Disconnecting and reconnecting probelm

Crash Override

Hi all,

So my connection is a bit strange at the moment. I would be using it one miniute and the next I realise nothing's working. I then notice that mycomputer is now trying to reconnect to the router. Now I'm pretty sure it's not a router problem because the router seems to be working fine, it's not trying to rebooting or anything.

So I have come to the conclusion that it must be my Wireless card.
It's a USB Sitecom Turbo WLAN. Thing is it's also working fine.

Just wondering if I should maybe get a faster Wireless card or if anyone has any idea as to what might be wrong?

Any help most appreciated.

Adam

router make and model?

JonathanAnon

i) how far, and how many walls between you and the router.
ii) is your broadband 3G, phone line ???

The problem is either
a) the line dropping between the router and your provider or
b) your wireless connection to the router dropping...

Next time the internet connection goes down, trying pinging the router. do you know how to do this.

corkcomp

if the computer is trying to re-connect to the router I think we can rule out an issue between router and provider.. plug laptop directly into router using cat5 cable if you need to verify.. also make sure you disable option in device manager to allow device to be turned off to save power

JonathanAnon

Crash Override wrote: »

I then notice that mycomputer is now trying to reconnect to the router.

Sorry, I read this wrongly..... maybe post a few of those "reconnect" messages here to help diagnose the problem..

Crash Override

@Adam my router is ZyXEL p-600 series.

@JonathanAnon it's only one wall and usually signal strenght is good or very good. My broadband is phone line. Eh I vaguley remember to ping is it just open up DOS and type ping 192.168.1.1 or something?

@corkcomp I'll check out the disable thing and see if that was the problem.

@jonathanAnon again: I don't get any messages it just reconnects like it's connecting for the first time when you turn on the PC it just does it in the background.

EDIT: @corkcomp: I checked that and indeed there was an option to turn off to save power so I un-ticked that box so I'll see how it goes now.

Thanks to all who posted anyway, much appreciated, I should be okay now.

corkcomp

Crash Override wrote: »

@Adam my router is ZyXEL p-600 series.

@JonathanAnon it's only one wall and usually signal strenght is good or very good. My broadband is phone line. Eh I vaguley remember to ping is it just open up DOS and type ping 192.168.1.1 or something?

@corkcomp I'll check out the disable thing and see if that was the problem.

@jonathanAnon again: I don't get any messages it just reconnects like it's connecting for the first time when you turn on the PC it just does it in the background.

well you can rule out a signal strength issue by the sounds of it.. have you any access to another laptop even for one night to see if the laptop is the issue? the router could also be goosed.. ive seen several zyxel routers develop strange problems.. i have two 660HW-61's here that had to be taken out of two different sites over last year due to similar issues..

Crash Override

You must have just missed my edit in my post but anyway I found an option on the Wireless card that said turn off to save power so I unticked that box now so it should be grand now.

I actually used my sisters laptop all night last night and it didn't drop out once so it must have been that power save option. I recently upgraded to Win7 and a new comp and everything so I didnt think of going through a few settings like that to make sure it was all okay. I guess you learn from your mistakes.

I found MSN disconnects alot too but I think that usually happens to most people...I hope.

Anyway I'll see how it goes but I think it's sorted, thanks again.

corkcomp

very good.. thats a common problem.. hopefully it should be ok now but let us know!

JonathanAnon

I actually used my sisters laptop all night last night and it didn't drop out once so it must have been that power save option

well this is good as you can now isolate the problem to your own laptop.

corkcomp wrote: »

very good.. thats a common problem.. hopefully it should be ok now but let us know!

funny though, I always see it as being one of the first suggestions, yet personally I have only had this issue once in my career.... In that case it was the periodic nature of the disconnect that was indicative of it being a power save error.

Crash Override

Ok so after changing that setting and also changing to a more light-weight anti-virus (as the old one was slowing up my computer performance dramatically) I have seen a significant decrease in the amount of times it drops out however, the fact is it is still dropping out... Anyone have any ideas?

btw@ JonathanAnon I don't have a laptop, it is a desktop that I'm having the problem on.

Again I'm using a Sitecom Wireless USB WLAN card Turbo 54G or something. I have had it a while maybe 3 or 4 years. Think maybe I should upgrde? Or does the problem lie somewhere else?

Adam

look for an always on or power save setting on your routers configuration?

Crash Override

I suppose there is no harm in having a look... Would that be done by logging into the router itself?

Thing is, I'm almost certain it's not the router. It doesn't seem to be reseting. If any of you are running Win7 you'll know that at the bottom right (taskbar) it will have a symbol which are lines from short to tall (connection). if you click it, it brings up your Network connection list. So when it drops out, it's as if I'm plugging out the USB and putting it back in again. There will be a little error symbol or X over the connection symbol then a min or two later it's connected. So that to me is a Wireless card problem, but not exactly sure where the problem lies.

corkcomp

Adam wrote: »

look for an always on or power save setting on your routers configuration?

ive never heard of a power save option on a router? the always on refers to the PPOE connection and shouldnt affect pc - router connectivity

Crash Override

Yeah I didn't find that option in the router configuration, my router never turns off or resets on it's own anyway.

I'm starting to think I should maybe invest in a new one. Another thing to note is that it has drivers installed but I don't have the installation disc for it (I have but can't find it). I recently changed computer to one I built with a mate. So the installed software was on the old PC but can't find it to put on the new one. But it seems to work with out it so I can't see it being a problem.

corkcomp

was the old pc disconnecting randomly?

Crash Override

No maybe the odd, odd time, but generally no I don't think so.

corkcomp

Crash Override wrote: »

No maybe the odd, odd time, but generally no I don't think so.

hmm I would think installing correct software might be idea so.. a pci wireless adapter is not expensive though so no harm replacing it if in doubt

Crash Override

corkcomp wrote: »

hmm I would think installing correct software might be idea so.. a pci wireless adapter is not expensive though so no harm replacing it if in doubt

I'll have another good luck for the Installation Disc and if I find it I'll see what happens otherwise I think I'll just buy a new better one.

Thanks for everyone's help, anyway.

JonathanAnon

This might seem stupid, but when I had a similar issue I pull up the Task Manager, and watched to see which running processes were consuming processor time (sort them by processor time) at the time when the disconnect happens... For that particular case, the disconnect coincided with a diagnostic utility running taking up processor time... and after I removed this application it stopped.. It's tricky but worked for me...

Also might be worth while checking the Event log in Control Panel to see if there are any messages that coincide with the outage....