dormitory net dropping frequently

[apexdd]

Hello all!

After spending quite the time on web searching for a solution to no avail, i decided to start a thread. Here goes:

I'm a student living in a dormitory in vienna. The internet in my room is constantly dropping for about 30 seconds and reconnects automatically (this happens at random times. Unfortunately i can't specify a time interval like every 30 mins.). This does not happen only in my room though, in many others on my floor as well. As far as i know, the floor has 1 router and everybody on that floor is connected to it. There are probably more than 30 people connected to the same router.
The device is locked in a room so i don't have access to it. We access the internet by using an ethernet cable. Me and my room mate drop at the same time. Any ideas on how to solve this/what the problem could be? Would installation of another router by another internet provider fix the problem? I will try to provide any information you might request as precisely as possible, though i'm not knowledgeable in networking.

Thank you for your time.

 

[kanewolf]

Since it happens to multiple people simultaneously and the hardware that you are connected to isn't yours, there isn't much you can do other than report it to the management. If all the students report it, maybe it will be fixed. My guess is the router or switch is rebooting itself for some reason.

 

[glamdringfh]

To answer your second question, yes, a second router by another internet provider would provide you with a secondary form of connection. That said, that would probably be prohibitively expensive, and might not be allowed by the manager of your dorm.

You might want to look into mobile hotspots if it is available to you, as it would use a cellular network to provide internet connectivity. (This might be expensive, however, depending on the cost of the data rate).

 

[jsmithepa]

is not you, is the infrastructure, which you have no access. Complain to management, you are PAYING for the service.

 

[DeadlyDays]

yea, it is an issue with their equipment. Call management their stuff is not working right for everyone there.

 

[itmoba]

Vienna Austria or Vienna Virginia? If it's Austria, tell them "m' bafangulo" (that's Italian, they'll hopefully understand -- Europeans are very good about knowing more than one language... I would know, I almost married one who spoke 5 languages fluently).

Seriously though, adding another router won't help. The reason why you and your roommate are dropping connections at the same time is because of simultaneous connectivity issues. The way around it is to get priority; this is easy to achieve by fragmenting your packets. This, however, is a little tricky and may not necessarily work for a novice like yourself. The alternative is to yell at management, considering the fact that you're paying for lodging and utilities (and remember to say bafangulo!).

 

[apexdd]

thank you guys for the replies. I contacted management multiple times and made complaints about this issue, but they literally didn't move their as*es. I guess my only option here is to push, this time with a bafangulo ;D Why would/wouldn't a secondary router help?

 

[itmoba]

A second AP (e.g., router) won't help because the connection drops are presumably not the result of poor signal strength but rather the competition for a connection. Think of it like going to a drive-thru fast-food place -- you can go in and buy your fast-food or you can do it through the drive-thru, but in either case the speed at which they can produce you your burger (or whatever) is limited by the number of staff they have and their competency.

 

[apexdd]

got it. thanks.

 

[apexdd]

Just wanted to post an update. Something occured to me today. I was playing an online game just now. Steam, as you might know, has a 25 second long timeout duration, before you get kicked from the game server. When the timeout started, i unplugged ethernet and plugged it in again quickly and i was reconnected. Could this lead us somewhere?

 

[itmoba]

Like I said, the connection drops have to do with link contentions. When you disconnected your ethernet connection what you're doing is asking the router to assign you a new internal (LAN) IP address, so contention effectively resets.

Scenario A: Connection established --> router now assumes you're 192.168.1.15 --> you try to connect to "tomshardware.com", so the router says "okay, Apexdd's computer is trying to connect, but I'm getting a million requests from Bob, Joe, and Susan too. Who do I pick?"

Scenario B: Connection established --> router now assumes you're 192.168.1.15 (just like before in "Scenario A") --> you disconnect --> router now assigns you 192.168.1.140 --> you try to connect to "tomshardware.com" and are successful because what you're effectively doing is fragmenting (i.e., you're sending more packets, and witch each packet comes priority contention).

Note: In "Scenario B", in reality it's not really fragmentation, but the process involved garners somewhat of a similar effect.