Help needed : xbox gamer messed up our router

[whatsbruin]

My daughter was playing COD, when another player kicked her not just out of the game, but off the internet as well. That was Sunday morning at 1:00 am and since then we cannot get our router to work.

We have replaced our modem, so that should be good.
We have a Linksys by Cisco model : WRT54GS2 V1 router.
I know the router is good. I brought it into work and was able to set up a network with wireless. I also brought it to my neighbors house, put a cord from one of his output ports into my routers internet input port, and brought up the wireless network and connected with my phone and laptop. I brought the router back to my house and cannot get any internet access.

I have the cable from the modem go directly into the pc and I get internet.
I power down the modem, move the cable from modem to router, then have a cable from router to pc, and no internet, and I cannot even get to the router to configure it. However, if I unplug the cable from the router to the pc, I can then get to the router to configure.

Any help is appreciated, I'm out of ideas.

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[SniperHF]

Did you activate the new modem with your provider?

 

[Osprey]

Are you connecting the modem to the port on the router labeled WAN, not to the 4 or so ports (that are often yellow) that are labeled LAN?

Have you tried browsing to http://192.168.1.1 in your browser on the PC when it's connected to the router? If that works, then the username is probably "admin" and the password is either blank or "password". There might be a "Clone MAC Address" section somewhere in its webpages. Try cloning it to the MAC address of the PC that you get internet on when you connect it directly to the modem. You can get the PC's MAC address by opening a command prompt and running "ipconfig". Look for the "Ethernet Adapter" section and the MAC address is next to the "Physical Address".

Have you tried resetting the router? There should be a tiny hole on the back, near the ports. Get a paperclip, stick it into the hole until you feel a little button push in and hold that button down while you pull the power cord on the router, wait a few seconds, put the power cord back in and wait a few seconds (to be clear, keep the button pressed continuously through those last four steps). Note that this will undo all of your settings, especially including the WiFi configuration, so you'll need to connect the PC via ethernet cable to the router, browse to 192.168.1.1 like above and set up the wireless exactly as you had it before.

Did you activate the new modem with your provider?

He did mention that he got internet when he connected a PC directly to the modem, so the modem sounds activated and working.

 

[whatsbruin]

Are you connecting the modem to the port on the router labeled WAN, not to the 4 or so ports (that are often yellow) that are labeled LAN?

Have you tried browsing to http://192.168.1.1 in your browser on the PC when it's connected to the router? If that works, then the username is probably "admin" and the password is either blank or "password". There might be a "Clone MAC Address" section somewhere in its webpages. Try cloning it to the MAC address of the PC that you get internet on when you connect it directly to the modem. You can get the PC's MAC address by opening a command prompt and running "ipconfig". Look for the "Ethernet Adapter" section and the MAC address is next to the "Physical Address".

Have you tried resetting the router? There should be a tiny hole on the back, near the ports. Get a paperclip, stick it into the hole until you feel a little button push in and hold that button down while you pull the power cord on the router, wait a few seconds, put the power cord back in and wait a few seconds (to be clear, keep the button pressed continuously through those last four steps). Note that this will undo all of your settings, especially including the WiFi configuration, so you'll need to connect the PC via ethernet cable to the router, browse to 192.168.1.1 like above and set up the wireless exactly as you had it before.



He did mention that he got internet when he connected a PC directly to the modem, so the modem sounds activated and working.

Yes, getting internet from the modem when plugged directly to the PC.
Have not tried the mac cloning suggestion, will do when I get home.
Everything else I have tried many times over. Reset button on the router.
Shutting everything off then on in modem, router, pc order. Always unplugging the modem when moving the ethernet cord from pc to modem and back.

If I have the router on, not plugged into the modem, but plugged into the pc I can get to the 192.168.1.1 modem set up, but once I plug the ethernet from the modem to the router I cannot get to the 192.168.1.1 page, it just spins and times out.

 

[KingBran]

My daughter was playing COD, when another player kicked her not just out of the game, but off the internet as well. That was Sunday morning at 1:00 am and since then we cannot get our router to work.

