Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

something weird with ADSL

Mar 15, 2004 7:20AM PST

I recently purchased an external HDD in two parts:- a box with connections & Seagate barracuda 120Gb HDD. When I put it together and connected it up to my Dell Inspiron 1100 laptop my ADSL line went down. (NB: The Dell is fairly new and is running XP. Connection is via one of the two USB ports on the Dell. Connection to the router is via a D-link Ethernet card & a Cat5e cable). I have since tried it with my "mongrel" desktop (running 98)with the same result.

I have also tried a friends external HDD with the same result. I have tried using a totally different mains electric socket in a different room - same result. It also happens when the drive is powered up with the laptop not connected to the ADSL line.

ADSL connection is via a D-Link 504 (B) 4 port router. We have three computers connected up - two in the same room and one some distance away on another floor. Our ADSL link has always been rather erratic, possibly because we are around 4 miles away from the nearest telephone exchange. One other quirky thing, though all the computers can "see" the Internet OK, via the router, they can't see each other.

Any suggestions about what's happening, & why, & how to prevent it, would be greatly appreciated.

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Re:something weird with ADSL
Mar 15, 2004 9:34AM PST

where is the network cable connected? i assume the computer has a separate network cable connection port. it sounds like there is something going on with the USB port. does anything connected to the USB port work?

Herb...

- Collapse -
Re:Re:something weird with ADSL
Mar 15, 2004 7:08PM PST

The network cards have a separate outlets on both the laptop & the desktop. Connection to the router is by means of a Cat5e cable.

There are two USB ports (on both computers), which in general seem to function OK. On the laptop, my mouse is in one and I have used the other to download digital photos. Also, when the HDD is connected via the USB port it can be seen and I have transferred files over onto it.

I don't know if this helps at all. Everybody I have spoken to so far is baffled.

Any suggestions gratefully received.