FIOS Ethernet not working, Wireless works fine.
ShankedS
Enthusiast - Level 2

This is a rather odd issue, but it's rather straightforward in explanation. The Wireless from the FIOS works just fine, and I can connect to it and use the internet just fine (it's how I'm making this post currently.) However, the ethernet refuses to work. I cannot get any ethernet devices including other routers, or desktop computers without wireless, to work. Quirk number one: on the older router (I got a new one sent), I reset the router via the reset button (not the on/off button) and the ethernet worked for a little less than an hour and then went back to the way it was before. Here's a brief rundown of what I've done:

I've tested with 3 different ethernet cables

I've tested with 2 different computers hooked directly from their LAN port to the router's port

I've tested with 3 different computers on the ethernet total, as well as 1 router.

I've called Verizon tech support and got a new router shipped to me, same issue.

Now, as far as settings are concerned. I've tried it both with authentication on and off (through Wired Autoconfig being on and off, and simple unchecking the authentication box in the properties menu under the authentication tab). I'm generally trying it with a dynamic IP address. I tried it once with a static one, but wasn't exactly sure what IP address I was supposed to put in for Default Gateway.

I've looked into the router settings, but haven't touched them, and there's where I found quirk number 2: If I log into the router and go to My Network > Network connections, this is what I see:

 Network (Home/Office)                Connected    
 Broadband Connection (Ethernet)    Disabled    
 Broadband Connection (Coax)        Connected    
 WAN PPPoE                            Disabled    
 WAN PPPoE 2                        Disabled

I would think that the Ethernet should not be disabled, so I clicked on Action.

This is what I got:

Status:    Disabled
Network:    Broadband Connection
Connection Type:    Ethernet
MAC Address:    00:1f:90:1c:2b:1d
IP Address Distribution:    Disabled

So I clicked the "Enable" button at the top. And now I get a new message beside "Broadband Connection (Ethernet)" :

Waiting for DHCP Lease ...

So, I wait for a bit, and, when I refresh... it disappears. There's no more "Broadband Connection (Ethernet)" listed anymore.

If I wait a bit longer it simply goes back to "Disabled" I tried changing the "IP Address Distribution" to "DHCP Server" but that had a lot of technical setup that I wasn't used to. So I set it to "DHCP Relay" but that wasn't any different than having it at "Disabled" so I'm sort of feeling stuck. (note: I just tried setting the IP address under "DHCP Relay" to the IP address shown under "My Router" on the main page, to no effect).

I don't think it's hardware, though it's entirely possible we could have simply gotten a second bad router, I doubt it. I highly suspect the problem has to do with the "Broadband Connect (Ethernet)" being disabled, but I don't know how to Enable it and keep it Enabled, as it simply goes back to "Disabled" every time I try to Enable it.

I could really use some help here, not being able to access the Wired internet on my Desktop has really begun to affect how I do things.

EDIT: additional information

Here's what it looks like exactly:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v305/thamior/ConnectionFIOS.png

Oddly enough, I cannot see the Ethernet, Coax, or Wireless Accesss Point underneath Network (Home/Office).

The Router is an Actiontec MI424-WR Rev. D

The firmware is the latest, to my knowledge: 4.0.16.1.56.0.10.11.6

All 4 LAN ports are connected to something, though Port 1 is actually just an ethernet cable that goes nowhere. The WAN port is hooked up to something (not sure what, I'm the son of the owner of the house and I didn't bother to investigate, but I can find out what it's hooked up to if it's needed).

Port 1's light is off. Port's 2 and 3 flicker frequently as if they have activity, Port 3 is the one I've been trying to connect to with the Desktop computer upstairs, and is the one that I've connected to directly via a laptop just to make sure it wasn't an issue with one of the cables leading to the connection upstairs. So, it shows a lot of activity, what I see on my end on the Desktop is a "Local Only" connection that can't even see the router (opening a browser and typing in the proper IP address gives me a "can't connect" error page).Port 4's light is a bit more steady, but flickers occasionally.