We have replaced our modem, so that should be good.
We have a Linksys by Cisco model : WRT54GS2 V1 router.
I know the router is good. I brought it into work and was able to set up a network with wireless. I also brought it to my neighbors house, put a cord from one of his output ports into my routers internet input port, and brought up the wireless network and connected with my phone and laptop. I brought the router back to my house and cannot get any internet access.

I have the cable from the modem go directly into the pc and I get internet.
I power down the modem, move the cable from modem to router, then have a cable from router to pc, and no internet, and I cannot even get to the router to configure it. However, if I unplug the cable from the router to the pc, I can then get to the router to configure.

Any help is appreciated, I'm out of ideas.

lolwut? Please elaborate on this. I find it hard to believe.

If you can hard-wire in and get internet, its a router / cable / hardware issue. Not an 'Xbox gamer kicked us off the internet' issue.

 

[Caeldan]

lolwut? Please elaborate on this. I find it hard to believe.

If you can hard-wire in and get internet, its a router / cable / hardware issue. Not an 'Xbox gamer kicked us off the internet' issue.

There's instances of actual exploits used to knock people off out of games.
Also, look up smurf attack.

Though this most likely is as you point out, the router just finally dying (that's an older model is it not?)

One thing I'd try is flashing the dd-wrt firmware on it, just in case there is some recurring attack making use of exploits in the oem firmware (especially if you've never updated it, believe its on several exploit lists)

 

[KingBran]

There's instances of actual exploits used to knock people off out of games.
Also, look up smurf attack.

Though this most likely is as you point out, the router just finally dying (that's an older model is it not?)

One thing I'd try is flashing the dd-wrt firmware on it, just in case there is some recurring attack making use of exploits in the oem firmware (especially if you've never updated it, believe its on several exploit lists)

Yes, exploits to get people kicked out of a game. There is nothing to suggest that this COD gamer ruined this guys whole internet / router.

WRT54G series are indeed older ones. I stopped using them a couple years ago and switched to Netgear. Never had issues with Netgear. I had about 5 different Linksys / Cisco routers go out on me if you include my entire family.

 

[syz]

But he's already said that the router works elsewhere?

So the break is between the modem and the router. Try a new CAT cable.

 

[whatsbruin]

But he's already said that the router works elsewhere?

So the break is between the modem and the router. Try a new CAT cable.

Tried new cables. The modem works, the router works when connected else where.

It is an older router, that worked fine until this issue. People can do a
denial of service attack on your router, which is what this gamer probably did.
I find it hard to believe that the router worked fine until this attack, and it doesn't anymore, and they aren't related.

Getting a new router tonight if not resolved.

 

[KingBran]

Tried new cables. The modem works, the router works when connected else where.

It is an older router, that worked fine until this issue. People can do a
denial of service attack on your router, which is what this gamer probably did.
I find it hard to believe that the router worked fine until this attack, and it doesn't anymore, and they aren't related.

Getting a new router tonight if not resolved.

Ummmm no. That's not how that works.

Some kid playing COD on Xbox can't just suddenly get your routers IP, kick you off and DDOS you or your router to where only if you use that router at your house it doesn't work. That does not work like that. Sounds like the wifi, cabling or the router itself.

I have seen many cases of a router working some places but not in others and faulty hardware is always the issue whether it's the router or something else. It doesn't sound like you are being attacked at all.

Have you tried going to 192.168.1.1 without the router connected to your modem? Just plug in the router to power and then Ethernet from your PC to your router. Make sure neither device is connected to the internet. You said it just spins. If it does that without you connected to the internet then that adds more credence to the idea that you are not being attacked. You do not have to be on the internet to log into your router so try that. Default user / pass for linksys routers is admin / admin. If you get in then run a reset on the router. If its still not working, hard wire your PC to the internet from the modem, get the latest firmware, disconnect from the internet again and reconnect to the modem and update it.

 

[Dolemite]

There's instances of actual exploits used to knock people off out of games.
Also, look up smurf attack.

