connection comes and goes

[Tom C]

It seems like my Internet connection will disconnect and then reconnect. I
have a DSL connection and from time to time I get the little message in the
lower right corner that says network cable is unplugged. It stays for a
second then goes away. However my connection will still be connected. Then
from time to time i get a messase that says "This page not available
offline...." I am running Win XP through a wireless router. However things
have been working up until a few days ago. Any help would be
appreciatged...Thanks tom

 

[truthteller86]

It seems like my Internet connection will disconnect and then reconnect. I
have a DSL connection and from time to time I get the little message in the
lower right corner that says network cable is unplugged. It stays for a
second then goes away. However my connection will still be connected. Then
from time to time i get a messase that says "This page not available
offline...." I am running Win XP through a wireless router. However things
have been working up until a few days ago. Any help would be
appreciatged...Thanks tom

I have been having a similar problem for two weeks..here is my story:

I have a new Dell XPS 400 Desktop (Win XP Media Center Ed) and an
existing eMachine laptop (Win XP Home) w/ an internal Broadcom 55g
MaxPerformance 802.11g Wireless Card.
I have been through a D-Link, LinkSys, and now I'm on a NetGear
wireless router.
The reason I have switched routers so many times is because I keep
loosing my wireless connection on the laptop and neither D-Link or
LinkSys tech supt can resolve. My wireless card is working fine
everywhere else but home. and I only loose my connection after I have
to do a complete system restore on the new Dell XPS 400 (had to do this
4-5 times & I'm on my second XPS 400 now---bad luck w/ this computer so
far) Anyway...doing the system restore resets all the factory settings
& wipes out all my Windows Updates....after the clean OS load, the
router works fine...but...
I think I figured out what is causing my problems....a certain Windows
Update...Can you verify???...
After running the Netgear router successfully for (2) days, I had a
problem with the Dell XPS and had to do a complete system
recovery...lost everything. I have been taking notes as to what I am
doing with the Dell as I go, in case I have a problem, I can see what I
was doing at the time. Today, I installed @ 29 Windows Updates, that
downloaded "automatically". I always thought it was good to keep all
updates current. Immeidately after installing the updates, I lost my
wireless connection on the laptop again...with the same exact symptoms
I experienced with the D-Link and LinkSys routers. I just never made
the connection before that installing certain windows updates could
cause me to loose my wireless connection... Once I realized the Win
Updates may be the culprit, I uninstalled ALL of the updates that I had
just previously installed (I left all the factory updates intact).
After a reboot, I IMMEDIATELY got my wireless connection back on my
router and have not lost it since. Based on my recent history with
this issue, I am CONVINCED that one or more of the windows updates I
installed caused the problem with loosing my wireless connection.
Now the big question is this...If my assumption is correct, how in the
world do I figure out which Windows update caused the problem? If I
can't get an answer, I will be forced to leave Automatic Updates off
and never install any updates. It would take forever to do then one by
one manually & wait & see which one causes the problem.

Thanks,
Michael
(e-mail address removed)
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Jim]

It wasn't clear whether Tom was having a problem w/ a wired or wireless
connection, apparently it *is* wireless w/ Michael . Yes, Tom mentioned a
wireless router, but that could still be wired or wireless. The reason I
ask is that there is a KNOWN problem/issue concerning dropped wireless
connections *if* you have SSID broadcasts disabled. So just in case you do,
check it out:

http://arstechnica.com/guides/askars/wifi-drop.ars
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;811427&Product=winxp

Jim

 

[Tom C]

Hi,
Its funny you should mention the windows updates. The last update I got
successfully was the Security Update For Win XP {KB986424) on 11/15/05. I
have been trying to download and install the update for the Malicious
Software Removal Tool and that has been unsuccessful.
I also installed a new ATI video card. I cant really pinpoint any times
with any updates or installations that is causing my problems. I know it is
aggrivating waiting on pages to load and then they time out...grrrrrr

Do you have any computers on your network that are wired? I have one other
computer and it is acting the same way, however from what I can tell my
laptop is working ok. My laptop is wireless, I am using a D-Link DI524 and
have that installed for wuite sometime. Everything was working ok until a
day or so ago.
I am going do a system restore and see if that helps.
Do you have any wireless telephones near your wireless router? I was told
that those can cause problems.
If everything goes ok i will check back later. Keep in touch how you are
doing on your end...Thanks for replying and have a nice day...Tom
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Tom C]

