ADSL Drop Outs?!

[bladetek]

Hello everyone,

I am having some trouble with the internet connections on 2 seperate machines.

The story so far is that both machines were formated and clean install of XP Home with SP2 and all updates, all done at my place on my internet. Now I set up one of the machines at my friends place and his internet keeps dropping out. Originally thought this was a problem with his line or service provider untill I did the second pc with another person and it is doing the same thing dropping out; with a completley different adsl modem and isp.

Both PC's didn't have any updates done to them previously so just wondering if perhaps a windows update is causing the error (I installed every update including the optional software ones). All tcp/ip settings haven't been mucked about with. Any thoughts on this issue would be appreciated, I also understand that this could all be a coincidence however have to wait 2 weeks untill the techs from their internet providers can come take a look.

[dahlarbear]

Now I set up one of the machines at my friends place and his internet keeps dropping out.

1.  Current LAN configuration.  Is the computer directly connected to the ADSL modem or is there a home router/switch component between them?  Is it a wired or wireless connection?  Do other computers (Windows something?) work fine on your friend's network?  Is connection maintained if computer is directly cabled to the ADSL modem?

2.  Need more info on "internet keeps dropping out".  What sequence leads up to the drop out?  The user logs into Windows, is able to bring up a browser and surf the internet successfully (for how long?).  Which browser and version?  What messages are displayed if any when it drops out?  Anything in the Windows XP event logs?

Are you running a software firewall on the computer?

Try browsing the internet using "Safe Mode with Networking"?  (I'm not sure what the security risk is for this, but it would eliminate a lot of extra Windows software).

Both PC's didn't have any updates done to them previously so just wondering if perhaps a windows update is causing the error

3.  Are you saying these computers used to work well (no drop outs) with Window XP Home (SP?) on those ADSL ISP connections?

[bladetek]

Thanks for the reply in response to your questions:

1. The computer is connected directly via Ethernet on one and USB on the other machine. The ethernet connected machine is using a wireless router but still drops out whether it is on ethernet or wireless. My laptop also appears to have the same problem when connected via ethernet or wireless to the router (haven't tried my machine with the other USB adsl connection)
2. Both users can log on and use the internet (IE7 is browsing program) for different periods, sometimes 10 minutes or sometimes 1 minute before it drops out. Both are running the standard xp firewall.
3. Yes both computers were fine before the format and reinstall with updates, previously one was xp SP1 and the other SP2 but no recent updates.

I tried surfing in safe mode, still the same occurance. The adsl light on the modem appears to go out then back sometimes, haven't noticed it doing it all the time. Both internet providers said that there are no problems with the phone line or their connections in the area.

[viking]

Don't use the USB connection and ethernet connection, use only usb (this means only one computer - that's not good I think) or ethernet: you have many computers? Use a router. A home router (it includes a switch also, so you'll have at least 4 ethernet ports available for computers). You have a wireless router: connect both computers to the router. Using ethernet cable or wireless.

[bladetek]

These are two seperate machines at different houses's, one is using the ethernet and the other computer is using USB (USB is the only available option on that modem) both suffer from the drop outs however they were not doing it before the format and reinstall/updates.

[dahlarbear]

Check the properties of the network adapter at the computer within the desired Local Area Network (LAN) connection to see whether it Auto Negotiates connection speed and mode.

Within Linksys forums, some have resolved their connection problems by manually setting the network adaptor to 10 Mbps (mega bits per second).  Not sure whether they're setting full duplex or half-duplex.  I would start with full (and then try half, if necessary).  Both ends of the ethernet cable path need to agree on speed and mode.   If you manually set one, the other should adjust to it.

I'm guessing their ISPs aren't providing 100 Mbps throughput.  With ADSL it's probably not greater than 10 Mbps, so downgrading to 10 Mbps shouldn't be a performance issue.

[dahlarbear]

I am having some trouble with the internet connections on 2 seperate machines.

The story so far is that both machines were formated and clean install of XP Home with SP2 and all updates, all done at my place on my internet.

Is your internet connection also ADSL or is it cable?  I'm wondering whether the Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) value for those two systems was setup for cable (your internet?) and is now struggling with ADSL.

I can't access some websites ... why?

From:  Information on 'Tweaking' your TCP stack

For PPPoE, your MaxMTU should be no more than 1492, to allow space for the 8 byte PPPoE "wrapper", but again, experiment to find the optimal value.. For PPPoE, the stakes are high: if you get MTU wrong, you may not just be sub-optimal, things like UPLOADING, or web pages, may stall, or not work at all!

Do you know if the ADSL connection type is Point to Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE)?