Broadband blues

Things have gone bad this afternoon
No broadband
A light on the box says we have it another light says we are downloading uploading all the time.

This happened a bit yesterday but cleared.
This afternoon it will not clear. To the uninitiated it looks like a "denial of service attack"

Three machines cannot use the net. Do we go up to Maureen to retrieve any orders.
Not a good idea if we have a full day tomorrow........plus wine circle.

Good idea. We will ring BT help line.
All the normal stuff, reboot boxes and computers.............. Already done that

Two of their suggestions stand out.

1. Ring their 0900 number, no mention of charges till prodded.
2. Buy a new router, buy one off BT or buy one elsewhere.

About £60 for a BT one, plus no mention that BT may charge to look at non BT routers.

Standards have dropped a little.

Last time we had a similar problem but intermittent it took 12 weeks to sort out.

Undo lead on BT asdl router to Belkin network box, replace with a network computer lead from the back of the Belkin to a computer. This allows one computer to access internet through BT router without using Belkin box. Close down Zone Alarm. Voila! Internet connection for one computer.

A resetting of computers allowed through firewall required I think may solve problem.

Of course there are lots of people out there who cannot work this sort of thing out which is why the technical help dept at PC World is 10 times as long as the sales checkout.

Postscript. In the end its a less lethal variation of where HAL in Kubrick's 2001 won't let Dave back into the space ship.
The firewall decides its time to stop talking to the other computers and the ADSL modem.
No reason given or settings altered.