Internet connection lost more and more often

[Guest]

I have a broadband connection through Comcast to my home network. This
includes a Linsys wireless router hardwired to one Win 95 machine and
wireless connection to a Win XP machine.

More and more frequently, network connection to the internet is lost. When
this happens, pings to internet sites don't go through, web sites don't show,
etc. The network otherwise appears to be working and connected.

The situation is resolved by rebooting the cable modem, router and
computers. This is time consuming and annoying. And since it is increasing in
frequency, I am worried it will become paralyzing to my network.

I suppose it could be a Comcast problem, but is it something else? Any
thoughts?

 

[Chuck]

I have a broadband connection through Comcast to my home network. This
includes a Linsys wireless router hardwired to one Win 95 machine and
wireless connection to a Win XP machine.

More and more frequently, network connection to the internet is lost. When
this happens, pings to internet sites don't go through, web sites don't show,
etc. The network otherwise appears to be working and connected.

The situation is resolved by rebooting the cable modem, router and
computers. This is time consuming and annoying. And since it is increasing in
frequency, I am worried it will become paralyzing to my network.

I suppose it could be a Comcast problem, but is it something else? Any
thoughts?

Larry,

I had a Linksys router which would lose contact with the internet, and it
finally was resolved by replacing the power adapter for the router. I've also
had internet service problems like this where the ISPs DNS servers caused this.

When you observe the problem, are both computers affected identically? Does the
problem affect both access by name, and by ip address?

How often is the problem observed? Have you discussed this with Comcast?

Try documenting the problem. PingPlotter (free from
http://www.pingplotter.com/) will run a continuous, periodic ping, and show when
contact is lost with the internet, or with your router. Run it from both
computers, to ping your ISPs DNS server, and to prove simultaneous loss of
service.

--
Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck sonic net.

 

[Guest]

Chuck,

Thank-you! Let me answer some of your questions as best I can:

1. Both computers affected? I think so. My observations will get better
going forward, but the last 2 times both were affected.

2. Affected access by name, and by ip address? Not sure what you mean here.
I typically just try a link or bookmark to something like Google and get a
timeout. ***Please let me know how best to evaluate this question in the
future.***

3. How often observed? Once every week or two.

4. Discussed w Comcast? No. I find their reps to just follow some generic
troubleshooting procedure that is presented to them on their screen. When
they get to "reboot the system" it will solve the problem and they'll have
no clue why. When I have better evidence I will speak to them.

I will start Pingplotter now!

Larry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Chuck]

Chuck,

Thank-you! Let me answer some of your questions as best I can:

1. Both computers affected? I think so. My observations will get better
going forward, but the last 2 times both were affected.

2. Affected access by name, and by ip address? Not sure what you mean here.
I typically just try a link or bookmark to something like Google and get a
timeout. ***Please let me know how best to evaluate this question in the
future.***

3. How often observed? Once every week or two.

4. Discussed w Comcast? No. I find their reps to just follow some generic
troubleshooting procedure that is presented to them on their screen. When
they get to "reboot the system" it will solve the problem and they'll have
no clue why. When I have better evidence I will speak to them.

I will start Pingplotter now!

Larry

Larry,

Your problems could be caused by DNS server response. You depend upon a DNS
server for resolving addresses of the various web servers that you access. If
the DNS server (typically provided by your ISP) is slow or non-responsive, you
won't see a web page, as your browser has to wait for an address before it can
continue.

Let's take the home page that I use, "my.yahoo.com". I can go to a command
window (Start - Run - "cmd") and type "ping my.yahoo.com"). I get:

C:\Documents and Settings\cacroll>ping my.yahoo.com

Pinging my.yahoo.akadns.net [66.163.171.129] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 66.163.171.129: bytes=32 time=84ms TTL=247
Reply from 66.163.171.129: bytes=32 time=89ms TTL=247
Reply from 66.163.171.129: bytes=32 time=89ms TTL=247
Reply from 66.163.171.129: bytes=32 time=20ms TTL=247

In this case, 66.163.171.129 is the address (from my location) of my.yahoo.com.
If I then go to my browser, I can access "66.163.171.129" instead of
"my.yahoo.com".

Find out the ip address of web pages that you access the most. The next time
this problem is observed, hit Stop on your browser, and enter an ip address.
See if your browser can access the page by ip address, when it can't by name.

PingPlotter gives a repetitive ping, combined with a traceroute, in a gui
display. This will show, at any given time, when there is a connectivity or
response problem with any network component in the path between you and the
object being pinged.

When the problem is observed, a ping against one of the DNS servers that you use
will show if the problem is inside or outside your LAN. It may also identify a
problem with DNS server response.

If you find that DNS server availability is your problem, if you are using
Comcast servers for resolution, and if PingPlotter shows the problem to be
between you and your DNS server, the issue has to be resolved by Comcast.

