Internet Disconnection

Hi,
I had a similar problem, with an internal modem, it used to freeze and reboot itself while browsing.
It wasn't until I removed the internal modem and installed an external modem, that the problem went away.
Perhaps you can borrow an external modem from a friend, just to try it......good luck

Like John, I have experianced modems that just don't get a long with some motherboards.
Try a modem with a different chipset. Perhaps, even a true hardware modem.

Download and update the drivers for the motherboard and the modem.

Check for other devices sharing the same IRQ as the modem. Un-installing the modem, and moving it to a different slot may correct the problems.
(Remove modems from Control Panel, Modems NOT device manager.)

Clear out your temporary internet files, and windows\temp folder to clear up hard drive space for internat cache files.

Check your TCP/IP and DNS settings with your ISP, and verify that everything is set okay.

Depending on which version of IE you are running, you might want to update to either 5.5, or 6.0

If your OS has been installed for over 2 years, the best thing to do, may be to whipe the drive, and start over again.
Windows just gets corrupted over time, and the best way to fix things, is to wipe the hard drive, and re-install Windows, along with the applications you actually use from scratch.

Chas

Might be a good idea to check the manufacturer's web site for the internal modem to see if this is a common problem and if they have any solution for it. If not, then see if there are any initialisation strings that you can add to make things behave better. Hope you resolve this problem soon.

Being honest, even though the computers at the two locations are the same there are big differences that are not fully taken into account.

The first is that one has an external modem that is better designed by Hardware to handle telecommunications and all its deficits. The home computer is most likely set with a Winmodem which shifts much to the PC and the CPU. Therefore if you shift activity you would need to beef up that computer to better handle the action. Also, it is a plain fact thatthe Winmodem via software handling is just not as good and results in the locking that you're encountering.

Second area is the telephone lines and the isp, even if they are provided by the same phone company and the same isp at both locations the best lines still go to businesses because they pay more. No one is going to admit it but it is there. You can sometimes get one or the other to give you a "business" quality connection, but it is a struggle and often just the modem change can balance the performance. Also the ISP equipment for the Residential connection may be of lower grade as most home users don't have that good of connection. Also, the distance of where the paths travel, the wires etc all play into the quality, nothing you can hear, but digital is much more sensitive. Again, an external modem often can be tuned much better to provide a more consistent digital stream that the pc can handle.

(continuing above)
All this leads up to what happens is some sporadic blip that gets through, that can't be handled well by the software and Windows (it too can be frail) causes the processor thread to time out and go into lala land. And yes by opening the ctrl+alt+del box and clicking cancel will sometimes work because at that point it stops all process, as this is a priority command level, and when you click cancel it puts everybody back in order, sort of clears its mind and gives fresh start. It also fails at times because the process may just have died and then you will see on the right side (Not Responding). In that case you would highlight the item, click end task, wait for it to figure that out and it will close out either the email program, or IE. It wont close the phone connection but it will allow you to restart either program without having to redial and reconnect.

Sometimes if right click on a program that is not responding and in your tray at the bottom the close action will kick just that one while allowing others to continue.

Oh by the way all that blinking at the bottom is can really be miss leading - lots of stuff goes through the modem to make a connection that gets reflected there.

You might also look at the software that controls you modem and your isp connection and see if there aren't some controls that would disconnect if activity is absent for a period of time. At least then if things froze The other alternative is to look into a stronger connection type such as DSL, Cable, Satellite, while even this processes can freeze they are less likely. I know they cost more but once you been there you dread thinking of going back.

Hope this has been of help.

Thank you to all who have responded so far. The fact that you have used your valuable time to help me is appreciated. As solutions suggested involve actions which might take some time, please be patient. I will eventually rate and comment on your suggestions when they have been tried out. Computer just did the same thing again. It was possible to reconnect by dialling my ISP again but this cost a call. Be back to you.

Hi,

Just to make sure your internet connection is successful connected the best thing to do is get an installation setup disk on your prospect ISP another one is make sure that phoneline can able to handle internet connection without any problem depending on your location and lastly make sure that you haven't got only one Web Browser installed try it on AOL or NETSCAPE as well then you will know surely if your modem is the problem or your connection. IE seems to be standard but better try some of the other ones. Hope this gives you a little hint.

Cheers,

Mel Arquiza
Home Page Design
http://hpd.welcome.to

I know this is so simplistic it probably won't help, but make certain you have "call waiting" disabled. I've seen this cause these kinds of errors (where the modem is still technically connected, but no longer able to transfer data).

Have you tried using networking tools to ping your DNS server or known addresses when this happens? Can you tracert? These basic tools will at least give you an idea about what is failing.

I aggree with Chas. I think it is hardware or even drivers if the modem is old. Replace the modem they're cheap.

Sorry about the delay in rating your helpful comments but it is taking time to try them all out.
1. Tried removal of network card - no difference
2. Tried external modem - no difference
3. Downloaded latest driver for internal modem - no difference
4. Checked and changed IRQ - no difference
5. Re-installed modem - no difference
6. Tried different browsers - no difference
7. Checked TCP/IP and DNS settings - no difference
8. Had already updated to latest version of Internet Explorer
9. OS only recently installed
10. Checked modem manufacturer?s website - no mention of any problems
11. Switched computers at two locations - no difference
12. Ending task for IE does close down the connection so doesn't solve the problem.
13. I notice that the computer at the bottom sometimes disappears although still connected.
14. "Call waiting" is disconnected
15. Have no idea what "pinging" and "tracert" mean Alpha-Male
16. Cleared out temporary internet files. (this may have done the trick - thanks TheChas) Problem has not reoccurred since although only tried this recently. However, that doesn?t mean that it?s fixed. That?s why the ?wait until I rate?.

Thank you all for helping to this stage.

7:30 am - 20/06/02

Sorry to have to relate the sad news but the same problem has occurred four times in the last hour so obviously the solution has not been found. Add to that the fact that often now, the computer refuses to close down Internet sites that have been loaded (when closing down the computer) and even the "Close a Program" dialog box. It looks like it's back to the drawing board after a few weeks when the problem had appeared to have gone away. At all times when this problem and the latest one have occurred, Internet Explorer 6.0 has been open.

Peter

If you've switched the two PCs and you're saying it is still happening then you need to drop you ISP for another one. I used to have a phone modem for internet access and suddenly had similar issues and I knew for a fact that nothing had changed onmy end, I changed ISPs using the same modem and browser and the problem was fixed. The ISP simply couldn't handle it's customer load yet blammed it on my modem.

I don't know if it's relevant to my problem but the following error message keeps appearing:

Line: 101
Char: 9
Error:'ratings[...][...].value'is null or not an object
Code:0

The next part was added specifically today:

URL:https://www.techrepublic.com/forumqu/thread_detail.jhtml?
thread_id=(an id no. was here)

I know almost nothing about Java Script

Peter

This question was closed by the author