PC keeps dropping internet.

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by dyamond, Mar 25, 2012.

  1. dyamond

    dyamond Imelda Marcos of Majorgeeks

    I just bought a new laptop. Dell Studio 1558 - Win7 and ever since I got it, a few days ago, about every 10 or so minutes it drops my internet connection. I've tried power cycling the modem and the wireless router but it still happens. I'm clueless as to why this is happening when it's never happened to my other laptops. Help!! I just want to drop kick this thing but I haven't paid it off yet :-D
     
  2. Major Attitude

    Major Attitude Co-Owner MajorGeeks.Com Staff Member

    Depends. I assume the router existed before and is not the issue. Maybe your network card is going to sleep. I would update the driver for it first. Their drivers are for 2010 so they are outdated:

    http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/19

    This is of no use sadly:
    http://support.dell.com/support/top...s/document?c=us&cs=19&docid=420860&l=en&s=dhs since they tell you to download their own outdated drivers lol.

    It offers a link to Microsoft for generic answers http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/...reless-network-connection-problems-in-windows but again I say drivers first.
     
  3. dyamond

    dyamond Imelda Marcos of Majorgeeks

    Thanks MA. There are a lot of choices for drivers, they are: Application, Audio, BIOS, Chipset, Communications, CPU, Diagnostics, Input, Network, Removable Storage, Serial ATA, System Utilities & Video.

    I downloaded the drivers under "network" but it's still dropping the connection. Was there maybe another category I should have picked from or picked them all?
     
  4. satrow

    satrow Major Geek Extraordinaire

    MA might have pinpointed the problem already:
    Check the properties for the network card in Device Manager, set it to never turn off to save power. There may be other settings in the main Power Options in Control Panel that might be coming into play otherwise.
     
  5. dyamond

    dyamond Imelda Marcos of Majorgeeks

    I unchecked the "turn off to save power" option but still losing connection. Thanks for your help!
     
  6. satrow

    satrow Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Can you access the logs page in the router? There maybe something logged there that could help us pinpoint what's happening.
     
  7. dyamond

    dyamond Imelda Marcos of Majorgeeks

    I can try. What exactly am I looking for?
     
  8. satrow

    satrow Major Geek Extraordinaire

    If you tell us the router make/model, we should be able to tell you (give you a clickable link maybe) which page to access and what to look for.
     
  9. dyamond

    dyamond Imelda Marcos of Majorgeeks

    It's a Netgear WGR614v9. I logged on to the router (I have to turn off the modem to access the router because, for some reason I don't know why, they have the same IP address) and I found this under "Logs", Not sure if this is what you are looking for?

    [Admin login] from source 192.168.1.2
    [Admin login] from source 192.168.1.2
    [DHCP IP: (192.168.1.2)] to MAC address F0:7B:CB:33:5B:4C
    [DHCP IP: (192.168.1.2)] to MAC address F0:7B:CB:33:5B:4C
    [DHCP IP: (192.168.1.2)] to MAC address F0:7B:CB:33:5B:4C
    [DHCP IP: (192.168.1.2)] to MAC address F0:7B:CB:33:5B:4C
    [UPnP set event: Public_UPNP_C3] from source 192.168.1.2
    [DHCP IP: (192.168.1.2)] to MAC address F0:7B:CB:33:5B:4C
    [DHCP IP: (192.168.1.2)] to MAC address F0:7B:CB:33:5B:4C
    [DHCP IP: (192.168.1.2)] to MAC address F0:7B:CB:33:5B:4C
    [DHCP IP: (192.168.1.2)] to MAC address F0:7B:CB:33:5B:4C
    [DHCP IP: (192.168.1.2)] to MAC address F0:7B:CB:33:5B:4C
    [Internet disconnected]
    [Initialized, firmware version: V1.2.24_37.0.35NA]
     
  10. satrow

    satrow Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Not a very good logging system; no dates/times for any of the events, no disconnect events for your laptop either. Near the bottom, we can see where you turned off the modem, above that, we can see that the router gives an IP address to your laptop - nothing useful though :(

    On the laptop, how do you control wireless access, is it though the Windows wireless control panel or a 3rd party one from the wireless card maker (Dell or Telus)?

    Have you tried running the diagnostics yet from the 2nd link MA gave?
     