Though this most likely is as you point out, the router just finally dying (that's an older model is it not?)

One thing I'd try is flashing the dd-wrt firmware on it, just in case there is some recurring attack making use of exploits in the oem firmware (especially if you've never updated it, believe its on several exploit lists)

If your router has a weak or default password it's quite possible for someone to own the router. Also if it's old or never been patched will leave you vulnerable.

 

[whatsbruin]

Ummmm no. That's not how that works.

Some kid playing COD on Xbox can't just suddenly get your routers IP, kick you off and DDOS you or your router to where only if you use that router at your house it doesn't work. That does not work like that. Sounds like the wifi, cabling or the router itself.

I have seen many cases of a router working some places but not in others and faulty hardware is always the issue whether it's the router or something else. It doesn't sound like you are being attacked at all.

Have you tried going to 192.168.1.1 without the router connected to your modem? Just plug in the router to power and then Ethernet from your PC to your router. Make sure neither device is connected to the internet. You said it just spins. If it does that without you connected to the internet then that adds more credence to the idea that you are not being attacked. You do not have to be on the internet to log into your router so try that. Default user / pass for linksys routers is admin / admin. If you get in then run a reset on the router. If its still not working, hard wire your PC to the internet from the modem, get the latest firmware, disconnect from the internet again and reconnect to the modem and update it.

Microsoft disagrees with you :
http://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-360/networking/dos-attacks-faq

I'm not saying someone changed my router, they cannot change it from an external account based on my settings. All I know is everything was working fine until we got kicked off, then it stopped working. Could be coincidence, but I doubt it.

No updates to the firmware are available that I can find

 

[whatsbruin]

Finally got it working.

Plugged the modem into the laptop, surfed the net.
Unplugged the laptop from the modem and plugged the router into the
laptop. Edited the router and copied the mac address from the pc to the router.
Rebooted and everything worked.

Don't know how routers work, assume it somehow gets the mac address from the
modem, but that wasn't working .

 

[Osprey]

EDIT: I'm glad that the MAC cloning fixed it. I should've refreshed the page before posting, but I'll leave the following replies, even though the problem has been solved, just in case they're useful to anyone else.

If I have the router on, not plugged into the modem, but plugged into the pc I can get to the 192.168.1.1 modem set up, but once I plug the ethernet from the modem to the router I cannot get to the 192.168.1.1 page, it just spins and times out.

This is why I asked if you're plugging the ethernet cables into the right ports. The modem should always be connected to the WAN port on the router, which is separated a bit from the 4 or 5 LAN ports. The PC (and other components) should always be connected to the 4 or 5 LAN ports, not to the WAN port, not even when there's no modem connected. Also, make sure that your PC is NOT plugged into the closest LAN port to the WAN port. Sometimes, especially on older routers, those two ports are shared, so they can't both be used at the same time. If that's your case and what you're doing, then that could be why you lose all network access when everything is connected.

Also, you should check the DHCP and DNS settings in the router (via 192.168.1.1). DHCP should be enabled and your DNS settings should probably be set to automatic. If there are DNS addresses inputted, write them down (so that you can put them back if need be), set DNS to automatic, save your settings and reboot your PC.

One thing I'd try is flashing the dd-wrt firmware on it, just in case there is some recurring attack making use of exploits in the oem firmware (especially if you've never updated it, believe its on several exploit lists)

I second this. See if flashing DD-WRT on the router fixes the problem before buying a new router.

But he's already said that the router works elsewhere?

So the break is between the modem and the router. Try a new CAT cable.

What I gathered is that he verified that it still works as a wireless access point, but not whether it still works as a router, since he added it to the existing networks at his work and friend's house.

 

[Osprey]

Finally got it working.

Plugged the modem into the laptop, surfed the net.
Unplugged the laptop from the modem and plugged the router into the
laptop. Edited the router and copied the mac address from the pc to the router.
Rebooted and everything worked.

Don't know how routers work, assume it somehow gets the mac address from the
modem, but that wasn't working .

