Internet Connectivity Issues

[Kittish]

I have a rather oddball problem, my computer will, from time to time, apparently lose its ability to connect or access or something to the internet.

I've run several virus checkers and anti-spy and malware programs on the basis that my problem could be related to that, but they've all come up empty. I am reasonably sure that there are no viruses, trojans, keyloggers or other nasties residing on my hard drive.

My computer is running Vista, and the problem has occurred both with IE and Firefox. I'm not certain exactly which version of IE I'm running, but I have the latest version of Firefox. I also run ZoneAlarm firewall, Avast antivirus, and Spybot as constants.

I'm on cable internet, so my computer is, theoretically at any rate, always connected to the internet.

When my computer does lose the ability to find anything on the internet, the only fix I've found is to reboot the computer. Also, when this happens, ZoneAlarm shows no internet activity on the little traffic bar down in my systems tray.

Any ideas or suggestions? Please try to keep in mind that I'm only moderately computer savvy. I can follow directions but I may not understand what you're saying if you get very technical.

[Geek King]

Have you also rebooted any modems/routers? Especially the router/cable modem from the cable company. To do so, unplug the power cord, wait about 10-15 seconds, then plug it back in and allow it to boot fully. If this doesn't work, you may want to contact your internet provider and have them check the router, it may be going bad.

[Kittish]

I haven't tried that yet, I will though. The modem is about 6 months old, and there is no router.

[Rapscallion]

How about contacting your ISP? Parents had this from time to time at their place, and it turned out to be a bad node in their region.

Rapscallion

[Kittish]

I'll try that too Raps, in the interest of covering all the bases. I can't really see how it could be that, though, since when it does happen (and happened again since I rebooted the modem), rebooting JUST my computer solves it.
I'm sort of leaning toward Geek King's idea that my modem may be going bad. In which case I'll be contacting my ISP anyhow, so it shouldn't hurt to explore all the possibilities.

[Chanlin]

Is your connection wired or wireless?

If it is wireless you might have something in the house interfering with the signal such as a cordless telephone that is running on the same frequency and channel as your wireless connection.

[ottid]

Is your connection wired or wireless?

If it is wireless you might have something in the house interfering with the signal such as a cordless telephone that is running on the same frequency and channel as your wireless connection.

I had that problem Suddenly realised that every time someone was on the phone we weren't connected, but we got the frequency on the router changed

I don't have any other wisdom to add actually, everyone seems to have good ideas.

[Kittish]

My connection is wired. I refuse to use wireless in my home. I know it's not difficult to resolve most of the security issues associated with wireless networks, but I'd rather not have to deal with it all, thanks.

I've noticed something else strange. I play World of Warcraft, and there has been at least one instance now of my browsers ceasing to work even though I'm logged into WoW and have no connection issues in the game. I had to log out of WoW and reboot my computer to get my browsers working again. Weird.

[Skeksin]

ACK!!! HISSSSSS!! THE VISTA! We hates it my precious!

One thing you can look for is when the connection is down:
Click on Start
Click on Network
Click on Network and Sharing Center
You should see the graphical representation of your connection and just below that the text area that gives you details on the connection. If Access line reads: Local Only or Limited or No Connectivity, then you might be having an encounter with a known Vista issue that Microsoft has yet to fix.

Occurs most often with wireless connections on Vista but can occur on wired as well.

Best fix I've found is to set the machine for static IP address to the network your modem/router is running.
If this is a laptop and you go network hopping you will have to set back to DHCP when out of the house or set to static IP at new network (requiring you to talk to new networks IT people for correct settings)

and yes. I have seen Vista laptops that are fine with most networks but hate others and need the static IP.....

[Geek King]

I've noticed something else strange. I play World of Warcraft, and there has been at least one instance now of my browsers ceasing to work even though I'm logged into WoW and have no connection issues in the game. I had to log out of WoW and reboot my computer to get my browsers working again. Weird.

