PC keeps dropping internet connection

ChrisGreen1993

ChrisGreen1993

ChrisGreen1993

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Joined
8 Jul 2009
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137
Hi guys,

I've started to have this really annoying problem, my PC (running Win 7 64bit), is connected to the wireless router via a wireless network card and at random times it keeps losing the internet connection, but it says that it is still connected to the local network. Now this happens and then a minute later it will reconnect. Now when this happens, sometimes i can still access the internet, through the wifi through other devices, but sometimes i can't.
This problem has only just started to happen as i have had exactly the same setup?! I just don't know where to start to figure this out?

Sorry if my post is a bit confusing!

Chris
 
You can get the same with a RJ45 cable, have you updated your lan drivers if so roll back to previous version, try a different channel, reset the router factory setting's, if you are ADSL try another microfilter, can you try another wireless card?, have you moved your PC or the router?
 
is the router set to a certain channel or just left on default? As I had this problem until I found a channel that worked 100%
 
Okay, thanks for the suggestions, i've tried a couple of them.

While trying to find the problem/solution i have found out that when using my computer it disconnects from the internet and so does every other computer and the xbox.
But, when using another computer, everything is fine and i get no disconnects.
Sooo... My guess is that the problem lies with my computer messing something up that takes the internet out.

Any more ideas people??

Thanks

Chris
 
ChrisGreen1993 said:
While trying to find the problem/solution i have found out that when using my computer it disconnects from the internet and so does every other computer and the xbox.

But, when using another computer, everything is fine and i get no disconnects.

Sooo... My guess is that the problem lies with my computer messing something up that takes the internet out.
Click to expand...

Hi, a little confused, in the 1st part you say your PC disconnects + other PC's + the xbox from the your connection?

Then you say using another PC is fine no disconnects?

Right, if its your PC, as we have checked the lan drivers, how about doing a system restore to a earlier date and see if that works. If not could you borrow a RJ45 cable and connect your router to your PC that way and disable your wireless setting in your router, to see if it stays connected. If it does stay connected you would be better of using a cable, as you would get a more reliable connection, for gaming, etc. The Rj45 cables are cheap if you look round, measure the lenght as they come in meters and just tuck the cable under the edge of the carpet dead easy, from router to PC.

If that fails since we have checked the lan drivers, different channel, system restore, microfilter, used a RJ45 cable connecting PC to router and it still disconnects. If it was me l would do a fresh install of my OS, backing up anything needed, to see if that works, after installing the latest drivers for your motherbroad. If that fails it could be your onbroad lan is faulty and if that is the case you could borrow or buy a PCI Network Adaper and use a cable to connect your PC to your Router and don't forget to disable your onbroad lan in the Bios and see what happens.

Sorry can't think of anything else, maybe some one else can.
 
I find it interesting that your PC seems to disconnect other devices but not vice versa.
That sounds like some sort of IP conflict or duff ARP.

Is everything running off DHCP on the network?
 
Right, i've been rather busy lately, hence not posting back. But I've investigated it further.
Firstly when i have the issue, the computers don't disconnect from the network as i can ping other devices, they only disconnect from the Internet.
Also, it seems to happen when there are a few devices on the network. For example, when one of the computers was on iPlayer and I started to browse a few webpages on another computer, both computers disconnected from the Internet. So I turned that computer off and the Internet was restored. So i went on a laptop and browsed a few websites, and the same thing happened.
So, i was thinking that maybe this is something to do with the router or maybe something to do with bandwidth.

Any ideas???

Thanks

Is everything running off DHCP on the network?
Click to expand...

Everything except for a PC and a laptop, which have static IP's and a port forwarded to the router, for uTorrent
 
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Are those static IPs within the range of DHCP. The symptoms are very charactaristic of IP conflict where one machine on DHCP is getting issued an IP the same as one of the statics.

Quick way to test is to do arp -a in command prompt on each PC. This will show the MAC address to IP mappings on your PC.
Run that again after a disconnect on each PC. IF there's an IP conflict it's likely one or more of the mappings will change.
 
