Sky router/wired connection

I have been having problems with my PC/Broadband

It kept dropping out, so I contacted Sky

I had a guy come out, I was suggested to move the router to the BT main socket and use a longer ethernet cable to connect my PC, I did this, brand new cable, new ethernet card for the PC, new rounter from Sky

But I stil have the same problem, it drops out after 20-30 minutes and nothing connects, unless I reboot the PC or reset the rounter

I havce renewed all I can think of, new PC card, new cable, new rounter, even a new BT socket with the test thing on it,

Anyone any ideas what else I can do or what the problem is and what is causing it to drop out ?

Am I going to have to get Sky out again to do more tests ?

Please help, really fed up keep rebooting the PC (it cant be good for it, rebooting all the time, I'm sure)

 

If dropping, most likely on their end. As for getting sky out, find someone competent, or another provider if they will not fix their problem. With Smoothwall router project, you can run an application that will monitor the router connection, etc. There are others out there, so at least you have proof that their service is at fault, not on your end.

 

What is this smoothwall project thing ? never heard of it, I used to have a small program that checked the speed every hour (or whenever timescale you wanrted) by they stopped the program

I wish there was something like it now

I had a guy out already, there was faults on the line, but he did recommend change the position of the rounter and getting a new ethernet cable rather than using a phone extension cable (it was properly wired in)

Any idea WHAT is causing it at their end ?

Still dropping out after 20-30 minutes, a real nuisance

I forgot to mention, the router Sky have sent me is a Sky branded netgear, I tried other Netgear routers, but they dont work, apparently its the Sky protocols that stop it working, so unless I change providers, Im with their equipment (it isnt as bad as it seems, been with them a long time, never had a problem before

 

http://www.smoothwall.org/ http://www.edugeek.net/forums/hardware/29579-sky-broadband-smoothwall-router.html
http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/sky/3690787-sky-broadband-and-using-own-router.html
http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt...roadband&fr=att-portal&toggle=1&cop=&ei=UTF-8

 

Had the sky/BT engineer out again, all checked out fine their end,

So do I get a new router from sky and change the internet card in the PC ?
They are both new

 

I used this router ages ago before i got the one that came with my ISP
http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop/ShopDetail.asp?ProductID=1408

Worked really good no problems whatsoever, didn`t get it from that shop though.

Have you got an ADSL adapter in your phone socket? Because if you haven`t and someone answer the phone that could cause it to drop out.

Had you contract ended? i mean the original time you sign up for? If it has i`d switch to another company, not talk talk though they`re the opitamy of awful.

 

I had a BT engineer come out,did lots of checks on the line and on the router, even went to the connection box up the road, no fault found

I have now run a new cable to my PC, still drops out though

I have sent my PC away to see if there are any problems with the internet card I installed, meanwhile I have connected my laptop with cable, and done a check every half hour or so, so far it hasnt dropped out

I did get a phone call from Sky, telling me that they have installed new software and next week I will be moved from BT equipment to Sky equipment (didnt know Sky had their own equipment)

It seems strange that it hasnt dropped out since the phone call, it did take the BT guy to get them to install and move me to their stuff

But until my PC comes back I cant check if its dropping out on that, but its not dropping out on this note book, but then again, I'm not downloading or doing much on it

Sky are also sending a new router,the last one died after a day (well all the lights went out)

 

Sky are crap, hence why they keep advertising, just like talk talk.

 

That is your opinion, I been with them for 3 years, this is the first time I have had problems, and their call centers are in the UK, not Inda (no one asked me too clear cookies and they didnt work from a 'dummy sheet, like Orange or 3)

Sky sent out an engineer (unlike Orange or 3)

BT sent out a guy (unlike Orange or 3)

I wouldnt know about talk talk, never used them

BUT I get my BB free and unlimited from Sky


AND when its working I get 4.7 meg

It will get sorted though

I guess if any company advertises, they are crap then ? how does that work out ?

 

Depends how many times they advertise if it often then they are crap,how i come to this conclusion is they advertise because people stop having them/ stop buying their products, and so they need to advertise to get more sales.Hence Talk talk for example.
Edit:I was just looking through new posts, and there i notice another one, Norton, they`re always advertising,i even got offered it with my netbook,i said to the bloke "i can`t stand norton they`re awful", yet it still came pre-installed on my netbook lol. Needless to say it ain`t now.