Internet providers use MAC addresses to allow/block access to their network. If your router isn't configured with a MAC address that they have on file, it won't be allowed on their network. When they set up your internet, they sometimes look up or ask you for the MAC address of one of your PCs, then they set up the router to "clone" that address. In other words, instead of the router reporting its own MAC address to the ISP, it reports your PC's MAC address. Since that address is in your ISP's list, the router is then allowed onto their network (i.e. the internet), along with every device that's connected to the router (including your PC). What seems to have happened is that your router was somehow no longer cloning your PC's MAC address, so it was reporting an address (either its own or something else) that your ISP didn't recognize and, thus, was refusing on its network.

All of this leads me to wonder if someone got your IP address, accessed your router's settings remotely, guessed the login credentials and maliciously changed your "Clone MAC address" setting. You should go into the router's settings, look for a setting that governs remote access and turn it off. If it's on, then anyone in the world who knows how to determine your IP address can access your router's settings and, if you're using the default user/password combo, change all of your settings. When it's off, only users on your personal network (that get their internet through that router) can access the router's settings, which is far more secure and what most people should want. If you can't find any setting to disable remote access to the router, then at least change the password, so that, even if they access the login screen remotely, they can't actually get in.

 

[Devourers]

I'm glad it worked out but I can tell you with 99% certainty some CoD player on XBL didn't do it. Odds are IMO quite slim and I think it is just a coincidence, just my opinion tho.

 

[KingBran]

Microsoft disagrees with you :
http://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-360/networking/dos-attacks-faq

I'm not saying someone changed my router, they cannot change it from an external account based on my settings. All I know is everything was working fine until we got kicked off, then it stopped working. Could be coincidence, but I doubt it.

No updates to the firmware are available that I can find

I never said DDOS attacks cannot happen. What I said was...

Some kid playing COD on Xbox can't just suddenly get your routers IP, kick you off and DDOS you or your router to where only if you use that router at your house it doesn't work. That does not work like that. Sounds like the wifi, cabling or the router itself.

Again, it doesn't work like that. You said the router worked elsewhere and also said if you hard-wired straight from your modem to your PC your internet worked. That more or less proves this was not a DDOS attack.

I am glad my suggestion of connecting to your router without your router connected to the internet to troubleshoot worked. I am happy things worked out for you. I honestly am not trying to come off as snarky or anything I just found it BS that you automatically blame some xbox gamer because it sounds like your router just failed while your daughter was playing COD. The whole time it sounded like there was something wrong with your hardware (or the software inside the hardware i.e. router).

It sounded like you were saying you got kicked off and THEN everything stopped working and you were attacked. I think you were kicked off because the router just failed and it had nothing to do with playing COD on the Xbox.

Regardless, glad you were able to fix it and everything is working. Happy gaming.

 

[whatsbruin]

I never said DDOS attacks cannot happen. What I said was...

Again, it doesn't work like that. You said the router worked elsewhere and also said if you hard-wired straight from your modem to your PC your internet worked. That more or less proves this was not a DDOS attack.

I am glad my suggestion of connecting to your router without your router connected to the internet to troubleshoot worked. I am happy things worked out for you. I honestly am not trying to come off as snarky or anything I just found it BS that you automatically blame some xbox gamer because it sounds like your router just failed while your daughter was playing COD. The whole time it sounded like there was something wrong with your hardware (or the software inside the hardware i.e. router).

It sounded like you were saying you got kicked off and THEN everything stopped working and you were attacked. I think you were kicked off because the router just failed and it had nothing to do with playing COD on the Xbox.

Regardless, glad you were able to fix it and everything is working. Happy gaming.

Sorry if I came off as snarky.
I don't know enough about this stuff to really make an educated guess as to what happened, just glad it is all working and thank you all for the contributions.

 

[KingBran]

Sorry if I came off as snarky.
I don't know enough about this stuff to really make an educated guess as to what happened, just glad it is all working and thank you all for the contributions.

I didn't feel like you were being snarky actually. I felt bad because I felt like *I* was being snarky.

Anyways, glad you and your daughter are able to game on!