Alcalel USB modem problems

[MarcLister]

I've just brought my PC home from Uni today for the Summer holidays. I plugged my Alcatel/Speedtouch USB modem into the PC and it found it. I installed the drivers and got online no probs. Had to reset the PC for another reason, but had to reinstall the modem again.

I'd already installed it but I had to reinstall it again. Anyway I did this and it worked. Had to reset PC again for something else and again I had to reinstall the modem drivers. This is now getting a bit silly methinks.

Reinstalled drivers but this time the install doesn't seem to go right, the usb light on the modem is flashing red, it should be a continuous green when the usb connection is fine. So I can't get online with my PC and USB modem.

However to further complicate matters when I plug the modem into my laptop, which I'm using now to post this, then the modem sparks into life and both the usb and line lights go solid green instantly and I can get online.

Can anyone help me out here? Why will my modem now not work with my PC but work with my laptop?

I'm thinking some drivers must be screwed somewhere and that it might be a good time to wipe the PC and reinstall Windows.

 

[tolien]

Easiest answer's get shot and use a device that'll use ethernet - no more USB issues, no more driver hassle.

It's unlikely it cares what machine it's connected to.

 

[MarcLister]

Easiest answer's get shot and use a device that'll use ethernet - no more USB issues, no more driver hassle.

Funny you should say that. I've got a Linksys WAG54G router that I tried out earlier. It has a modem built-in and I got some settings help from the router guide.

However the bleeding power block has given up the ghost, whether permanently or not I don't know. It is exceeding warm to the touch so I will let it cool down. It is some generic power block; I've mislaid the original one such is the risk of moving between home and Uni.

I did post a thread a few weeks ago about needing a router WITHOUT a modem, you gave me some very useful advice. That however was for my student flat network which doesn't need a modem. I think I will have to get the equivalent with a modem component for home.

Would it be worth the time to reinstall Windows anyway and see if I can get the USB modem working? If I wipe the disk and try again I can see if the modem will work with my PC. It works with the laptop so I assume the problem is with the PC somewhere. I planned to get a router here so my Mum could use the laptop wirelessly and do her online banking whilst I'm at Uni so I will get a router/modem combo soon but for the interim I want to get online with my PC.

 

[tolien]

Personally, I'd just chuck the modem and forget reinstalling, but if you want, it's probable it'll fix it.

 

[MarcLister]

Personally, I'd just chuck the modem and forget reinstalling, but if you want, it's probable it'll fix it.

The modem will get chucked eventually. Like you say having a driverless solution such as an Ethernet router is the answer for me, it means less complications when taking PCs back and forth between Uni and home. I can just plug the PC into whichever router and it'd work.

I think there are one or two other "interesting" problems with my PC at the moment and the best way to fix them is to reinstall and start again.

I'll do this now, it doesn't actually take me long and I can set my PC up properly from the word go.

 

[MarcLister]

Did the reinstall and everything works now. Must have been a weird driver confict. That being said I haven't installed MSN Messenger 8 beta yet, I think that may have had something to do with the borked USB modem problems.

I will be getting the Netgear DG834PN unless there is a good reason not to?

 

[MarcLister]

A little update. Yesterday I bought the Netgear DG834PN and chose next day delivery since it added very little to the overall cost. I was asleep when they delivered but they left the router with a neighbour. Got the router off her this afternoon.

I unpacked the box, plugged the modem cable into the supplied microfilter. Plugged the microfilter into the phone socket. Hooked the PC up to the router with the supplied network cable. Plugged the power brick into the mains and the router.

Before I had even turned the PC the router had found my internet connection. I then ran the setup wizard which was magically fast, entered my username and was away. It took less than 2 minutes from turning the PC on to being online.

The mega success of this router means my old Alcatel USB modem is now redundant. I ran a firewall check on grc.com and the ports are all stealthed. They were that way a week or so ago but I ran a grc.com check and some of the more important ports weren't stealthed. Heck they weren't even closed, they were open to the world.

I had been planning on getting the DG834PN but the abnormal grc.com result hastened that plan. I'm glad I got it. I will try tomorrow to get my laptop running through the router wirelessly so my Mum can do her banking online and do some work from home and send her work and emails to her colleagues and vice-versa. This will save her bringing her work laptop home which saves her lugging it about but also the insurance is a bit weird.

One thing I want to do now is share my connection with my brother's PC so that we can cancel his ISP connection and share my bandwidth to save us some money. I've pored over the router config pages in detail and read the manuals and readmes and haven't found a feature that looks as if I can control the amount of bandwidth he would get.

I have a 2Mb BT line currently but we would like to get an 8Mb line so we can have 4Mb each. Does this router have a feature hidden away somewhere so that I could limit my brother to 50% of the connection bandwidth? If not I don't mind, I've found NetLimiter and I think the Pro version can limit bandwidth for connections. Would this be what I need?

 

[tolien]

Heck they weren't even closed, they were open to the world.

Unless you had something listening on that port which had an exploitable vulnerability, it's debatable if it makes any odds. Certainly don't swallow the scare stories grc.com would like you to.

Does this router have a feature hidden away somewhere so that I could limit my brother to 50% of the connection bandwidth?

Nope.

Would this be what I need?

Yep. Means you both need to install it, and you need to trust him not to disable/alter it (and vice versa).

 

[MarcLister]

Yep. Means you both need to install it, and you need to trust him not to disable/alter it (and vice versa).

Cheers. You've been a great help with my modem matters.

I just checked netlimiter.com and found one of the features of Netlimiter to be: "Permissions editor: With this tool, you can decide, which user is allowed to monitor or control network traffic."

Sorted. So we'd both have to install and run the program and have the same settings I presume? Having different settings at each end would majorly bork it all up? (I love that word, bork!)

 

[tolien]

They'd need to have limits that add up to the maximum available bandwidth, if that's what you mean.