Intermittent Cable Connection

[tomsega]

I'll explain this as briefly as possible so that more people might help!:

I got cable broadband a few days ago. The connection is always on and connected by ethernet, but seemingly intermittent.

For example, I can surf simple web pages, but large downloads corrupt, and streaming-videos freeze.
Similarly, more complicated websites with plug-ins, or larger pictures, tend to fail to load properly.

I've tried renewing my ip address, reseting the winsock do-da, and I'm sure the drivers are fine and up to date.

Any ideas?

 

[Temmu]

describe your setup:

cable -----> "cable modem" ----> PC

or

cable ---> "cable modem" ---> router ---> PC


how do you connect your router or cable modem to the pc
- ethernet cable?
- usb cable?

do you have a router in between your cable modem and your pc?

are there other users in your house sharing your network?

is there wireless involved anywhere?

do you have a second network card inside your pc?
if so, is it connected to anything else?

i can help, but i need to know those things for now...

 

[tomsega]

Thanks.

It's cable to cable modem to PC.

Ethernet, not USB. I don't have any wireless cards or anything installed right now.

 

[Temmu]

unplug the cable, power, and ethernet connection from the "cable modem" and let it cool down for about 10 minutes
restart the pc, but don't log in just yet
plug everything back in and wait for any indicator lights to go green.

question - where the ethernet cable plugs into the pc, is there a light on?

if there is a light,
log onto the computer.
start, run, cmd
enter each of these commands at the command prompt 1 at a time:
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
ipconfig /flushdns <--- lord, that solves a lot of problems!

if no light at the pc, either your ethernet between the cable modem and pc is bad or not plugged in very well --- or the cable modem is bad (replace as needed - the cable company will send you a new one)
the ipconfig command is then meaningless as you cannot network.

if when you do the ipconfig /renew
you get an address like 169.xxx.xxx.xxx
you are not networking. (call the cable company and explain what you've done so far.)

now, if we open your browser and go to google and it shows up,
we are networking

however having said all that...
it is =cable= and as such, there are 100 or maybe more users on your neighborhood network.

if you have joe downloader downloading movies all day and all night, it is no wonder that you have difficulties.

at this point you have to call the cable company and complain (just describe your problems and let them walk you through their stuff. failing that, complain about too much network traffic and that it's hindering your user experience.)

i may or may not log on again before monday... sorry...

 

[tomsega]

Cheers for the help.

The light is on at the ethernet port, and all the cables/connections seem to be working/secure.

I had done the 'renew' and 'release' thing in ipconfig already, to no avail. But I also tried the flush thing.. I'm afraid that hasn't worked either.

The cable company refuse to believe it's there fault.. I spent 20 minutes on the phone today - and the calls cost 25p a minute!!

Surely it shouldn't matter if joe downloader in my area is using it alot? It should still be 'always on', no?

This is why the cable company won't help. They're addament that it's 'always on' - that intermittent connections shouldn't, practically, exist, and that if the green lights are on the modem then the modem must be working.

I'm sceptical.. grrr.

 

[tomsega]

PROBLEM FIXED!

After wiping the disk drive and reinstalling windows, it all seems to be fine!

So it turns out it WAS software issue (albeit one I couldn't have known about)

Must have been due to the fact that I WAS on a wireless network, despite the fact that it was properly disabled. Methinks it was because a Belkin card driver was corrupt.

Cheers anyway.

 

[Temmu]

Good, glad you're back up and running... sometimes wipe and reload is the option that's best.