Aol and belkin F5D7632-4 router anyone?

[confused]

Hi all,

Came accross a strange problem today with AOL and a belkin router, I know AOL dont support Belkin but I have had no problems in the past. Heres what happens:

Router connects fine, and picks up IP, gateway,DNS from AOL
Client machines can ping the remote gateway and dns servers, can also ping a known host by IP but CANT resolve hostnames.
So ok I thought, into router and from the routers diagnostic screen, fire a ping accross - same problem, can ping IP but not hostname, it definately picks up the DNS server form AOL and is correct.
Did a bit of googling, aparantly dropping the MTU to 1400 can work wonders for AOL problems but not this time.
I tried the router in another location with a non AOL ADSL connection and it worked perfectly.
Anyone any suggestions? (apart from trash the router or get the customer to ditch AOheL) I cant send the router back to the supplier since its not technically faulty.

Thanks

CALV

[KM-Tiger]

What error message do you get if your run nslookup from the command line of one of the PC's?

[Asteeleleith]

i use the same router, but i am with pipex, not sure really what to suggest.

have u triued resetting the router back to factory settings?

Al

[DuaneJackson]

Have you tried manually setting your host PCs to a different DNS server to see if that helps? Feel free to use mine at 213.161.85.200 (ns1.keyone.co.uk) to test.

d

[confused]

Hi,

Router has been reset, It is an Aol issue (they use non standard protocols for some bizarre reason) and they dont suport Belkin, in fact they support next to bugger all.
I didnt try manually setting DNS, dont know why I didnt its something I usually would try.
I have been googling and aparantly I'm not the only one with this problem, and even when this problem is sorted, there may be problems with secure sites aparantly.
Looks like I'll have to get a "supported router" , very odd tho because I have used belkins with aol in the past (not this model).

Thanks

CALV

[confused]

Well,

After much googling, I rang a friend who happens to have AOL (told him not to lol), went round with router in hand, plugged in, exact same problem, rang AOL for a laugh, they siad "tuf - not supported - have a nice day"
So I've had to order one of their many (yeah right) reccomended routers.

CALV

[crus]

Hi,

just spotted this one,
yep thats the attitude of the out sourced network guys.
Although I was there on the cusp of ADSL, the logic is probably still the same, they only want you using one machine, home networking is generally not supported.

You used to be able to use the AOL connection once the TCP/IP connection was established without even signing on, this was soon blocked, however it may demonstarte why you can get TCP/IP protocol information but not make a connection.

As a previous techie, don't bother calling tech support, or using text chat etc.

Find the forums on AOL and speak with other users.

Take a look at this page http://www.amset.info/broadband/sharing.asp at the bottom it suggest a proxy ap and an adsl PPPoA hack.

D

[confused]

ou used to be able to use the AOL connection once the TCP/IP connection was established without even signing on, this was soon blocked
Thats how I've set it up previously, just like you would expect to setup any router used to share a net connection.
Thanks for the link, I'm actually a network admin, I did offer the option of a software proxy initially as cost was aparantly a big issue (dont know what changed but I wish it hadnt!) and would have used analogX's proxy which would have done the job in this scenario but leaving a pc on 24/7 isnt an option in this case. I tend to advise people against AOL for several reasons, I now have another!
I know exactly whre you are coming from regarding tech support, I agree 100%, but now at least I have a supported router, aparantly AOL uses a proprietary authentication protocol which isnt suported too well by anyone apart from Thomson and Netgear.
I have a Thomson on order so I'll see what happens. I have never come accross an AOL business line, I really hope they dont offer a business service !!!

CALV

[confused]

Well, I got a Thomson speedouch and it worked 1st time as expected for anyone thats interested.

CALV