Windows Forum

Ask something
Discussion Locked

internet connection time out when idling

0 helpful
8 replies

by eminent87

Closed to new repliesThis discussion is closed. It stays readable, but it takes no new replies.

Hi,

We have a business dsl provided by earthlink with a speedstream 5851 router, about 2 weeks ago I've started noticing our internet connection faded in and out. I've noticed that when a computer has been idling for about 15-30 minutes or so it loses internet connection. When I launched the IE it takes about a minute to connect, it seems like it's looking for something. During this period if I try to ping I would get time out error. But after it finds what it's looking for then everything works fine. I've checked the dns setting and that seem to be fine. All other network settings are the same. Could this be a DNS issue? Because it seem like that is what it's looking for when it tries to connect? We don't host our own dns, we uses the public dns that earthlink provided us. Has anybody experienced similar problems?

I've also noticed that when client uses the MS messenger it log them out every 15 minutes or so because of this. Is there any way I can find out if this is an internal problem or is it earthlink's problem? Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

8 replies

by opatzg9

Have you asked earthlink what their official user connection is based on. What happens when the connection is idle? I know on older modem connections if you did not load a program to maintain your connection, inactivity of changing locations would log you off the internet asumming you had a locked up pc and clear the connection. It may be the same principal with dsl in order to conserve bandwidth they may be disconnecting you.
They should be able to tell you that though, otherwise look at some of the freeware out there to maintain a connection.

by eminent87

I also found out the clients are losing connectivity to the router, because when I try to ping it I get timed out error. The connection comes back within 30 sec of the first ping. And the weird part of this is that it doesn't happen to every machineon the network, just to most of them. There are about 5 computer (clients and servers) that are not affected by this. I also check to see if it's dynamic of static ip that's being affected by this but it doesn't matter. Both have problems.

by joseph moore

I would check the ARP cache on a workstation that has "timed out." See if it still has the IP address and MAC address of your gateway.
For example, if your router is the default gateway for your workstations, and pretend its IP address is 10.1.1.1,you would open a Command Prompt and type in:

arp -a

And you would get something like this:

Interface: 10.1.1.2 on Interface 0x1000003
Internet Address Physical Address Type
10.1.1.1 0K-0J-0c-09-ad-01 dynamic
10.1.1.2 01-d1-c1-ce-d1-61 dynamic
etc...

So, make sure the gateway is in there. If not, then the ARP cache is being purged too often.

hope this helps

by eminent87

I've checked the ARP and during the time out period the router is not listed in the ARP but then when I do get a responce it does show up.

I read somewhere that the ARP cache is supposed to purged every 5 minutes or so, is this correct? And where can I go to adjust this settings? On the router or the client?

by joseph moore

Ok. Arp cache.

"TCP/IP PARAMETERS SUBKEY ENTRIES
The entries for TCP/IP parameters appear under the following Registry path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters

ArpCacheLife REG_DWORD Number of Seconds
Default: 600 (10 minutes)

Determines the default lifetime for entries in the ARP cache table. Once an entry is placed in the ARP cache, it is allowed to remain there until its lifetime expires or until its table entry is reused because it is the oldest entry. "

So, this is the value you need to modify. Crank it out to a few hours, and see how it works for you.

For more TCP/IP parameters setting, go here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q102973

NOTE: alsoavailable at: http://tinyurl.com/27ex

hope this helps

by eminent87

Although your answer didn't solve my problem but help me to understand ARP better and for that I'm going to give you credit to my question.

I found out that it was the sonicwall that was causing the problem, after upgraded the firmware all the settings changed and caused the mix up with router. I also had ppl at efficient configure some changes to the router too because the previous person who configured it didn't configured it correctly.

Thanks for everyone's effort in trying to help me resolve this issue.

This discussion is closed to new replies.