HPNA Networking Weirdness

[galewis]

I've had a strange failure in my home network crop up lately. I've been using a LinkSys Home Phone Line adapter network for the better part of a year, and it's always worked fine. I use a broadband cable modem router to share my cable modem connection, files, and printers across the network. The computers on the network are:

Ci641122-a: Win98SE
Kitchen: Win98SE
Laptop: WinXP Pro

(As you might guess, the first computer is so named because of its direct connection to the cable modem.)

Just recently the first computer in the above list began to lose its connection to the rest of the network. File and printer sharing went away, and it could no longer browse the Network Neighborhood or be browsed to. Pinging its IP address (which had always been dynamically assigned by DHCP) was no longer possible. Strangely enough, even with this isolation, all three computers could still share the broadband connection, and computers #2 and #3 could still successfully network with each other.

I've tried everything that I can think of to remedy the problem including:

* completely uninstall and reinstall the HomePNA adapter and all protocols
* manually assigning an IP address and making manual DNS search order entries

The only thing that I've found that will remedy the problem (and then only temporarily) is to use the router's administrative web page to Release and Renew DHCP. That for whatever reason gets things going again. But I can set my watch by how long the fix will last: within about 15 minutes the first workstation will once again be orphaned from the rest of the network.

One last note. I recently received an email from my cable provider asking that I verify my level of broadband service. Is it possible that they've done something on their end to cause these problems?

Thanks very much.

[Greenstead]

No it doesn't make sense, but then I can 't quite grasp your topology.

You say you have a cable modem router (one box or two?) to share the cable conection. But PC#1 is connected direct to the modem ?.

Can you clarify?

[galewis]

Thanks for the response. My apologies for not being clearer at the outset.

I have a LinkSys HPRO200 HomeLink® PhoneLine 10M Cable/DSL Router (http://www.linksys.com/products/product.asp?prid=176&grid=). The connection sequence is as follows:

1. Coax cable from wall to cable modem
2. Cable modem to HPRO200 router's WAN port
3. Router is connected:
-- via its LAN port to Ci641122-a (Desktop computer)
-- via its HPNA port to the telephone wall jack for other computers on network

The images near the bottom of this (http://www.linksys.com/support/display.asp?biggie=hpro200.jpg&prid=176&scid=) page might help you to visualize the ports and hookup syntax.

Any advice much appreciated. I've tinkered until my fingers are bloody and am no closer to a solution. It's *very* strange to me that a hookup that has worked perfectly for a year has suddenly decided to go south....

[Greenstead]

Well it seems to me there is no clear logical networking reason to explain the problem. I don't see the ISP could cause the problem. Also the time dependent failure suggests a hardware failure (a component that fails as it warms up). So my guess is a failure within the HPRO200.

[cszeto]

Since it's the ethernet connected system that is experiencing difficulties, the following thread may help...

http://forums.practicallynetworked.com/showthread.php?threadid=1995

As for changing conditions from a previously working configuration, maybe you updated a router's firmware or changed NIC card on the system (if the previous thread does help)?

If it was on the HPNA section of the network, keep in mind that phone line conditions will effect the network (e.g. additional telephone devices, extension cords, etc.).