Internet Connection Drops Constantly

Hello, I'm experiencing frequent problems with my Internet Connection. My
computer is connected to the Internet through a Motorola Surfboard modem from
Charter Communications. My computer will randomly disconnect from the
Internet around every hour. The modem still says that it is connected as will
my computer if I go to the Network and Sharing Center. Even though the
computer says that it is connected, no program can access the Internet.
Anytime I open a Firefox it will usually say "Cannot Find Server" and
Internet Explorer will just say that it cannot display the webpage. Sometimes
I will get popups from Windows (I believe, though it could be FireFox) trying
to connect to a broadband connection. It never works, though, and it asks for
a password and username. I do not have one, though. I have not set up any
sort of password for accessing any Internet connection on my computer. When I
first upgraded computers all I had to do was plug in the cable modem and
Vista automatically connected. It was perfect and I had no issues for quite a
while. The connection dropped on day and Charter walked me through a process
which reset my cable modem and got me back online. Ever since then I have
been having this issue where my computer randomly loses it's connection. I
was not able to get online for about an hour today. I did a System Restore to
see if anyone had possibly done something, but the problem presisted. I came
back later and now everything is running relatively fine!? It's like the
computer has a mind of it's own. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I
called Charter and it is supposedly normal for the connection to drop from
time to time. They suggest unplugging the modem for 30 seconds, but that does
nothing for my issue and their support pretty much ends there. Thanks.

first, you should get yourself a router to put between your cable
modem and your computer. it is much safer.

second, if you have unrecognized password prompts, you should scan
for malware. start here http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm

lastly, you have provided no info about your connection. please post
the text output of ipconfig /all

http://digitalmediaphile.wordpress.c...t-text-output/


On Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:59:11 -0700, D.
<D.@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>Hello, I'm experiencing frequent problems with my Internet Connection. My
>computer is connected to the Internet through a Motorola Surfboard modem from
>Charter Communications. My computer will randomly disconnect from the
>Internet around every hour. The modem still says that it is connected as will
>my computer if I go to the Network and Sharing Center. Even though the
>computer says that it is connected, no program can access the Internet.
>Anytime I open a Firefox it will usually say "Cannot Find Server" and
>Internet Explorer will just say that it cannot display the webpage. Sometimes
>I will get popups from Windows (I believe, though it could be FireFox) trying
>to connect to a broadband connection. It never works, though, and it asks for
>a password and username. I do not have one, though. I have not set up any
>sort of password for accessing any Internet connection on my computer. When I
>first upgraded computers all I had to do was plug in the cable modem and
>Vista automatically connected. It was perfect and I had no issues for quite a
>while. The connection dropped on day and Charter walked me through a process
>which reset my cable modem and got me back online. Ever since then I have
>been having this issue where my computer randomly loses it's connection. I
>was not able to get online for about an hour today. I did a System Restore to
>see if anyone had possibly done something, but the problem presisted. I came
>back later and now everything is running relatively fine!? It's like the
>computer has a mind of it's own. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I
>called Charter and it is supposedly normal for the connection to drop from
>time to time. They suggest unplugging the modem for 30 seconds, but that does
>nothing for my issue and their support pretty much ends there. Thanks.
--

Barb Bowman
MS-MVP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/e...ts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/

"Barb Bowman" wrote:

> first, you should get yourself a router to put between your cable
> modem and your computer. it is much safer.
>
> second, if you have unrecognized password prompts, you should scan
> for malware. start here http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm
>
> lastly, you have provided no info about your connection. please post
> the text output of ipconfig /all
>
> http://digitalmediaphile.wordpress.c...t-text-output/
>
>
> On Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:59:11 -0700, D.
> <D.@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>
> >Hello, I'm experiencing frequent problems with my Internet Connection. My
> >computer is connected to the Internet through a Motorola Surfboard modem from
> >Charter Communications. My computer will randomly disconnect from the
> >Internet around every hour. The modem still says that it is connected as will
> >my computer if I go to the Network and Sharing Center. Even though the
> >computer says that it is connected, no program can access the Internet.
> >Anytime I open a Firefox it will usually say "Cannot Find Server" and
> >Internet Explorer will just say that it cannot display the webpage. Sometimes
> >I will get popups from Windows (I believe, though it could be FireFox) trying
> >to connect to a broadband connection. It never works, though, and it asks for
> >a password and username. I do not have one, though. I have not set up any
> >sort of password for accessing any Internet connection on my computer. When I
> >first upgraded computers all I had to do was plug in the cable modem and
> >Vista automatically connected. It was perfect and I had no issues for quite a
> >while. The connection dropped on day and Charter walked me through a process
> >which reset my cable modem and got me back online. Ever since then I have
> >been having this issue where my computer randomly loses it's connection. I
> >was not able to get online for about an hour today. I did a System Restore to
> >see if anyone had possibly done something, but the problem presisted. I came
> >back later and now everything is running relatively fine!? It's like the
> >computer has a mind of it's own. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I
> >called Charter and it is supposedly normal for the connection to drop from
> >time to time. They suggest unplugging the modem for 30 seconds, but that does
> >nothing for my issue and their support pretty much ends there. Thanks.
> --
>
> Barb Bowman
> MS-MVP
> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/e...ts/bowman.mspx
> http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/
>

Thanks for the response. I've run Adaware, Spybot, and AVg AntiSpyware. None
of these found anything, except Adaware which found some tracking cookies.
The password window is popping up in response to my browsers trying to
connect to the Internet. All of my programs know when my connection is gone,
but Network Sharing Center and the actual system seems to think it's working
fine. I'd post a screenshot, but I'm not getting the message at the moment
since my Internet is working properly. Here is the information from ipconfig:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6001]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Deondria Douglas>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : -PC
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82562V-2 10/100 Network
Connecti
on
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1A-A0-8C-AA-9C
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::b5f6:7911:29f7:4c00%9(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 97.89.18.154(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.224.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, March 25, 2008 9:08:14 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, March 27, 2008 6:24:01 PM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 97.89.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 68.114.38.210
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 24.197.160.21
24.197.160.18
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 6:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-00-54-55-4E-01
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 7:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . :
isatap.{07A348D5-E7E4-4ED6-AA8F-7E8A9A15F
F31}
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 9:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 6TO4 Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 12:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 6TO4 Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2002:6159:129a::6159:129a(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 2002:c058:6301::c058:6301
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 24.197.160.21
24.197.160.18
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

I guess I spoke too soon. Here is a link to an image of the popup that comes
up when the Internet connection starts to fail.

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/j...tbroadband.jpg

I don't know what Charter had you do that day. Can you go back to a
system restore before they had you make changes?

Then, unbind IPv6:
http://digitalmediaphile.wordpress.c...windows-vista/

You really should get a router to put between your computer and the
cable modem for safety.

On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:09:00 -0700, D. <D@discussions.microsoft.com>
wrote:

>I guess I spoke too soon. Here is a link to an image of the popup that comes
>up when the Internet connection starts to fail.
>
>http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/j...tbroadband.jpg
--

Barb Bowman
MS-MVP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/e...ts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/

"Barb Bowman" wrote:

> I don't know what Charter had you do that day. Can you go back to a
> system restore before they had you make changes?
>
> Then, unbind IPv6:
> http://digitalmediaphile.wordpress.c...windows-vista/
>
> You really should get a router to put between your computer and the
> cable modem for safety.
>
> On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:09:00 -0700, D. <D@discussions.microsoft.com>
> wrote:
>
> >I guess I spoke too soon. Here is a link to an image of the popup that comes
> >up when the Internet connection starts to fail.
> >
> >http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/j...tbroadband.jpg
> --
>
> Barb Bowman
> MS-MVP
> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/e...ts/bowman.mspx
> http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/
>

I wish I could, but my system only has restore pints dating back to the
installation of Service Pack 1 for Vista. Charter rest my connection, but
that didn't work. They asked for my ip address and that's about all I can
specifically remember. It happened quite a while ago, but the issue has
gotten worse so I'm seeking help from other places. How will a router between
my computer offer security? I don't know that much about routers, but
wouldn't it open up possibilities of others using my connection? Thanks for
the help .

most modern routers have a hardware firewall and all offer the
protection of NAT. you can disable the wireless radio in some
wireless routers (this is not the same as disabling SSID broadcast).
and you leave the router and your cable modem turned on 24/7 so you
don't lose the IP from your ISP.

don't know if this will improve the situation, but it might.

did you unbind IPv6?

On Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:45:01 -0700, D. <D@discussions.microsoft.com>
wrote:

>How will a router between
>my computer offer security? I don't know that much about routers, but
>wouldn't it open up possibilities of others using my connection? Thanks for
>the help .
--

Barb Bowman
MS-MVP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/e...ts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/

"Barb Bowman" wrote:

> most modern routers have a hardware firewall and all offer the
> protection of NAT. you can disable the wireless radio in some
> wireless routers (this is not the same as disabling SSID broadcast).
> and you leave the router and your cable modem turned on 24/7 so you
> don't lose the IP from your ISP.
>
> don't know if this will improve the situation, but it might.
>
> did you unbind IPv6?
>
> On Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:45:01 -0700, D. <D@discussions.microsoft.com>
> wrote:
>
> >How will a router between
> >my computer offer security? I don't know that much about routers, but
> >wouldn't it open up possibilities of others using my connection? Thanks for
> >the help .
> --
>
> Barb Bowman
> MS-MVP
> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/e...ts/bowman.mspx
> http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/
>
I disabled few services which I thought were unnecessary, as I am not using
any Symantec products I disabled "Symantec Lic Net Connect Service" then my
Internet connection started dropping very often. I was thinking it was SP1
but when I changed Symantec Lic Net Connect Service back to manual everything
is fine. I hope this will be helpful to someone and suggest not to throw
money away on new equipment before trying something simple.

the fact that you have this service on your computer indicates that
Norton/Symantec products were installed at one point. If you have
disabled but not uninstalled a Norton product, almost anything can
happen. Norton acknowledges that they have issues with their
programs. See
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT...nsf&view=docid
as an example.

your issue seems completely different. You should not need this
service running if you are not using Norton products.



On Fri, 28 Mar 2008 04:21:02 -0700, brummyfan
<brummyfan@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>I disabled few services which I thought were unnecessary, as I am not using
>any Symantec products I disabled "Symantec Lic Net Connect Service" then my
>Internet connection started dropping very often. I was thinking it was SP1
>but when I changed Symantec Lic Net Connect Service back to manual everything
>is fine. I hope this will be helpful to someone and suggest not to throw
>money away on new equipment before trying something simple.
--

Barb Bowman
MS-MVP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/e...ts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/

Regarding those logon prompts, I think probably you have 'dial whenever a
connection is not present' enabled in your Internet Explorer connection
settings. That could be correct if your modem is set to log off when there
is no keyboard activity for a period of time, but if the internet connection
is supposedly 'always on' then you should change the IE setting to "never
dial" a connection. The logon prompts should stop happening after that.

If you have a 3rd party firewall on your computer it could be the source of
your intermittent connection problems. Try disabling it or uninstall it and
use the Vista firewall instead.

"D." <D@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:FBE0B967-4B72-416F-BD66-7C1DA2815097@microsoft.com...
>
>
> "Barb Bowman" wrote:
>
>> I don't know what Charter had you do that day. Can you go back to a
>> system restore before they had you make changes?
>>
>> Then, unbind IPv6:
>> http://digitalmediaphile.wordpress.c...windows-vista/
>>
>> You really should get a router to put between your computer and the
>> cable modem for safety.
>>
>> On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:09:00 -0700, D. <D@discussions.microsoft.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> >I guess I spoke too soon. Here is a link to an image of the popup that
>> >comes
>> >up when the Internet connection starts to fail.
>> >
>> >http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/j...tbroadband.jpg
>> --
>>
>> Barb Bowman
>> MS-MVP
>> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/e...ts/bowman.mspx
>> http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/
>>
>
> I wish I could, but my system only has restore pints dating back to the
> installation of Service Pack 1 for Vista. Charter rest my connection, but
> that didn't work. They asked for my ip address and that's about all I can
> specifically remember. It happened quite a while ago, but the issue has
> gotten worse so I'm seeking help from other places. How will a router
> between
> my computer offer security? I don't know that much about routers, but
> wouldn't it open up possibilities of others using my connection? Thanks
> for
> the help .