Fluctuating internet connection

jackb22 · 26 May 2012

Hi,

About a month or two ago my internet connection started going bad, i only really notice it while playing games, but every so often it lags for about 10 seconds, then comes back, and occasionally over the internet connection sign the limited connectivity icon pops up.
I'm using a TP-Link 300mbps USB network adapter.
The problem only occurs on my PC, no other PC's in the house are experiencing this problem.

I just did a ping test, and heres the screenshot:

Fluctuating internet connection-ping-screenshot.png

This was while the connection problem was occuring, pinged to my default gateway.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks :)

Dwarf · 26 May 2012

Hi Jack and welcome to W7 Forums

Are you connecting via wireless on this PC? Do any of your other PCs also connect by wireless? Is there any particular time of day that this problem occurs, or is just random? Have you installed anything on your PC just before the problem started (including updates)?

You could try an alternative socket for your network adapter, alternatively you could try a different adapter. Wireless signals can be finicky at times, have you tried moving this PC to another location, preferably next to another PC where you are not having this PC? Conversely, can you move that PC to the current location of this one?

Another thing to consider is the wireless channel. Try alternatives to see if that improves matters.

jackb22 · 26 May 2012

Thanks :)

Yeah. All of the PC's in our house connect by wireless.
Its pretty much random, can happen at any time.
Na nothing that i can think of, it just started occurring occasionally and then became more frequent, we even replaced the router to try and fix it, virgin sent us a new one, but it didn't make a difference.

I've tried with 2 different wireless adapters, alternating between USB ports, but the same problem still occurs.
I had it downstairs at one point next to the wireless router to see if it made a difference and it was the same, my laptop has no connection issues when in the spot that my pc is in, so its likely not to be that.
most of the time i have 3/2 bars of signal on my PC.

The wireless channel setting is set to automatically select the best channel.

Thanks

Dwarf · 26 May 2012

Is there any way that you could temporarily connect via Ethernet cable to see if that improves things? I'm thinking that it could be a driver problem, or a settings problem with your firewall and/or AV program.

You could also try resetting Microsoft's Host File by following the instructions below:

The following lines of code have been posted numerous times, but it is a useful batch file to have in your tool kit. It flushes the DNS cache and resets Microsoft's Host File.

@Echo on
pushd\windows\system32\drivers\etc
attrib -h -s -r hosts
echo 127.0.0.1 localhost>HOSTS
attrib +r +h +s hosts
popd
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
ipconfig /flushdns
netsh winsock reset all
netsh int ip reset all
shutdown -r -t 1
del %0

Copy and paste the above in to Notepad and save it as Flush.bat to the desktop. Close all running applications and then right-click on the file and choose to run as an administrator, providing the necessary credentials when prompted. Your computer will automatically restart itself.

jackb22 · 26 May 2012

The only way i would be able to do that is if i took my PC downstairs and taking the ethernet out of the router, and my dad isnt really happy with me doing that, so, wouldnt be able to check that way.
Not sure if firewalls is the problem, tried turning it off several times but no difference.

I ran the .bat file and it seems to be working fine at the moment :)
But it might change, i'll post back later to let you know if its stayed that way.

Thanks

Dwarf · 26 May 2012

You're welcome, Jack. :)

If, after a few days, you're not having any more problems, you can mark this thread as solved (or ask one of the Staff to do so for you).

jackb22 · 27 May 2012

It was fine until about half an hour ago, just suddenly started up again

jackb22 · 28 May 2012

Randomly becomes limited internect connectivity and on ping test while this is happening i get a mixture of 'Connection timed out' and 'Destination host unreachable'.
Disconnected twice while trying to post this.

jackb22 · 28 May 2012

When I use windows network diagnostics, it says 'Default Gateway not available: Fixed'. Then I get reconnected.

Dwarf · 28 May 2012

Just a thought. I take it that you are using a USB adapter that you have plugged into one of the rear sockets on your PC. If so, then this might be where the problem lies. The rear of your PC is primarily metal, and can have a direct effect on the quality of radio signals in that area. Try plugging the adapter into a USB extension lead and position it above your PC away from any surrounding metal (perhaps use BluTack to temporarily fix the adapter to the wall).

Not guaranteed, but worth a shot.