The Wireless light goes steady for awhile, then flickers with activity, then goes steady.

LAN Coax, WAN Coax, WAN Ethernet, Power, and Internet are all steady lights (as to be expected I think).

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Re: FIOS Ethernet not working, Wireless works fine.
lasagna
Community Leader
Community Leader

Pretty certain it's not the router (and definitely not the firewall on the router).  The firewall on the router is outward facing keeping traffic from getting into your network and possibly out of our network (but that would take you don't some specific configuration on the firewall to block it).   At a minimum, any device physically plugged into the router will be able to see other local devices and most certaining the router itself.  So, that's why we've given up looking at the router.

The symptoms you're describing are indicative of a firewall on the PC blocking traffic ... essentially when you plug the PC into the wire, it sends out a broadcast packet requesting a DHCP address and the DHCP server on the router returns a packet telling your PC which address to use (and other type of directed broadcast).  If either of these packets get blocked -- usually because the firewall software on the PC is filter anything which doesn't appear to be destined for it (which since these are broadcasts sometimes a misconfigured firewall drops mistakenly) -- then the PC doesn't get an address and you see that "limited connectivity" warning.

So, I had you try the static IP address configuration on the PC -- which eliminates the DHCP process -- and gives your PC a specific address which should be on the network being listened to by your router.   As this sounds like it didn't work, the speculation is that the PC has a firewall still configured on it and has been told that it's "trusted" network is something other than 192.168.1.x (and worse, possibly to not trust 192.168.1.x).   Windows Firewall, ZoneAlarm, McAfee ... they all can act this way but each has a different way of telling it to not enforce this which is why we've been say to make sure you disable any firewalls on the PC (I wouldn't think you'd want to leave it this way, but it gets it out of the picture while we figure out why it can't talk to the network).

So ... let's start over ... pick 1 PC and let's stick with that since I keep hearing about a desktop and laptop (the desktop, no wireless card --- just the network connection) and plug it into the router.  Tell us exactly which operating system you're using on the desktop -- and maybe someone can help walk you thru the configuration screens they would check (or even walk thru their machine with the same OS version and tell you what each screen should say).  Without being able to see it, I think we're all stabbing in the dark.

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Re: FIOS Ethernet not working, Wireless works fine.
lasagna
Community Leader
Community Leader

Broadband Ethernet should be disabled --- this is the WAN side ethernet interface for connecting to the ONT which is not used in most installations since the connection from the router to the ONT is coax.

This is what you should see:

 Network (Home/Office)Connected
         EthernetConnected
         CoaxConnected
         Wireless Access PointConnected
 Broadband Connection (Ethernet)Disabled
 Broadband Connection (Coax)Connected
 WAN PPPoEDisabled
 WAN PPPoE 2Disabled

The Ethernet, Coax, and Wireless Access Point are all bridged together on the Network (Home/Office) network.   The Broadband Ethernet is not used (you shouldn't connect anything to the WAN port on the router either).   The Broadband Coax is the external connection to the ONT.   And the last two PPPoE interfaces are likewise unused.

Re: FIOS Ethernet not working, Wireless works fine.
ShankedS
Enthusiast - Level 2

Thanks for the quick response. Here's what it looks like exactly:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v305/thamior/ConnectionFIOS.png

Oddly enough, I cannot see the Ethernet, Coax, or Wireless Accesss Point underneath Network (Home/Office).

Thank you for the clarifications on the others. To my knowledge, all of the jacks on the router are being used currently. I'm going to go double check, as well as grab the type of router so there's more information available.

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Re: FIOS Ethernet not working, Wireless works fine.
ShankedS
Enthusiast - Level 2

Updated the main post with all new information, including the Router Type as well as information on the Lights. Hopefully it helps you help me.

