# Network dropping?



## forumsviewer (Apr 8, 2010)

I run AOL Instant Messenger and about every hour I get dropped from the program.  I can still browse the web and I have even gone to the extent of PINGING the server I was connected to and it pings just fine even when I get dropped.  I changed out my network card thinking that it may be a network card issue and that didnt resolve the dropping out of AIM.

I have also tried changing my network cable that goes into the back of the computer.  I have power cycled the modem and router for my local network.  I have also uninstalled and installed the latest version.  This also happens to another one of my programs (but not necessarily at the same time).  I have one other computer and one laptop on the same network and i've never had this issue on them.

Any other suggestions to diagnose what is going on?  Could this be some piece of hardware such as memory or hard drive that could cause this?

No firewall either.  Running Windows XP Pro!

#######UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE########

April 27 2010 UPDATE
tried a different version of java and also plugged directly into the modem and all night long the program DID NOT drop.  This means I changed two variables.

Variable 1 ) Changed java version.  It is possible the java version I was running didn't work very well
Variable 2 ) Plugged directly into the modem bypassing the router.

I'm going to hook my router back up (putting variable 2 back) and see if it drops. If it does, what in the world could be the problem as to me it would seem it would have something to do with variable 2? I've tried 3 different routers and the other systems on the network don't have this issue.  PLEASE HELP!


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## Kreij (Apr 8, 2010)

What is the other program the disconnects? Maybe they have something in common.

Did you try another port on your router? Maybe the port is flakey.


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## forumsviewer (Apr 8, 2010)

Kreij said:


> What is the other program the disconnects? Maybe they have something in common.



it is a java based internet program.  i called the developers and they said that when i get dropped from it that means that there was over 30 seconds of no communication with their server (and apparently their server tries to contact my client machine every second automatically).  it is strange though because the server i connect to using the program i can ping while I lose connection in the program.  i thought it may be a java program which is why i uninstalled the program (and java) and reinstalled.


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## forumsviewer (Apr 9, 2010)

Any comments or suggestions?


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## forumsviewer (Apr 9, 2010)

no ideas?


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## Kreij (Apr 9, 2010)

Sorry, fviewer, I was a little busy.

Did you try another port on your router? Maybe switch it with one of the computers that does not have the problem?


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## Mussels (Apr 9, 2010)

this thread did not belong in general hardware.

Now, assuming you'll follow the rules about duplicate threads and posting in the wrong forum sections, you'll get some help.

my question: when you ping these servers, are you pinging by IP addy or hostname? if the IP works and the hostname doesnt, its likely you've got DNS issues.

If pinging the hostname works, then i lean away from DNS issues and into the territory of too many connections for the OS/router to handle, or broken UPNP in the router. XP is limited to 10 half open connections per second, and if you're hammering torrents or have heaps of programs running (or a ton of viruses) then that could well cause your problems.

You've also mentioned you have a modem AND A router - try with just the modem. You could just have a badly setup router.


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## forumsviewer (Apr 9, 2010)

Mussels said:


> my question: when you ping these servers, are you pinging by IP addy or hostname? if the IP works and the hostname doesnt, its likely you've got DNS issues.
> 
> If pinging the hostname works, then i lean away from DNS issues and into the territory of too many connections for the OS/router to handle, or broken UPNP in the router. XP is limited to 10 half open connections per second, and if you're hammering torrents or have heaps of programs running (or a ton of viruses) then that could well cause your problems.
> 
> You've also mentioned you have a modem AND A router - try with just the modem. You could just have a badly setup router.



Kreij - When I tried a different ethernet cord I just took it from the other computer that hasn't had any issues with either programs dropping.  Therefore this computer has been plugged into another port on the router because the cord I used was plugged into another port.

Mussels - When using command prompt I used "ping <domain server.com>" and then it would resolve to an ip address.  Therefore I don't believe it is an issue with DNS (i use openDNS if that matters).


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## Kreij (Apr 9, 2010)

After some reasearch I could not find anything conclusive other than the fact you are not the only one having this problem.

Did you try plugging the computer directly into the modem and bypassing the router as Mussels suggested? I am not sure why only the one computer would have this issue though.


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## forumsviewer (Apr 9, 2010)

Kreij said:


> After some reasearch I could not find anything conclusive other than the fact you are not the only one having this problem.
> 
> Did you try plugging the computer directly into the modem and bypassing the router as Mussels suggested? I am not sure why only the one computer would have this issue though.



Kreij - First, thank you so much for your assistance!  May I ask where or what other people are having a similar issue?

I have not tried plugging directly into the model itself.  I will try that


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## forumsviewer (Apr 9, 2010)

Will WireShark give us all of the information needed to see why it is dropping?  I guess if the internet isnt dropping then it could be java?


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## Kreij (Apr 9, 2010)

The problems were varied so it's hard to say what you should try.
Some people were using other clients (like Pidgen) and a port change fixed it, others were changing TCP timeouts on their routers (Linksys running DD-Wrt).

Since it's only happening on the one computer, You could make sure all of your network settings are identical to the computers that are not having the problem. 
Kind of stumped on this one. Especially since you tried another NIC. That would have been my first thought too.


