Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

What would cause an internet disconnect?

Feb 16, 2014 10:22PM PST

Hi - I have tried to find a reason for this and have been unsuccessful. At the start of the Olympics, my wife was watching it via the internet and all of a sudden the connection disappeared. At the same time my desktop was no longer connected. After about 10 minutes it was OK and I thought it was just a provider issue. It happened again later on and continued to happen over the course of the week. The other day I noticed the same thing when browsing videos, a number of them in a short period of time. A disconnect, and then back in about 10 minutes. I contacted the provider and was told it was probably a network problem at my end as they showed no interruption to service from their end. I told them that during this "outage" I could clearly access the pc's on the network. I asked if modems buffer as I thought maybe too much info was coming through the system and was creating a log jam so to speak, and was told modems do not buffer. Today I experienced the same thing but this time it was not video, but rather about 25 searches on ebay in a period of about 4-5 minutes. As always, came back in about 10 minutes. This happens on different pc's both running XPSP3, and using different browsers, one Chrome and one Opera. All I can think of is that I don't have the most up to date version of Flash (though its not that old) or maybe the modem has gone bad, though I read that that does not usually happen. I am pretty sure I can easily recreate the hang, but if the provider isn't seeing it in their log I don't know how much help they will be. If it helps, the router is about a year old, a Linksys wireless G, 2.4ghz and the modem is a Best Data, which is at least 3 years old. Any ideas you might have will be greatly appreciated.

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Answer
Too many reasons.
Feb 16, 2014 10:28PM PST

WiFi is for all intent too easy to see issues with since it can drop due to simple things like an old 2.4GHz cordless phone.

I didn't see where you tried a direct connection.
Bob

- Collapse -
A little more information - maybe
Feb 22, 2014 7:25PM PST

Hi Bob,

Thanks for your reply. I too have found there are a number of reasons this could be happening. I eliminated the Olympic problem by using a different site. Additionally, I have found that at least one site, ebay, caused a disconnect 6 times. This occurred only when the page that I was viewing was one that probably was displaying ads. I say probably because I have Ad Blocker Plus installed in both my Opera and Chrome browsers. I think it could be a combination of a) some sort of new way of displaying ads and b) my Flash player is a version or two behind current. I can eliminate the adblock issue by trying a test on my wifes computer that does not use ad blocking software. The Olympic feed she was watching that caused the problem had tons of ads going on (and also an older version of flash). Somehow I think the ads are a direct cause of the problem but I haven't been able to find any info online about this yet. I always feel that whenever you have a computer problem, someone has already had it and fixed it.

- Collapse -
About AdBlock.
Feb 23, 2014 1:31AM PST

Nice app but a few and these are few won't continue if the ad doesn't get through. Some are nice and reveal "Hey you blocked our advertising" but some just drop out.

I'm sorry I didn't catch that you call an "internet disconnect" when the video stops playing. To me this is more about where the internet is lost.
Bob

- Collapse -
A little More Information
Feb 26, 2014 7:06PM PST

Hi Bob,

No, it really is a disconnect as no pages will load for about 10 minutes and then everything is fine. Happened this morning and I checked the network. I could access the folders on other pc's so I think I can safely rule out the router as the problem. I can easily watch long videos/tv shows so I believe its site specific and with that comes my belief that it may be ad content related. While a virus scan (AVG) came back clean I suppose there could be malware that is causing this. I will have to check that
Greg