Mysterious internet connection issue

Okay, I've had this issue for a while and I'm going to try and explain everything I can recall about it, but please feel free to request any relevant information that I may have missed out.

The issue is the following: At some point for some reason, my PC loses the ability to establish NEW internet connections. Ping requests time out, pages don't load, etc. HOWEVER, existing connections remain unaffected. I can remain signed in to Steam friends, Mumble, etc. However if I disconnect from said Mumble server, I will not be able to reconnect whilst this issue is in effect.

I have had the issue occur spontaneously, but that's rare, and that's only ever happened when using a wireless adapter, not when using the ethernet cable. I believe this may be related to the fact that it can also be triggered if I switch the router off for an extended period, so my wireless card loses its connection. Then, if I switch it back on, the issue will happen.

I can also trigger the issue by hibernating my PC and then restoring it from hibernation.

The problem does NOT appear to be adapter specific. I have experienced it using an ethernet cable to connect to the router, as well as a USB wireless dongle rather than using my wireless card.

In addition other Windows 7 machines (two laptops) in this house are not affected by this issue, the problem is unique to my PC.

Disabling and re-enabling the adapter can temporarilly fix it, but disconnecting and reconnecting does not. If the issue occurs, restarting the computer usually permanently fixes it barring any of the 'triggers' above.

I have also recently found that using ipconfig /release followed by ipconfig /renew will temporarilly restore it. In fact, when I repeatedly used these commands today each time the issue appeared, it has remained connected for longer each time, without disconnecting. However because the amount of time I can remain connected after 'fixing' it without restarting can often appear to be random, I have no idea if this really has dealt with it yet.

I did try changing to a fixed IP and gateway in my network settings. This temporarilly fixed it, but when the issue appeared, ipconfig /release followed by ipconfig/renew did NOT have any effect. I restored it to automatic detection and it worked again, etc.



This issue has me frustrated. I am no networking expert, but I would rather not just 'reinstall Windows' as one of my friends suggests I do, as this is not only inconvenient, but it doesn't get to the bottom of the issue, and it could potentially happen again. I want to try and track down what is happening and fix it once and for all.

Any assistance with this matter would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the long post.

DanRex said:

As already said, I'll help as soon as I get home!

It's good to know someone's taken an interest at least.


Another point I forgot is that when it has died in the past, sometimes after being unable to establish new connections for a while, it will restore in its own, but it's not done this for a while as I generally restart/disable-re-enable when it occurs.

Anyway, currently I've been running 'ping google.com -t' constantly since I last did the ipconfig /release ipconfig /renew fix, which was before lunch, and as far as I can tell my internet connection is still working. I've only tried performing this temporary workaround today, so it would seem if I perform it several times it restores it permanently, however I still have no idea what the original cause is, or whether this fix will work every time.

Please fill in your system specs....and all relevant peripheral hardware as well. Next question I have, is your PC a desktop or laptop?

Since you say it only happens to the particular computer leads me to believe it's hardware related.

My first suggestion would be to do a system restore to a point in time when you didn't have the issue and check if problem persists. Next I would make sure I have all the latest drivers/firmware for all your hardware including any peripheral hardware. This may also include a BIOS update which might help with any hardware compatibility issues.

bassfisher6522 said:

Please fill in your system specs....and all relevant peripheral hardware as well. Next question I have, is your PC a desktop or laptop?

Since you say it only happens to the particular computer leads me to believe it's hardware related.

My first suggestion would be to do a system restore to a point in time when you didn't have the issue and check if problem persists. Next I would make sure I have all the latest drivers/firmware for all your hardware including any peripheral hardware. This may also include a BIOS update which might help with any hardware compatibility issues.

My PC is a desktop.

Specifications:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 2.5GHz Socket 775 1333FSB 4MB L2 Cache Retail Boxed Processor
RAM: 8GB DDR2
GPU: Sapphire HD 6850 1GB GDDR5 Dual DVI HDMI Mini Display Port Out PCI-E Graphics Card
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP43-UD3L iP43 Socket 775 8 Channel Audio Out ATX Motherboard
Wireless card: Tenda Wireless-N300 PCI Adapter
Wireless Dongle: PheeNet High Power 802.11g USB (Model No. WLU-703Z)

I updated the drivers of my wireless adaptor before realising it was adaptor unspecific (the updating of the driver had no effect on the issue anyway).

I've had the issue for a while, there are no relevant system restore points.

As the issue is not adaptor specific, I personally think it's a software issue, but I lack sufficient information, knowledge and experience to isolate whether it really is or not. Either way, I'm not about to mess around with BIOS or Firmware (where applicable) unless I absolutely have to, as fiddling with those carries a certain level of risk regarding permanent damage such as bricking devices and whatnot. I'd rather leave them as a 'last possible course of action', assuming any updates for them are even needed.

With your assumption that it's software related...have you checked your system for any malware. It's has been known to cause such events on a PC. Run all your malware software in safemode with networking to update definitions so as to be current when it scans the system.

bassfisher6522 said:

With your assumption that it's software related...have you checked your system for any malware. It's has been known to cause such events on a PC. Run all your malware software in safemode with networking to update definitions so as to be current when it scans the system.

It will take me some time (most of the day) to perform these scans so I'll have to start them tomorrow. I did in fact perform some scans in the past based on the very same assumption that the issue could be getting caused by malware (although I have no idea how such software would have got on to this PC, these things can be subtle), however nothing ominous was found. I initially used Avast!, but I have since removed that software in case it was causing the issue by (somehow) overloading the insanely high number of TCP connections that can be supported. This did actually stop it from happening spontaneously on a more frequent basis if memory serves. I have also performed full scans in the past with Microsoft Security Essentials, Windows Defender, Malwarebytes, but again, nothing suspicious was located.

However I will endeavour to set aside the time to run full scans of my PC as you suggest. I will ensure definitions for any utilities that do not automatically update them are up to date, and that the utilities themselves are up to date.

If it was a malicious piece of software however, would I not notice other issues such as unexplained network connectivity (I use a freeware utilitiy called Netmeter to monitor my bandwidth usage, but have also checked Resource Monitor in the past to observe just what is apparently using the internet), mysterious system slow-downs and possibly other unexplained behaviours such as advertisement popups, browsers redirecting where they shouldn't, and so on and so forth?

Layback Bear said:

I'm sorry I'm late joining in but their was another member requesting for help.
What I would do if it was my computer is remove all active anti virus and scanners and install MSE and use the built in Windows 7 Firewall. Then I would remove the program Netmeter, reboot and try it.
If you have the time could you use the User CP at the top of the page and install your system specs. At the lower left of this post tick on My System Specs. That is where we need them. They will follow your every post.

I am using Windows 7's firewall and Microsoft Security Essentials. I'm not sure why NetMeter would cause the issue, but the next time it occurs I'll close it and see what happens.

I'll fill out my system specifications, although I did post them above.

EDIT: Done.