On Tue, 2003-08-19 at 12:22, David Rankin wrote:
> Also,
> 
>     Don't forget to check the obvious! Sometimes the little fans in the
> router or hub or switch quits and this can give you nightmares trying to
> figure out what is going on. I have had one die and the hub kept working
> fine until the traffic load got heavy which would cause the heat load
> experienced by the hub to rise which would cause it to die. May work for 2
> days or 20 minutes depending on the traffic.
> 
>     Worth a check.....
> 

Yep I had to keep one on top of an "ice pack" for a week till it's
replacement came in..   However I do have one that every so often does
the same thing.  Right about the time it does a lease renewal.  The
reason.  Comcast bombards it with scans to see if I'm running anything
like a VPN (which they will teach me how to setup and use. go figure)
etc etc.  It gets so busy rejecting it locks on the wireless side. 
Doesn't happen often.  But it does happen.  However, You can always ask
them if thier TCP/IP stack is BSD based or taken from a SysV system, and
if it's using 7 bit or 8 bit parity.  Remember that no matter what they
answer, it doesn't matter.  But the more jargon you through at them
without telling them how long you've been in the "know" will really
befuddle the heck out of them.  I love the above question because 

1.  If they know what they are doing they will know it's BS.  Since the
TCP/IP stacks for BSD and SysV both are rooted in the Woolengong (sp)
TCP/IP stack.
2.  If they try to give you an intelligent sounding answer .... they are
full of it.  Hang up... call back and talk to another person.
3.  The level at which you can piss them off is directly related to the
end of their knowledge.  The faster you can do it by accident the sooner
you know you have someone who can't help you.  Hang up, try again. 
Every shift has one person who can poor water out of a boot with
instructions printed on the sole.

James
 

> --
> David C. Rankin, J.D., P.E.
> RANKIN * BERTIN, PLLC
> 510 Ochiltree Street
> Nacogdoches, Texas 75961
> (936) 715-9333
> (936) 715-9339 fax
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Lyvim Xaphir" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Cc: "Anne Wilson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2003 11:08 AM
> Subject: Re: [expert] OT: router reboots
> 
> 
> On Mon, 2003-08-18 at 16:10, Anne Wilson wrote:
> > On Monday 18 Aug 2003 9:03 pm, Lyvim Xaphir wrote:
> > > On Thu, 2003-08-14 at 07:52, Anne Wilson wrote:
> > > > SMC Barricade 7401BRA adsl router
> > > >
> > > > On average, about once a week I have to reboot my router.  No
> > > > apparent reason - just that no Internet connection works any
> > > > more.  After a reboot, all is well, both on this box and all
> > > > others on the net.  I am not able to find any common denominator
> > > > leading up to the problem. Any ideas, anyone?
> > > >
> > > > Anne
> > >
> > > Does it have firmware that you can update.  I'd check on that
> > > first.
> > >
> > > --LX
> >
> > Hi, LX.  Franki raised that one, but my reply to him was one of the
> > ones that went missing, never appeared on the list.  Here is what I
> > said to him:
> >
> > Hi, Franki.  A little while ago I downloaded the latest flash for the
> > router and the installation instructions, which were to flash it from
> > within the web page. 'Mine not to reason why'. I thought, and tried
> > it.  It didn't work.  I contacted their tech support, who said they
> > would email alternative instructions.  They did, and it didn't work.
> > It did screw up everything that had been there before, though, so I
> > had to go in an reconfigure it.  There was a complication in that I
> > couldn't get a connection, which my isp traced to a line fault, which
> > BT denied, but a short time after it was working again.  Then I rang
> > SMC's tech support again.  This time a guy asked me why I was trying
> > to flash it.  He rather rudely said it was pointless - it was not
> > necessary with the revision I had got.
> 
> You should have told him that it was none of his damn business WHAT you
> were doing with your own equipment, and that if you wanted to pee on it
> in the shower then that's exactly what you were going to do, and that
> the only input you would need from him at that point would be to
> recommend the best way to do the most damage.
> 
> Their job, quite simply, is not to question what you are doing but
> rather to tell you how to do it.  Many times a phone jock will tell you
> something either because they have read entirely too much BOFH lit or
> because they don't want to bother with the call cause they've got a
> personal call they'd rather be on.
> 
> The first thing to do before you pick up the phone for tech support is
> to realize *what their job is*.  Because 90% of the time, THEY DONT.
> They are not the equipment police of your house, their job is to tell
> you how to flash their shite equipment.  Any other words out of their
> mouth are extra and not needed.
> 
> Any chance for them to be arrogant and assume ignorance on your part is
> usually a chance they will take.  In the past, in such situations, I
> have thrown out some ignorance bait and then fed the rope out quite a
> bit.  Then at the appropriate time, I yank on the rope, pull them back
> in, and do maximum damage.  I do what I can to discourage this type of
> behavior.
> 
> 
> >
> > Between that experience and the fact that it is impossible to release
> > a range of ports for a session (ideally I would like it to be
> > software triggered, but I'll do it manually if necessary) I feel that
> > when I replace it, it will not be with an SMC product.
> >
> > If I may, I will also copy in my replies to Ronald and Miark, which
> > also went missing.
> >
> -------snip, I agree with Ronald that this is not a dhcp thing---------
> 
> I'll be honest, the first thing that occurred to me when you described
> your problem was that a security hole was being taken advantage of with
> your router.  Most of the time when a firmware release is given on a
> router, it's to address a security hole problem.  This reboot problem
> sounded to me as if you were being scanned periodically and the scan was
> locking your router up.  This is why I recommended a firmware flash, so
> that you could begin analyzing the problem from a fresh and more secure
> perspective.  Of course now we have phone jock assholes standing in our
> way of that.
> 
> The objective is to get the router flashed with the latest firmware
> revision, and then reexamine the problem to see if you have any further
> lockups.  If lockups still are happening after you bring the router up
> to the latest firmware release, then it's an equipment problem and the
> router needs to be replaced under warranty.
> 
> Also...flashing is something you only have to do once.  After you flash
> it one time, the firmware is in there and you don't need to do anything
> else except start watching it's behavior for anomalies again. (unless
> another firmware revision is released.)
> 
> LX


Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? 
Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com

Reply via email to