Huge problems with router+XBOX live please help!

[Nikos]

I have been having some major problems trying to get the router which I purchased a year ago to work again. The model # is BEFSR41. I had the router up and working properly for a few months, but decided to take it down once I stopped playing XBox Live to ridden some of the cord mess. Well, I have decided I would like to hook the router back up so that I can play my XBox again. However, this time around I haven't had any luck at all.

I have went through every single direction in the guidelines at least 6-8 times with no luck at all. I made sure I plugged every cable in the right slots, made sure the computer was configured and then configured the router, and even reset the router as suggested in the help guidelines.

I have a cable modem connecting through a static IP. One problem I did notice is that when I went to fill in my subnet mask, it said a number was invalid, but according to my IP settings that was the correct subnet mask. It was the 3rd part of the number that I was getting the error with. Underneath in the network setup, I noticed a list of possible subnet masks and saw one similar to mine. When I checked my IP settings, I found my subnet mask to be 255.255.248.0, but I noticed as a possible mask there was 255.255.255.248 as an option. I wasn't sure if that could be one of my possible problems or not?

This brings me to the network setup part that the guidelines don't even discuss. When I go to list my IP and other fields in the internet setup area, it ends up being completely different than the network setup IP. I didn't even have to add an IP to the network field and it automatically filled in a completely different IP. Should the network IP be the same as my internet IP? And likewise for the subnet mask?

Every indication that the router is working fine is there. The internet light, the power light, and the 1st ethernet slot are all lit up. I wonder also if I could have downloaded a windows/security update over the period of time that could have changed a setting that I need? When I went to check my IP and other information required to configure the router, I noticed under IP Routing Enabled and WINS Proxy Enabled it says No. Should any of those be saying yes, and if so how can I change that? My operating system is Windows XP.

I'm not sure what else to add to this already lengthy post. I would appreciate any help you can give me on this matter.

Thanks

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

I'd set all your settings back to whatever the instructions told you to do.

One thing that I come across pretty commonly for people who are plugging in a router to their high speed internet is that they need to get the MAC address for their connection reset by their provider (say, SBC or Time Warner).

That involves calling your ISP and asking them to reset the MAC for your connection (if they even ask just tell them you're adding it for some front end security, i.e. a firewall, for your computer).

Give that a shot and see what happens (make sure you've got your comp., xbox, etc. turned off before you go through the reset, but they should step you through it).

[Nbadan]

I have a cable modem connecting through a static IP.

Why in the world would you do that? Floating IPP's are so much fun!

Check your NIC card or USB 2.0 settings, unplug your cable modem power for a couple of minutes to reset your IP. I've come across many errors with Win XP, USB 2.0, NIC card drivers, and routers lately, so you may want to dump your driver(s) altogether and let XP reload them. That usually works for me.

Good luck!