[suey3b]

I have a Motorola Surfboard SB4200 cable modem that I've had for about 3 years. Over the past 3-4 months, we've had frequent issues with the pc losing the internet connection. I have a friend that works for the ISP and they swear that it shows we're connected, but IE says it can't find the page. Is there a way to test my modem? Could it be something other than the modem? I have another friend that says he's having the same issue, so I'm thinking that maybe it's not just my pc/modem. It's set to always be connected.

WinXP

Thanks in advance.

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When the internet appears to go down ping that site. Go to Start][b\] then Run. Type in cmd and press <Enter>. When the command line window opens type ping www.yahoo.com. I used Yahoo because I know you can hit it with a ping. If it returns 0% Loss then your connection is good. If it returns 100% Loss then your are not reaching the server.
It may be a DNS issue. Try the following. Go to Start then Run. Type cmd and press <Enter>. At the command prompt type in [b]ipconfig /flushdns then press <Enter>.

[acklan]

When the internet appears to go down ping that site. Go to Start][b\] then Run. Type in cmd and press <Enter>. When the command line window opens type ping www.yahoo.com. I used Yahoo because I know you can hit it with a ping. If it returns 0% Loss then your connection is good. If it returns 100% Loss then your are not reaching the server.
It may be a DNS issue. Try the following. Go to Start then Run. Type cmd and press <Enter>. At the command prompt type in [b]ipconfig /flushdns then press <Enter>.

[suey3b]

I tried this and had 100% loss. I tried the flushdns command that you gave me, then tried to open IE again and it still wouldn't connect until I rebooted. How do I correct these DNS issues?

[macten]

There could be a lot of reasons for this problem. Here's one possibility. I had the same problem awhile back. Even though my tv signal was fine, it wouldn't pass internet trafic on a regular basis. I finally called tech support and they came out. I described what was going on and the technician immediately went outside to junction block on the wall of the house. He took it apart, cut off all of the cable ends, crimped on new fittings and put it back together. It's been fine ever since. He thinks that corosion or moisture worked it's way into the box.

edit....looks like I answered without reading suey3b's last post completely.

"wouldn't connect until I rebooted." so...things were working after a reboot but you still have a DNS problem? Can you now ping www.yahoo.com?

Edited by macten, 02 January 2007 - 09:57 AM.

[suey3b]

If we let the pc sit for a little while without using it, we seem to lose the internet connection. I tried to ping www.yahoo.com. The first time I tried this, it told me that it was 100% lost. The second time, it couldn't locate the server. I tried the ipconfig /flushdns and it said it flushed it, but I still couldn't ping or get to the net. I had to reboot to get a connection back, although the ISP says it's always connected.

When it's playing it's little "I can't find the internet connection", if I reboot, then I'm fine and can get to the internet (and ping).

It's just really annoying that we have to keep rebooting the pc so that we can get on the net.

[macten]

It might be a winsock problem. I would back up any critical data before trying this.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811259

until its fixed.....try logging off and then back on instead of rebooting and see if that brings the internet back. I really don't know if that will work but I would try it.....

edit.....when I click on that link I supplied above, only part of the page is displayed. I'm not to sure what is going on....

edit....that link doesn't like FireFox....use Internet Explorer to see the entire page.

Edited by macten, 02 January 2007 - 03:42 PM.

[macten]

Before you start messing around with sockets, take a look at your modem. You should see an LED (light) labled 'Data'. The LED should pretty much flicker all the time. When you loose the Internet, take a look at this LED. Is it still flickering or is it off?

[suey3b]

[size=3]This problem is still occurring. Just in the past two days, it's started to disconnect even if it's only been sitting for 5-10 minutes. A box will pop up that says it doesn't have an internet connection and asks if I want to work offline or try again. When I click on Try Again, then it connects. We have Zone Alarm running, but I don't see anything in that that would cause an internet disconnect. I'm really tired of having to reboot. ANY ideas?

[suey3b]

The data light that you mentioned (it is labeled 'activity' on mine) still flickers.