OMG--UPC...what the hell?

going un-reg

Hey..

Im not sure where to even start with this as this problem has been on going, and as per usual, UPC are useless in helping.

The bones of my problems are these:

1.) the net constantly drops, every 10-15...every 30 mins if Im lucky.

2.) it is NOT a laptop issue, when it drops it effects all 3 of my other flatmates at the same time.

3.) Its not the router,I can still access the routers settings wirelessly when the net goes down.

4.) Strange point : when the net goes down, its only our browsers, yahoo/skype/msn all still work perfectly, my flatmate was even able to video skype his girlfriend when the net "went down".

I have a pretty good level in internet knowledge,my flatmate has an even better understanding and my brother is a computer wizz, and they've all confirmed it must be with UPC and not ourselves.

We've tried all the basics, unplugging, replugging, trying openDNS....trying different browers, killed any bit torrent services etc etc.

Ive just got off the phone to them and they did a double check on the line, and found no faults.

They mentioned that our monthly usage so far was quite high,but not noticably bad in relation to that which is deemed as over usage. They thought that it might have something to do with that.

We are now killing all peer to peer services for one or two days to see if that rectifies the problem..but Im dubious.

Anyone have similar issues?...its a toughey.

DECEiFER

Sounds like a DNS issue. Skype can connect without the need for a DNS. Next time it goes down, try to access this:

http://74.125.77.104 (Google.ie's IP)

If that works, then the problem lies in the DNS.

If not, then keep at UPC.

jor el

UPC went down the other night, maintenance or some such, but Bittorrent and my VOIP phone were still working. Seemed to be a routing issue to the DNS server (was using OpenDNS). Changed to 4.2.2.1 and it worked again, but still couldn't ping OpenDNS. There may still be issues.

Try changing your DNS settings to OpenDNS, 208.67.222.222 & 208.67.220.220, or 4.2.2.1 & 4.2.2.2

hightower1

Just because the router setting page is still avail when the net is not doesnt mean the routers fine????

It may be the router has stopped switching ip traffic in which case you can still get to the routers and even modem admin pages.

When it goes next dont reboot anything and then directly connect one comp to the modem only... not the router now.

Irishpimpdude

If the DS,US and Online light are on your modem the internet is most likely not down, sounds like a DNS issue to be honest.

donal.hunt

could well be a routing issue to the DNS servers you're using (e.g. opendns).

If your browser can't resolve the IP of the website you're trying to hit (because the dns packets are getting lost on the ether), nothing will load.

apps which hard code the IP and aren't trying to route traffic through a network affected by the routing issue should work ok.

winmtr is a great tool for checking issues. you can use it to see packet loss to both the website you're trying to reach and to your DNS servers (no DNS, no hope of resolving the website you're trying to open).


bear in mind that the wireless router in your house connects to a modem which connects to an endpoint (owned by UPC) which then connects to all the various routers on the way to whatever website / server you're communicating with.

people often think of the Internet as a big cloud - they often forget that there's a bunch (hundreds, thousands) of routers making up that cloud.

hightower1

lol its not a dns issue but if you think so:rolleyes:

google "domain to ip"...
get googles ip...
when it goes again enter the ip to your browser...
if it wont access then its NOT a DNS problem...


then do as I was saying...
direct connect the comp to the modem...
if it works its a switching issue in the router...

thats all you had to say.

vibe666

if you've changed your dns provider and it's still not working then it seems unlikely to be that, but not impossible if dns info was still cached from before the change.

if it was dns related, it would not affect your connection to your router as you would usually access that via it's IP address so there would be no dns involved.

like hightower1 says though the simplest way to confirm it 100% is to keep a list of a few of the IP addresses of websites you would normally visit and the next time it "goes down", try and access those websites via their IP addresses in your browser and if they work that way then it is DNS related, and if they don't then it's most likely a routing or connectivity issue somewhere else in the chain.

it's also a good idea to plug one pc directly into the modem to confirm it still doesn't work that way because UPC's (non-premium rate) responsibility ends at your modem, even if you got the router from them, it's supported either by UPC premium rate support or by the manufacturer not UPC (unfortunately).

also, jor-el's suggestion of the level3 dns servers is also a good idea. i've been using them for several years now with 2 different ISP's since the very first big dns issue we had in ireland and aside from some kind of quirky issue with the playstation network on my ps3 (i now have it manually set to use opendns instead), i have never had any issues using their dns servers which run rom 4.2.2.1 all the way to 4.2.2.6, so just use any ip address in that range and you should b grand if it does turn out to be dns related.