You may also find that the problem is basic connectivity outside your LAN, again
an issue that Comcast must resolve.

If you find that the issue is one requiring action by Comcast, emailing them one
or two PP traces may work wonders to overcome their reluctance to admit the
cause of a problem. Of course, be prepared to admit that the problem may be
caused by your router too.

--
Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck sonic net.

 

[Malke]

Chuck,

Thank-you! Let me answer some of your questions as best I can:

1. Both computers affected? I think so. My observations will get
better going forward, but the last 2 times both were affected.

2. Affected access by name, and by ip address? Not sure what you mean
here. I typically just try a link or bookmark to something like Google
and get a timeout. ***Please let me know how best to evaluate this
question in the future.***

3. How often observed? Once every week or two.

4. Discussed w Comcast? No. I find their reps to just follow some
generic troubleshooting procedure that is presented to them on their
screen. When
they get to "reboot the system" it will solve the problem and they'll
have no clue why. When I have better evidence I will speak to them.

I will start Pingplotter now!

Larry

Larry,

Your problems could be caused by DNS server response. You depend upon
a DNS
server for resolving addresses of the various web servers that you
access. If the DNS server (typically provided by your ISP) is slow or
non-responsive, you won't see a web page, as your browser has to wait
for an address before it can continue.

Let's take the home page that I use, "my.yahoo.com". I can go to a
command
window (Start - Run - "cmd") and type "ping my.yahoo.com"). I get:

C:\Documents and Settings\cacroll>ping my.yahoo.com

Pinging my.yahoo.akadns.net [66.163.171.129] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 66.163.171.129: bytes=32 time=84ms TTL=247
Reply from 66.163.171.129: bytes=32 time=89ms TTL=247
Reply from 66.163.171.129: bytes=32 time=89ms TTL=247
Reply from 66.163.171.129: bytes=32 time=20ms TTL=247

In this case, 66.163.171.129 is the address (from my location) of
my.yahoo.com. If I then go to my browser, I can access
"66.163.171.129" instead of "my.yahoo.com".

Find out the ip address of web pages that you access the most. The
next time this problem is observed, hit Stop on your browser, and
enter an ip address. See if your browser can access the page by ip
address, when it can't by name.

PingPlotter gives a repetitive ping, combined with a traceroute, in a
gui
display. This will show, at any given time, when there is a
connectivity or response problem with any network component in the
path between you and the object being pinged.

When the problem is observed, a ping against one of the DNS servers
that you use
will show if the problem is inside or outside your LAN. It may also
identify a problem with DNS server response.

If you find that DNS server availability is your problem, if you are
using Comcast servers for resolution, and if PingPlotter shows the
problem to be between you and your DNS server, the issue has to be
resolved by Comcast.

You may also find that the problem is basic connectivity outside your
LAN, again an issue that Comcast must resolve.

If you find that the issue is one requiring action by Comcast,
emailing them one or two PP traces may work wonders to overcome their
reluctance to admit the
cause of a problem. Of course, be prepared to admit that the problem
may be caused by your router too.

In addition to Chuck's always excellent advice, really look at the age
of the cable modem and the router. I was getting spotty Internet
connectivity awhile back - also Comcast and an 8-port Linksys router -
and it was on all machines, all operating systems. The Linksys was 4 or
5 years old and so was the cable modem. I replaced the router and had
Comcast replace the modem, and everything has been perfect since. I've
had several hardware techs tell me that 2-3 years is a normal lifespan
for low-end routers. With routers so inexpensive now, if yours is old
try replacing it.

Malke

 

[Chuck]

In addition to Chuck's always excellent advice, really look at the age
of the cable modem and the router. I was getting spotty Internet
connectivity awhile back - also Comcast and an 8-port Linksys router -
and it was on all machines, all operating systems. The Linksys was 4 or
5 years old and so was the cable modem. I replaced the router and had
Comcast replace the modem, and everything has been perfect since. I've
had several hardware techs tell me that 2-3 years is a normal lifespan
for low-end routers. With routers so inexpensive now, if yours is old
try replacing it.

Malke

Thanks, Malke, for your kind support. Hardware failure is always a possibility,
and is an affordable solution, especially if your equipment is old.

Another possibility which you might consider is the stability of your power.
Summer is coming again, and with it the possibility of brown-outs, power
failures, and lightning strikes. If you don't have a UPS yet, get one. A
$1,000 computer, $100 modem, router, who know what else, certainly deserves a
$100 UPS to protect and stabilise it.

If I were buying my first computer today, I wouldn't walk out of the store
without a UPS to go with it.

--
Cheers,
Chuck
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.
My email is AT DOT
actual address pchuck sonic net.