[Help request] - Network

[Atomicide]

Im a person that knows a lot about networks etc, but ive got a problem thats pissing me off ****ing bigtime and i cant see where the fault lies.

My computer + another computer on my network, randonly lose their connections for like a split second.

Its enough to crash me out of MSN repeatedly, brings my downloads to a standstill, crashes me out of games and its really ****ing annoying.

Ive removed ALL settings etc that i had installed for Static IP's Port Forwarding DMZ's and so on, yet none of this seems to resolve the issue and its really ****ing me off.

My ISP is reporting no issues at all. Basically the best info i can give is that my downloads slow down from 450kbps to 0, nothing. Then they just stay there even though the connction is obviously active again, becuase im browing web pages etc.

it looks like my bandwidth just evaporates, but i have no ****ing ide why, or even if this is the problem. Any advice would be appreciated.

Im running on a Lynksis router, and my ISP is Blueyonder. (4MB bb)

 

[Kaori]

does this happen anytime? "even if you are not downloading"
does this happen when transferring files from another computer?
does your network icon in your tray say "network unplugged"?
does BOTH computers facing the same "down" time?

 

[Atomicide]

heres what i know for sure Kaori.

I have actually seen the "a network cable is unplugged" but only once, and this was about 15 mins ago, yet, the internet remained on when it flashed up.

Yes it happens even when im not downloading, such as a few mins ago MSN cut off for no reason.

no the computers dont have exactly the same same downtime, they do seem to occur close together, and if im on one comp and my girlfriend is on the other, we can both be logged into MSN but not see each other as "online"

Theres a 3rd computer on the network downstairs, which my girlfriends dad uses, he spends all day downloading crap cos he has no life, but apparently his computer has no problems at all, althought its more than likely this is bull****, becuase he doesnt want to face the fact theres a problem.

There doesnt seem to be anything that triggers it. My router has no port forwarding set up at all, no port triggering, no static IP's are set up and theres no DMZ.

tbh im completely stumped :/

 

[anto]

It maybe a fualty network cable.

 

[Atomicide]

its not, it happens on 2 computers, ive also just realised, i can play games online for hours on end with no problem at all.

I sat playing MU for ages, and i think i got disconnected twice, but that might just been cos i was AFK too long. it just seems to affect MSN and downloads, im not sure abou web pages, becuase i havent ever happened to be opening one when MSN goes off. so i cant tell for sure.

But Affected = MSN/Downloads (they cut out about 10 times an hour)
Not affected = games i got cut of twice in 4 hours (but i think its cos i went AFK on them)

 

[Atomicide]

latest info i can provide, i ran the XP pro connection diagostic tool. and everything was fine with the exception of DNS resolution.

In my router, there are 3 sets of DNS listed. the diagnostics tool pinged all 3 and only one of the IP's responded, the other 2 completely timed out (100% loss) while the working one was 100% fine.

NOt sure if this sheds any extra light on the situation, but i hope it will.

Also, the WAN subnet mask and LAN subnet mask displayed on my router are different.

My LAN subnet mask is 255.255.255.248
my WAN subnet mask is 255.255.248.0

This is as much extra info as i can give.

 

[Love]

Hmmm......ive been getting the same sort of thing aswell recently, my internet connection kind of half drops, i can't access webpages and downloads but msn and stuff like online radios stay on, never left them to see how long they stay on for but it's a good 10+ mins and i don't get full access to the internet back unless i reconnect.

On a wireless network btw (Just dropped my linksys router for a Pre-N one but they both give me the same problems, im guessing it's the ISP or something in the settings but i can't for the life of me figure out what).

Oh and it's completely random (just did it 15 mins ago aswell -_-).

 

[Atomicide]

mine is really frequant, my downloads go to 0 speed, and i have to stop DAP then restart to get em to go again.

MSN drops about every 5 - 10 mins, so does X fire. its really ****ing me off

 

[Kaori]

you mentioned "split second"
did it go down for just 0.5/5/50 seoncds? like if you ping something constantly... it will give you a few 1-2 timeouts or a bunch 10-20 timeouts...

I can't think of anything atm... it could be router/wiring problem...

also in router.. is there a log you can look at to see if there are any resync on the modem?

 

[urbanfox]

Router problem?

Try direct connect and see if that improves.

 

[Atomicide]

yeah i will try a direct connect when i get the chance Urban.

By split second i mean the amount of time it appears to go down for is like 0.01 of a second. becuase MSN can time out just as i refresh a page, and the lage will load fine, its a tiny amout of time.

Ive reset the router and my cable connection. Ive got new router Firmware, a new IP and DNS information have been assigned. Yes it keeps happening :/

the thing that confuses me is it doesnt seem to be games that suffer, only MSN and anything im downloading at the time (not P2P downloading) but downloading from a website etc.

 

[Kaori]

try ping a server... for example
ping -t www.lomcn.co.uk
now when the split seconds there.. make a note of the ping thing... see how that goes...

 

[Atomicide]

This just gets more and more retarded. I followed ur instructions and ping -t www.fire-box.net

there were 2 time-outs listed in the command prompt window, the first one didnt appear to affect anything, the second one quite possibly occured at the same time as the crash, but i cant tell for definate.

IF it was related to the crash, then it was that single loss, every other ping near it was nice and low where i would expect it. No increase in pings times or anything, it just "went"

 

[urbanfox]

the thing that confuses me is it doesnt seem to be games that suffer, only MSN and anything im downloading at the time (not P2P downloading) but downloading from a website etc.

Games/P2P are not affected by quick d/c and r/c because of auto-reconnect.
MSN should not be affected by a sudden drop in bandwidth even for a few seconds, which makes it sound more and more like the actual lan connection is disconnecting and reconnecting, not the internet flow.

Have you tried switching ports?

 

[Atomicide]

Games/P2P are not affected by quick d/c and r/c because of auto-reconnect.
MSN should not be affected by a sudden drop in bandwidth even for a few seconds, which makes it sound more and more like the actual lan connection is disconnecting and reconnecting, not the internet flow.

Have you tried switching ports?

how do i switch the ports that MSN uses?

 

[urbanfox]

I mean the physical ports on the router.

 

[Atomicide]

also note: my router logs show a ton of traffic using port 139 but i have no idea what its using it for :/

 

[urbanfox]

netbios, network shares and ****... Your router's firewall is on right?

 

[Atomicide]

erm, being entirely honest, i have no idea if my router has a firewall or not, however, all my PC's are more than adequaltely firewalled. I knew it was NetBIOS and i knew it was dangerous, what i dont know is why theres constant upstream data using it.

 

[urbanfox]

Is it domestic or foreign traffic.

Sounds like someone might be leaching.