[SOLVED] Periodically Losing Connection

[tdsharkey]

Problem:

I have a re-occurring problem with my computer which I had built for me back in March or so. I have cable which goes to a wireless router. My workstation (the one in question) is directly connected to the router via an Ethernet cable, and a second computer (and others if anyone is over with a laptop) is connected over the wireless network. Every so often my computer seems to disconnect from the router. Essentially it just drops any connectivity to the Internet. This is usually pretty rare, maybe happening once a week or so. I can go for hours and hour, days even, playing playing games or whatever without a problem, but when it happens suddenly all connection to the 'Net just goes away. The router and other computers on the connection do not share the problem. The only thing (that I know of) which fixes it is a complete reboot.

This problem was very occasional, but now manifests itself very frequently with a new game I am trying. Is this a bad Ethernet card? Settings? Router not compatible?

I run Windows XP with w Netgear WGT624 router.

Any help is much appreciated!

[tdsharkey]

An addendum to the above. The NIC card is part of the motherboard, which is an XFX NForce 780I SLI. Product code is MB - N780 - ISH9 Version 1.3

Any known issues?

[tdsharkey]

I took the box off the wireless router and went direct from the cable as a test, and the problem still manifests itself the same way. So it is not an issue with the router or ISP.

[johnwill]

I'd be looking for some application that's running or malware. It's hard to know what course of action would be best, since it takes days for the issue to manifest itself.

You might try some tests when the network "goes away", try the following.

Try these simple tests.

Hold the Windows key and press R, then type CMD (COMMAND for W98/WME) to open a command prompt:

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following commands one at a time, followed by the Enter key:

IPCONFIG

PING <computer_IP_address>

PING <default_gateway_address>

PING 206.190.60.37

PING yahoo.com

Right click in the command window and choose Select All, then hit Enter.
Paste the results in a message here.

<computer_IP_address> - The IP Address of your computer, obtained from the IPCONFIG command above.

<default_gateway_address> - The IP address of the Default Gateway, obtained from the IPCONFIG command above.

If you are on a machine with no network connection, use a floppy, USB disk, or a CD-RW disk to transfer a text file with the information to allow pasting it here.



When the error occurs, I'd also like to see this.

Hold the Windows key and press R, then type CMD to open a command prompt:

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following command:

Note that there is a space before the /ALL, but there is NOT a space after the / in the following command.

IPCONFIG /ALL

Right click in the command window and choose Select All, then hit Enter.
Paste the results in a message here.

If you are on a machine with no network connection, use a floppy, USB disk, or a CD-RW disk to transfer a text file with the information to allow pasting it here.

[tdsharkey]

With one game in particular (Warhammer Online in case it matters..) I can get the problem to manifest itself immediately. I'll give the above a try when I get home. Even after I lose the connection I can save the information in a text file, and then post after a reboot, which will solve the problem until it crops up again.

[tdsharkey]

Ok, I did what you requested before and after the disconnect. Here goes:



==Pre Connection Loss==

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.
C:\Documents and Settings\Devon>ipconfig
Windows IP Configuration
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.2
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
C:\Documents and Settings\Devon>ping 192.168.1.2
Pinging 192.168.1.2 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.2: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.2: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.2: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.2: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Ping statistics for 192.168.1.2:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms
C:\Documents and Settings\Devon>ping 192.168.1.1
Pinging 192.168.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Ping statistics for 192.168.1.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms
C:\Documents and Settings\Devon>ping 206.190.60.37
Pinging 206.190.60.37 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 206.190.60.37: bytes=32 time=68ms TTL=52
Reply from 206.190.60.37: bytes=32 time=67ms TTL=52
Reply from 206.190.60.37: bytes=32 time=67ms TTL=52
Reply from 206.190.60.37: bytes=32 time=67ms TTL=52
Ping statistics for 206.190.60.37:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 67ms, Maximum = 68ms, Average = 67ms
C:\Documents and Settings\Devon>ping yahoo.com
Pinging yahoo.com [68.180.206.184] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 68.180.206.184: bytes=32 time=82ms TTL=51
Reply from 68.180.206.184: bytes=32 time=83ms TTL=51
Reply from 68.180.206.184: bytes=32 time=82ms TTL=51
Reply from 68.180.206.184: bytes=32 time=81ms TTL=51
Ping statistics for 68.180.206.184:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 81ms, Maximum = 83ms, Average = 82ms

C:\Documents and Settings\Devon>ipconfig /all
Windows IP Configuration
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : spiel
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
#2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-04-4B-15-45-ED
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.2
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, September 08, 2008 11:10:40
PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, September 09, 2008 11:10:40
PM
C:\Documents and Settings\Devon>

==Post Connection Loss==

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.
C:\Documents and Settings\Devon>ipconfig
Windows IP Configuration
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.2
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
C:\Documents and Settings\Devon>ping 192.168.1.2
Pinging 192.168.1.2 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.2: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.2: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.2: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.2: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Ping statistics for 192.168.1.2:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms
C:\Documents and Settings\Devon>ping 192.168.1.1
Pinging 192.168.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Ping statistics for 192.168.1.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),
C:\Documents and Settings\Devon>ping 206.190.60.37
Pinging 206.190.60.37 with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Ping statistics for 206.190.60.37:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),
C:\Documents and Settings\Devon>ping yahoo.com
Ping request could not find host yahoo.com. Please check the name and try again.
C:\Documents and Settings\Devon>ipconfig /all
Windows IP Configuration
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : spiel
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
#2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-04-4B-15-45-ED
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.2
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, September 08, 2008 11:10:40
PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, September 09, 2008 11:10:40
PM
C:\Documents and Settings\Devon>

[johnwill]

Well, at this point, I'd be looking at hardware. First, try a new cable and a new port on the router. If that doesn't work, you may be looking at a flaky NIC.

[tdsharkey]

Yeah, it was the card. A new one fixed it. Thanks!

[johnwill]

Thanks for the feedback.