  11. dyamond

    dyamond Imelda Marcos of Majorgeeks

    I'm sorry, I'm not exactly sure what you mean by control?

    Tried the link from MA but it said no problems were found.


    Side note: would a hard drive make a difference? because I swapped this one (the new one) for my old dead pc's (this laptop is almost the twin to my dead laptop)?
     
  12. satrow

    satrow Major Geek Extraordinaire

    In the system tray, there should be a wireless control panel (probably hidden, click the chevron to see it) - where you originally setup the wireless connection from?

    The hard drive isn't likely to make a difference here, especially since you've updated the wireless drivers.

    Two possibilities are stuck in my head currently, that there's another connection being given the same IP address as the laptop so that when one connects to the router, the other is kicked off, or, the wireless card is damaged - I've had similar problems with a modem before - it connected for a few minutes then dropped the connection.

    If you enter Windows Management - Start Orb > right-click Computer > Manage then drill down through Event viewer > Windows logs > System.
    In the right pane, select Filter current log > set Logged to the last 24 hours and click OK, then in the right pane again, Save filtered log as > save it to your Desktop as System.evtx > zip it (Send to > compressed folder) and attach it please.
     
  13. dyamond

    dyamond Imelda Marcos of Majorgeeks

    Oh, I set the original wireless connection from inside Windows.

    I hope I attached this right.
     

    Attached Files:

  14. satrow

    satrow Major Geek Extraordinaire

    There's some useful info there but nothing I'd call definitive, perhaps a possibility that the laptop may be trying to access another router if/when the signal's stronger.

    Can you attach a last 24 hour Windows log from Application please; like before, save as Apps.evtx and zip.
     
  15. dyamond

    dyamond Imelda Marcos of Majorgeeks

    Here you go.. Thanks a bunch!
     

    Attached Files:

  16. Caliban

    Caliban I don't need no steenkin' title!

    Hi, guys...

    Pardon the interruption, but I saw this post by foogoo in another thread and realized it may have some bearing here:

    Might be worth looking into if the event logs don't pan out - maybe some setting in the control panel software (if it exists)?...
     
  17. tgell

    tgell Major Geek Extraordinaire

    I do not want to hijack this thread but your modem and router should not share the same IP address as you posted. If your modem is 192.168.1.1, your router should be set to something like 192.168.2.1. I noticed in the manual, at the beginning of chapter 4 that your router lets you set up something called static DHCP where it will provide an ip address based on the MAC address of your laptop. You may want to provide a fixed address. It may solve your connection problem.
     
  18. satrow

    satrow Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Hi again Dy,

    @tgell and Caliban, no worries guys, we need some help - the IP clash does feel favorite still. Manually setting the IP of the laptop might work easily enough:

    Start -> Control Panel -> Double click on Network Connections. Right click on your Wireless Network Connection > Properties > General tab, double-click on Internet Protocol (TCP/IPv4) and check "Use the following IP address, input 192.168.1.10. Click OK then close to save it, reboot and test.

    If it still drops connection frequently: Start > Run > MSinfo32, once MSinfo has loaded, hit save and save it to your Desktop as dyamond.nfo, zip and attach it please.

    There's also an ACPI driver that needs installing, could you give us the Dell Service Tag # from a sticker under the laptop, we'll try to dig out the correct driver for you.
     
  19. tgell

    tgell Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Hi satrow, I was looking at the manual and the DHCP server addresses allotted by this router are 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.254. If we give a static IP to the computer, I think the DHCP allotment should change to something like 192.168.1.100 to 192.168.1.254.
     
  20. dyamond

    dyamond Imelda Marcos of Majorgeeks

    Thanks for the all the help!! I checked in Control Panel but I don't have Network Connections, just Network and Sharing Center and if I click on that I don't really have any of the options you listed.

    As a side note: My wireless router and modem have had the same IP address for.. maybe a year? I bought the router with the purchase of my last laptop (which I think was a year ago) and I didn't have this problem with that laptop (and not with the spare I was using in the mean time) but only with this one but I am willing to try anything that will fix this!

    [​IMG]


    Service Tag: 4HC6YL1
     
  21. Caliban

    Caliban I don't need no steenkin' title!

    Another shot in the dark: try hard-wiring the connection temporarily - maybe we can see if this is a wireless problem or if something else is going on...
     
