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General discussion

intermittent connection

Oct 27, 2007 12:32AM PDT

I'm having some trouble with intermittent internet connections on my three computers at home. I realize this is a fairly frequent post, but i searched and couldn't find the same set of variables elsewhere and didn't want to piggyback on another forum. All three computers run xp home, my internet is dsl and i'm using a westell versalink 327W modem/router. I have an hp pavilion 750n (slighly older), a new Gateway GM5260 and a Dell B130 laptop. All computers work fine, but within the last week my internet has been on and off. If I'm on the web, I can continue through a site, but tryinig to change will kick me off. It might work for a half hour, maybe 2 hours, then out of nowhere, it doesn't work. It could be down for 5 minutes, maybe 3 hours. Internet connection problems are consistent among all three computers. The two desktops are hooked up to the router, laptop is wireless. Here is what I know and have done.

The modem always has a solid green light indicating consistent signal.If I unplug it and plug it back in, internet works again...usually for a short period of time (half hour). I have talked with ISP and performed their troubleshooting, which consisted primarily of double checking IE tools/options/connection/lan settings. On my laptop, the system tray shows continuous connection with excellent signal all the time. Technician from isp came and replaced modem with new one, same model, and by contact to isp checked all connections there and changed a couple of different setup configurations from their office (not on my computers). By his connection to the router, he had same problems on his laptop. I tried pinging gateway IP and it worked when the internet connection was on and off. Cannot ping any site by name (i.e. google.com) when connection is down, can when it is up. From inside the house, I tried pinging each computer from the others. HP to laptop was fine both ways. Neither pc could ping Gateway, nor receive from Gateway. "Request timed out" was the response.

I'm a beginner with technical troubleshooting, any suggestions or options would help. Thank you all so much!

Discussion is locked

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I helped my neighbor with their 327W.
Oct 27, 2007 1:57AM PDT

We enabled SSID broadcase, used WPA encryption and that cured it until a lightning strike. But it didn't just die. I loaned him my older Westell and router to sniff out the 327w had been damaged. So here's what I did.

1. Set it up proper.
2. Later (months!) swapped in my DSL+router.

Try that.

Bob

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not sure
Oct 27, 2007 2:55AM PDT

Bob,
thanks for the thoughts. i apologize, but i didn't quite understand what you are recommending i do. thanks again!

mb

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This link...
Oct 27, 2007 3:27AM PDT
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7589_102-0.html?forumID=62&threadID=264135&messageID=2584349 notes the settings we recommend.

If setting up your 327w is not possible you are likely going to have to call them for support (which I found abysmal) or have someone come in to do this for you.

My second suggestion was to swap in another set of hardware. So that was actually 2 suggestions. Where we are, it's cheaper to change out the modem+router than it is to call in the gewksquad.

Bob
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settings
Oct 27, 2007 4:07AM PDT

Bob,
thanks again for the help. out technician was here the other day and exchanged the router for a new one. i know he did some setup on it. he set it to WEP wireless security instead of WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK, which your link suggests. Also, there is a setting for "Hide SSID" and that is set to disabled instead of enabled. I don't want to mess something up and change his settings unless they are causing the problems. any thoughts?

mb

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Then swap it out. And back to WPA.
Oct 27, 2007 4:28AM PDT

My neighbor had severe connection issues after the strike. So swapping in my old system nailed the issue. It was a real tough one since it was just unreliable and not dead.

It's sad to read it's on WEP since not only my neighbor suffered connection issues (prior to the lightning strike) and if was the fact that someone was running WEPCRACK in the neighborhood. WPA is not subject to attacks like that yet.

Bob

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thanks for the tip
Oct 28, 2007 10:33AM PDT

i'll try to change that setting and see if that is the trouble. my mother has to submit an online assignment tonight, so i will try in the morning in case i mess something up. thanks again. i'll keep you posted.

mb

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wireless only
Oct 29, 2007 1:45AM PDT

I'm curious if the WEP is not the problem since that is only a wireless setting, but the intermittent connection problem is the same for all three computers including my laptop and 2 desktops. When I try to ping one of the desktops from the other two computers, it sends a "request timed out" notification in the Command window for as many packets as are attempted to send. I can ping the other computers just fine and all three will ping the gateway IP with no problems. Could this be related to the internet problem?

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Even PING can be dropped by XP's firewall.
Oct 29, 2007 3:15AM PDT

Ping is not a great test since we can drop requests at any stage or machine.

WEP is a recurring issue due to a kiddy cracktool in widespread use. Moving to WPA removes this from the list of possible issues.

Bob

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WEP
Oct 29, 2007 3:33AM PDT

Ok. So if i adjust the settings to WEP myself, it won't mess up any settings they made for us? Beginners apprehension I suppose. thx.

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Your choice here.
Oct 29, 2007 3:36AM PDT

I suggest you do this yourself since being at the mercy of paid support can be far too expensive. It's a common thing to setup so I thing all you need to do is to remember that once you change the router some freak out since they can't connect.

They forget to change the laptop to match...

Bob