Topic: Lost internet connection, truly stumped

[NJAntman]

Posting from work and hoping I don't get nailed for forum usage which is a no no, but desperation is setting in.

Had been on the net succesfully on home computer as of Monday nite. Tried Tuesday, no connect, not to my normal Comcast homepage nor any other address; still no connect as of this morning. Contacted tech support for ISP Comcast yesterday, got standard reply of the remotely checked and the say the cable modem is healthy, they gave me a list of steps to run thru to check DHCP (OK result) and reset modem (done several times with several computer reboots). I've even used the Comcast Support Agent to reset IE settings to last known good connection date of Monday. Still no connection.

I know I have a good signal coming over the cable line as there is a video capture card on this computer and its showing a clean and crisp image that mirrors what I see on the cable TV. The modem has all the right lights on and looks the same as ever.

The only recent physical changes have been on Sunday when I  temporarily shut off power to add a circiut to the breaker box and also Sunday disconnecting and reconnecting the cable lines that feed into the TVs, but never touching the sole line that feeds directly to the computer. Again, connection was good as of Monday nite.

At this point I'm stumped, stymied, confused. If I see a clean cable TV image getting all the way thru to the vid capture card, I have good signal. But how do I check if the modem is sending back down the line (other than taking Comcast's word for it)? Should I reload IE (and how)?

[Bonk]

Do you have Norton installed? Is it expired? If so, it will disable your internet connection and will not allow you to uninstall Norton to recover your connection yet it will let you connect to renew your Norton subscription. Truly nasty stuff.

[KBF-Kurok]

did you change a setting on your firewall. I disable my conection when not using it to help with security. Sometimes i forget to enable it again and have the same symptoms.

[NJAntman]

No Norton, but I do have a new copy of AVG installed (deleted old) a few weeks ago, but that went through several reboots, daily scans, and auto updates since then without problems.

Only change to firewall was about a month ago to get wirless camera to work with router, had to allow the cameras software .exe unto a list of files to be allowed access to net whilst firewall is up. But again, several reboots since then without probelms.

Appreciating any ideas you folks can throw, its making me think this thru.

[NJAntman]

OK folks, it is now time for a rousing chorus of B.O.H.I.C.A. whilst I bang my head on the desk and yell WTF!!!

I am now online, at home. WTF,now it's working!?

I got home, figured I'd try some things. Notice the computer is hibernation mode, no surprise as it should be at this time of day. I move the mouse to bring it to life. Nada. Try the keyboard. Nada. Not even the monitor wakes up. This has happened before. OK. Cycle the monitor. Get the hardcoded message NO SIGNAL, NO VSYNCH, NO HSYNCH. THis happens occasionally. Must reboot by using the reset button. Done.

Up comes the MS blue screen announcing that it will know check the HD, yada, yada. It proceeds to find two files are corrupt. Alrighty, of course I don't jot their names down but I believe they are both HP***** something files. I have an HP printer. I'll look at this later.

Up comes XP, I log in. Everything loads. Auto Update symbol from MS pops-up.

HIT THE BRAKES. If I have no ISP connection how can I be getting an update?

Up pops the MS "You've experienced a serious error, do you want to send a report?". Click no, keep going. Hit my Comcast ISP icon, doesn't connect stright away, seems like its gooing to lay an egg like the past few days; and then WHAM, up pops the internet and my home-page.

WTF is going on? I'd love to just be thankful and leave it at that, BUT WTF is going on? IS this going to happen again? And what the hell happened in the first place?

I'm staring at the Auto Update symbol from MS, wondering if I should click. I feel like I need to write down alll the IE settings as they exist right now, just in case.

Computers, can't live with them, can't live without.

[Javora]

The problem may have been the cable company itself.  I would just keep an eye on and move on.  Those types of problems are hard to nail down sometimes and it is even harder for other people to track those issues down when they are not setting at the system itself.

[Just plain old Punisher]

Have you sacrificed your 10 virgins to Bill Gates? If not, then that's probably your problem.

Windows is hungry.

