My beloved SMC Barricade router appears to have given up the ghost. When I connect to it through my browser it says it's connected to the ntl cable modem ok but there's no data passing between the 2 so i can't get an internet connection on my pc or laptop. I've done all the usual stuff like rest to factory settings and turn off the hardware firewall to no avail.

So recommendations please on something to replace it. Must be reliable long term, have at least 4 ports and also be not too expensive.

It doesn't need to have wifi built-in either as i have a Belkin wireless gateway.

Cheers

I replaced my SMC Barricade with a Zyxel 650HW router. Mine's got a built in ADSL modem and is wireless ready, but they do a range of combinations to suit what you want. Piece of cake to setup and never gone wrong in the 3+ years it's been running.

Chris

just get an ebuyer special thats what my last one was, was great untill it gave up the ghost after 3 years.

4 port jobby and cost a grand total of £28

ZyXel or Draytek I would say.

Just to check something here - are you able to access the cable modem's config pages still?

It wouldn't be the first cable modem to fail or be turned off by mistake by NTL

If you care about file sharing spend a little more on the router, otherwise the cheapest thing you can find will probably do just fine

I've had SMC, Netgear, Draytek, LinkSys, Nexland (now Symantec) , Zyxel and a few white-label ones. All are fine in their own right, but the more expensive ones tend to have better support over time.

Don't touch netgear :thumbdwn:

Depends which model Netgear, same applies to all

Cheaper stuff tends to be more buggy firmware, expensive range has proper support.

Just to check something here - are you able to access the cable modem's config pages still?

It wouldn't be the first cable modem to fail or be turned off by mistake by NTL

If you care about file sharing spend a little more on the router' date=' otherwise the cheapest thing you can find will probably do just fine

I've had SMC, Netgear, Draytek, LinkSys, Nexland (now Symantec) , Zyxel and a few white-label ones. All are fine in their own right, but the more expensive ones tend to have better support over time.[/quote']

Erm i've never actually accessed the cable modem's config pages. Can i do that like i do for my smc router (ie through a browser) and if so what IP address do i use?

I currently have my Belkin wifi adapter connected directly to the cable modem so i can use this laptop and it works fine. But, if i introduce the router again I get nothing.

So far i've been through D-Link, Netgear, Binatone and SMC routers. All except the SMC failed on power. The seem to really heat up inside and burn out.

Config page is available via:

http://192.168.100.1/config.html

Assumes it's the 'Surfboard' one.

And yes, it's the same as for your router for the rest

No username/pwd required for this, you can leave off the 'config.html' bit then it will hit the index.

Hope it helps

Draytek are (or, at least, used to be) makers of superb bits of kit - very well engineered.

Config page is available via:

http://192.168.100.1/config.html

Assumes it's the 'Surfboard' one.

And yes' date=' it's the same as for your router for the rest

No username/pwd required for this, you can leave off the 'config.html' bit then it will hit the index.

Hope it helps [/quote']

No luck. It's insisting on a username and password.

try admin admin, root root, or no username and a pasword of password

The fact that you can get that far suggests your router might well be routing to it correctly though.

try admin admin' date=' root root, or no username and a pasword of password

The fact that you can get that far suggests your router might well be routing to it correctly though.[/quote']

strangely i can now access the modem config screen without even being asked for a password. All looks fine and as you say i can connect to it ok. Looks like the router is stuffed. Will reconnect one last time tomorrow and reset to factory settings. If no joy i'll be taking the advice about on the brands to check out.

Cheers everyone.

can you see the modem, through the router or are you directly connected to the modem?

If you are connected to the router and can see the modems config page, then surely the router is routing pages correctly

It's more likely you have a problem with the cable modem IMHO based on being able to get to the config page at all.

If the router is broken you wouldn't be able to do that. Also if you have multiple machines on your network and you can connect between them, the router is working.

I agree, if you can access the cable modem config pages with the modem connected to the router, there is nothing wrong with the router. Next port of call should be NTL to find out whats wrong. It maybe an outage in your area, affecting the dreaded transparent proxies or a DNS issue, or a problem with the UBR. (UBR = next hop down the line after the cable leaves your house.)

I can see other machines on my network ok but none of them can access the internet. I can bring up the modem config pages if connected directly to the modem but havent tried it through the router yet. I'll do that later and if still no luck i'll maybe borrow someones router to see if that works too.

Connect it via the router as otherwise it won't prove/disprove the router itself is ok.

For NTL the router needs to be set up to get a DHCP address from the cable modem, which tends to be the default for most routers I've used.

Connect it via the router as otherwise it won't prove/disprove the router itself is ok.

For NTL the router needs to be set up to get a DHCP address from the cable modem' date=' which tends to be the default for most routers I've used.[/quote']

Its all set up correctly. i think the router is just busticated.

On the basis that the router was at fault I picked up a Belkin 4 port cable router on Ebay as new for

The NTL modem only gives out one IP address - if you switch it from your PC to the router it won't hand the router an IP = no internet access.

Turn off the modem, plug it over, turn it back on

The NTL modem only gives out one IP address - if you switch it from your PC to the router it won't hand the router an IP = no internet access.

Turn off the modem' date=' plug it over, turn it back on [/quote']

Cheers I know all that but it still hasn't solved the problem. The router is seeing the WAN when connected to the cable modem and it is also see the machines on the local area network but the cable modem simply won't talk to my router (either of them). What could NTL be playing at. I mean bear in mind that this problem literally happened over night and I had made no recent changes to the router setup or my pc's/laptop.

Contacting BT to today to arrange reconnection so I can switch to Sky Broadband. In the mean time this is really ****ing off SWMBO.

Had some serious words with NTL earlier. As usual they said they had a server down and couldnt run a test on my cable connection but promised to run the test this evening and let me know of any problems.

No return call of course so in a last ditch attempt i reset the router to factory settings again and then powered up everything a bit at a time (including the cheapo Belkin router from Ebay). Guess what? It worked!

What a nightmare. If NTL did something to resolve this i'd love to know what. Switching back to BT tomorrow anyway. Once i'm up and running NTL will be dropped for Sky Broadband.

Cheers everyone for your help

I've got my cable modem + router on a 24 hour timer with a 1 minute 'off' programmed in at about 4am - that way it resets any crappy situation with the cable modem, router etc for when I'm not at home and need to VPN back to home.

ADSL is more stable generally though as the NTL boxes get so much abuse (kids kicking balls against them, the boxes have insufficient cooling quite regularly too).

Either way, hope you'll manage to get switched soon

I've gone the whole hog now. Rang BT to get reconnected and have setup an account with Sky talk. Once the BT line is active i'll get Sky BB in and the ntl BB service out. Sky haven't upgraded my exchange yet so I can't get the 16Mbps with unlimited downloads MAX offer for £10 yet so I will have to go for the 'Connect' package for £17.99 (up to 8Mbps with 40Gb download limit) in the meantime.

I've complained to Sky about that so they have given me 3 months 1/2 price on my Sky tv and they will review it in October by which time my exchange should be upgraded.

With BT option 1 and Sky Talk, my phone service is slightly cheaper but my local and national calls are totally free as opposed to just being free off peak with NTL.

I'll initially be saving £7 a month on my BB and getting up to 4x the speed. Once my exchange is upgraded the potential speed will double but so will ntls so i'll still be getting 4x the speed but i'll only be paying Sky £10/m for BB so the savings go up to £15/m.

Taking all of this into account, the calls I currently get charged for and allowing for a crossover period on the BB services of 1 month, I stand to save around £257 during the next year.

Maybe this whole episode with NTL was a blessing in disguise.