You need to try and troubleshoot in a logical manner as it's hard to focus attention in the right area when we don't have specifics. It seems from your posts that you have at least two PCs, a laptop and an Xbox. Can we simplify the troubleshooting process somewhat - start with a couple of devices and ideally make sure they're wired to your router. Please be clear if they are not.

  • Can you confirm that if there is only one PC on the network that is powered up that for all intents and purposes it has a perfectly stable internet connection?
  • Switch on a second PC. Do either of the computers lose internet connectivity when they are just sat idle? For example you could just run 'ping -t bbc.co.uk' from a command prompt on PC1 before turning PC2 on.
  • Leave PC1 pinging bbc.co.uk; what can you do with PC2 to cause one or both of them to lose connectivity?
  • Monitor the router's web interface page, or the flashy lights if you're less technical, during the troubleshooting process. We want to establish whether or not you're losing sync to the exchange or routing through your ISP.
I personally don't bother with IPs set statically on each of my LAN devices. DHCP with address reservation simplifies the management and will still allow you to set up port forwarding/translation rules in your router.

I would also argue that there is no explicit requirement for you to set a static IP on each PC using µTorrent for port forwarding purposes; depending on your router it will probably present UPnP or NAT-PMP capability for auto-configuration. In addition, the µTP protocol introduced with µTorrent 2.0 provides a STUN-like method for incoming connections to punch through your firewall.
 
Thanks for the advice.

I connected one computer to the network (PC1), this computer is wired. I am able to browse the web without any problems when this PC is on the network on it's own. I then ran 'ping -t bbc.co.uk' as suggested.
Then i booted up the second PC (PC2), which is connected wirelessly. When they are both idle PC1 still pings bbc.co.uk fine. But when i start browsing the web with PC2, both computers lose Internet access and PC1 keeps saying 'Request timed out' when trying to ping bbc.co.uk.
Then after a minute or so, the Internet will be restored and PC1 is able to ping bbc.co.uk and PC2 is also able to access the Internet.

BUT sometimes when the request times out, PC1 then says 'Reply from 192.168.1.1: Destination host unreachable.' When this happens, the ADSL and Internet lights go off on the router. Also when this happens the 'WAN Interface' section of the routers page shows that 'PVC-0' and 'PVC-2' have a cross next to them instead of a tick.
Then the ADSL light flashes and the internet light comes on. Then everything is fine and back to normal.

Then as soon as i try to browse the web on PC2, the Internet goes down and the whole thing starts again.

Thanks if you read all this!

Any suggestions??
 
I'm wondering if there are a couple of issues at play here, one affecting the local network and something bringing the ADSL connection down too.

Here's another bunch of thoughts and questions:

  • If PC2 is the only device on the network that is powered up, does it maintain internet connectivity without any problem?
  • Does PC2 connect wirelessly to the same router that PC1 is wired into or are there additional access points or powerline adapters in use?
  • From earlier notes you've made the Xbox and one of the two PCs have static IPs, the other PC and the laptop are using DHCP. While troubleshooting can you either give the PCs new static IPs or configure them both to DHCP. Please mention which you choose.
  • What's the make and model of the modem/router you are using?
  • Check the router logs to see just how often it undergoes reboot or resync and whether it also occurs at times when the computers and Xbox aren't in use. I'm wondering if the router might be flaky and whether the ADSL sync is unstable at all times.
And some general ADSL stuff,

  • Is the modem/router connected to the master telephone socket or an extension socket?
  • How many telephone sockets around the home? Do all of the ones in use have a microfilter?
  • Any Sky box or cordless telephones in use?
 
The initial LAN based symptoms seem quite characteristic of an IP conflict with an ARP battle going on.
However the ADSL cuttout co-inciding with wireless network traffic is unusual and seems to me more like an overheating or firmware crashing issue.

At this point if you can borrow someone elses router and swap yours out it would rule the router out.

It's also worth ensuring everything is on DHCP not static config, just to be safe. If that works then it looks like your router needs firmware updating or complete replacement.
 
