Phosphorus and Lime

Once every few months, my internet connection disappears. I don't have a lot of interest in networking, so it's one of those things I just want to work without thinking about too much and without having to call tech support and go through one of those god-damned automated phone trees.

Anyway, today was one of those morning. There was a big thunderstorm last night (rare around here) and the power went out briefly. So maybe it was connected to that. Whatever the case, the modem (a Speedstream 4100B) was on, but the internet light was out, like this:



So after calling tech support and taking care notes, this is my new recommended guide to fixing your internet connection yourself.

1. Login to Modem
This is what ultimately solved the problem for me this time. So try this first. Open a browser, connect to the modem at http://192.168.0.1/. And login with your AT&T or SBC or Yahoo account, or whatever it is.

According to what the tech told me, when the internet light is out, it means the modem can't connect out to the AT&T upstream node (i.e., the internet) and the likely cause, if the network is up, is that the modem is not providing the proper credential. Doing this may fix that.

2. Power Cycle (Reboot)
Turn off modem
Unplug router*
Turn off computer
-- Wait 30s --
Start modem -> wait 10s
Start router -> wait 10s*
Turn on computer
*If you have a router

If either of the above succeeds, your modem should now look like this:



If not, proceed to step 3:
3. Call AT&T Tech Support
1-877-722-3755

Good luck!