Is there internet connection on the highway?

How did I have internet connection for a month and than service tech tells me he doesn't know how?

• I have DSL internet connection through Windstream in my bed room downstairs. It went out 2 nights ago for the first time. We used to have road runner, and my dad made the switch to Windstream a month or so ago, maybe longer. Anyways I have been using the internet just fine with all websites working up until 2 days ago. Yesterday I called Windstream, and we did a point to point connection troubleshoot thing, and they showed my internet to be working on their end, and the point to point connection test told them there was a cross connection. The service tech came earlier this morning and checked the phone box and my DSL connection. He found out that I shouldn't be getting any internet service, and he did NOT know how I got a connection in my room. He says my DSL was on a different phone number than my dad's DSL, which his internet is in his office upstairs. How am I gonna have internet working fine since my dad made the switch, and than I get told by service tech that he deosn't know how I got internet to my room? The service tech left a while ago, and I'm still without connection. He told me I'm gonna need to order some kind of DSL connection for my room, when I had it to begin with, or I'm gonna need to hook a wireless router, which I haven't used since the Time Warner cable connection we had previously. Like I said before my internet was working just fine and than I get told by the service tech at Windstream that he doesn't know how I was getting internet in my room. Does this have to do with that cross connection problem, and now I don't know what to do.

• Answer:

  From my point of view(if I am not wrong), your "Windstream" device is connected to a "switch" and from there you have a parallel connections on two computers(please verify physical connection of your home network). There could two scenarios: 1) If your Windstream device is a modem, then you cannot access internet on both the computers at the same time. Because Modem is a DHCP server, it can only change analog signal to digital and vice versa. Whatever IP address it receives from ISP, gives the same IP address to the computer. Since you have a switch in between, it only distribute internet signal(but not IP address) among two computers. Hence, you can access only one computer at a time. 2) If your Windstream device is a router, then in that case you can access multiple computers(both wired and wireless) at the same time. There could be issues, like cable is faulty, switch port may have gone bad, wall socket where the cable is connected may have gone bad. So to troubleshoot the issue you have to isolate it step by step. Locate the cable running from your computer to the other end. If the other end is connect to the wall socket or surge protector, then try with different wall socket. If it is connected to the switch, then try different port/s, try with changing cable.