Mutantbear
Semi Constructive Criticism
+1,431|6437|London, England

My internet has been dropping out randomly for 5 seconds every hour or so sometimes more. Its been like that for about a week or so and its making it hard to play online. I blame it on my dad torrenting but when it happens sometimes hes not online. I'm not on a wifi connection and this is bugging me.

Any thoughts
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Scorpion0x17
can detect anyone's visible post count...
+691|7238|Cambridge (UK)
What sort of internet provision is it - fibre or copper?
And has it been raining when it's happened? or is it all the time?
Mutantbear
Semi Constructive Criticism
+1,431|6437|London, England

Scorpion0x17 wrote:

What sort of internet provision is it - fibre or copper?
And has it been raining when it's happened? or is it all the time?
It happens all the time, not just when its raining although its been raining alot lately. I'm not sure if its fiber or copper but i think copper
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chittydog
less busy
+586|7308|Kubra, Damn it!

If it tends to get bad when it rains, you may have a bad cable somewhere. I had a similar problem when I first moved into my house. When it rained or got really hot outside (I live in Texas, so that was pretty much all summer long), my connection would blink in and out a lot. The technician came two or three times before he realize that the cable that ran from the street to my house was bad. He ran a new one and now it's solid all the time.

On the other hand, rebooting your router may help too.
Mutantbear
Semi Constructive Criticism
+1,431|6437|London, England

chittydog wrote:

If it tends to get bad when it rains, you may have a bad cable somewhere. I had a similar problem when I first moved into my house. When it rained or got really hot outside (I live in Texas, so that was pretty much all summer long), my connection would blink in and out a lot. The technician came two or three times before he realize that the cable that ran from the street to my house was bad. He ran a new one and now it's solid all the time.

On the other hand, rebooting your router may help too.
I've rebooted my router countless times. I don't think its a bad cable but do you think switching the cables would help?
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chittydog
less busy
+586|7308|Kubra, Damn it!

If rain is affecting it and you've already rebooted the router, it's likely a cable outside of your home. Changing the ones inside probably won't help. If you call your ISP, they should send someone out to check your signal strength for free. Just tell them what's happening. The bad side is they may have to run a new cable along the outside of your house.
Mutantbear
Semi Constructive Criticism
+1,431|6437|London, England

chittydog wrote:

If rain is affecting it and you've already rebooted the router, it's likely a cable outside of your home. Changing the ones inside probably won't help. If you call your ISP, they should send someone out to check your signal strength for free. Just tell them what's happening. The bad side is they may have to run a new cable along the outside of your house.
FYI we had a new cable run not 2 months ago for internet problems. Those were worse though and would knock the internet out for a while. It is not a cable unless this new one is fried already
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chittydog
less busy
+586|7308|Kubra, Damn it!

Sorry, man. That's all I had. Does every machine in the house get it, or just yours? If it's just yours, you may also want to check your NIC.
Mutantbear
Semi Constructive Criticism
+1,431|6437|London, England

chittydog wrote:

Sorry, man. That's all I had. Does every machine in the house get it, or just yours? If it's just yours, you may also want to check your NIC.
I dont think its just mine but whats my NIC, ill check anyway, Network internet connection?
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bugz
Fission Mailed
+3,311|6785

Mutantsteak wrote:

chittydog wrote:

Sorry, man. That's all I had. Does every machine in the house get it, or just yours? If it's just yours, you may also want to check your NIC.
I dont think its just mine but whats my NIC, ill check anyway, Network internet connection?
The card that you plug your DSL/Cable cord into. It might be built into your motherboard.
Mutantbear
Semi Constructive Criticism
+1,431|6437|London, England

ebug9 wrote:

Mutantsteak wrote:

chittydog wrote:

Sorry, man. That's all I had. Does every machine in the house get it, or just yours? If it's just yours, you may also want to check your NIC.
I dont think its just mine but whats my NIC, ill check anyway, Network internet connection?
The card that you plug your DSL/Cable cord into. It might be built into your motherboard.
How should I check it? Physically open the computer and check if something is messed or is there a test I run?
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chittydog
less busy
+586|7308|Kubra, Damn it!

Your network card. Network Interface Card. See if you can swap it out with someone else's. If it's onboard, you'll need to try putting in an actual card. If you lived around the Dallas area, I'd give you one of my extras.

However, if everyone in the house is having the same problem, it's not your card.

Last edited by chittydog (2008-07-09 07:53:13)

Mutantbear
Semi Constructive Criticism
+1,431|6437|London, England

chittydog wrote:

Your network card. Network Interface Card. See if you can swap it out with someone else's. If it's onboard, you'll need to try putting in an actual card. If you lived around the Dallas area, I'd give you one of my extras.

