Device Information page called 'multi-cast group addresses' - what are those... 


Modem Menu for Firewall:

Firewall - Firewall Functions 

Default Policy
  Configure the default Policy.
 
Rule Summary
  Set up firewall. 
 
Anti Probing
  Set up anti probing. 
 
Threshold 
  Configure the threshold.

Do any of these pertain to DMZ?

Thanks so much for your help - will see if these changes make a difference in connection... 
 

[FurryNutz]

Go into each devices network properties and make sure they are set up to automatic obtain IP addressing.

Multi-Cast
This helps in streaming video from internet and local servers you may have on your network. Xbox and devices like this which can stream video use this.

None of those are DMZ related. So nothing anywhere on this modem that mentions DMZ or Demilitarized Zone?

How old is this modem? Might be time for a newer modem. 

[DeeLinkz]

OK - Have rebooted PC after router changes, and currently have the other 2 hard-wired devices disconnected for testing, but will check their auto obtain settings when they're back on. Do not have the wireless devices connected either.

No DMZ-sounding options on the modem menu...

Since making the previous changes to the router (above post) the hard-wired PC connection went to 'local only' twice over the following 20 minutes or so. It immediately goes back to 'local and internet' upon page refresh or going to a new web page, or clicking to get mail...

So, working my way down the list of things to try:

Plugged in a different cable (Belkin Fastcat 5e - no cat 6 in the house) between the modem and router and that made no difference - connection went to 'local only' after a few minutes. If all else fails will try to get a cat 6 next town run...

The windows firewall is already off. Next step, disabled NOD32 AV (has been installed for several years), that made no difference - connection went to 'local only' after a few minutes.

No cordless phones within 15 feet of modem and that situation has not changed.

Next step, In advanced wireless,'WLAN Partition'is already 'off'. Turned off 'Short GI'. Do not have the 'extra wireless protection' option.

It has now been an hour without lost connection since turning off 'Short GI'. But, then it went out again, briefly, and then back on...    But maybe this is a clue?

We are currently using 802.11 Mode - Mixed n,g,b and Channel Width set at 20MHz.

Are there any settings that are specific between the PC and router that may be 'timing out' or something?

[FurryNutz]

Keeping what you did, Try single mode G or mixed G and N for this one PC thats wireless. I presume that this issue seen is only on wireless or both wired and wireless?

[DeeLinkz]

The PC that is currently connected, and being tested, is hard-wired - none of our  wireless devices have been on the network since Monday. This problem does show up on the wireless Laptop when it's on, though...

[FurryNutz]

Any log entries during this time frame when you see Local only on the PC?
When you get local only, can you still log into the routers web page at 192.168.0.1?
If you can, check the WAN status and see if it's still got a connection to the ISP Modem.

Also, have you done a ipconfig /flushdns from the command line?
Maybe we can review the router and modem settings with you.

[FurryNutz]

Something you can try:
With DNS relay checked each device is assigned 192.168.0.1 as the DNS server. When you uncheck it, the DNS servers from your Internet Service provider (ISP) are used. If you are using DHCP, they are assigned automatically. You have to enter them manually if you are using static IP addresses.

I recommend you "uncheck enable DNS relay" and reboot your router. Then, enable DCHP on your clients and EITHER reboot them OR go to the DOS command prompt and type "ipconfig /release" then type "ipconfig /renew". This forces a renewal of your DHCP "lease" which includes the new DNS settings. Your computers will still be trying to use the old DNS settings until you do this. That is why it quit working.

If you need to know what DNS servers your Windows clients are using, you should be able to go to the DOS command prompt and type "ipconfig /all".  You will see the IP addresses of the DNS servers you are using.

[fraggboy]

I always run ipconfig /flushdns in tandem with ipconfig /release and renew.

I believe just running ipconfig /release doesn't flush the DNS cache.

Source: http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/ipconfig.mspx?mfr=true

[DeeLinkz]

OK - Unchecked enable DNS relay, did ipconfig /flushDNS and release and renew.

The only possible logs that might pertain to the previous outages are several of these today:

"Blocked incoming TCP packet from (OpenDNS IP) to (DGL-4500 IP) as RST received but there is no active connection"

We have been using OpenDNS servers with great success for a few years, after having problems with the ISP DSL server.

The OpenDNS IP numbers are listed as Primary and Secondary DNS Servers in the router Dynamic IP settings.

DHCP is already enabled on the wired PC that were using for testing.

Thanks for the ipconfig info link! - Will see how it goes...