Thanks for the replies and suggestions

  • If PC2 is the only device on the network that is powered up, does it maintain internet connectivity without any problem?
    It still loses connection, after i've opened a few tabs or started to watch a youtube vid. PC1 (which i thought was stable) also disconnects when on the network on its own although it takes a lot more to disconnect it (several youtube vids). My brother also complained that his laptop (lets call it PC3) disconnected when on the network on its own. So it seems that its not just happening when 2 or more PC's are connected.
  • Does PC2 connect wirelessly to the same router that PC1 is wired into or are there additional access points or powerline adapters in use?
    Yes, and there aren't any extra access points or powerline adapters
  • From earlier notes you've made the Xbox and one of the two PCs have static IPs, the other PC and the laptop are using DHCP. While troubleshooting can you either give the PCs new static IPs or configure them both to DHCP. Please mention which you choose.
    The Xbox, PC2 and PC3 (the laptop) all have static IP's. The rest are assigned via DHCP, i set PC2 to DHCP and it still has the same problems, i can't set PC3 to DHCP as it isn't in the house at the moment. So i set PC2 to a different static IP, 192.168.1.170, instead of 192.168.1.194. I doubt that there is an IP conflict going on as the static IP's are way out of the range of the DHCP.
  • What's the make and model of the modem/router you are using?
    Huawei EchoLife HG520b (the router that TalkTalk gave us)
  • Check the router logs to see just how often it undergoes reboot or resync and whether it also occurs at times when the computers and Xbox aren't in use. I'm wondering if the router might be flaky and whether the ADSL sync is unstable at all times.
    This is what usually happens in the log each time it disconnects:
    Code: 
    1/5/2000 19:6:7> netMakeChannDial: err=-3001 rn_p=804d25b0
1/5/2000 19:6:9> Last errorlog repeat 11 Times
1/5/2000 19:6:9> ADSL Line:Trainning
1/5/2000 19:6:9> netMakeChannDial: err=-3001 rn_p=804d25b0
1/5/2000 19:6:15> Last errorlog repeat 14 Times
1/5/2000 19:6:15> ADSL Line:Trainning
1/5/2000 19:6:15> netMakeChannDial: err=-3001 rn_p=804d25b0
1/5/2000 19:6:17> Last errorlog repeat 7 Times
1/5/2000 19:6:17> Firewall: Filter no port UDP packet!
1/5/2000 19:6:18> netMakeChannDial: err=-3001 rn_p=804d25b0
1/5/2000 19:6:18> netMakeChannDial: err=-3001 rn_p=804d25b0
1/5/2000 19:6:27> Last errorlog repeat 30 Times
1/5/2000 19:6:27> ADSL Line:Show time
1/5/2000 19:6:28> MPOA Link Up
1/5/2000 19:6:36> ppp:CHAP Opening
1/5/2000 19:6:36> ppp_ready: ch:804e9eb4, iface:80467954
1/5/2000 19:6:36> ppp:ch<0> Up
1/5/2000 19:6:36> Accept() fail
1/5/2000 19:6:36> Accept() fail

    I googled 'netMakeChannDial: err=-3001' http://www.google.co.uk/search?rlz=1C1GPCK_en-GBGB396&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=netMakeChannDial%3A+err%3D-3001 and there are lots of results from the TalkTalk forums, with people changing their profiles (?) and routers.
  • Is the modem/router connected to the master telephone socket or an extension socket?
    The master socket
  • How many telephone sockets around the home? Do all of the ones in use have a microfilter?
    1 master and 1 extension, both have microfilters
  • Any Sky box or cordless telephones in use?
    4 cordless phones

At this point if you can borrow someone elses router
Click to expand...
i don't think i'll be able to get hold of another router

Thanks

Chris
 
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192.168.170 + 192.168.194

Your sure there the ip's your using?

SUrely they should be 192.168.1.194 or 192.168.1.170
 
Right, quick update, just now no computers were able to access the Internet at all, i checked the routers page, it said the ADSL was up and the lights on the front of the router showed that it had access to the Internet.
So i rebooted the router and now the PC's can access the Internet, i'm starting to think that the router is busted. But this was a slightly different problem to the one i've been having before.
 
I'd agree, a newer nicer router would be a good first step. It'll at least solve a few issues and help towards troubleshooting the others. (if it doesn't solve them all)
 
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