Problems Update

Regarding Verizon.Net :: A change on the PF firewall’s rule set.  Forever the bridge was never in the ruleset and everything seemed to work just fine.  Finally, because of the proper testing environment, found out it was my own problem all along.  Added rules to address the bridge interface directly.  Those rules never seemed to have been needed before … or were they?

Regarding the Wireless Router :: I gave up on it as the MBP17 acted flaky since I unplugged the hard wire …  The MBP15 seemed okay with it and remained logged in to IRC room on #pf (which is where I was seeking firewall help) and I guessed at the bridge rule … It happened to work … Anyway, I plugged the cables back in and I think I’m going to try the router that I originally bought that fixed all the problems before …  Last resort is to buy Apple’s wireless router.

Now digging through all old email, etc and finding email addresses that I need to send an update to … It seems I haven’t sent a newsletter since 2007 .. Hmpf!  Well, no new is good news, right?

Sometimes I cause my own problems … really!

A quick update to let you know how Andy Reid and I are alike … I’ve goofed.

Number 1: I thought the Internet was slow from the new connection and called service to have it diagnosed.  All the while placing the blame on them, it was I who had coded in the firewall rules the throttling for the old T1.  After I changed the values to reflect the much higher speed that is now available, lo and behold it smokes now.

Number 2: While poking in the firewall I started thinking about my Verizon woes again and decided to try to tackle this once again since this problem of not being able to connect has plagued me through 3 or 4 Internet connections.  For the first time I was able to connect through my connection, but not through my firewall.  With my firewall “opened up” for the mail server, it still will not work over the bridge.  I can telnet to hotmail perfectly fine and then in the very next command watch telnet time-out to Verizon.net.  I feel that I’m closer to a solution though as I now have something to go by and it’s been my fault all along.  So I should take down my “Verizon Sucks” post?

Number 3: The post that’s gotten the most comments here was about the Mac and the Self Assigned IP.  While not everyone has used my solution, they’re thanking me for the posting of someone else’s solution.  That’s fine.  Since my solution was a Belkin router, when I started to move things over to the new location I bought the very same router.  Shortly into my Internet usage, the wireless signal would be lost after a certain amount of time.  Not the IP problem, just connectivity.  Weird.  I made sure that the configurations were the same with original router and this new one.  They were.  I couldn’t figure it out, so I hard-wired and it’s been that way ever since.  For some reason I went in the router recently and noticed the Firmware Update.  It was two releases behind.  I upgraded the firmware, popped out the network cables and have been wireless ever since.  Did the newer router come purchased with an older firmware?  I won’t know until I check  the old router, but if I were a betting man …

You learn something new everyday.  I’m not entirely opposed to admitting when I’ve done something wrong, but I sure thought in the first two cases that I was right.  The last here is an honest mistake I think …  What say you?