I have a cable modem with only one ethernet jack on it, and so I need to use a router to accommodate my computer and my brother's computer as well. But after a power failure, when the power returns, the cable modem takes much longer to become on line than the router does. Which violates the rule of "cable modem first, then the router, then your computer" powerup sequence, else the computer can't get on the 'net. If I knew how to do it, I'd modify the router's firmware to add a powerup delay. I'm a hardware guy, so my solution is to get a 12V settable time delay relay, and splice it in the router's wall wart power output cord going to the router. Setting this relay to several minutes of delay should give the cable modem time to get its act together. Thus I can have automatic power failure recovery for my little cat 5e ethernet computer network.

That should work. Search ebay, there is a fair chance you could purchase a pre made timer module out of hong kong for a few dollars.
Ben

Cable modems take an age to reboot because they often download a whole cache of channel program information, not relevant to the internet connection.

Whether the boot order matters or not depends on which device is doing the network login to your ISP. If it is the cable modem itself, then the router will just be a passive switch and you should be able to reset your computer connection from your desktop, once the modem is up. If you are using Windows, there is usually a right-click option on the network icon for "repair connection". This flushes the settings from the previous connection and re-negotiates IP address and DNS settings with the router and modem.

If your router is doing the network login, then the "repair connection" may or may not work, or a software reboot of the router can be done via the panel accessible via the browser on your desktop.

But your hardware solution might suit you better if you have the patience to let it all happen in its own sweet time!

Maven

I've since changed the router to a Linksys RV082, and it has a feature that looks to do what I need:

under "System Management"

Network Service Detection:
Optionally, check the box to allow the router to detect network connectivity by pinging specified devices. Then enter the settings below. Uncheck the box to disable this feature.
•Retry count: Enter the number of times to ping a device. The default is 5.
•Retry timeout: Enter the number of seconds to wait between pings. The default is 30 seconds.

I changed this to 400 seconds, and I think the cable modem is seeing the 2nd ping. I tested my little system a couple times by turning off its power mains feed circuit breaker, off for about 20 seconds, and back on again. It seems to come up correctly, though rebooting the computers may be needed, but as anyone running Windows knows, .the cable modem and router will be finished long before Windows.

Much neater solution! You shouldn't need to reboot your computers, though. Just find the network connections panel that shows you a "Repair Connection" button and it will re-establish the connection to the router. On XP there is a network connect icon in the bottom taskbar, and right-clicking on that brings up "Repair" as an immediate option.

I think later Windows systems have made this more difficult, along with everything else (IMHO).

Maven

I think later Windows systems have made this more difficult, along with everything else (IMHO).

Try Windows 2008 when you have some spare time. It's reliable, in fact bulletproof. The downside, in terms of user-friendliness, is how much that operating system is locked down to help prevent 'foreign ownership'. I suppose for the benefit of those that like life on a computer to be easy, Win 2008 is a server operating system and seldom confronted by the average user.

I run XP at home, work pc and laptop run it as well.
I still have a Win 3.11 machine in the workshop.

I think later Windows systems have made this more difficult, along with everything else (IMHO).

You can say that again!

Tried using the abomination called Windows 8 yet?

What a disaster! Keyboard and mouse users have been sidelined. It's as if the world -- according to Microsoft OS designers -- suddenly changed 100% to touch screen tablets overnight.

Since version 8's release sales of new PCs have gone down for the first time ever. There were suggestions that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer may get fired because of it. Coincidentally, he's just announced his retirement.

(MS stock price rose on that announcement.

For those not familiar with Ballmer, here he is in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvsboPUjrGc )

They're supposedly about to ship v8.1, to restore some semblance of familiarity to the established Windows user interface paradigm, but I'm not interested in it at all.

In fact, I am seriously thinking of giving MS the flick and becoming a Linux user.

My main beefs with Microsoft in the past few years is the disappearance of the Start button and changes to Outlook that try and stop you collecting mail from multiple accounts in one inbox. The latest Outlook makes you have an inbox for each account and that is just ridiculous. This can be changed by creating rules to shift new mail from its own account inbox to a common inbox but for people like me that have two laptops, a desktop and a tablet and around ten e-mail addresses this can be a daunting task.

Microsoft need to learn the stark difference between change and improvement. Their MO should be this: if it ain't broke then don't fix it.

