Internet Connection Dropping Out.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I've been having a problem with my internet connection dropping out every now and then for almost a year. At first, it was very intermittent, mayhap once a week at most. I had to unplug and replug in the Wi-Fi adapter to get the connection back. The problem kept happen more and more frequently but seemed to stop when I removed the Wi-Fi adapter and connected via an Ethernet cable. Eventually, the problem returned, again very intermittently at first by gradually increasing in frequency.

My router and modem are located in the linen closet in my bathroom. I had replaced both almost three years ago when the router died after five years of use. I suspected my current problem might have been heat related so I propped open the closet door (the closet is more like a built in cabinet) and the frequency of the drop outs dropped quite a bit. When the frequency started increasing again, I temporarily bypassed the router and ran the computer on just the modem only. That didn't help so I replaced the modem a few days ago. I still got the drop outs so I tried bypassing the router. I still got the drop outs so it appears the problem is in the computer. I also switched the Ethernet cable to the other port in the computer but I'm still getting the drop outs.

I've tried what Windows diagnostics I could find and they either claim I have a connection even though I don't or they say they have no idea what the problem is. Does anyone have any suggestions what to try next?

My router is a Netgear X4-AC 2350 (R7500) and modem is a Netgear CCM500.

 

[samuria]

Is this ADSL or cable and does the internet light go out when it drops?

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Cox cable. What internet light?

 

[Layback Bear]

The little blinking light on the motherboard where your cable plugs into for the internet.

Jack

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

The little blinking light on the motherboard where your cable plugs into for the internet.

Jack

If you mean the activity indicators for the Ethernet port on the rear I/O panel, one is currently blinking and the other one is solid. I'll have to wait until the next time I get a drop out to see if the one is still blinking or not and the other one is still solid; no telling when that will be.

 

[Layback Bear]

Yes I do mean the cable connection on the I/O panel on your motherboard.
My motherboard has a orange 'on' light and a 'blinking' yellow light when downloading.

Jack

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Yes I do mean the cable connection on the I/O panel on your motherboard.
My mother has a orange 'on' light and a 'blinking' yellow light when downloading.

Jack

This could be "fun"; I'm color blind. Of course, since I posted this, it has been behaving. Oh well, hurry up and wait, I suppose.

 

[samuria]

The modem or router normally has a light to show its logged into the net if that's going out it can be line fault

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

The modem or router normally has a light to show its logged into the net if that's going out it can be line fault

Those lights (there are several on both the router and the modem) indicate there is a connection even when the internet has dropped out. Rebooting the modem and router does not bring the connection back but rebooting the computer does. Since modem is brand new and that hasn't fixed the problem, even when the router is bypassed, it seems to indicate the problem is in the computer.

 

[samuria]

Please download MINITOOLBOX and run it. See if it tells us any problems
Downloading MiniToolBox

Checkmark following boxes:



Flush DNS
Reset FF proxy Settings
Reset Ie Proxy Settings
Report IE Proxy Settings
Report FF Proxy Settings
List content of Hosts
List IP configuration
List Winsock Entries
List last 10 Event Viewer log
List Installed Programs
List Users, Partitions and Memory size
List Devices (problems only)



Click Go and post the result.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

deleted

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

deleted

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

deleted

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

deleted

 

[Digital Life]

Since you have some extra entries in your hosts file I would try disabling "DNS Client" in "services.msc" .

You don't really have a lot of entries so i'm not actually sure if that's your problem but disabling DNS Client has no ill effects.

You can always re enable it if the problem persists.

Rereading your post I see that the default gateway is 70.XX.xx.xx I would change that to your router IP in network settings which I think is 192.168.1.1

Also its not the best idea to post your internet facing IP on the forum.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Since you have some extra entries in your hosts file I would try disabling "DNS Client" in "services.msc" .

You don't really have a lot of entries so i'm not actually sure if that's your problem but disabling DNS Client has no ill effects.

You can always re enable it if the problem persists.

Rereading your post I see that the default gateway is 70.XX.xx.xx I would change that to your router IP in network settings which I think is 192.168.1.1

Also its not the best idea to post your internet facing IP on the forum.

Thanks! I disabled DNS Client so we're back to hurry up and wait to see if that makes a difference.

How do I change the default gateway?

 

[Digital Life]

Thanks! I disabled DNS Client so we're back to hurry up and wait to see if that makes a difference.

How do I change the default gateway?

Press the Windows key + R and then copy paste the code below into the box.

control netconnections

The settings below should work for you




If you have a lot of devices on your network and are not sure what IP's are available use PowerShell to find an unused IP

1..255 | % {echo "192.168.1.$_"; ping -n 1 -w 100 192.168.1.$_ | Select-String ttl}

Note:
Unfortunately If you have any smartphones on your network they will more than likely will not respond to ping's .

 

[samuria]

Reset the host file you have 15000 entries caused by spybot would remove all spybot its old hat and does screw the host file and cause problems.

For some reason you have 2 gateways set which will give problems. Set your dns to 208.67.220.220 & 208.67.222.222
The first run test reset the proxy setting check IE and FF that its not been reset having a proxy is either AV or malware
When you drop you dont actually drop if you look at the test run when its dropped it connected to the internet ok
Check your HD as it says in report some files are showing corrupt

 

[Digital Life]

I didn't notice that you had 15000 entries in your hosts file, DNS Client enabled would indeed cause problems slowing down your network which would appear to be network dropouts.

I haven't used Spybot for years and find it hard to believe that they would leave that service running, DNS Client running with a large hosts file is a well known problem with all versions of Windows even Win 10 is affected.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Ok, I am thoroughly confused now (I plead Senioritis) . I haven't had a dropout yet since I disabled DNS Services. I've had a humdinger of a sinus headache the past three days and I don't feel like adding to it so methinks I'll wait a day or two to see if I get anymore dropouts or not (and the headache goes away).

I also will be asking more questions later about all the entries related to Spybot. I've used it for years without any problems before and I'm reluctant to discontinue it if the situation can be fixed.

I really appreciate all the help so please don't give up on me yet.