Possible Fix for Failed to connect to home network on Shaw Gateway Home Network

I’m keeping this short and sweet because:

1. I’m in a rush (running out the door)
2. This isn’t about SharePoint, so I’m not providing pretty pictures

The Problem

I use the Shaw Gateway System (there is a gateway/PVR in one central place and then a series of “Portals” in each room where a TV lives and they share this TV network).  It’s pretty good.

However, the other day, none of the portals were working and all I had from the system was “Failed to connect to home network” and/or “No Gateway”

The Solution

I was able to draw on my old PC skills for this problem.  Let me lay out what happened at my end, as the solution isn’t AT ALL obvious based on the errors provided (Failed to connect to home network or No Gateway).

The Cause – I have an external Hard Disk plugged into my Gateway to give my PVR more capacity.  I ‘bumped it’ the other day and thus knocked the cable loose.  This did not have an immediate effect or I would have caught it sooner. What happened (as I see it) is that as the Gateway is effectively a computer, at some point, Shaw rebooted the unit (applied newer firmware). When it booted up, it couldn’t finish the boot (much like PC’s with crappy USB detection firmware) and thus was “stuck”.

The Fix – ensure the eSATA cable for the external hard drive is in properly and then reboot the Gateway.

The Clue – despite the Portals simply complaining that they couldn’t connect to the network, the only clue that tipped me off was as I was going through all the settings on the Portal, when I clicked on the external hard drive, it indicated the drive needed formatting (and I didn’t want to do that, I have data on there!). But, it did leave me wondering why the external Hard Drive was ill – so I checked the cables, remembered that I had been reaching behind the unit about a week earlier and discovered it quite loose

Hope this helps someone.