Connection Problems

I suppose I should start off by explaining I'm very computer illiterate, I have no idea what I'm doing so I've come to find help from someone who actually does.


For about two weeks my internet connection has been repetitively disconnect in clusters around the same time. It'll cut me off and seconds later I'm reconnected and it signs me back into my instant messengers and such, then seconds later it'll cut me out again.
Other times the internet works perfectly without flaw for hours.

I've tried doing a system restore with the help of my friend explaining what to do, that didn't seem to do anything.
No settings were changed to the network or the modem beforehand.


I'm not sure what could be wrong, please help me?

 

It sounds to me like your computer is losing communication with your router. Are you connecting wirelessly, or do you have a cable running from your internet to your computer?

 

I'm not using a router in this network, it's simply a wired modem connected directly to the computer.

 

Hmm, it still sounds like a physical problem, even though being wired directly to the modem reduces the likelihood of that. If you have an extra cat5 (the thick cable that runs from your computer to your modem) you could try that one, or just try moving around the one you have while the internet is working, to see what happens.

 

I crawled around on the ground and checked all the wires connecting from the wall, to the modem, then to the computer. Each time I wiggled them nothing happened, and they weren't damaged.

I don't think that's the problem, hopefully.