Windows XP & Cable Internet Connection

[Guest]

Let me begin by saying,what follows is as explained to me by my ISP tech. I
do not pretend to fully understand what I am about to explain. I have a new
computer running Windows XP Media Edition and a highspeed cable internet
connection recently installed. I cannot connect with IE 90% of the time and
when I do it usually times out. Spent two hours on the phone with cable tech
and he said I'm showing "packet loss" of 75%. Could not fix it nor explain.
Tech came to house today and said same thing. Cable connection is good,
modem is working properly, but packet loss of 75%. He hooked up his computer
to my modem and it worked perfectly. He said it was a problem with Windows
XP and connecting with IE. That the IP address was 68.xxx.xxx and when he
did it the IP address was 129.xxx.xxx. (don't remember exact #s) They could
not change the IP address on my PC to the good one. He said it was a
Microsoft Windows XP problem, but that Microsoft has told them it's a Cox
Cable problem. He said that if I connected a router to my computer that
would fix the problem. He did not try to sell me their network hookup
service explained to me how to do it. I live right outside of New Orleans
and before the hurricane (when I had phone service) I had dial-up and it
worked perfectly. Cable service in my area has been repaired 100%. Does any
of what I was told make sense? Any thoughts on if installing a router will
fix this problem? Thanks so much for any help.
Linda S

 

[Guest]

not sure if it will work but visit www.dslreports.com and run a tweak test

 

[Chuck]

Packet loss from what to what?
Cox to the cable modem? or cable modem to your pc.?
Make and model of the cable modem?

Win (Non Media) XP has a major gotcha in that the windows firewall may be
blocking communications.
Since his laptop worked thru your modem, it's likely that the problem does
reside in the networking or firewall settings.
http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/coxhsi
If you post (after joining) to this forum, you will likely get very specific
advice on how to solve your problem.
A router is generally a good idea, for several reasons. However, the setup
may be daunting. Basically, cox sees the router, not your PC. Your PC more
or less sees the router, and can obtain an address from it rather than cox.
The router obtains an address from cox WAN side), and has a LAN address such
as 192.168.0.1. The PC gets an address in the 192.168.0.xxx range or is set
to a fixed address in that range. Usually, with a single PC, it's not
needed. Your other remarks seem to indicate that the PC is not always
accepting or getting an address to use from the modem. This may or may not a
cox problem.
Since this is a new PC, perhaps a call to the vendor or PC OEM is in order.

 

[Peter Foldes]

Linda

Try this lspfix below and post back

http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm

 

[Charlie Tame]

Never assume a cable tech knows one end of a computer from the other, many
just know what they have been told.

Start>settings>network connections
(It may be different if you use XP menus not classic) but find network and
"Local area connection" and open the properties page.

I think on the first page you will have "Obtain DNS Automatically" so set
that to automatic. Similarly with the other setting on this page. You should
also have a checkbox to show the connection icon in the system tray, that
would be handy because then you can see it working and click to get back to
properties.

Sorry I am using W2003 not XP and I forget the layout in default XP
settings.

Go to start>run and type the word CMD and hit return

In the window that appears type

IPCONFIG /ALL [return]

Just one space between G and /

This will tell you what your IP now is set to

You can force a change by using IPCONFIG /RELEASE [return]

and then IPCONFIG /RENEW [return]

(Each time one space)

Then IPCONFIG /ALL again.

Does this help any? There may be other problems but if you can post back
results it will help someone follow up.

I can't see a router helping much if your IP address is fixed to something
out of it's range so not sure what he was getting at there...

Charlie

 

[Brian Cryer]

Assuming your've read and worked through the other replies ... if not then
do that first. How do you connect to your cable modem? via a network card or
usb? If its usb then try a different usb port on your pc. If its via network
card then borrow or buy a new one. I've seen high packet loss caused by a
failing modem, assuming in your case that it isn't the modem then the next
logical contender (assuming it isn't a software problem) is your hardware,
hence the suggestion of usb/network card.

Hope this helps.

 

[woody]

Agreed. Had the same problem with a failing network card. Would connect
intermittently. After trying many tests, none of which showed a problem,
replaced the NIC (very inexpensive). Problem solved.

Woody

 

[Yves Leclerc]

Check YOUR network cable. Cables can fail over time.

Check your network adapter in your Media PC. It could be failing, since the
tech tested your cable conneection with HIS PC.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Let me begin by saying,what follows is as explained to me by my ISP tech. I
do not pretend to fully understand what I am about to explain. I have a new
computer running Windows XP Media Edition and a highspeed cable internet
connection recently installed. I cannot connect with IE 90% of the time and
when I do it usually times out. Spent two hours on the phone with cable tech
and he said I'm showing "packet loss" of 75%. Could not fix it nor explain.
Tech came to house today and said same thing. Cable connection is good,
modem is working properly, but packet loss of 75%. He hooked up his computer
to my modem and it worked perfectly. He said it was a problem with Windows
XP and connecting with IE. That the IP address was 68.xxx.xxx and when he
did it the IP address was 129.xxx.xxx. (don't remember exact #s) They could
not change the IP address on my PC to the good one. He said it was a
Microsoft Windows XP problem, but that Microsoft has told them it's a Cox
Cable problem. He said that if I connected a router to my computer that
would fix the problem. He did not try to sell me their network hookup
service explained to me how to do it. I live right outside of New Orleans
and before the hurricane (when I had phone service) I had dial-up and it
worked perfectly. Cable service in my area has been repaired 100%. Does any
of what I was told make sense? Any thoughts on if installing a router will
fix this problem? Thanks so much for any help.
Linda S

How is the PC connected to the cable modem, via USB or an Ethernet
card? Either way, your problem is much more likely to lie with these
devices or their drivers than it is with the OS.



--

Bruce Chambers

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