However, if everyone in the house is having the same problem, it's not your card.
I believe everyone in the house is having the same problem

I don't think I'm ever getting help
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max
Vela Incident
+1,652|7040|NYC / Hamburg

overheating router? That happens quiet a lot with cheap modem/routers, especially when the firewall is active. Try popping off the cover and checking temps with your fingers
once upon a midnight dreary, while i pron surfed, weak and weary, over many a strange and spurious site of ' hot  xxx galore'. While i clicked my fav'rite bookmark, suddenly there came a warning, and my heart was filled with mourning, mourning for my dear amour, " 'Tis not possible!", i muttered, " give me back my free hardcore!"..... quoth the server, 404.
Defiance
Member
+438|7144

Mutantsteak wrote:

I don't think I'm ever getting help
You gave no specific information, we know jack all about your connection, we're not there to diagnose anything in anyway and your looking for help on an unrelated internet forum. As much as I can tell you is to unplug everything, blow the dust out, and try again.

Call. an. ISP. tech.

(PS, taking apart a router and sticking your fingers around is a bad idea. If it's overheating, you'll feel it in the case.)

Last edited by Defiance (2008-07-13 08:21:53)

max
Vela Incident
+1,652|7040|NYC / Hamburg

routers are always wamish. Especially if the CPU doesn't have a heatsink you won't really feel anything on the outside
once upon a midnight dreary, while i pron surfed, weak and weary, over many a strange and spurious site of ' hot  xxx galore'. While i clicked my fav'rite bookmark, suddenly there came a warning, and my heart was filled with mourning, mourning for my dear amour, " 'Tis not possible!", i muttered, " give me back my free hardcore!"..... quoth the server, 404.
Defiance
Member
+438|7144

max wrote:

routers are always wamish. Especially if the CPU doesn't have a heatsink you won't really feel anything on the outside
That's not my experience, but let's say it is overheating and the heat isn't making it to the case.

Poking around the inside you are doing these:
-Risking yourself
-Voiding the warranty
-Possibly breaking the router
-Wasting your time

You (OP) said you blamed your dad's torrents at first so I assume that's when it started? My last router couldn't take torrents, but it didn't get any hardware damage. None the less, perhaps it's possible and you could try using a different router. Ask around for one to borrow for a few hours.

If I need to say it again, dicking around inside something you're not familiar with is not the best idea. If you find something wrong, either way you're going to shit can it and look for another one. That in mind, the best thing to do is just swap it with another one you know works and see if that solves the problem. If not, it's not your router and either way you've saved your fingers the trouble.

Last edited by Defiance (2008-07-13 09:25:00)

max
Vela Incident
+1,652|7040|NYC / Hamburg

Defiance wrote:

max wrote:

routers are always wamish. Especially if the CPU doesn't have a heatsink you won't really feel anything on the outside
That's not my experience, but let's say it is overheating and the heat isn't making it to the case.

Poking around the inside you are doing these:
-Risking yourself
I don't see a risk here. What are going to do, stab yourself with a screwdriver?
-Voiding the warranty
if you still have warranty you can RMA the router
-Possibly breaking the router
I don't really see a risk here either. What is taking off the cover going to destroy? I'm not asking for some crazy mod here
-Wasting your time
Fixing the problem is a waste of time? If it solves the problem all the better, if it doesn't you've spent a max of 5 minutes on it and can possibly pinpoint the problem. I'm sure he can afford the time
once upon a midnight dreary, while i pron surfed, weak and weary, over many a strange and spurious site of ' hot  xxx galore'. While i clicked my fav'rite bookmark, suddenly there came a warning, and my heart was filled with mourning, mourning for my dear amour, " 'Tis not possible!", i muttered, " give me back my free hardcore!"..... quoth the server, 404.
Defiance
Member
+438|7144

max wrote:

-Wasting your time
Fixing the problem is a waste of time? If it solves the problem all the better, if it doesn't you've spent a max of 5 minutes on it and can possibly pinpoint the problem. I'm sure he can afford the time
"This feels warm, but I can't measure the temperature with my finger and I don't have the recommended temperature range for these chips so I don't know if this is even a problem. Maybe I should get another router to see if that fixes it."

Skip the pointless poking around. If you find the router is the problem, because the second works, and it's in three pieces Linksys/Netgear/whoever might have a problem taking it back and you will have to buy another one. Thus is becomes a waste of money as well. If you keep it in one piece and diagnose it in another fashion which were going to make it to anyways, you can RMA it and get another one but not if you pop the cover off and fiddle fruitlessly.

Last edited by Defiance (2008-07-13 10:34:15)

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