hey folks
I woke up this morning and the internet wasn't working! My computer is hooked right into the router via an ethernet cable and my brother's computer has a wireless card that he is connecting to the same router with. It briefly worked on his computer, but every web page he tried to open simply reverted him to a "set up Comcast" webpage with a link to a wizard to set it up. I downloaded the wizard and went through it, but when it tried to connect to the internet to do its set-up stuff, it failed. At that point I called Comcast, and while I was on the line, the internet on his computer started working, basically being able to visit other pages. All the while, mine isn't working.
Comcast basically said "I have no idea why it's giving you that set-up screen but if it's working now it must be fixed?" and as for my computer, the guy said "bypass the router". Pretty sound advice, because that's how I'm able to post this now. When I run an ethernet cable out the modem into the router and then another ethernet cable out the back of the router to my computer (a set up that's worked before), my computer says "identifying..." under local area connection and then stops trying after about fifteen seconds, and it's not connected to the internet. The wi-fi that was providing internet to my brother's computer also stopped working, or at least he can't connect to the internet now.
So, my question is, is it a problem with the router, or are both of our computers having two congruent or different issues identifying that router that both started happening at what appears to be the same time? If it helps, all other cables in the equation (two ethernet cables, two COAX cables ( wall to splitter to TV / router) and power cables are working. The router shows no signs by the lights on the front that anything is awry.