Internet connection stops responding

[ccartman]

Hello, I am new to the forums and this is my first thread...quite a tricky one :)

I have searched highed and low over the internet for a solution to my problem and am still yet to find one. I hope someone on this forum can help me or can direct me in the right direction.

Basically my setup at home is: 1 desktop computer connected by a wire to my homehub/router which is connected directly into the phone line. The hub is wireless enabled and I have a laptop which I use wirelessly.

What happens is that, when on my desktop surfing the internet (watching videos, facebook, reading articles, research, downloading, music...just the usual) after a while my internet just won't work. Firefox or Internet Explorer won't connect to any sites. However!!!! Programs which use the internet such as Msn Messenger, Spotify (music program) or any download currently in progress will continue to work fine. And when my internet stops responding my wireless laptop will still work fine as normal and can surf the internet. So I think it is safe to say the problem is computer based rather than something to do with my ISP. (I have tried diagnosing the problem but it says it cannot find anything wrong with the connection).

The only way I can get my internet working again on my desktop is to restart the whole computer!! And considering this problem occurs regularly (sometimes after 5 minutes of usage, sometimes after 20, if I'm lucky I'll get 30 mins usage) it is extremly annoying. Having to restart my computer every 20-30 minutes. When i bought the computer it was fine for a year and a half and I have been running this setup the whole time with the same hub and laptop.

Things I have tried so far. I have tried a full system restore right to the point where the computer was new and out of the box (not sure if this is the same as a full format) incase it was due to any software I installed. Yet even after the system restore it was still happening. I have downloaded several spyware and adware scanners which cleaned my computer yet didn't fix the problem (virus scanners too and registry mechanics).

I don't know if the problem is hardware based or software based. If someone needs me to check anything I can do it.

Thank you in advance for helping.

[steveb1234]

If you have found and removed malware from your computer but still have system restore point on the pc then the malware could be returning from your system restore cache.
You could turn off system restore ( this will delete all restore cache information) and run malware scans again.
The problem you have is probably malware related.
You may prefer to repost this in the malware removal section before taking any action.

[ccartman]

Well the system restore I did returned the computer to factory default...as it was when it was taken out of the box and it re-installs vista and all that. It is pretty much wiped clean I would think?
When I bought the computer and first started it up it made me make a system restore disk so thats the one I am using. Like I said it worked fine for a year and a half.

[johnwill]

That sounds wiped clean to me.


When it fails, I'd like to see this.


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:

NOTE: For the items below in red surrounded with < >, see comments below for the actual information content, they are value substitutions from the previous IPCONFIG command output! Do NOT type <computer_IP_address> into the command, that won't work. Also, the < and > in the text is to identify the parameters, they are also NOT used in the actual commands.

Do NOT include the <> either, they're just to identify the values for substitution.

IPCONFIG /ALL

PING <computer_IP_address>

PING <default_gateway_address>

PING <dns_servers>

PING 74.125.45.100

PING yahoo.com

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

<computer_IP_address> - The IP Address of your computer, obtained from the IPCONFIG command above. (For Vista/Win7, the IPv4 Address)

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

<dns_servers> - The IP address of the first (or only) address for DNS Servers, 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.

[ccartman]

Right well I did what you said once it stopped responding. I found that I am able to enduce this lack of responce by having several tabs open whilst browsing (usually if they are all doing something like loading pictures or videos) that it will stop working. And also remember that programs such as MSN messenger, Spotify and any current downloads will all continue to work. It is purely internet surfing which stops working (firefox and internet explorer), both say they are unable to connect yet the network properties says I am connected to the internet and cannot diagnose any problems.

Anyway, here are the rseults. Hope they help:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6002]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Cliff>ipconfig/all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Cliff-PC
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : home

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : home
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Marvell Yukon 88E8056 PCI-E Gigabit Ether
net Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-19-DB-79-D5-CC
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.65(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 06 November 2009 17:39:13
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 07 November 2009 17:39:13
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

C:\Users\Cliff>ping 192.168.1.65

Pinging 192.168.1.65 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.65: bytes=32 time=11ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.65: bytes=32 time=4ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.65: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.65: bytes=32 time=4ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.65:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 3ms, Maximum = 11ms, Average = 5ms

C:\Users\Cliff>ping 192.168.1.254

Pinging 192.168.1.254 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=12ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=4ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=4ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=5ms TTL=64

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.254:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 4ms, Maximum = 12ms, Average = 6ms

C:\Users\Cliff>ping 192.168.1.254

Pinging 192.168.1.254 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=12ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=4ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=5ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=4ms TTL=64

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.254:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 4ms, Maximum = 12ms, Average = 6ms

C:\Users\Cliff>ping 74.125.45.100

Pinging 74.125.45.100 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 74.125.45.100: bytes=32 time=139ms TTL=47
Reply from 74.125.45.100: bytes=32 time=128ms TTL=47
Reply from 74.125.45.100: bytes=32 time=130ms TTL=47
Reply from 74.125.45.100: bytes=32 time=128ms TTL=47

Ping statistics for 74.125.45.100:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 128ms, Maximum = 139ms, Average = 131ms

C:\Users\Cliff>ping yahoo.com

Pinging yahoo.com [209.191.93.53] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 209.191.93.53: bytes=32 time=175ms TTL=43
Reply from 209.191.93.53: bytes=32 time=174ms TTL=43
Reply from 209.191.93.53: bytes=32 time=174ms TTL=43
Reply from 209.191.93.53: bytes=32 time=174ms TTL=43

Ping statistics for 209.191.93.53:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 174ms, Maximum = 175ms, Average = 174ms

[johnwill]

That looks fine, is that when you can't connect?

[ccartman]

Yes that is when I am unable to view websites on Firefox or Internet Explorer although programs such as MSN messenger or any current downloads will continue to have access to the internet. The only way to be able to browse the internet again is to restart my system.

[johnwill]

Well, this isn't a networking issue, since you can ping Internets by URL.

I'd be looking for malware if this were my system.