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aol not playing well with linksys

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Hello

I currently have a compaq presario pc. AOL broadband is isp. I recently bought a linksys notebook wireless router kit. What I was hoping to do is use the pc as access point for the note book computer. I have the cable modem plugged in the router in the internet plugin and the pc is plugged into the router. With out installing any software I immediately get dns errors and am not able to access the internet. However, when the wirless router is removed completely,everything works perfect. I even tried conncecting a hub and I get the same problem that is dns errors, but once the hub is removed no problems. Has anyone experianced this? I appreciated any sort of help that might be given. Yes, I even contacted linksys as well as aol helpdesk and they were no able to resolve the problem. Again, thanks for any help.

Markus

Topic

AOL Port Magic

In reply to aol not playing well with linksys

Try removing the AOL Port Magic application that they have. Who is your ISP other than AOL? SBC? Rob

Response to robert@dubrey.net

In reply to AOL Port Magic

Roberte

Port magic has been removed. The ISP is brighthouse(former time warner) that actually provides the cable modem service. AOL for broadband actully connects to the internet. Very strange that any other hardware(hub, switch etc..) connected to the cable modem instantly prompts aol to flash up a dns error message. To help make things a little clearer. DHCP is used, nothing static has been configured.

Having same problem

In reply to Response to robert@dubrey.net

Did you ever get you network working? I also have AOL broadband serviced by Brighthouse and I am having the same problem and no luck with AOL support.

Same problem, but AOL DSL through Bellsouth

In reply to Having same problem

I haven’t been able to resolve this yet either. When I am able to hit sites through the AOL interface, it chokes on anything SSL. IE is dead.

Are you guys getting an shdoclc.dll DNS error in the process?

Been Looking

In reply to Same problem, but AOL DSL through Bellsouth

Hello,

I been looking at alot of forums regarding this problem with the DNS error. From what I am seeing looks like AOL has no support information for this problem. Also seems like this problem happens frequently on Windows 98\ME OS’s.

Besides a reinstall (Which seems like something they have done on alot of these forums…)here are some things they suggest you to do:

1.) Check for any spy or malware
2.) Make sure firewall and virus software are up to date, and run a scan.
3.) Internet Connection should be set to “automatically detect settings”.

I was having these issues before (and numererous more)with AOL so I ended up dropping it.

Settings?

In reply to aol not playing well with linksys

I’ve had many problems with DSL and AOL, the combination is lethal at best, and even the best solution seems to only work for a little while before something else breaks. I’ll tell you the key points to pay attention to with regards to this kind of combination:

#1 – Ensure that the Router has a valid DNS. Go into the linksys, hit the status page, and it should have an ip address of something other than 0.0.0.0. The newer Linksys routers have a PPOE/PPOA settings in them, where you put in your username and password. It will not get an IP without it, and thus nothing will work. Set up a new account called Router through AOL, give it it’s own name and password. Then check to make sure you have an IP on the status page again.

#2 Once you have an IP, set up a new connection in your AOL software. Select the ethernet/Broadband connection for it. For the user name and password, use your own account information. That will enable you to log in.

If you cannot log in through that, something is messed up with your settings, so delete all your network cards and protocols with them, re-Install AOL software, and start off with just setting up the broadband account.

Now this works most of the time. I am not an AOL or DSL User, but I’ve fixed plenty of systems like this and they are never fun because the user often can screw up the settings, and you’ve got to go back out and fix it again. But the tips here should point you in the right direction:

AOL uses a proprietary PPOE standard that is not build into all routers, but seems to be in the latest Linksys. Only one user can be on at a time, so you will conflict if you use the same name and password. You can set up a gateway on your computer to act as a conduit between your normal TCP/IP apps, and AOL, but in general you should Delete that gateway and use the Routers internet access instead. Thus you will have internet access even if you aren’t logged into AOL because the Router is.

Hope this helped, if you find it did, tidy up my explanations and add your own experience and post it for others.

Ed..

[Author]

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