PC keeps losing internet connection UPDATED

davester

I actually had the same thing with XP SP3 too, totally different computer and hardware, so I think its either something in the browsers or some update, cause it worked fine till SP3 and when I got my new laptop with vista it had the same issue, Just XP you can close the program in task manager and it will work again.

kwikbreaks

This netbook is XP SP3 patched up to date and I rarely if ever shut it down or close the browser - I just hibernate it. If this was a common problem with memory leaks than I'd be getting it too and I don't.

That said I don't know what it is either as the other PCs keep running and I'm guessing they all just use default settings which is to use DHCP for their IPs. Initially I wondered if it was a dodgy connector but the lack of the red X pretty much rules that out.

MrsBartolozzi

Ok at long last PC disconnected again and I have news, well something that might help you lovely people work out what is wrong!

I pinged bbc.co.uk again and got this message: Ping request could not find host bbc.co.uk please check name and try again


When I pinged the url, I got the same ping log as before with time 45-47ms.

The ipconfig/all logs are identical when connected and when not connected. I will copy here if you need me to.
(dam.n I forgot to do the msn thing) oh well I hope this will help.
Many thanks,
MrsB.

MrsBartolozzi

kwikbreaks wrote: »

.. and if you hover the cursor over it what does the text say? I'd expect it to say limited or no connectivity indicating it no longer has an IP (probably because the lease has expired) but it may say something else such as local only.

No, still says local area connection, speed 100 mbps, status: connected.

cooltt

Hello
Why not try the obvious and use system restore? choose a date when you know your internet was working.

k314

When you say you ping'ed the URL you mean you ping'ed the numbers, ie 212.58.224.138 or something similar?

Next time when you get the problem try 'ipconfig /flushdns' in the CMD window as it looks like the DNS entry may be corrupted. Then do the 'ping news.bbc.co.uk' again.

Nukey

Flushing the DNS is only the way to go forward if there are issues with only a couple of sites in particular, but it seems to be happening on all sites.

The issue you have there (if you are able to ping the IP address) is where the ISP is unable to resolve the DNS. This is something that can only be fixed by the ISP, you haven't done anything wrong and it could happen to anyone.

This is something that will need to be fixed from their end, I get calls from customers about this every once in a while, the mainstream operators (BT, AOL, Tiscali, TalkTalk, Sky and Orange) are natorious for it.

You can confirm this by typing in the IP address of a website instead of the URL (when it goes down). You may well find the site appears as per normal this way.

- When you speak to them insist you are having DNS issues, that they have their end. I must stress that you need to use those words . I would say "they should know what you are talking about" but in most cases this generally is something they have to escalate to their second line teams (I once heard of a customer phoning up Toshiba tech support because AOL told them their Internet was "corroded" and to speak to the hardware manufacturer... I'm sure you get the picture)

(Sorry I was offline for some time btw)

- Nukey

kwikbreaks

Yes the symptoms indicate a DNS problem. The other PCs should be getting it too though.

See if you can understand how to swap over to using http://www.opendns.com/ - there are some guides on there showing how to set it up with a range of operating systems (they may show how to do it at router level too but I'm not sure and haven't checked).

Nukey

Sorry I never saw the bit about other machines connecting.

I am thinking of maybe security software causing issues.

Iwould recommend that you start the machine in Safe Mode with Networking and see if the issue occurs, still.

You would then turn the machine off (shut down completely), turn it on, holding the F8 key. You would use the arrow keys on the keyboard and highlight Safe Mode with Networking, and press Enter.

May look a bit more basic than before. This is just for testing purposes to see what happens.

- Nukey

kwikbreaks

No you misunderstood me - the symptoms do shout DNS. I've no idea why it doesn't impact the other machines - maybe intermittent - maybe they aren't used much - maybe ony some domains - maybe it just wasn't noticed.

The only thing I'd disagree with in your original post is contacting the ISP because getting their script monkeys to even understand what the complaint was would be an uphill struggle and they'd have you changing filters, reinstalling windows, doing speed tests, etc. etc. until you either died of old age or their real techs realised their DNS servers were iffy and fixed them.