I said I'd report back, so I am now doing so. I am now connected to
broadband, yippee! With Zen Internet. However, not every thing has
been hunky-dory. First, I couldn't connect to the Speedtouch. Then I
remembered that I had configured this PC with a specific IP address,
so I selected Obtain an IP address automatically, tried again, and
this time I could connect to the Speedtouch and get to the Welcome
screen and the Easy Setup wizard.

Fine so far. I connected to the internet, loaded the BBC web site, had
a bit of a browse, connected to Channel 4, ditto.

Then suddenly, it all stopped working. The Speedtouch didn't indicate
anything amiss, but I couldn't connect to any web page. I unloaded the
browser, tried a different browser, zilch.

Only after I'd rebooted the PC did I get a connection to the internet
again. Dunno whether this was just a glitch...

(...few minutes later..)

NO, it's NOT a glitch! It's just happened again! Internet connection
is dead. I'm going to have to save this message and post it later.

Actually, it's only the *browser* that appears to have stopped
connecting. I still have an NNTP connection active right now. And
email is working as well. Bit wierd, isn't it? Browser stops working,
but other internet activity is okay?

MM

"MM" <kylix_is@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:gqk8b35rhjg1i4ee5j407o9ufjen4ir93q@4ax.com...
Is this a speedtouch USB modem or a router?
If it's a USB modem, you'll probably need to update the drivers from the
Thomson site for it to cope with ADSL Max. I had to and mine now works fine.
If it's a router, no doubt someone will be along in a minute or two to give
further advice.

George

On Sat, 4 Aug 2007 11:40:12 +0100, "George Weston"
<geoweston@googlemail.com> wrote:

It's a Speedtouch 536 router (tiny little thing) with a wired Ethernet
connection to the PC and a USB connection (for those who want to use
USB). I have not connected the USB cable, only the Ethernet cable.

I contacted Zen Support, and we both scratched our heads for ten
minutes, trying out stuff and checking various settings. The support
guy asked me to use an https connection to a particular secure server
and that worked. Apparently, https uses port 443, whereas http uses
port 80. It therefore seems that SOMEthing is blocking port 80, even
though I have disabled ZoneAlarm in MSCONFIG.

However, I seem to recall once seeing (on Usenet) comments to the
effect that ZoneAlarm may cause problems if it isn't completely
removed from the hard drive, so I may try that next.

Whatever it is, rebooting fixes it, but only for a few minutes, then
the browser stops working again.

During all this the NNTP connection, Ping, Telnet etc (DOS window) are
working fine.

MM

"MM" <kylix_is@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:fom8b3lqfhcivbgtoa3k8p3rurcp6ckjs4@4ax.com...
Does this router have builtin firewall capability?

g.

"Fat Freddy's Cat" <hereiam@home.com> wrote in message
news:46b4605c$0$24746$da0feed9@news.zen.co.uk...

checked for myself and it does seem to have a firewall.

This being the case my advice is disable/uninstall *all* software firewalls.
You simply dont need them. Zonealarm, windows firewall, the lot. Your router
is doing a much better job of protecting your machine than any piece of
software can.

g.

On Sat, 04 Aug 2007 11:24:24 +0100, MM <kylix_is@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

Post in zen.support and consider ringing Zen support who ime are most
helpful.


--
AnthonyL

"AnthonyL" <nospam@please.invalid> wrote in message
news:46b461e2.9668031@news.zen.co.uk...

he has

g.

On Sat, 4 Aug 2007 12:17:16 +0100, "Fat Freddy's Cat"
<hereiam@home.com> wrote:

Yes.

MM

On Sat, 4 Aug 2007 12:26:07 +0100, "Fat Freddy's Cat"
<hereiam@home.com> wrote:

After lunch I'm going to remove all traces of Zone Alarm. I'm not
really too concerned, since I know what an absolute pain Windows
networking can be and I know I *shall* get it working over the next
few days. In Usenet I can see already how much faster everything
works, though! Click on a newsgroup and the headers come flying down.

I need to put my thinking cap on re the browser, since, if rebooting
fixes the problem temporarily, the problem has to be with the network
config in this PC. Maybe I'll remove the reference to "Dial-up
adapter" as well. Maybe the thing is getting confused twixt dial-up
and Ethernet.

MM

On Sat, 4 Aug 2007 12:20:01 +0100, "Fat Freddy's Cat"
<hereiam@home.com> mused:

traffic. You still want some sort of software firewalll to keep your
PC in check.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

"Lurch" <myrealname@sjwelectrical.co.uk> wrote in message
news:hjq8b35m3ghhphn94jspqu7qikdi5dphjs@4ax.com...
What makes you think that a properly configured and hardware firewalled PC
will ever output any traffic you dont want it to?

Do you work in sales for software firewalls?

Hardware Firewall
Decent AV software
Possibly decent antispyware software.

*all* you need for a secure PC.

g.

On Sat, 4 Aug 2007 13:03:59 +0100, "Fat Freddy's Cat"
<hereiam@home.com> mused:

of your 10 minutes of using a computer did you discover that?



*plonk* Fucking moron.
--
Regards,
Stuart.

"Lurch" <myrealname@sjwelectrical.co.uk> wrote in message
news:11r8b31tttglicov85up25qdf0h98g8a4c@4ax.com...

ROFLMFAO

yeh right - hahahahahahaha 'plonk'
you wont killfile me until you at least see this reply you sad arsehole.

g.

"Lurch" <myrealname@sjwelectrical.co.uk> wrote in message
news:11r8b31tttglicov85up25qdf0h98g8a4c@4ax.com...
plonk is the last resort of those who lose debate....

censor anyone who knows more than them.
g.

"Lurch" <myrealname@sjwelectrical.co.uk> wrote in message
news:11r8b31tttglicov85up25qdf0h98g8a4c@4ax.com...

'prick' and 'fucking moron'

nice debating skills - always a surefire way to enhance and support an
argument.

g.

"Lurch" <myrealname@sjwelectrical.co.uk> wrote in message
news:11r8b31tttglicov85up25qdf0h98g8a4c@4ax.com...

Where did I state the OP's Pc is properly configured?
Change minutes to years and add 8 and you'll get the drift.

cockrash (hey if we are gonna name call, why not, its fun)

yes, right.

Sorry Stuart, I wont plonk you back - self censorship is something I refrain
from no matter how unpallatable it is to lose a discussion/debate.

Cunting spazz (just to keep the name calling equal)

Regards,
g.

"MM" <kylix_is@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:fom8b3lqfhcivbgtoa3k8p3rurcp6ckjs4@4ax.com...
Ignoring all the flaming and name-calling below, have a look at
http://www.firewallguide.com/
for some helpful information.

There, lads - wasn't that easier than getting all het up?

George

On Sat, 04 Aug 2007 12:41:09 +0100, MM <kylix_is@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

I removed ZoneAlarm entirely and left the PC for almost 45 minutes.
Came back, and the browser is still working! So I reckon it was
ZoneAlarm, even though disabled, keeping summat loaded in memory
(although I couldn't see anything problematical in Task Manager).

MM

In message <46b46101$0$31723$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk>, Fat Freddy's Cat
<hereiam@home.com> writes
software firewall to prevent egress of malware from his machine to the
Net.

--
dave @ stejonda

"MM" <kylix_is@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:m5t8b35kn0env2u37smjc34e5cb4ks3864@4ax.com...
Glad I could help.

despite lurches best efforts,
I still suggest you dont need zonealarm now.

decent AV
maybe anti-spyware
hardware firewall

and you are not at risk unless you do something really stupid.

g.