Weird Router Issue

[skybolt_1]

I have a 4 port Linksys Router that I purchased used on eBay. So far, it has worked fine with no problems. However, just last night, as I was shutting down my machines, I noticed that the lights on the router which indicate active connections on the ports were still lit up on port 2. This is after I shut off my machine alltogether. I tried unplugging the net cable, and the lights shut off, but when I plugged it back in, they lit up as if it still had an active connection. Furthermore, the activity lights on the router and the cable modem were blinking like crazy, which seemed unusual to me since there should be no data transmission happening when the computers are dead off.

What the heck is causing this? Is the router going bad, or am I infected with some kind of ultra-advanced virus which keeps the computer active even though its 'off'? I'm a little worried about this one! Thanks.

[Arjay13]

My guess is that someone is pinging your cable modem - no way a virus is causing it from a PC that is off. You could 1) pull the power plug on the PC or disconnect the cable from the NIC card on the PC to test it. On the other hand, if the router has 'remembered" the port for the PC's IP address, then someone probing that IP address might cause the activity. I'm not certain about this however. Most routers NAT (Network Address Translate) the IP address so that the PC isn't visible from the NET even when it is turned on.

[skybolt_1]

But if someone is pinging my cable modem, then why are the connection lights lit up on ports that are connected to turned-off computers?

[Arjay13]

Good point. I guess I was thinking about my home net which uses a switch and not a router. I can't think of any reason why there should be activity on the router ports to PC's that are off. When you shutdown your PC there is still some low amount of current flowing into it. Pull the plug out of the back of the PC and see if there is still activityon the router port. If so, then it must be coming from the outside or there is some issue with the router. If the activity ceases then I think the PC is the source but I can't see how.

Is there activity on unused ports?

[skybolt_1]

No there is no activity on the unused ports at all. I tried unplugging the computer and waiting a few seconds for residual power to die out. After the power light on the mobo went out, so did the lights on the router. However when I plugged the computer back in, the lights went back on, even though the computer itself was off. This has not happened with any other computers on any of the other ports. So i guess in answer to your question, YES, the lights go out when the computer was unplugged.

[Mntsnow]

My guess is that you have a NIC that allows for "network bootup" and or your using dynamic IP leasing from the router.

[auatech]

Sounds like either a bad cable or Nic shorting out a couple of the pins my guess is its the nic.

[Arjay13]

MntSnow
Never thought of a Network bootable NIC! That would make sense assuming the other PC's on the net don't have the same NIC (or configured that way).

Auatech
Why would shorted pins generate activity on the router port when the PC is powered down? ( just trying to learn something new ....)

[skybolt_1]

Auatech, what do you mean by "shorted pins?" BTW in general, I ran a few tests... I tried plugging the cable into another computer while it was off, to see if the lights would go on. They didn't, so I'm guessing that its a problem with the NIC. I also went into the bios and deactivated the NIC as a boot device... lights stayed on.

More importantly, is this even a problem? I only just noticed it a few days ago and it doesnt seem to be doing anything to my net connection, I just think its a little weird.

[GroundZero3]

some network cards do stay on even after the machine is off. i.e what mntsnow said.


we have several at work and i have one at home that stays on

weird thing but never say a bad preformance in that card


JaYsin