so i wanna get connected to my dads internet. but when i plug it into the router, it gives me limited connectivity. i dont get it quite, because i just plug into thomas' or jaso's router and boom im online. but i do it to my dads and not so much.

tech stuff: he got time warner high speed; arris router....and thats all i pretty much can see. i wanna say he used softerware to get things connected but he doesnt remmebrr.


any clue on how i can get my comp connected on his system?

well let me explain a few things first so you can understand what is going on here.

computer networks are much like a city. there are streets (subnets) and each street needs addresses (IP addresses). before a computer can do anything on a network it has to get an address. what happens when you plug your computer into a router/network (or connect to it wirelessly if it can do that) is your computer says to the whole network "hey i'm new here i need an address". on most every network there is a server that runs DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) and what this server does is it listens for computers to say that. that server then (if there are no security measures that need to be met) will give that new computer an address. after that the computer is good to go. usually this takes place in the matter of 1-2 seconds. some times on larger networks it can take 10-15 seconds but usually no longer.

in your case and in most small home networks with a router the DHCP server is running in the router and automatically hands out addresses without any configuration necessary.

the error message that you are getting is telling me that your computer is not getting an address. this could be caused by 1 of 2 things if it is just network related.

either the home network that your dad setup is Static Addressed (where the addresses are manually configured on each computer and there is no DHCP server; this is very Advanced and usually NOT the default). fortunately though i can help you with this and it is relativly easy to remedy.

-or-

there is some security measure that has been setup which is causing the DHCP server (router) to intentionally not give you an address. simply put the router doesn't know that your computer is friendly.


now all of that is just for the network side however there may be something else at play. some high speed internet providers are really stingy about the number of computers that can "share" a connection. to prevent this they may have locked down your dads router to prevent this. you should ask your dad about his internet plan and see if it has anything like that in it. if it does and i helped you get around it i could get your internet shut off and you could get fined (i have known someone who had it happen but don't remember with which carrier).

let me know what you find out.

alright i have been reading reviews, looking at model numbers, and trying to make sense of it all.

the two models i would suggest you use are either:



now it seems that the netgear routers of late have developed stability problems and there are lots of people who are returning them. some people seem to have a good experience and have had no complaints. ()

on the other hand i have had some bad experiences with linksys products in the past however they seem to have gotten much better. currently i would suggest going with the linksys because it has been getting the better reviews. ()

now, although i am aware that these are $40-50 routers they are the best bang for the buck that i could find. the cheaper ones that i saw got such bad reviews i would not recommend them. hope this helps!