I was having a problem with dropped connections with my DI524 wireless
router. However only one computer on my network is wireless, that is my
laptop. It was working fine, the 2 computers that are wired were the ones
with the problems.
I am not really sure the connections were lost, or just slowed way down. I
would get a message that said a network cable was unplugged but I think it
stayed connected, it just slowed down.
However I think i got it corrected. From what i can tell, it was a problem
with a video card. If it does come back i will look into the SSID you
mentioned. Thanks for the help....tom

 

[truthteller86]

Tom,
My Dell desktop is wired and my eMachine laptop is wireless. I only
experienced the conncetion loss with the laptop. I have an open high
level case with Microsoft now regarding the possibility that one of the
Windows Updates was causing the loss of wireless signal on my laptop
after installation. The only way for me to troubleshoot this is to
manually install the 26+ Windows Updates on my Dell in small groups (8
at a time) and reboot, then see if my connection is dropped. If so,
then I can uninstall the previous updates, then re-install them one by
one until I replicate the problem and pinpoint the culprit. so far,
over the last two days, I have installed (2) batches of updates (16
total) and have not lost my wireless connection yet. I have about 8
or 9 more to go.

If all the updates install correctly and I do not loose my wireless
connection again, then the problem would have been trying to install
all 26+ Windows Updates at the SAME TIME. I have read in a few forums
that installing multiple WIn Updates at the same time can cause all
sorts of wierd problems. My conversation w/ Microsoft engineers
confirms this possibility.

In a couple of days, I should know for sure if it was a specific Win
Update that caused all my previous problems. I will post back then.

ALSO: I had all sorts of other problems (BSODs: F4 Stop: code) when I
updated my NVidia GeForce 6800 Video Card driver to the latest version
on NVidia's website. After the last OS reload (on my NEW Dell grrrr!),
I did not update the Video Card driver and have not had a BSOD since
!.) I hope that was the problem and not some other unknown issue.

Michael
www.kgov.com

 

[truthteller86]

***FINAL UPDATE***

Here is the e-mail I sent Microsoft XP Support after my troubleshooting
ended. I hope someone can benefit from all the problems I experienced.

Michael
____________________________________

I have completed my trial and error troubleshooting attempt to try and
identify the cause of my wireless adapter connection loss after
installing Windows Updates.

I successfully re-installed (24) Windows Updates in three groups of
eight on my Dell Desktop. I did this over the course of three days,
allowing sufficient time between installations. I was NOT able to
replicate the loss in wireless connectivity on my eMachine laptop,
which I previously experienced when installing the 24+ Updates all at
one time.

I compared my original listing of suspect Windows Updates (which I had
previously uninstalled after loosing my wireless connection the last
time) with the NEW listing of updates that appeared after scanning my
PC for available updates. A few of the updates no longer applied -or-
were still installed and had no negative effect (Win Validation Tool,
..NET Framework 1.1 SP, & Update (KB898461).

There were (2) updates on my ORIGINAL problem list that DID NOT appear
on the new search, therefore they were NOT included with the (24)
Updates I just successfully installed:
Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool - Nov 2005 (KB890830)
Update for Windows XP (KB894391)
Since I was not able to reproduce my original problem after
re-installing (24) updates in three groups of eight, I have come to the
following two conclusions:
Either
The wireless connection loss I experienced on my laptop after
installing the initial batch of Windows Updates on my new desktop
(replicated using three different brands of wireless router) was due to
an undetermined conflict onset by installing over 25 updates AT THE
SAME TIME.

Or
The wireless connection loss was caused by one of the two updates
listed above which did not show as available for installation on my
last scan and therefore are not currently installed on my desktop.

I do not need (KB890830) since I have up-to-date AV Software.

RE: (KB894391): The documentation on this update indicates it is for:
Windows XP 64-bit Itanium, Version 2003, which of course I am not
running. Could this have caused a conflict if I previously installed it
on my OS [Win XP MCE 200x] ? Why did it show up before in my updates
scan, but it does not show up now? I know it was previously installed
on Nov. 19th and uninstalled the same day. See .jpg attachment.
I would like to thank each of you for your courteous and prompt
response to my unusual situation. Although I was not able to pinpoint
a definitive cause, at least the problem appears to have resolved
itself, either by splitting my updates in smaller groups, or by the
absence of a previously conflicting update.

From this point forward, I will manually install Windows Updates and

report any future conflicts. The good news is I still have a wireless
connection and my Win Updates are current.

Sincerely,

Michael L.