Weird network issue - linux (laptop, dsl, modem, sounds)

[swagger]

I've got a strange problem that I'm totally blanking on, and I'm hoping someone here has an idea..

We just got DSL setup in the office we're moving into next weekend. The modem is a cisco (don't have the model number with me) and it's running on a bonded DSL link.

Since we're going to be running our VoIP lines over it, I need to do some substantial testing before we move in next weekend. I already had a spare system setup with trixbox, so I set the static IP and plugged it in. It should have literally been plug-n-play...

I got it plugged in and turned on, then brought up my laptop on a different connection via my cellphone and tried to SSH into it. No joy. So I connected my laptop to the switch built into the modem using a different static IP on the same subnet and was able to connect, no problem. Ok, I thought, the default route must not be set right. That wasn't it.. So I started double checking and trying everything, from the firewall script I use, to the switch port the machine is plugged into, to the physical cable it's connected with... Nothing solved the problem.

I continued to think that the problem was with the routing table until I tried to ping the gateway address - and couldn't. If the problem was with the routes, I should have still been able to ping the gateway, regardless of any problem with the routing table, as long as the subnet mask was correct (it is).

I have no problem connecting to the Internet at large with the laptop.

There's two things I'm thinking at this point. First, it might be some weird incompatibility problem with that modem and the IP stack on that particular version of linux, or the adapter in the machine - I've seen that kind of thing before, but it's very rare. Second, which I just thought of while typing this post, the IP that I put the linux machine on (the highest out of four that were assigned to us) may not be being routed properly by the phone company - I'll check that when I head down there later today by using the IP I had been using for the laptop.

If this problem sounds familiar to anyone else and there was a solution that I'm not thinking of, please share.

[Asheville Native]

No experience with DSL modems, but cable modems usually have to be power cycled when connected to a different device. They retain the MAC of the original device, thus cannot communicate with the new device.

Of course to ask the obvious......
confirmed good cable?
right kind (x-over/straight)?
link lights?
default gateway IP configured correctly?

If you can't ping the default gateway, you ain't going anywhere

[swagger]

Originally Posted by Asheville Native

No experience with DSL modems, but cable modems usually have to be power cycled when connected to a different device. They retain the MAC of the original device, thus cannot communicate with the new device.

This one has a built-in four port switch, and we're not using DHCP anyway - it's all static. The modem was bridged by the tech when he was installing/testing the circuit, and he also used his own laptop without any trouble.

Of course to ask the obvious......
confirmed good cable?
right kind (x-over/straight)?
link lights?
default gateway IP configured correctly?

Yep, yep, yep and yep.

Swapped cables and the laptop still didn't have any trouble, while the linux box did. Not crossovers for sure. There's definitely a link, as I can connect from the laptop when it's plugged into the switch and configured for the same subnet. The gateway and routing table were the first things I checked, and I checked them about 10 times lol.

I'm thinking that the most likely problem is that the telco hasn't configured my account/their equipment to route all four of our IPs to our modem. The more I think about it, the more likely that seems. I'm leaving in a bit to run a couple of errands and then I'm heading over there to test that theory.

[swagger]

Just got back from the office and it looks like only two of the IPs are live - the other two, one of which is the one I had originally configured the machine with, aren't setup properly with our account. Can't believe I didn't think to check that yesterday...

Thanks for the input, AN.

[Asheville Native]

It's the simple stuff that makes us feel foolish