Broadband failure

[Alwyn]

Last night my internet connection went down. I have a Speedtouch modem with an Airport Extreme 5th generation. The internet light on the modem was unlit. Internet back up this morning but went down. I called and spoke to a chap at Plusnet, my ISP, who confirmed initially that there had been no connection overnight and again this morning although his times didn't match mine.

He then suggested that I needed to check the password in my router. I assured him that there was nothing wrong with the router and that the password was okay.

He suggested that the problem was at my end. Is there any possibility that my broadband has been hacked into? If not could it just be that the modem is faulty?

 

[Raz0rEdge]

First power-cycle everything. Next, disconnect the Airport Extreme from your Broadband modem and plug your computer directly into the modem. Then ONLY visit safe sites like Apple.com or something and see if that works. If you cannot get to the sites reliably, then the problem is with your ISP. Have them diagnose the issue. If your Internet connectivity is stable while connected directly, then put the Airport Extreme back into the equation and start with a Ethernet cable to see if things work. If that works, then switch to WiFi and see what happens..

 

[Alwyn]

First power-cycle everything.

Forgive me but do you mean by 'power-cycle everything', turn off power supply to modem, Airport Extreme, iMacs etc one by one or all at once, then turn them all on again?

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Forgive me but do you mean by 'power-cycle everything', turn off power supply to modem, Airport Extreme, iMacs etc one by one or all at once, then turn them all on again?

Yup, that's pretty much it. I would also wait for the modem to be fully happy before playing with it to ensure that you are starting off from scratch.

 

[Alwyn]

Okay. Done that; everything working okay at present but I guess it is modem or ISP if it goes down again as Airport has consistently been 'green'.

 

[RadDave]

Okay. Done that; everything working okay at present but I guess it is modem or ISP if it goes down again as Airport has consistently been 'green'.

'Power recycling' a modem and router will commonly solve many connection issues - I have Time-Warner cable and have to pull the plug on my modem about twice a week - my Apple Extreme router much less often - happens w/ printers, too - usually my initial steps and the ones I often recommend in posts to others having similar problems - now, my reason for responding is that I'm quite surprised that your ISP did not make that suggestion - Dave

 

[chscag]

I'm quite surprised that your ISP did not make that suggestion

I'm not surprised at all. You never know who is on the other end of that phone call. You would "assume" that tech support is knowledgeable enough to provide information that will help solve the problem, however, most ISPs hire folks off the street and give very little training before placing them on the phone banks. I've been on support phone calls where the advice I was given was absolute nonsense, but then, I have also run into some real sharp support people. Apple to their credit, has always provided good phone support.

 

[harryb2448]

Rule No.1 for ISP employees. "The problem is ALWAYS at the user end period."

Rule No. 2 for ISP employees. "We know nothing about Macs."

 

[RadDave]

Rule No.1 for ISP employees. "The problem is ALWAYS at the user end period."

Rule No. 2 for ISP employees. "We know nothing about Macs."

Chscag & Harry - LOL! Well, maybe I'm not that surprised - ;P

When we were on PCs, my wife's last desktop was a Dell which stopped working late one night - I was pretty sure that the power supply had died but still under warranty and now midnight, I called the Dell number - got a guy w/ an Indian accent, so assume I was communicating w/ someone awake half way across the planet. He basically had a 'list' of things for me to do most making no sense and including opening the computer and 'step by step' removing items, rebooting, etc. - I was in my underwear (nearly nude!) & way beyond my bedtime - I said ENOUGH and hung up - the next day I took the machine to a local repair shop - we both decided that a new power supply was needed - he had to call Dell and go through the same **** steps and the problem was a DEAD power supply - we had to wait a few days for a shipment from Dell of an inferior (possibly re-built) product rather that putting in a new better one! Hopefully, I'll be better treated by Apple if such a problem arises - Dave