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Re: FIOS Ethernet not working, Wireless works fine.
lasagna
Community Leader
Community Leader

OK ... there shouldn't be anything in the WAN port on the ActionTec ... it's probably not the root cause of your problem, but it doesn't belong there and isn't communicating with anything if it is connected to something. 

Let's try this again ... did you click on the "Advanced" box on the network connections screen?   If it's in "Basic" mode it won't show you the underlying connections.

What happens if you go into the router / My Network / Network Connections and click on the little blue box with the pencil looking thing under the Action column next to the Home Network line?   It should look something like this (numbers different obviously but the underlying device info should be the same:

Connection Description:
Status:Connected
Network:Network (Home/Office)
Underlying Device:Ethernet
Coax
Wireless Access Point
Coax Stats
Connection Type:Bridge
MAC Address:00:1f:90:41:21:xx
IP Address:192.168.1.1
Subnet Mask:255.255.255.0
DNS Server:

8.8.8.8

8.8.4.4

IP Address Distribution:DHCP Server
Received Packets:15160130
Sent Packets:16110297
Time Span:112:06:24

Additionally, if you click on the "Settings" button this screen, you should then see a section labelled Bridge which should look like this:

Bridge
Connection DescriptionStatusSTPAction
         Network (Home/Office)Connected  
 Broadband Connection (Ethernet)
Disabled

 Ethernet
Connected

 Broadband Connection (Coax)
Connected

 Coax
Connected

 Wireless Access Point
Connected

The forum took out the check boxes, but there should be a check mark in the Ether, Coax, and Wireless lines and a second checkmark in the STP box for each of those lines. 

Your mileage may vary, so you assume the risk of any changes you make here. You can easily get yourself to the point where you need to do a factory reset on the router to get up and running again.

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Re: FIOS Ethernet not working, Wireless works fine.
ShankedS
Enthusiast - Level 2

Huh, the forum ate my post. The one time I didn't copy it just in case... however, it was a lot longer than it needed to be. I copied and pasted from my router's info, but, I didn't need to. Everything in my router's info for settings is consistent with what you have shown and said (except for individual things like MAC addresses). Which suggests that the router's software settings are fine. However, ethernet is still not working for any computers so far... I'm perfectly willing to make changes and understand that I may have to Factory Reset if I FUBAR something.

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Re: FIOS Ethernet not working, Wireless works fine.
lasagna
Community Leader
Community Leader

OK ... sounds like base configuration is fine on the router.   

Next, let's unplug that WAN connection (it definitely doesn't belong) -- you can always put it back later.   Plug the computer into a port on the router (not the WAN port and note it's number)   Then on the router, go into Advanced Settings / Port Configuration.

Speed/Duplex should be Auto.   Your computer should show a status of connected and a speed/duplex that it negotiated.   Let me know what you see.

Maybe a silly question ... have you ever had this computer connected to an ethernet via the ethernet port previously?   Are we sure that the ethernet interface is enabled, a tcp/ip stack is loaded, and that it's configured for DHCP?   I thikn you sdaid you checked that, but just checking.

Any change you could plug the PC using the cable from one of the two existing ethernet wired devices which must be connected to the network on ports 2 or 3 (since obviously their ports are working and the ethernet cables are good if they are working).

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Re: FIOS Ethernet not working, Wireless works fine.
ShankedS
Enthusiast - Level 2

Thanks for the response. It's time for me to get some sleep, but I will work on this as soon as I can tomorrow.

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Re: FIOS Ethernet not working, Wireless works fine.
viafax999
Community Leader
Community Leader

What OS is running on the machines that can't connect via hardwired connections to the actiontec?

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Re: FIOS Ethernet not working, Wireless works fine.
ShankedS
Enthusiast - Level 2

Vista 64-bit on one machine, and XP on the other two. I'm going to go try the last suggestion by lasagna right now.

Oh, and yes, all three machines have connected to the ethernet on the FIOS router before. This was completely unexpected.

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