ACT works when directly connected to computer but not router

[Ravi Rao]

I am from Chennai and have been using ACT for a while. I have been facing a new problem since the past two days. After the recent rains, ACT have restored back the connection in a few areas. Since then, I have been able to get the connection working when I directly connect the Fibernet cable to my laptop. However when I connect the Fibernet cable to the WAN port of a router (tried with Airport Extreme and Netgear WRN 614) configured for PPPoE or Ethernet, the routers complain that there is nothing is plugged on the WAN port. However, when I use the same router in another ACT installation nearby, I see them both working.

Can someone throw light on this and how to set this right? I called ACT support and as usual their helpdesk comes with the usual quip that they see the line up on their side. They just dont seem to get this. I am frustrated.

 

[gopichandpai]

When you are disconnecting the LAN cable from your computer make sure you go to portal.acttv.in and log out from there. Once you log out, try going to portal.acttv.in to make sure you have logged out. If it asks you to login again then you can be sure that you have logged out from the portal.

Now, connect the cable to your router. You should be able to login thru the router.

 

[Ravi Rao]

When you are disconnecting the LAN cable from your computer make sure you go to portal.acttv.in and log out from there. Once you log out, try going to portal.acttv.in to make sure you have logged out. If it asks you to login again then you can be sure that you have logged out from the portal.

Now, connect the cable to your router. You should be able to login thru the router.

Thanks Gopi. I did just that. No luck. The router reports that the Ethernet port is not connected to the WAN. In other words no activity. Also, when I connect to the laptop, it takes quite a while to get an IP. I was reading somewhere that this could be a cross cable issue. However, I just bought a crossover Ethernet cable but still no luck 🙁😢

 

[uberjon]

I wonder if the cable is damaged.:wondering:

 

[Ravi Rao]

I wonder if the cable is damaged.:wondering:

Uberjon, I am wondering too but I am baffled it works like a charm when connected to computer. 😳

 

[uberjon]

The cable at the ACT Panel end might need to be re-crimped just to make sure.

 

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[Ravi Rao]

The cable at the ACT Panel end might need to be re-crimped just to make sure.

I suppose you are right. I just hope the ACT team can see the issue here and do the needful. Are you aware of any diagnostic tool that I can use to get more details on the WAN port?

 

[uberjon]

No idea about WAN diagnostic tools. Well, does your (windows?) laptop have a gigabit ethernet port? If yes, it's probably detecting the crossover cables and automatically configuring itself (Auto MDI-X). The Airport Extreme should also support this (Auto MDI-X) by default.

Did you have a disconnection when the rains came? Something must have gone wrong when they fixed it. Ask them if the ethernet cable broke.
Keep emailing them and asking them to send someone to have look at the panel/cable.

 

[Ravi Rao]

No idea about WAN diagnostic tools. Well, does your (windows?) laptop have a gigabit ethernet port? If yes, it's probably detecting the crossover cables and automatically configuring itself (Auto MDI-X). The Airport Extreme should also support this (Auto MDI-X) by default.

Did you have a disconnection when the rains came? Something must have gone wrong when they fixed it. Ask them if the ethernet cable broke.
Keep emailing them and asking them to send someone to have look at the panel/cable.

Yes Uberjon, I thought it could be a cross over issue. So I procured an adaptor and a cross over cable and connected. But no luck. I am doubting the signal to noise ratio issues on the line. Maybe the routers expect a higher fidelity than laptops. Anyway this is just my guess without solid backing.

I am still keeping the ticket open but haven't heard from ACT. Thanks for your help Uber. Please keep me posted on any other thoughts that can help me trouble shoot this.

 

[ponnitheunreal]

hi there,
did you try resetting the router and use MAC address of computer instead of default?

 

[Ravi Rao]

hi there,
did you try resetting the router and use MAC address of computer instead of default?

Thanks Ponni.....I did reset the router. No luck though. I am not sure what you mean by using MAC address of computer instead of default? Where should I specify that? What does it do?

 

[ponnitheunreal]

ok. login to router and go to advance setting and then you can see the page it asks for login for isp and ip info. scroll down to bottom you can see MAC address settings
-- dead tinypic image removed --

 

[Ravi Rao]

H

ok. login to router and go to advance setting and then you can see the page it asks for login for isp and ip info. scroll down to bottom you can see MAC address settings
-- dead tinypic image removed --

Couple of things here Ponni:

1. I have an Apple Airport Extreme Base Station Router and its MAC cannot be reconfigured
2. I am connecting over PPPoE and there is no MAC level access control at the ACT end.

 

[ponnitheunreal]

okay, why dont you try without pppoe? to see if you get the login page of ACT?

 

[Ravi Rao]

okay, why dont you try without pppoe? to see if you get the login page of ACT?

I tried manual IP config, DHCP everything. However, as I mentioned earlier, the router is not even detecting traffic on the WAN port and says that the Ethernet is disconnected. Happened both on AEBS and Netgear. So, since i dont even have an IP, there is no way to even got to portal.acttv.in page.