Connection problems? Assistance please?

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ND4SPD

ND4SPD

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Hi guys, for the past two weeks my computer keeps getting cut from it's connection. I would have to unplug the modem from the router in order to reconnect. This would happen almost every half hour for some reason. I went to the network connections on my computer and tried to repair the connection but I get an error message about not being able to clear the DNS cache. I have no idea how this works or why it's doing this so a little help on fixing this really annoying problem would be great.
 
Not much info to go on. Could be the cable modem, could be the router, could be your network card.

If there are other PCs on the router, do they have the symptoms at the same time? If not, then it's probably in your PC, or its cable.

When you're not connected, do you have an IP address? (at a command prompt, run 'ipconfig')

If so, ping the address listed as your gateway. Do you get a response? If so, then it's probably not in the PC, possibly not in the router.

If you know your public IP, ping that and see what you get.

Lastly, reset devices one at a time to see when you get reconnected, starting with the cable modem. Unplug it, wait 15 or 20 seconds, plug it back in. After another 15 or 20 seconds it should be up. See if you get out from the PC. If not, cycle power on the router and see if you get out.

Also, if you can ping the router but aren't getting out, and if you know how to get the management screens of the router, have a look at its status. Does it show connected, with a good IP?
 
Well, powering down the modem didn't work. I also have lost all internet connection to my pc. I can only access my internet by connecting my PS3. This is incredibly frustrating, as my computer seems to have some sort of connection as I can still download music off limewire, but cannot access any webpages through IE or firefox.
 
It's intermittent, right? When it cuts out, do you have a popup saying "A network cable is unplugged"?

Also, if your modem & router within about 2 feet of any speakers, subwoofers or televisions? Those produce lots of electrostatic discharge which is very disruptive to modems.

I moved my modem about 2 and a half feet farther away from those things and it's worked flawlessly for about 3 weeks now.
 
Does the pc get it's ip settings from the router, or are they typed in manually.
If they're typed in manually, be sure that the router ip is set as the default gateway.
(that's the dns warning you get)

DNS translates the url into the webserver's ip. Limewire uses only IP adresses i believe, and doesn't need a dns server to work.

Open up firefox and type in the address bar: 208.122.38.66
You should be able to visit gtplanet by using this ip.

let us know if it works
 
Year.Zero
It's intermittent, right? When it cuts out, do you have a popup saying "A network cable is unplugged"?

Also, if your modem & router within about 2 feet of any speakers, subwoofers or televisions? Those produce lots of electrostatic discharge which is very disruptive to modems.

I moved my modem about 2 and a half feet farther away from those things and it's worked flawlessly for about 3 weeks now.
Click to expand...

No when it used to cut out, there would be no warning. Yesterday the connection cut out permanently, not even unplugging the router would do anything. When I go to the network connections on my control panel, it says the connection is connected. Every time I hit repair, it kept saying ''Could not clear DNS cache''.
 
ND4SPD
I can still download music off limewire, but cannot access any webpages through IE or firefox.
Click to expand...

That sounds like a DNS failure to me. Quite possibly the problem is with your ISP. Does this happen to all computers on the network?

(btw, if you get the IP address of your favorite sites, you should still be able to visit them try this http://64.233.167.99/ for google)
 
There is a problem with the pc itself, since the ps3 can access the internet just fine.
 
every machine that uses an url to visit a website needs to access a dns server to obtain the ip in order to visit the website. Even the PS3
 
you type in the url on the PS3, so the ps3 has to look it up on a dns server to know the ip address of the webserver.
Only then can it access the webserver to download the webpage :)

I know how it all works. I'm an IT student.
Learned to set up a dns server last year.
 
Good. That makes you perfect to solve his problem. So tell me, is it possible that the PS3 has the DNS information cached?
 
Yep it is, I have to agree on that one. Don't know how long a ps3 stores it's DNS cache.

@ ND4SPD: type in an url of a website that you haven't visited on the PS3 before and
look if it can find the requested page.
If that's the case, you can't blame your ISP any more.
 
DustDriver
Does the pc get it's ip settings from the router, or are they typed in manually.
If they're typed in manually, be sure that the router ip is set as the default gateway.
(that's the dns warning you get)

DNS translates the url into the webserver's ip. Limewire uses only IP adresses i believe, and doesn't need a dns server to work.

