Cable connection drops sporadically...

tokyocentricity · Joined: Feb 17, 2008 Posts: 7

It's as the title says. I've noticed no pattern in what I'm doing when it drops, what time it is, the time between drops or anything else. Of note are the following details:

- Browser no longer has connectivity
- AIM and similar messengers do
- Email notifier does not
- Rebooting the PC will fix all this nonsense immediately

As you can imagine, though, I don't like rebooting at my PC's say-so, and neither do I like being interrupted mid-surf by a 'cannot find the server' message.

Also of note is the fact that my PC is the only one of three on the same router that does this. That, combined with the fact that a reboot invariably solves the problem, leads me to believe that it's a problem with my PC, rather than the modem, router or ISP.

Any advice?

- Cassandra

drwho07 · Joined: Nov 29, 2007 Posts: 2238 Location: Central FL, USA

Cassandra,
Welcome!

Before coming here, what did you do to try to alleviate the problem?

Yes, as you said it's definitely YOUR computer that's acting up, but why?

My first thought would be some TSR (program running in the background) interfering with your internet connection.

Run "MSCONFIG" and in the STARTUP tab, you'll find a list of all the programs that start when you boot up your PC. UN-Check all the reminders, schedulers, up-daters and anything else you may find that you didn't put there and you don't need running all the time.

Then you need to consider that you may have some Virus, Trojan or Spyware running in the background.

As a working PC tech, I see PC's infected by all sorts of Malware.
My first job is to remove whatever protection is already installed, like Norton or McAfee.....neither one is FREE and neither one very effective at keeping a PC clean and safe. And, both will seriously BLOAT a PC and make it run slower and can interfere with other programs.

Then I install "AVG 8.0 FREE" and get the updates and do a full scan.
I will also install "Spybot Search & Destroy", get updates and run a scan.

AVG will get rid of the Viruses, Trojans and even some Spyware and Spybot S&D will get rid of Adware, Spyware and even a few Trojans.
Spybot also passes a long list of bad web sites off to your browser, thus preventing it from ever going to those sites. This list of bad sites exceeds 100,000.

Lastly, cleaning out all the temp files, temporary internet files and other junk files will help with system performance.
I have several programs to do that cleaning, but windows already comes with a pretty good cleaner, called "Disk Cleanup".
It's found in Programs>Accessories>System Tools

I just put a shortcut to it on the desktop so I can run it as often as I like.
For my customers, I make it a part of a weekly maintenance procedure.
When you first run the program, you need to put a check in the box next to each item you want the program to clean out. Check everything BUT Setup Logs and then run the program.

After doing a thorough cleaning, running DEFRAG is a good idea.

If you do what I've outlined here, your PC should no longer drop its internet connection and in general it should be running better.

This is just a brief overview of what I do to clean up a PC and make it run better. The entire operation can take three or four hours.

Good Luck!
The Doctor Cool

Baby_Tux · Joined: Mar 06, 2007 Posts: 1242

I've also seen rogue firewalls & poorly set power managers do this.
The former, blocking sites when it shouldn't, for no apparent reason. (fix depended on firewall)
The latter, shutting power off to different things that it shouldn't. (turn off power management if not NB - NB set better settings)

zlim · Joined: Mar 11, 2005 Posts: 2747

If wired to the router, replace the ethernet - they do go bad. If you are using wireless, buy or borrow a USB wireless adapter and see if the problem still occurs. If it doesn't it could mean that the wireless chip in your computer is going bad.

Is your computer near a microwave or a cordless phone? Those as well as baby monitors and auto garage openers can disrupt the wireless signal.

tokyocentricity · Joined: Feb 17, 2008 Posts: 7

I run Spybot S&D and AVG 8.0 both daily and disk cleanup bi-weekly; my PC's clean. Startup contains nothing unnecessary, firewall has already been eliminated as a suspect, and power management is always off. The ethernet cable is new (a few weeks old), but I'll try connecting one of the other PCs to the router with it, to see if the results are the same.

Off to defrag now! Thanks for the advice; I'll pop back in and let you all know how it goes.

Baby_Tux · Joined: Mar 06, 2007 Posts: 1242

When it quits, does it ever come back on its own or does it always take a reboot to bring it back? - What does the event log say?

drwho07 · Joined: Nov 29, 2007 Posts: 2238 Location: Central FL, USA

The twenty foot long CAT-5 cable that goes from my router to my main PC failed at the connector on the PC end.

I replaced that cable and ended the Internet Drop-Outs that I was experiencing.
If I wiggle the connector around enough, I can get it to work, but repairing it with a new end will probably be the correct thing to do.
(I would hate to throw away a cable just because of a boogered up end.)
That is, after I buy some connectors and a crimping tool. Rolling Eyes

You could have a $10,000 PC, and a little 25 cent connector can put you out of business. What a RIP!

Cheers Mates!
The Doctor Cool

goretsky

Hello,

A few things to check, in no particular order:

Have you tried moving the Ethernet cable from the computer into a different port in your residential gateway?
Have you tried logging in as a different user? If so, did that make any difference?
Have you tried re-establishing the network connection by issuing an "IPCONFIG /RELEASE" command followed by "IPCONFIG /RENEW" at a Command Prompt?
Have you tried temporarily disabling (or even uninstalling) your security software to see if that makes any difference?

Knowing the answer to these could help further troubleshoot the problem.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

pcrattail · Joined: Jun 11, 2004 Posts: 406

OK....... I'm Going to go the OTHER direction.

I have personally browsed a site that put a cookie on my PC and Cached to my PC. After a few minutes, all Internet access would shut down, (I don't remember if IMs worked or not).

Once I went in and "cleared" the cache and cookies, it came back as normal.
This may be your case also. If you have those things automated to "clean" on "shutdown" or "restart", that may explain it.

Try doing a "manual" cleaning, and see if the net works afterward.