limited connection problems

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  1. Posts : 23
    Win7-Professional 64bit
       #1

    limited connection problems


    Hello all, I've been lurking on these forums for a couple of years now if not longer and the people here have been a great help in a number of thing I needed to do with both Vista and now in the last year Windows seven, and for that I want to thank all the helpful members at the Windows seven forums.


    Now that we have the sucking up out of the way, I'll get to the reason that I've finally made an actual post on the forums.


    Here is my problem, I was asked by a very nice lady if I could look at her computer and find out why it would not connect to the internet. It is an hp a6000n running Vista home premium.
    It connects through AT&T DSL directly through a modem, no router. For awhile she had trouble with intermittent connections, and finally it wouldn't connect at all. at&t tech support was no help. When she boots up she immediately gets a limited connection message.
    A couple of weeks ago I went over to see if I could help her. (Disclaimer here. I am no computer guru, just a hobbyist so while I have built my own computers in the past I in no way claim to be an expert especially when It come to networks. Disclaimer off.)
    The first thing I did after confirming she could not get on the internet was disconnect the internet connection from her computer and plug it in to my laptop, wala instant internet with no trouble at all. So I ruled out modem problems and seemed to rule out network cable problems. Next I tried to check the network adapter on the computer, according to windows devise manager it was working properly. A visual of the back of the computer showed a green light if that is really an indication.
    Trying to reload the drivers did nothing, system restore did nothing. So finally since the whole system was running dog slow I suggested a reload of Vista, She agreed but this also was of no help. I was stumped so I asked her to let me take it home for further research, she agreed. She would be out of town for a bit so it was not a problem.
    Now for the end of this long winded discourse. When I got the silly thing home and plugged it in it immediately connected to the internet and has not had a hiccup since.
    So what am I missing.


    I should also say that since I got it home I was able to do all of the updates and service packs plus I upgraded it from 1 gig to 3 gigs of ram, it runs much nicer now as you would expect.
    One more thing, excuse my grammar I know it's not that good. It's one reason I don't post to often.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 846
    Windows 10 Pro
       #2

    Hi and you did a wonderful job in telling us the facts and they are very helpful but WOW I'm stumped as you but I do have one suggestion. Could you go into control panel and open Network and make a copy of the screen using the snipping tool.
    Here is what mine looks like.
    Thanks
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 23
    Win7-Professional 64bit
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Here you go, and thanks for the reply IggyAZ.

    limited connection problems-capture.jpg
      My Computer


  4. aem
    Posts : 2,698
    Windows 7 Ultimate 64Bit
       #4

    Hi Hermitt, that computer looks like it's running Vista, is it??? Anyway, with the internet issue over at her house, it looks like maybe a setting on the adapter, perhaps DNS issue. Is that network diagram off the PC, and at her house?
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 23
    Win7-Professional 64bit
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Good morning aem, thanks for the reply. Yes it is running Vista home premium and unfortunately the network picture is at my house where it is running fine, I don't have access to her house for the time being.
    When I checked the the networking at her house I did not see any thing out of the way. A DNS issue? I have a basic understanding of what DNS is but as I said I'm not an expert so I could have missed something.
      My Computer


  6. aem
    Posts : 2,698
    Windows 7 Ultimate 64Bit
       #6

    It's hard diagnosing the issue if the machine isn't connected to the lan that it is having issue with. Best to wait till you go over there, plug the machine back in and then see what the issue is.

    If you have used your laptop at her house and it's all fine, then it looks like either a setting on the machine's adapter (tcp/ip). Cos the laptop was able to connect to the router/modem with no issue. Best thing i suppose is try and compare your laptop and machine interms of tcp/ip. Troubleshooting using process of elimination is always good.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 23
    Win7-Professional 64bit
    Thread Starter
       #7

    Yes, I know it is a problem not being at her house, and I'm not sure when I will be she is going to call when she's back. I had checked the setting before I brought it home but as I said I could have missed something. I'm hoping to get some more ideas of what to look for before I go back over but certainly will compare setting to see if something was missed. which knowing me is possible.

    Thanks again aem, any ideas you might have will be welcome.
    Last edited by Hermitt; 10 Jan 2010 at 22:09.
      My Computer


  8. aem
    Posts : 2,698
    Windows 7 Ultimate 64Bit
       #8

    Ok so it could be a difference in the tcp/ip setting. We don't know that till you compare.

    We could start thinking about the modem, as you said her machine is directly connected to it.
    However, you have also said that when you tried connecting your laptop and there was no issues. This is a stumbling block isn it?
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 972
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
       #9

    One thing that you guys did not catch


    He said that this was a DSL connection so he needed to set up a DSL Dial Up connection to log into the DSL modem..... there may be something wrong with her vista/computer/modem. I would defintily log into her modem and see if you could make that DSL modem log into it automatically or set up the dial up on her computer and see if you can dial into the modem.. *sorry if i repeat myself* watching george lopez, laughing my butt off...

    there has got to be something weird... another thing that i can suggust is get a cheap router that handles PPOE and have the modem auto redial so it keeps a stead connection... that way she can go either wired or wireless.

    The guy said that he plugged it into his computer and it worked. Something is weird going on.... so my suggestion is try what i said...

    but the thing is that your going to have to call AT&T and get her user name and password for the PPOE DSL if she doesn't have it and sometimes AT&T customer service are air heads.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 23
    Win7-Professional 64bit
    Thread Starter
       #10

    aem said:
    We could start thinking about the modem, as you said her machine is directly connected to it.
    However, you have also said that when you tried connecting your laptop and there was no issues. This is a stumbling block isn it?
    I'm not sure what you mean here aem, when I disconnected the network cable from her computers LAN port I plugged it into the LAN port on my laptop and it worked perfectly which to me seemed to rule out modem problems. I am going to take another network cable over when I go and try that, but the modem does seem to work.

    Let me mention one thing that she said to me about the at&t guy who came and checked her connection. She said that he told her the modem was working, but before he left he told her that the modem was empty. She had no idea what he meant but told me hoping I would, well I don't have any idea either. I blew it off thinking there was no way of knowing at this point, and since the modem works when connected to my laptop I figured he didn't know what else to do for her so just told her something to get out of there.
      My Computer


 
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