  22. satrow

    satrow Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Apologies, I got a lot wrong in my last post :(

    The driver that appears to be missing should be the R242805.exe listed under Chipset here. Alternatively, you could try the Intel autodetect utility. <--- do these later, fix the connex first.

    Ignore the adapter changes for now (to do that later, if needed, the settings are under "Change Adapter settings" on the left as shown in the screenshot).

    The modem and router IP's need sorting out, hopefully, the laptop will then pick up the correct settings once that's done. As stated by Caliban, hard-wiring the laptop to the router is preferable for this.



    Connect the laptop, disconnect the router from the modem (this should allow you to access and change the router settings and view the recent logs if needed, before a reboot/reconnection is required) then navigate to the router Basic settings page - currently 192.168.1.2.

    Change the Internet IP section from "get dynamically from ISP" to "use static IP address" and input: 192.168.1.1 (this is the default for the Netgear)
    with the subnet mask as 255.255.255.0 (this might autocomplete)
    and the Gateway set to 192.168.1.2 (this points the router to the modem).
    Then click Apply, the router is likely to want to restart, allow it and reconnect the router to the modem.

    Reboot the laptop.

    After the reboot, the router IP address should be 192.168.1.1 (or http://www.routerlogin.com http://www.routerlogin.net).

    (If you can't access the router/Internet at this point, change the laptop's adapter settings.)

    If all goes well, unplug the laptop from the router and test the wireless connection - you may need to reboot the laptop again.




    @Caliban, tgell, somebody: can you check the above for accuracy please, before dyamond's back online ;) ?
     
  23. tgell

    tgell Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Hi satrow,
    From the manual, if the OP did not change anything, the gateway address is 192.168.1.1. The 192.168.1.2 address in post #7 is a DHCP address from the router which according to the manual has addresses 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.254 given by the DHCP server. See figure 4.1 or the manual I have attached.

    I believe that is order to set up a static IP address, the OP will have to change the DHCP range to something like 192.168.1.100 to 192.168.1.254. This will leave a range of 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.99 available for static IP addresses. The router also gives the option to assign a single DHCP address to a MAC address. Something called Static DHCP. Called Address Reservation in the manual.

    So the settings I would use assuming there is no conflict with the modem which according to the OP has the same IP address as the router would be this.

    Static IP: 192.168.1.10
    Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
    Gateway: 192.168.1.1

    I would believe that if the modem and router both are using 192.168.1.1, the router IP should be changed to 192.168.2.1. All of the addresses above would then be changed accordingly.
     

    Attached Files:

  24. satrow

    satrow Major Geek Extraordinaire

    @tgell: the modem is using 192.168.1.2, as is the router currently - they're both being set from the ISP is my guess.

    But maybe I'm reading it all wrong :(
     
  25. tgell

    tgell Major Geek Extraordinaire

    I may be wrong. I guess it would be best to confirm with the OP what address is used to login to the router. My assumption from Post #9 (my mistake, I said #7 in my previous post) was that the OP was logging in from 192.168.1.2 but maybe I am wrong about this. If the router is 192.168.1.2 then your post is correct and mine is wrong. But, I believe that the DHCP server addresses would still have to be changed in order to set up the static IP address.
     
  26. Caliban

    Caliban I don't need no steenkin' title!

    What am I missing here? I was under the impression that if there is an IP address mismatch you shouldn't be able to get online at all, instead of establishing a connection and then dropping every 10 minutes...

    I guess what I'm trying to say is: if the modem / router / laptop string is an incomplete path, why are the symptoms taking 10 minutes to show up?
     
  27. dyamond

    dyamond Imelda Marcos of Majorgeeks

    So I downloaded that chipset driver and I haven't had a drop in connection since I came home! (almost 3 hrs) YAY! :celebrate You have no idea how annoying that was to me!!

    Thanks so much everyone, all of you ROCK!!!! My heroes! :strong
     
  28. Caliban

    Caliban I don't need no steenkin' title!

    Way to go Lady Dy (and MA, and satrow, and tgell)! Awesome! :highfive
     
  29. satrow

    satrow Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Just shows how confusing some of these problems appear to be - I found one very similar thread on another site last night, 10 minute d/cs, Verizon software and all - they ended up formatting ...

    Nice work Dy :) thanks all :clap
     

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