Daily Brief Internet Drop Outs

[arin1305]

No matter the time of day, our internet (Home Network, 4 Computers are on + Printer), will randomly drop out. This occurs atleast once a day, sometimes up to 3-4 times.

I barely know the basics of anything computer related, that is, turning it on


I'm not sure where to start, I've done some research and have rang Optus (ISP) sooo many times, as the problem has happened since mid-last year :c

I'm thinking it may be an IP conflict - but really am not sure.

The dropouts are almost instantaneous, a few seconds, then everything is back - so if anyone can help it would be a god send

[Mcninjaguy]

whats your router name and mdoel?

[johnwill]

Please supply the following info, exact make and models of the equipment please.

Name of your ISP (Internet Service Provider).
Make and exact model of the broadband modem.
Make and exact model and hardware version of the router (if a separate unit).
Model numbers can usually be obtained from the label on the device.
Connection type, wired or wireless.
If wireless, encryption used, (none, WEP, WPA, or WPA2)
Version and patch level of Windows on all affected machines, i.e. XP (Home or Pro), SP1-SP2-SP3, Vista (Home, Business, Ultimate), etc.
The Internet Browser in use, IE, Firefox, Opera, etc.




Please give an exact description of your problem symptoms, including the exact text of any error messages.

• If you're using a wireless connection, have you tried a direct connection with a cable to see if that changes the symptoms?
• For wireless issues, have you disabled all encryption on the router to see if you can connect that way?
• Have you connected directly to the broadband modem to see if this is a router or modem/ISP issue?
• If there are other computers on the same network, are they experiencing the same issue, or do they function normally?

On any affected computer, I'd also like to see this:

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

Type the following commands on separate lines, following each one with the Enter key:

PING 206.190.60.37

PING yahoo.com

NBTSTAT -n

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.

[arin1305]

Originally Posted by johnwill

Please supply the following info, exact make and models of the equipment please.

Name of your ISP (Internet Service Provider).
Optus
Make and exact model of the broadband modem:
Motrolla SB5100 Surfboard Cable Modem
Make and exact model and hardware version of the router (if a separate unit).
2 Routers
NETGEAR 5 Port10/100/1000M Switch GS605v2
LINSYS Etherfast Cable/DSL Routers with 4 Port Switch Model BEFSR47
Connection type, wired or wireless.
Wired
Version and patch level of Windows on all affected machines, i.e. XP (Home or Pro), SP1-SP2-SP3, Vista (Home, Business, Ultimate), etc.
XP on 3, Vista on 1
The Internet Browser in use, IE, Firefox, Opera, etc.
IE on 2, Firefox on 2

+ Our Printer on the Network

Please give an exact description of your problem symptoms, including the exact text of any error messages.
No error messages, just a momentary loss of internet, detectable with MSN unsigning out, drop out of Online Games.

If there are other computers on the same network, are they experiencing the same issue, or do they function normally?
Yes they are




On any affected computer, I'd also like to see this:

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

Type the following commands on separate lines, following each one with the Enter key:

PING 206.190.60.37

PING yahoo.com

NBTSTAT -n

IPCONFIG /ALL

Right click in the command window and choose Select All, then hit Enter.

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\User>PING 206.190.60.37

Pinging 206.190.60.37 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 206.190.60.37: bytes=32 time=263ms TTL=51
Reply from 206.190.60.37: bytes=32 time=260ms TTL=51
Reply from 206.190.60.37: bytes=32 time=261ms TTL=51
Reply from 206.190.60.37: bytes=32 time=261ms TTL=51

Ping statistics for 206.190.60.37:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 260ms, Maximum = 263ms, Average = 261ms

C:\Documents and Settings\User>PING yahoo.com

Pinging yahoo.com [68.180.206.184] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 68.180.206.184: bytes=32 time=180ms TTL=55
Reply from 68.180.206.184: bytes=32 time=181ms TTL=55
Reply from 68.180.206.184: bytes=32 time=181ms TTL=55
Reply from 68.180.206.184: bytes=32 time=181ms TTL=55

Ping statistics for 68.180.206.184:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 180ms, Maximum = 181ms, Average = 180ms

C:\Documents and Settings\User>NBTSTAT -n

Local Area Connection 2:
Node IpAddress: [0.0.0.0] Scope Id: []

No names in cache

Local Area Connection 1:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.1.102] Scope Id: []

NetBIOS Local Name Table

Name Type Status
---------------------------------------------
ADRIAN <00> UNIQUE Registered
ADRIAN <20> UNIQUE Registered
MSHOME <00> GROUP Registered
MSHOME <1E> GROUP Registered
MSHOME <1D> UNIQUE Registered
..__MSBROWSE__.<01> GROUP Registered

C:\Documents and Settings\User>IPCONFIG /ALL

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : ADRIAN
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : vic.optushome.com.au

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : PLANET ENW-9700 PCI Express GbE Adap
ter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-30-4F-43-7F-A4

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 1:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : vic.optushome.com.au
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-01-6C-B0-69-26
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.102
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 198.142.0.51
203.2.75.132
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, 26 February 2009 7:50:45 A
M
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Friday, 27 February 2009 7:50:45 AM

[arin1305]

Note, a message of "Local Area Connection 1 is now connected" usually pops up after a dropout too. Didn't know if it was relevant to anything but figured I'd mention ><

[arin1305]

Another update: Tends to happen - so I've noticed atleast over the last 48hours, when opening a new browser or even engaging in something on a Game etc, just a sporadic 1 sec drop out (approx.)

[johnwill]

If you see a connecting popping up briefly at the time of the interruption, that would indicate a likely hardware issue. I'd try a new cable, and a new port on the router first. If that doesn't do it, the NIC in the machine may be failing.

[arin1305]

Originally Posted by johnwill

If you see a connecting popping up briefly at the time of the interruption, that would indicate a likely hardware issue. I'd try a new cable, and a new port on the router first. If that doesn't do it, the NIC in the machine may be failing.

Cable for which? Like all the computers on the network get the issue of the internet dropping out, guessing you mean port as in the back of the router

[Mcninjaguy]

Johnwill means the cable from the router to your computer

try hooking up your cable directly to the modem

[arin1305]

Originally Posted by Mcninjaguy

Johnwill means the cable from the router to your computer

try hooking up your cable directly to the modem

But if its just going to the one computer wouldn't that mean the other 3 are off the network?

[Mcninjaguy]

yea but it will see if its your computer or the router more specifically just do it for a couple of minutes

[arin1305]

Originally Posted by Mcninjaguy

yea but it will see if its your computer or the router more specifically just do it for a couple of minutes

I was probably broad, but it happens once or so a day, so to find out would need to take it out for a full day to have a chance of it happening. ><


PS this notice

In honer of No Brainer Day, TSF....

Honor*!

I've seen it last week and just always catches my attention, sorry for side-tracking

[johnwill]

If it's all the computers, my guess is probably an ISP and/or modem/router issue, since that would be the common point of failure. It could be the router resetting, the modem resetting, or the ISP simply having a drop. A drop of once or twice a day is difficult to diagnose...

[arin1305]

Is there a way to formally check if the Router or Modem is resetting?

[johnwill]

The only way I know is to connect a computer directly to the modem for a day and see if you experience any issues. You could check the router's log file and see if it indicates a restart of the router...

[arin1305]

How do I check a router's log file? (sorry for so many questions and thank you for all this information so far!).

[johnwill]

It's dependent on the router, but normally there's a status page.

For instance, on my D-Link DIR-615, it's under STATUS, Log from the main configuration pages.