Subject kind of says it all. When i do ipconfig, i get many lines that say "Media Disconnected" and when doing a trace route to google.com, the second line has nothing but dots.
I'm not a networking nerd, explain things as if i was 5 years old. This isnt an urgent issue, just kind of curious as to why this is happening.
Everything works as expected with my travel laptop.
Are you connecting multiple devices, ie. a switch with devices connected, to the modem?
No
I figure, from what youve said about it not working when youre connected directly to the modem but working when connected through the router, that it might be because the modem is trying to assign an ip to your laptop but it cant? hmm If that is the only access point you have and the only device you have connected to the modem it should have no problem connecting...
are you restarting your modem for 2 mins before connecting the laptop?
Let me clarify, This is the problem on my desktop rig. Other computers such as my laptop work just fine and detect the modem just fine. I dont think it really matters, just figured i should be clear.
No, should I have? D:
This was happening on my desktop, so i dragged my laptop out, and tested it with that. I had internet access with that comp. But not this one.
Well, on the topic of your ipconfig results, I'd say the reason you have "media disconnected" is because there is no active connection there. At least the computer doesnt see an active connection. So from yours it would mean you are not connected to any wireless networks but you are connected through your Ethernet port to, what assume is, your router. I dont, however, know how to explain the timing out of your tracing your route to google.com.
A router routes traffic on the network. A modem does not have that capability, it basically just gets the data from your isp.
//edit: should've been more clear, yes a modem can handle one unit.
Do you have some sort of all-in-one unit? How is this setup?
seperate router/modem
Do you have your desktop with a static or dynamic IP? Some modems do not have DCHP (service that gives local network IPs)
Dial into your modem and see if it has DCHP and if it is turned on. If it doesn't have that you may be able to use it if you set up a static IP in the modem IP range. You should be able to find that in the configs.
Also I would recommend using your router because they normally have a better firewall and other security features than a modem. Extra layer of protection.
On some service providers you have to call them and tell them if you are using a router or not in the old days (before DOCSIS 3) it didn't matter, but now, they config the modem to know if you are behind a router or not. And every time you want to switch you have to call them.
The more important question is, if your router is working , why are you trying to just use the modem?
This fact makes me think I could be wrong; however, generally your modem will have two modes.
Bridge mode and regular mode(can't remember what it's actually called.
Bridge mode enables you to use a separate router to manage your network without problems. But if you try and use your modem without the router, you will have problems.
Short answer, unless you want to reconfigure your modem every time you decide to connect directly to it, instead of through your router, just use your router.
http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/110/~/when-to-put-modem-into-bridge-mode
I could be wrong but this sort of thing seems like the most likely candidate. Why are you even bothering with connecting through your modem instead of your router anyway?
Modems usually hold onto the MAC hooked up to it during boot. If you unplug the router and plug in your computer without also rebooting the modem, it will usually not work(can't say 100% of modems do this, but a vast majority do)
Steps to connect through modem:
1.) unplug computer from router, unplug router from Modem.
2.) unplug power from Modem and wait 30 sec.
3.) plug in power to modem, wait 30 sec.
4.) plug in computer straight to modem
Unless your modem has a router built in, you should then pull an Un-NATed IP address. Congratulations.
If not, check your ipv4/ipv6 settings in adapter properties. Set to all acquire automatically(dhcp)
Source: used to be Level 3 Comcast support
This Is the correct answer, so many other people in this thread are giving completely invalid responses.
Source: Installed internet service for many years for Charter and was the go to guy at the office for internet issues.
Wrong, at least for home ISP modems. Yes a router routes traffic but you do not need a router for the modem to provide internet access for ONE device.
Unless your ISP doesn't watch out for a switch connected straight to a modem and end up pulling 10 different IP's for each connected device lol.
That Is why I said ONE device. The OP has posted that he was not using a switch. but yes if he was using like an 8 port switch that would cause some issues haha
I would say make sure your devices are all set to accept DHCP (they most likely are) and my bet is that the modem is in bridge mode which just passes the traffic to the router.
If you connect a desktop/laptop to the modem see if you get a private IP address (10.X.X.X, 192.168.X.X, 172.16.X.X) and if not then Id say the modem is in bridge mode.