Open up firefox and type in the address bar: 208.122.38.66
You should be able to visit gtplanet by using this ip.

let us know if it works
Click to expand...

I believe my router automatically chooses an ip. I'm not too sure though, how would I check?(Sorry,I'm not too computer oriented) Also,typing the ip into the address bar didn't work at all.
 
DustDriver
Yep it is, I have to agree on that one. Don't know how long a ps3 stores it's DNS cache.

@ ND4SPD: type in an url of a website that you haven't visited on the PS3 before and
look if it can find the requested page.
If that's the case, you can't blame your ISP any more.
Click to expand...

Yep,just went to a site I've never been to before on the PS3 and it found it just fine.
 
I'm guessing you have XP?
Go check the status of the connection and go to the second tab.
The IP address should be something like 192.168.1.3
Subnet mask should be 255.255.255.0
And standard gateway 192.168.1.1
(the 3 first numbers should be equal to the 3 first numbers of the IP address)

What you could try to do is remove the network card in the pc hardware list and restart, so that it reinstalls the device. (if you don't know how to do so, please ask)
 
DNS failure was my first guess, but

Maybe a DHCP renew?


IF none of that seems to work, something is wrong with you physical connections
 
DustDriver
I'm guessing you have XP?
Go check the status of the connection and go to the second tab.
The IP address should be something like 192.168.1.3
Subnet mask should be 255.255.255.0
And standard gateway 192.168.1.1
(the 3 first numbers should be equal to the 3 first numbers of the IP address)

What you could try to do is remove the network card in the pc hardware list and restart, so that it reinstalls the device. (if you don't know how to do so, please ask)
Click to expand...

I checked the 2nd tab and this is what I got.
IP 99.225.8.211
Subnet Mask 225.225.254.0
Default Gateway 99.225.8.1
Hope this helps with anything.......
 
255.255.254.0 is a strange subnet mask, but should work.
Try reinstalling the network card.

edit: if that doesn't work, go to Control Panel => Administrative Tools => Services
Make sure DNS Client is Started and set to Automatic.
 
DustDriver
255.255.254.0 is a strange subnet mask, but should work.
Try reinstalling the network card.

edit: if that doesn't work, go to Control Panel => Administrative Tools => Services
Make sure DNS Client is Started and set to Automatic.
Click to expand...

How do I reinstall my network card?
 
I don't know if what I have to offer helps, but this is what I do when the internet connection goes wacky.

Command Prompt: ipconfig/flushdns

Command Prompt: ipconfig/release

Command Prompt: ipconfig/renew

Check the "standard gateway" address and enter that into Internet Explorer.

Next, disconnect then reconnect to the internet at this location.
 
Solid Lifters
I don't know if what I have to offer helps, but this is what I do when the internet connection goes wacky.

Command Prompt: ipconfig/flushdns

Command Prompt: ipconfig/release

Command Prompt: ipconfig/renew

Check the "standard gateway" address and enter that into Internet Explorer.

Next, disconnect then reconnect to the internet at this location.
Click to expand...

Alright I'll try that. My DNS client was also disabled when I checked, so I started it and put it on automatic. When I go to repair the connection I no longer get the "Could not clear DNS cache" but I still have no connection to the internet.

Edit
Tried the above and still nothing.
My computer now says something about failing at an HTTP request test.
 
ND4SPD
How do I reinstall my network card?
Click to expand...

Go to start, right click on My computer.
Click on manage in the menu.
In the following screen click on device manager on the left.
You should know get a list of devices in the main window.
Double click on network adapters, right click on the network card and click uninstall.
Press ok in the popup screen en the device should be removed from the system.
Then restart the pc and windows will detect the card as new hardware and automatically install it again.
 
DustDriver
Go to start, right click on My computer.
Click on manage in the menu.
In the following screen click on device manager on the left.
You should know get a list of devices in the main window.
Double click on network adapters, right click on the network card and click uninstall.
Press ok in the popup screen en the device should be removed from the system.
Then restart the pc and windows will detect the card as new hardware and automatically install it again.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much! This solved my connection problem immediately!
 

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