jsheldon Posted April 14, 2009 Report Share Posted April 14, 2009 I've got an annoying problem accessing the internet. Every so often, can be 20 mins or 2 hours I can not access web pages. I don't lose internet completely as I can still download emails, and another PC connected to the router still connects ok. It is not a router issue as I have the same problem using the laptop wirelessly elsewhere. The only way to regain connection is to reboot. Repairing the connection seems to have no result. At first I thought it may be a DNS problem so I set the DNS servers to my IP's and have also tried openDNS but I'm still getting the same problem. When I change the DNS server address I still have to reboot the laptop to get these to take effect. I have done the usual google search, but running out of ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burble Posted April 15, 2009 Report Share Posted April 15, 2009 Sounds like your web browser is causing the problem. What browser are you using? What happens if you try a different one? Firefox or Opera for example? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsheldon Posted April 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2009 Yes, should have said that it is the same in all browsers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsheldon Posted April 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2009 I am trying to back track any changes I have made to see if that has any effect. So far I have removed IE8, all my various spyware, virus, firewall etc to no avail. The problem has only started in the last 2 weeks. Just prior to that I had taken the machine back to a clean image backup I did in January when the problem wasn't evident, and then updated the drivers etc. So I have just backdated the wirless card (AGN 4596) to see if that has any effect. I have just lost web connection, so created a wired connection to the router but still couldn't connect, and a reboot was required. Interesting I couldn't even navigate to the router set up page through IE7. It is not a router issue as it also has the same problem when I visit a friends house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac Posted April 15, 2009 Report Share Posted April 15, 2009 When it fails, trying flushing your DNS cache with: ipconfig /flushdns Also, can you connect to your router by IP address rather than name? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisan Posted April 15, 2009 Report Share Posted April 15, 2009 (edited) Sounds like some firewall related problem, or some anti-virus web-content checker. Possibly DNS but I doubt it. When you loose connectivity try this: To test DNS. Open up a DOS window. In the DOS window type "ping news.bbc.co.uk" without the quotes. It might not return a ping, but it should resolve to an IP address, something like 212.58.226.75. If it does resolve to an IP, take the IP address and punch this into IE: http://212.58.226.75 To test Port 80 connectivity: From the same DOS window, type this: telnet 212.58.226.75 80 Press the return key - the screen will turn blank and you will have a flashing cursor. Now type the following three lines - it won't echo to screen, so make sure you type it correctly. Don't type the <CR> part, that just indicates the enter key. Watch the CaSe - it's sensitive and make sure you have 3 carriage returns in all this: HEAD / HTTP/1.1<CR> Host: news.bbc.co.uk<CR> <CR> Hopefully after this, you'll end up with a screen of HTML blurb. If so, then you have regular port 80 connectivity. In which case, you have a browser problem. If you don't get any HTML then there's something else wrong. Possibly AV content checker. Possibly corrupt IP stack. To test the latter, from a DOS window, try: netsh int ip reset Cheers, Chris Edited April 15, 2009 by chrisan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsheldon Posted April 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2009 Winding back the driver on the card hasn't made a difference, so I am tending to think it is a software issue. As one last check I have slotted in an old wireless card to see if it has the same issues. My gut instinct is it is either Zone Alarm, AVG or Spybot causing the problem. I'll run through the checks when it loses connection again. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsheldon Posted April 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 Has been working fine using the Netgear card I plugged in, pulled the card out and within 10 mins using the internal Intel card it had lost connection again. It would resolve a DNS, but wouldn't connect even using the IP address generated, so at a loss. I'm now uninstalling spybot rtc to see if that influences anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopsta Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 Are you using a 3rd party app to connect up your wireless? i've found them to be troublesome at times. Also is you netgear and intel card connecting on the same channel? may be some interferance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisan Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 Sounds like the internal wi-fi card is loosing the plot. Right click My Computer and choose Manage. Expand Event Viewer and take a peak in Application and System logs to see if there are any errors that might give us some idea. DNS queries are very small in comparison to http, so it might be working sufficiently to get a few bytes through for DNS, but is falling over with larger amounts of traffic. Any reason why you can't stick with the netgear card? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsheldon Posted April 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 I plugged in the netgear just as a test to see if it was related to either hardware or software to the internal intel card. I use the normal windows app for the card, nothing 3rd party, although their is a Toshiba app on the machine, but has never given any problems until now. The card is only 12 months old, so hope it isn't going south. In the event viewer I have no logs other than loads of entries for Media Centre update, about 6 each day. No idea what they are or whether they should be there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisan Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 You've lost me a bit Justin. You say the "card is only 12 months old". I thought you were having problems with the built in wireless adapter, not the card? There might be some diagnostic utilities for the WLAN chipset, either from the laptop's support section, or directly from intel. We sometimes use these on servers - they give much better fault detection and self-diagnosis. Might be worth a look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsheldon Posted April 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 Sorry, I meant the internal adaptor was only 12 months old. I upgraded the original to the Intel 4956 to benefit from the faster speeds. Not had much chance to test it tonight, fingers crossed since I removed Spybot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisan Posted April 17, 2009 Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 I understand - looks like it's a mini-pci card. There might be a firmware upgrade available from Intel. Certainly worth a look. A recent MS update might have broken some functionality on the card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsheldon Posted April 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2009 All seems well now since I removed spybot. Fingers crossed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsheldon Posted April 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2009 I spoke too soon, crapped out a couple of times, but does feel less frequent. It has just dropped the connection, and almost at the same time zone alarm flagged up AVG trying to access the internet, I think it was the link scanner element. So I have disabled that, fingers crossed again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsheldon Posted April 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2009 Well, so far so good, no more loss of internet since I disabled the AVG link scanner. I have even reinstalled spybot as I quite like being told when something is trying to modify the registry. I'll keep monitoring as I haven't been on line that long without restarting the machine for one reason or another, so not 100% confident just yet, but fingers crossed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollox Posted April 22, 2009 Report Share Posted April 22, 2009 Would this be a (n HP) laptop by any chance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsheldon Posted April 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 No, its a Toshiba. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollox Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 So its a lappy. Do you know if this problem only happens when running on battery power? If so it sounds very similar to my previous issues that were related to power management settings on the 4965 adapter... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsheldon Posted April 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2009 I know the problem you mean. I had this when I first got the laptop until I found the power settings and turmed them off for the wireless card. It seems to be working ok now since I turned off the AVG link scanner. I'll leave it another few days and turn that back on to see if the problem comes back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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