Hmm. That is odd. Seems like you're not the only one, though:

http://www.cnet.com.au/forum/laptops...ork/t10022628/

Did you check to see if the browsers work after closing WoW? I'm wondering if it is somehow blocking other network access, although mine works just fine form home. I was on WoW and Allakazam's site at the same time just last night. Very interesting.

[Rapscallion]

I'll try that too Raps, in the interest of covering all the bases. I can't really see how it could be that, though, since when it does happen (and happened again since I rebooted the modem), rebooting JUST my computer solves it.

If memory serves, the local node for my parents got overloaded, and knocked people off. Rebooting the machine regained their connection (assumedly knocking other people off the node). Usually happened as soon as people got home from work or up in the morning.

I could be wrong, but it's possible.

Rapscallion

[Kittish]

Hmm. That is odd. Seems like you're not the only one, though:

http://www.cnet.com.au/forum/laptops...ork/t10022628/

Did you check to see if the browsers work after closing WoW? I'm wondering if it is somehow blocking other network access, although mine works just fine form home. I was on WoW and Allakazam's site at the same time just last night. Very interesting.

Yep, and they still didn't work until I rebooted.

An update: I spoke with someone at my ISP just a few minutes ago, and we may have the problem narrowed down a bit. Seems like my antivirus may the ultimate culprit here, as the tech I spoke with (who was VERY polite and helpful, yay!) ran me through several troubleshooting steps. The one that did the trick to get my browsers working again was to disable my antivirus for a moment. Now if I can just figure out just WHY it's interfering and fix that, I should be golden. Odd thing is, it was doing the same thing when I was running AVG Free and has continued with Avast. I don't -think- I have my security settings set to 'OMGTHEALIENSWILLEATMETHRUMYCOMPUTERMAKEITSTOP!ELE VENTY!!1!' but I could be mistaken. Avast doesn't make it exactly easy to FIND those settings however, much less change them.

[Eric the Grey]

Yep, and they still didn't work until I rebooted.

An update: I spoke with someone at my ISP just a few minutes ago, and we may have the problem narrowed down a bit. Seems like my antivirus may the ultimate culprit here, as the tech I spoke with (who was VERY polite and helpful, yay!) ran me through several troubleshooting steps. The one that did the trick to get my browsers working again was to disable my antivirus for a moment. Now if I can just figure out just WHY it's interfering and fix that, I should be golden. Odd thing is, it was doing the same thing when I was running AVG Free and has continued with Avast. I don't -think- I have my security settings set to 'OMGTHEALIENSWILLEATMETHRUMYCOMPUTERMAKEITSTOP!ELE VENTY!!1!' but I could be mistaken. Avast doesn't make it exactly easy to FIND those settings however, much less change them.

Interesting. While I don't have the problem of loosing my internet connection, I have an Intranet page (a work-related web page I can log into my email and remote to my PC) that I can log into from home that will not even load from home, and it was suggested that AVG may be the culprit. I haven't taken the time to uninstall it and reinstall, so I'm not certain of this, but others in our department have reported this as well.

I'm thinking I may need to find a new anti-virus.


Eric the Grey

[TheSHAD0W]

I've had this sort of thing happen before, when an internet security program prevents the computer from re-connecting to the DHCP server on lease expiration. Does your antivirus also have a firewall? Does it give program-level access control? Make sure you aren't blocking SVCHOST.EXE, and there are other Microsoft services that may have been unintentionally blocked.

[Kittish]

I've had this sort of thing happen before, when an internet security program prevents the computer from re-connecting to the DHCP server on lease expiration. Does your antivirus also have a firewall? Does it give program-level access control? Make sure you aren't blocking SVCHOST.EXE, and there are other Microsoft services that may have been unintentionally blocked.

No, the antivirus does not incorporate a firewall, my firewall is separate (ZoneAlarm). I don't know if it gives program-level access control, how can I find out?