[NJAntman]

Shouldv've copied all the settings. Not ten minutes after that last reply the connection dropped again. Had it for just over an hour.

Gets worse. I shut the computer down, figured this may be a mechanical/heat problem with the modem or router or computer. So start with computer by shutting down, turn back on 6 hours later. I see the info for the video card flicker across the screen, next comes all the bios info, then into the startup for XP and that stripped progress bar across the bottom of the screen. It frikkin halts right there. Nothing for at least 15 minutes, just a few of those little white blocks on the progress bar colored in. Do a reboot and the same thing, halts on the progress bar before getting into XP.

Does anybody know what process is going on for XP while the progress bar is running across the bottom of the screen?

Shut if off last night around midnite, let it sit until 6AM this morning. Turned it on, boots all the way into XP without a problem. But of course, no internet connection. Left it running a complete AVG scan to see if anything turns up.

I think my next steps to narrow down what is causing the internet connection failure is disconnect the router, if not then switch out the cable modem; if all else fails maybe its time for a new computer. Ack.

Javora, as for keeping an eye on the ISP, whilst poking around the settings the other day I noticed that the "lease" that i was assigned for my address was only for a 24hr period. When I was doing the settings for the router setup last month I could've sworn the lease was several days. Anybody out there know what the standard is for that?

And Punisher, had I 10 virgins I would sacrifice them to you instead. I get the impression your mojo is more influential then his.

[Bonk]

I often boot from a Knoppix CD to determine if it is a windows or a hardware problem.

You could try a safe mode boot with networking support to see if something on your windows install is getting in the way.

Hold the presses! When was the last time you rebooted your cable modem? (it's OS is not invulnerable to memory leaks and such). This is standard cable ISP tech support and I do not know if you have already tried it, but here it is anyway:

1) fully shut down and unlpug the PC from the wall or power bar
2) unplug the router's power cord from the wall or power bar
3) unplug the cable modem's power cord from the wall or power bar
4) wait 10 minutes
5) plug in the cable modem, wait until it connects fully
6) plug in the router, let it boot up fully
7) plug in and  power up the PC and see what you get.

If WinXP is hanging at the progress bar on the loadup screen it is likely a problematic driver. Have you loaded any new unsigned drivers lately?

[NJAntman]

I have rebooted the modem and PC, but not in that order so I give it a try.

As for drivers, the "newest" would be about month ago. I'm fairly certain there was a driver loaded when I installed my network camera, but the PCs been through numerous reboots since before both these problems occured.

On a side not, as a measure of my insanity over this I've actually been looking at a replacement PCs right at the $1K range. The one I have know is an ABS, but a frikkin Dell with the same performance plus a 19" flat panel beats it out.

OH GOD, stop me before I buy a Dell!!!!!!!

[NJAntman]

Well now, this is interesting. Yes I'm back on the net from home. After cycling the power on the router.

Happened to check the Tivo which updates thru the router to the cable modem. Saw its last succesful update was yesterday about two hours before I got on the net for an hour yesterday. Tried to do an update but it didn't connect. Tried the network camera, couldn't find it.  Router appears normal (all the right lights lit) but unplugged anyway. Plug back in, internet comes up, Tivo does an update and camera works.

Buggy router? Wouldn't explain how internet was lost sometime after Tuesday yet connected briefly yesterday, or would it? Can a router reset itself?

[Bonk]

OH GOD, stop me before I buy a Dell!!!!!!!

lol...

Buggy router? Wouldn't explain how internet was lost sometime after Tuesday yet connected briefly yesterday, or would it? Can a router reset itself?

It is possible your router crashed. Its good to reboot it every so often. When I was on cable I'd reboot the modem and router weekly or at least monthly.

It might also be worth investigating firmware upgrades for your router...

[Dracho]

Is it possible a neighbor has added a wireless router that is interfering with yours?  Do you have a wireless phone nearby that could me messing with this signal?

[Commander Maxillius]

switch to Mac.  a single $1000 payment to the Gods of Computing and all your problems will be magically wiped away.






...along with most of your gaming