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## forumsviewer (Apr 10, 2010)

I agree Kreij.  I'm having a very difficult time figuring out if it is a software settings issue or a hardware related issue (although wouldnt the replacement PCI NIC take care of that?)


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## Mussels (Apr 11, 2010)

replacement NIC only rules out one piece of hardware - the old NIC. it doesnt rule out cables or incompatibilities (EG - system 1 has gigabit, spare has gigabit, system 2 only has 100Mb - so the spare could have the same problems as the original, should you have a wonky router/switch that cant handle gigabit)

i'm still thinking its software, however.


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## v12dock (Apr 11, 2010)

Sounds like something my crap router would do...


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## puma99dk| (Apr 11, 2010)

if you are using onboard Ethernet Lan than try to plug out all your usb's underneath that Ethernet Lan port and see if that will, help i did that to my dad's old AMD Barton machine's AsRock board and the net got stabil again.


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## Mussels (Apr 12, 2010)

puma99dk| said:


> if you are using onboard Ethernet Lan than try to plug out all your usb's underneath that Ethernet Lan port and see if that will, help i did that to my dad's old AMD Barton machine's AsRock board and the net got stabil again.



how unusual.

worth a try anyway.


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## forumsviewer (Apr 12, 2010)

puma99dk| said:


> if you are using onboard Ethernet Lan than try to plug out all your usb's underneath that Ethernet Lan port and see if that will, help i did that to my dad's old AMD Barton machine's AsRock board and the net got stabil again.



That is very unusual indeed!

An error that java threw out did say 

"An uncaught exception happened while running the application:  java.land.NullPointerException"

However, that error message may have been provoked because I was disconnected from the server with the java program.


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## puma99dk| (Apr 12, 2010)

Mussels said:


> how unusual.
> 
> worth a try anyway.





forumsviewer said:


> That is very unusual indeed!



Yes and it's free to try


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## forumsviewer (Apr 12, 2010)

puma99dk| said:


> Yes and it's free to try



but i also tried a PCI network adapter, so that would toss out the idea that for some reason the USB ports were interfering with the onboard network adapter (because I essentially by passed it)


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## forumsviewer (Apr 12, 2010)

other comments?


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## puma99dk| (Apr 13, 2010)

have you checked for Spyware, and all that with a program like Spyware Doctor?

ino that spyware, trojan horse's and that can make lag in your online games, maybe you got some spyware mugging your XP a little


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## forumsviewer (Apr 13, 2010)

i have reformatted the hard drive so i dont think there is any spyware


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## IggSter (Apr 13, 2010)

Are you running Win Vista or Win 7? If so, try disabling IPv6 and see if that helps.


Ive seen numerous issues with IPv4 and 6  running on the same interface (set by default in vista and win 7)


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## forumsviewer (Apr 15, 2010)

IggSter said:


> Are you running Win Vista or Win 7? If so, try disabling IPv6 and see if that helps.
> 
> 
> Ive seen numerous issues with IPv4 and 6  running on the same interface (set by default in vista and win 7)



XP, so that isnt the case


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## forumsviewer (Apr 16, 2010)

I have a wireshark log now and skimming through it.  any other suggestions or any pointers would be great!


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## forumsviewer (Apr 17, 2010)

it looks as though a TCP finish packet was sent to end the session.  but it was not manually initialized to send that on the host pc.  why would java send this if it wasnt manually invoked?


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## wrathchild_67 (Apr 17, 2010)

Do you have any other computers on your LAN to test from?


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## forumsviewer (Apr 19, 2010)

wrathchild_67 said:


> Do you have any other computers on your LAN to test from?



yes and they work fine.


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## wrathchild_67 (Apr 19, 2010)

Are the chipsets on the PCI NIC you tried and your current onboard NIC similar? If so, post the options and values set for the NIC driver from within Device Manager. It could be some obscure setting that is similar on both NICs. 

You could also try resetting TCPIP. Then there is the WinsockFix utility which goes beyond just resetting TCPIP.


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## forumsviewer (Apr 27, 2010)

UPDATE
tried a different version of java and also plugged directly into the modem and all night long the program DID NOT drop. This means I changed two variables.

Variable 1 ) Changed java version. It is possible the java version I was running didn't work very well
Variable 2 ) Plugged directly into the modem bypassing the router.

I'm going to hook my router back up (putting variable 2 back) and see if it drops. If it does, what in the world could be the problem as to me it would seem it would have something to do with variable 2? I've tried 3 different routers and the other systems on the network don't have this issue. PLEASE HELP!


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## forumsviewer (Apr 28, 2010)

bump for night crew


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## Mussels (Apr 28, 2010)

well its either a problem with the routers, or a problem with your PC.

You've learned that the problem disappears when there is no router, so its either hardware or software on your PC. My guess is software, perhaps driver setup, or a firewall of some kind.


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## forumsviewer (Apr 28, 2010)

FURTHER UPDATE:
If you recall, plugging directly into the modem fixed the problem.  Last night plugged into the router and the router into the modem and it dropped.  Problem is back.

Now we've tried 3 different routers and other systems on the same network don't have the issue.

Would this lead to the assumption of some type of network configuration issue on the PC or maybe the router or maybe even the modem?


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## forumsviewer (Apr 29, 2010)

any ideas?


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