Persistent internet connection problem. I'm angry.

[FetusMan]

This problem is extremely frustrating and confusing. What happens is that my connection is REAL sporadic. I can stay online for a few minutes, but then it cuts out for a few minutes, and comes back on again. So far, I have discovered this:
-It is not my ISP. My PC is on a LAN, my brother has his PC hooked up to the same ADSL box as I am, and he does not have any problems.
-It is NOT the NIC, or network interface board. So far, I have gone through three different brands (NetGear, LinkSys, and some other one I can't remember the name of). THe first was an ISA 10 baseT board, and the other two were PCI 10/100s. The problem started somewhere during the middle of my ownership of the old ISA card.
-Recently, I have upgraded my motherboard and CPU from a K6-2 380 on a Micronics C200 mainboard to an Athlon TBird 750 on an Asus A7V mainboard. My connection problem has occurred on both mainboards.
-During my CPU/Mainboard upgrade, I also reformatted my harddrive. Partly to clear the junk on my machine, and partly to see if it woud get rid of my problem. Not a change.
-I have moved my computer around the house to different sockets that have access to the LAN. No changes. -I have changed my IP to a different one that is in the same subnet. Still no change.
-I have run anti-virus software (PC Cillin'), and I have updated the software. Not a thing.
-I have plugged my PC directly into the 10 baseT hub and I have plugged it directly into another 10/100 hub.
-I have changed my PC's ip to my brother's PC's ip, plugged it into his LAN outlet, and have run the same internet applications on both, switching the plug between tests. He doesn't have the problem, I do.
As you can see, I've done an awful lot to get this **** problem fixed. I'll be lucky if this post even gets out onto the forums. Right now I'm using the NetGear board, I just put it in tonight, and my connection has gone out a few times already. PLEASE, HELP ME!!!!

 

[Diesel]

It may sound simple, but you may have a cabling problem. It's one of the most common causes of network problems but the most overlooked and the most difficult to troubleshoot.
Try using a different network cable between you and the LAN.

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On an long enough timeline, everyone's survival rate drops to zero.

 

[JHowse]

Try using your brother's cable and re-run the test where your PC replaces your brother's. If that works, you can try the following:

-Test your brother's PC with your cable.
-Test your PC at another socket with your brother's cable.
-If both of the above work, test your brother's PC with your cable at another socket.

<font color="#000000">[Edited by JHowse on August 29, 2000 (edited 1 time)]</font>

 

[FetusMan]

Yeah, I've already tried that but forgot to mention it.
Anyway, I managed to fix it with sheer dumb luck. Partly out of frustration and partly out of curiousness, I looked at the network properties, where I decided I'd start playing around with the IP addresses in my DNS list. Well, I managed to accidentally click the gateway tab instead of the DNS tab without knowing it, select an IP address, remove it from the list (this was okay, since I had multiple IPs listed in both the DNS list and the Gateway list), restarted, and I don't have anymore connection problems. I looked back on what I did by browsing through the network properties again and discovered that I had not done what I intended to do, but I managed to fix it anyway. Funny how I feel both disappointed and greatful. I've now got a stockpile of NICs. At least I can access the internet normally now.
Anyway, thanks for the suggestions.

<font color="#000000">[Edited by FetusMan on August 30, 2000 (edited 1 time)]</font>