Ok, I am trying to surf the net and when I try to go to a website instead of the website it shows a comcast.net page though I am at the site I am looking for. Any suggestions? I try to go to the OAB website and it does this.

Are you using Comcast.net as your ISP while you are doing this? It could be that the website recently moved, and Comcast's DNS records are out of date, and the website can't actually be found and you are getting some sort of Comcast error page - ?

Andrew

Set your DNS to 4.2.2.2 and try it again.

http://pugetsound.kusaradio.com

Another computer-related question... I am trying to operate a piece of measurement gear from a newer laptop that does not have a serial port. At best, I can only obtain partial operation of the equipment using a TRENDnet TU-S9 USB to serial adapter. The instrument software on the laptop does not recognize that the device is connected and will not operate it, however it *will* download data from it.

Are there "better" serial to USB adapters that I can buy?

Does it show up in the device manager OK? Even though it may appear to be plug and play it may need some drivers updated or installed for the usb adapter Driver Download Page . According to the website it is only USB 1.1 compatible. http://trendnet.com/products/proddetail.asp?prod=150_TU-S9&cat=32
I've had good look with this http://www.iogear.com/product/GUC232A/ and it says it is 1.1 and 2.0 compatible. I have no idea if the 1.1 or 2.0 has anything to do with your problem.
Did you get the serial cable with the test equipment. Sometimes test equipment manufacturers have their own proprietary cables and off the shelf cables won't work. We had a problem the other day with a test adapter and oem cable, it would not talk to the computer. bought exact same new cable and it worked fine. One of the 9 small wires in it must have broken or something. Never loop your cables and then squish and tie them in the center with twist tie. Always leave them looped, less chance for breaking those small gauge wires.

Good luck with that one.

Thanks! Yes, I installed drivers that came with the USB/serial cable, and it does show up on the device manager... I tried setting to "COM 1,2,3,4" and could not achieve successful two way communication with the FM Navigator. With my desktop, that has a "real" serial port, communication is fine through several different serial cables. I tried as low as 9600 baud (which works fine on my desktop) and nothing changed... I assume 9600 is slow enough for USB 1.1 but perhaps I should try a 2.0 adapter.

Sometimes these USB converters work and sometimes they don't. Depends on the software and the hardware you are using, it seems.

You could also try a PC Card/Cardbus add-on instead, like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16839158019

although it's not clear it necessarily work any better. Sometimes Fry's has stuff like this, so it might be better to try it retail before blowing $55 on it...

Oh, and this is a PC Card version; if your laptop is too new to have a PC Card slot, this won't work. My 2.5 year old Dell has only an Express Card slot (newer), so I couldn't use one of these things.

Andrew

The hardware just may not be compatible with add-on USB serial ports. When its plugged in, device manager under ports should tell you which com port is assigned to it. Before you purchase a USB 2.0 adapter, is your laptop USB 2.0 capable. Some earlier notebooks only had USB 1.1 so a 2.0 adapter would not matter. Maybe worth a call to their tech support to see what if any USB adapters they recommend.

I have tried a couple of newer laptops, one with Vista, one with XP, neither have PCMCIA slots but both have USB 2.0. The IOGear cable may be worth a shot. I also sent an e-mail to the mfg of the FM Navigator (French), to see if they have a solution... have not heard back

Thanks for your ideas,
jr

BINGO!!!

I got the IOGEAR GUC232A in the mail today ($18.99 from Amazon) and it works great with the FM Navigator!

THANKS AGAIN!
jr

This site: www.tek-tips.com can be a great source of computer related information if you ever need it. I used to be very active on it and helped many people with Cisco related problems.