Question for the Internet Experts

[Werewolf]

For the last couple of weeks or so when connected to the Internet thru IE 9 my connection will just go away. Stops. Not there. Then in a few minutes or more it will come back. Sometimes I have to reboot to get it back.

Sometimes I'll stay connected for hours and sometimes just minutes before a freeze/disconnect occurs.

I use Cox HSI - their plan with powerboost. When actually connected I run 8Mbs plus or minus a some download and 2.6 Mbs upload. Good speed, less than 1% packet loss, low ping times when connected. I connect thru a Linksys WRT 54 router. Two other computers in the house work without the drops (at least my wife hasn't complained about it and Netflix runs without trouble) so I don't think the problem is with Cox.

I use ZoneAlarm's best package. Run windows defender. Do quick scan anti-virus and Windows Defender daily and a deep/full scan weekly with both. No viruses or malware reported.

Any ideas on what is happening with the disconnects? What to check? Settings?

 

[mons meg]

This may sound obvious, but have you used Chrome or Firefox for an extended period of time and compared, at least anecdotally?

 

[reddog1]

Your computer is infected, please go to you friendly FBI site, and download the free patch.

 

[SABOT]

Are you wired? Or wireless?

 

[Werewolf]

This may sound obvious, but have you used Chrome or Firefox for an extended period of time and compared, at least anecdotally?

I do use Firefox - and the same problem occurs with it.

 

[Werewolf]

Are you wired? Or wireless?

My PC is wired into the router. The wife's PC and the Playstation are wireless.

 

[Droberts]

the botnet command & control servers were shut down on the 9th, his problems existed pre-shutdown. it also would not cause intermittent issues if he was affected, effected users would have seen a complete halt of traffic outside their private subnets as the proxy in use by the botnet was shut down no longer existed.


this sounds like it could be a cable issue.

i advise the following troubleshooting steps.

establish two persistent ping sessions; one to your local gateway, and one to the first hop IP of your ISP. during outages experienced in your browser take a look at the two ping sessions. if you are getting timeouts to both destinations you have an issue between you and your local router, most likely a bad tip on your cable, or horrific wireless interference if you are on wireless. if your local ping session is good but your next hop ping session shows any timeouts, specifically two or more in a row, you have identified your problem. repeat the procedure and/or execute the procedure simultaneously on all available computers on your private LAN for best results.


steps for the procedure:

local ping session:
press windows_key+R, type "cmd" -> press enter
type "ipconfig"
identify the IP address of your "Default Gateway"
type "ping -t "-your default gateway IP- , press enter: you should see "Reply from.. "
a sample would look like: ping -t 192.168.1.1

next hop session:
log into your home router, this can be done by going to http://(your default gateway IP)
goto the status page.
look for the IP address assigned to the router.
identify the DEFAULT GATEWAY of that IP address, not the ip address itself.
repeat the procedure for the local ping session in a new command prompt window using the gateway of your router's public ip address.

go about your business until the issue occurs again & observe results.

post results and i can advise further. the cause of the issue must be determined prior to any "fix" steps being performed.

 

[flatwins]

I agree with droberts. If your machine is dropping connection with both IE and Firefox, that rules out a specific web browser problem and since the wireless devices are staying connected, that takes you to the cable and/or the port in the switch. If your router has multiple ports, try plugging the computer into another port with a different cable.

I was going to type a bunch of IT crap here but I'll spare ya. Essentially, start with the physical layer (cables) first.

 

[indi]

I have atlas and its slow.I had a similar problem that you are having now. My internet would work for a little while then disconnect. I would have to unpower the wireless router and power it up again to get connected.It would happen often. Atlas replaced my old routers with newer ones and it fixed the problem. FYI i was only having problems with the wireless connection.When i had my laptop connected via cable it would work fine.

 

[Droberts]

anytime im using my pc i bring up a ping session to 4.2.2.2 (a global dns server) so i can monitor my connection constantly at real time. (ping -t 4.2.2.2)

very handy, i like to know what i need to rage at when i get connection related problems.