Sadly, this happens with any organisation. The founding father leaves for whatever reason or dies in office and those that follow, lacking the passion of the main man, make cock-up after cock-up. The same is happening at Apple since the demise of Steve Jobs. Love them or hate them, people like Mr Jobs and Bill Gates can't be replaced.

GTC, unless your, for want of a better word, a nerd, you probably won't enjoy Linux all that much. Whilst it is certainly possible to install distributions with window managers and themes that mimic the look of Windows, it has a completely different structure and retains the ancient FAT32 file system.

I run one server in my rack on the Unix-based FreeBSD. I am glad it's just a server because I don't have to go near it often. I know my way around it and a few tricks to make it behave when it plays up but it is definitely not there by choice. Windows servers are just as stable these days and are pretty much just as hard to crack. Fortunately there is little chance of Windows server operating systems getting the tablet interface.

For those not familiar with Ballmer, [here] he is in action...

I remember seeing Steve Ballmer at the time he did that act and just thought: is this bloke two bob short of a quid or what?

My main beefs with Microsoft in the past few years is the disappearance of the Start button

One of the first things announced about 8.1 is the return of the Start button.

Microsoft need to learn the stark difference between change and improvement. Their MO should be this: if it ain't broke then don't fix it.

Sadly, this happens with any organisation. The founding father leaves for whatever reason or dies in office and those that follow, lacking the passion of the main man, make cock-up after cock-up.

Yep, when I saw Windows 8 and the reactions of long time Windows users, my first thought is that Gates would not have let this get off the design board. No way he would piss off his established user base like that.

IMO he would have insisted on a way for either the user to choose the interface that they wanted (i.e. traditional or so-called "Metro") and/or had the OS sense the hardware attached and apply the appropriate paradigm. That is the sensible way to transition the OS at user-acceptable speed to suit the various environments out there.

you probably won't enjoy Linux all that much

I have experience with Unix and, although I've never been a fan of any of its various GUIs, I would love to be rid of Microsoft.

A good mate of mine (a Unix system consultant) makes his living using Linux and Open Office and I haven't seen him suffer in any way. He keeps telling me to dump MS. When I saw Windows 8 I nearly signed up for a Linux box on the spot.

Anyone using Mac OSX is using a close cousin of Linux. I agree with Brad that FreeBSD is for sysadmins (generically nerds), but there are uncounted Linux alternatives that are right up to date in every technical respect (including more and better filesystems than Windows) and squarely fitted for people who never want to lift the hood. My brother is one of those - zero technical knowledge or interest, but happy user of Mint/LibreOffice for all home PC needs. At worst, you have to learn the ways of different applications, but now MS is trying to force exactly that onto us as well. And it is hard to beat the appeal of FREE. I run a range of Linux systems on everything from Core 2 Intel back to 486 vintage rigs, though I still have WinXP as my main desktop.

BTW Thunderbird email client is the answer to your Outlook complaints. Does everything, but better. I have 4 POP accounts feeding my main inbox, plus four other IMAP accounts running separately, and can see them all at once.

Maven

BTW Thunderbird email client is the answer to your Outlook complaints

I'm still using its cousin Eudora. Have been ever since I first began using the Internet.

Talk about Windows, after much agony I managed to get my Vista laptop to share files both ways with my Win 7 desktop. aaarrggg....

Anyway, here's a picture of my little system, the RV082 router and the cable modem, in my basement, perched in a box at the ceiling, where the various ethernet cable runs converge.

The tags on the cables are from loaves of bread. I used a Sharpie magic marker pen to identify what the various cables are and what room they go to. The pink cable doesn't have a tag, as it goes right to the cable modem.

What a brilliant trick, using those bread-bag fasteners! Now I feel ashamed at the hundreds I have thrown in the garbage over the years. No more! Given time, I could even colour-code my cables from different brands of bread.

Maven

I always thought those tags were an Australian thing. Every weblog I've seen owned by an ex-pat Australian reckons they miss those tags which makes me wonder how bread bags are closed off where they are living. I know they used to be tied off with vinyl-coated wire when I was a kid - maybe a lot of countries still do that.

Not a bad way to stash comms gear. I used to have my modems mounted on the wall as they had wireless switches built in but the ones I have now are too big. They are business-class Cisco jobs and cost a small fortune.

Update: After a quick look it appears the humble bread clip was an American invention, by a chap called Floyd Paxton.