ADSL internet light burning red on Netgear modem

Belix

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2007
Messages
427
Reaction score
52
Location
JHB, RSA
Hi Folks
anyone know what a red "internet" light on a Netgear DG834 ADSL modem would mean? In the documentation it indicated, "failure to connect to internet". However, I'm using that connection at this very moment...
 
I'm guessing that you're talking about the light in the shape of an i with a 3/4 circle at the bottom?

On my Netgear DGN2000 ADSL modem/router, if that light is red - it means that there is no internet connection. Your ADSL line might be syncing fine, but internet connectivity is down. This usually happens when your ISP account has been disabled, or you've depleted your bandwidth allocation in your ISP account, or your username/password is incorrect.

When internet connectivity is up, the light will be green.

EDIT: Mini-brainwave: since you are still able to browse, maybe you've hit your cap, and are now browsing on free local-only bandwidth? Who is your ISP, and which package do you have? The router probably can't reach home (Netgear's servers) on international/blended bandwidth, so it thinks that internet connectivity is down...
 
Last edited:
Hi Folks
anyone know what a red "internet" light on a Netgear DG834 ADSL modem would mean? In the documentation it indicated, "failure to connect to internet". However, I'm using that connection at this very moment...

Assuming it's not a cap issue:


Sounds anomalous. If it's working, no worries? :)

If you want to be extra careful, and you're within your warranty period - send it back for warranty replacement.
 
no, i have that modem and it still lights up green for local only.

Then maybe he isn't really browsing the interwebz, but his web browser is in offline mode, and delivering content from the local cache? I've had this happen to me with Firefox a couple of times, though it shouldn't take you more than a minute to realise this....
 
How did he start this thread then. ;)

I had the same problem about 2 weeks back and had to re-enter my password on the router.
 
Using pass through with the server sending credentials to establish connections. Still our connection has been iffy since the red light has come on. For example, my nokia has now suddenly decided not to sync with exchange, even though it did this morning. Tried turning modem off and on. Get a green light, but no internet connection. Then try off/on, it comes back on with red light, and internet connection...
Beginning to wonder if modem itself on last legs...
 
Belix, is this one of the latest Netgear ADSL modems/routers sold at the Telkom shops?

If so, I've heard that devices connected to the Netgear via Wi-Fi are unable to connect to the Internet when that specific LED is glowing red, but devices connected to the Netgear via Ethernet are (sometimes) unaffected.

Me thinks it's an issue that should be addressed in a future firmware release, but who wants to wait until then?
 
No it's a non-wireless model. Had a wireless netgear version before but it died when it's power supply went nuts and started supplying enough juice to fry my multimeter.
 
Sounds like your router is on it's last legs. How long have you had it? Did it give these problems before?

Try updating the firmware. It's quite easy to do...
 
If you are using pppoe on your pc (bridge/half-bridge mode) then you are effectively bypassing the router's log in and you will still connect.

If the router is to log in (routed mode) then you will need to fix the pppoe login on the router.
 
Router is about 6 months old.
Has latest firmware already (except for a US only version), but suppose I could reflash it with same version again.
Does the red light only affect routed mode? Seems strange and a bit pointless if that is the case. Anyway, strange that light was green for last 6 months, then suddenly red last week without anyone touching anything...according to the manual, this light should be off in bridged mode, but like I say, it was on all the time before..
 
OK seems Internet Solutions are the morons at fault.
I've learnt they suddenly, and without warning, cahnged their policy about multiple logins last week. It seems that remote access to webmail, as well as the connection the phones make to exchange are somehow seen as a seperate login. So they killed that, and killed the web access and active sync at the same time...

What has this got to do with the red light?

Well it seems the netgear modem does not let you tick PPPoE Relay (better known as bridge mode) unless you select PPPoE in the basic screen. Selecting that requires a password and username, which I entered. Hense the modem was actually making two connections at the same time, one itself and the other in the bridge mode from the server. When the idiots at IS made their changes, it only allowed one connection. The the modem directly made the connection, the light was green, but the server could not seem to access the internet seemingly because it had not initiated the connection. When I reset it, the server sometime made the connection first, and we got connection. However, the modem then tried to make it's own connection, could not, and hense gave the red light.
Anyway, have since found that you can select "no login required" on the basic screen after selection PPPoE Relay, which kills that internet light completely.

All in all, many thanks to Internet Solutions for the *** I've been through for the past 5 days...

Why did I post this under IBurst??
 
Last edited:
Well that makes sense.

Why do you need to use PPPoE Relay / bridge mode? Why not just let your router dial the PPPoE connection, and let the DHCP server on your router dish out IP information (like DNS servers, Default Gateway, etc)?

Are you using your server as the default gateway, and managing internet connectivity to the rest of your network from this server??
 
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X