 

Well going by that assumption, most supermarkets and retailers would fall into that catorgory, because they advertise their goods

Sky compared to ther retailers doesnt advertise it BB, more of the TV programming

But slateing sky bears no relationship to my problem, and as for talk talk, never used them, so have no opinion to give

 

there is no reason why you can't use your own router with sky broadband
i have been using my own router for a while the only thing you need is your username and password which is buried within the sky custom firmware and not visible but can be got at

if your router is listed here it's probably the easiest way to obtain your username and password
http://www.cm9.net/skypass/

don't worry too much about the text in red it's to cover themselves and only really applies if your still within contract ( first 12 months )

set up your new modem router with the username and password and make sure it works before you bin the sky router

if your netbook is not being disconnected either the problem has been resolved or it's not your broadband connection at fault and the problem is with the pc or network card

 

I have bought and installed a new Ethernet PCI LAN adaptor, problem is still here, drops out after 15-20 minites

So far, 2 visits from engineers, (BT and Sky)no fault found,I have a new router, new cable, moved router to BT point, cable runs to the PC, new ethernet card, I dont know where to go from here now, I have replaced all I can think of

 

does it still drop out on your netbook ?

 

WiFi, No, connected via cable no,

so I know that its not the router or cable

 

I have been using mybroadbandchecker on 2 PC's connected to the same router, this PC (pc 1) is dropping out,the other (pc 2) seems to be fine (giving the virtually the same reading each time)

PC 1 is dropping out each time after 15 minutes, PC 2 is fine


As I have said previously, installed a new ethernet card, the lights are flashing, so I assume it is connected and working, so what else can I check ?

I also cant get any pop ups to listen to any radio stations,and the BBC iplayer, even though I have the pop up blocker OFF ? (any suggestions on that as well ?, and software I need to install ? I hae Java)

 

does pc1 not have it's own Ethernet port on the motherboard rather than using a pci lan card ?
most motherboards have this

you have established there is no problem with your router or phone line because pc2 is stable so the problem lies with pc1
we'll start with the pci card ethernet drivers are the the right ones for the card and are they up to date ?
is the card itself in good order and not faulty
if your motherboard has an ethernet port what happens when you use it ?
are the dropouts the same ?

ok if you do have an on board ethernet port and the results are the same and all the necessary drivers are ok and up to date the problem is going to be in software and not hardware

you havn't mentioned what operating system you use on pc1

run a virus checker and a malware checker
malware bytes is quite popular

don't forget to update the virus and malware checkers before you do a scan if this is not possible ( should have plenty of time to do this even tho it's dropping connection every 15 mins ) it's definitely some sort of infection

on a side note iv'e just come across this little program in another thread ( cheers mr attitude ) that might be worth running just to see

http://www.majorgeeks.com/Tweaking.com_-_Windows_Repair_d7141.html

 

It does have an ethernet port on the motherboard, but I thought that this was the problem, so I bought another PCI LAN card, I installed the drivers for it from supplied disc

It drops out no matter which port I use (motherboard or PCI LAN port)

Both PC 1 & 2 run XP pro, all the settings are the same (PC 2 only has a 25Gb memory, PC 1 has 650Gb on 2 drives)

I use Avast free and Malware bytes, both upto date

I have run Uniblue to update drivers and clean registry, nothing found on any of the scans



(I did get a PM telling me to take it to microsolutions or PC woerld, I think people here are smarter than anyone I could find in those places)

 

it might be worth trying the windows repair i linked to in my previous post

xp can be repaired from the setup disk by running it from boot there should be an option to repair xp rather than install this will just repair xp leaving your data intact

bit of a drastic measure but should cure your problem

the problem with taking it to a place like pc world is they will just re install the OS they havn't got the time to repair ( or the knowledge most of the time ) software issues the easiest and quickest way is to start again and thats what they will do

using the repair method i have suggested is a bit drastic but it doesn't wipe your drive or leave you with installed programs that can't be used the problem with it is not all xp installation disks have the option but it's worth having a look to see if yours does
when you go through the install procedure it should recognize you have xp allready installed and ask if you want to repair it
if it doesn't then your version of xp doesn't have the facility

 

the PC cleaner is virtually the same as the uniblue suite I use, the XP disc does have a repair module on it, but its not the XP program that is at faul;t, it is just the rounter, I did a full scan with Avast and Malware bytes, nothing was found

I ran uniblue registry cleaner, I ran Uniblue speedupmyPC, I then used the last one, driver update (never used it before)

It would seem that I have 6 outdated drivers, audio, bus controller (what ever that maybe) and realtek ethernet drivers

I installed the drivers as it asked, and now so far it has turned out pretty stable (this is over night)

I cant believe the drivers for the PCI LAN card were out dated, I installed it from the disc provided,

Maybe it was the driover for the PCI LAN card that were giving me problems (I dont know)

It has been stable (well over 3500kps) over night, I just did a BB speed check, so far, so good, it hasnt dropped out, there are a few kps up and down, but so far all readings are over 3500kps

The Ethernet on the mother board is pretty hopeless though, that just doesnt want to know, so I have disabled that

Well, thanks to everyone for their help, support and advice, I'll drop back to this thread and let you know how things have progressed

(I knew that people here were better than anything PCworld would have, I had no intention of letting any of them near my PC)

thanks all