[SOLVED] Intermittent Internet

[Harpssss]

Hey! Ever since I moved into my apartment, I've been having internet problems. I currently have Cox at the moment, I would use a different ISP if they offered more in my area. Anyway, I'm a streamer and a gamer, I used to get these problems when I had 300down and about 10 upload. I decided I'm going to upgrade to Gigablast, I get about 800 down and 30 up. Prior to upgrading, my internet connection would drop for about 1-3 seconds and go back up, the power button on the modem doesn't turn red, it still says I'm connected (vie Ethernet) and my game will either lose connection and return after 10 seconds or if I'm watching a live stream, it'll buffer for about 3 seconds and return back to normal. This would happen about every 10 minutes. So, when i upgraded these problems went away for the time being about 4-5 months. Now, last week I'm starting to have these problems again, I've had 6 techs come out this week alone, he had installed a new wire from my house to the box, ran tests, said nothing was interfering with my connection. He even sat out there for 20 minutes and said he didn't see any connection loss. He left, I logged into my computer, pulled up a stream and bam, lost a connection again. I'm now certain that this problem MAY be on my end and wanted to try any suggestions or troubleshooting. I am open to ANYTHING as right now I am desperate to start streaming again (partnered streamer and my only source of income right now) I'd appreciate any tips, etc. Thank you all in advance! I will provide details and or pictures if needed.

 

[computerjoe314]

System Parts?
Ethernet driver up to date?
BIOS up to date?

Have you considered a Modem Reset/Firmware Update?

 

[Harpssss]

System Parts?
Ethernet driver up to date?
BIOS up to date?

Have you considered a Modem Reset/Firmware Update?

I have an Asus MOBO
32 GB RAM
GTX 1070
i7 8700k
I've updated my ethernet driver though my device manager, if there is another way please let me know. I've updated my BIOS just now, still no fix ;/
Also, I am currently using the modem Cox has provided me for my Gigablast/Speeds. Would you recommend that I buy a new modem instead of using the one Cox has provided me?

EDIT: I have confirmed that my modem is up to date by the Cox techs.

 

[computerjoe314]

I have an Asus MOBO
32 GB RAM
GTX 1070
i7 8700k
I've updated my ethernet driver though my device manager, if there is another way please let me know. I've updated my BIOS just now, still no fix ;/
Also, I am currently using the modem Cox has provided me for my Gigablast/Speeds. Would you recommend that I buy a new modem instead of using the one Cox has provided me?

EDIT: I have confirmed that my modem is up to date by the Cox techs.

Ok... Have you tried with a different cable or a different port?

Would you recommend that I buy a new modem instead of using the one Cox has provided me?

It's not needed, and probably won't fix your problem, but it will be faster.

 

[Harpssss]

Ok... Have you tried with a different cable or a different port?

It's not needed, and probably won't fix your problem, but it will be faster.

My speeds are great as it, only problem is the dropping. I only have one Ethernet port on my PC, I tried the other Port on the back of the modem, no fix.

 

[Harpssss]

My speeds are great as it, only problem is the dropping. I only have one Ethernet port on my PC, I tried the other Port on the back of the modem, no fix.

Also, just now looking, my BIOS is using software from 9/14/2017 is this considered old, or should I update? I'll have to look into how to update as well if that's a must.

 

[computerjoe314]

Also, just now looking, my BIOS is using software from 9/14/2017 is this considered old, or should I update? I'll have to look into how to update as well if that's a must.

I wouldn't hurt...

 

[Harpssss]

Updated BIOS, no fix. Sorry for late reply.

 

[Solandri]

my internet connection would drop for about 1-3 seconds and go back up, the power button on the modem doesn't turn red, it still says I'm connected (vie Ethernet) and my game will either lose connection and return after 10 seconds or if I'm watching a live stream, it'll buffer for about 3 seconds and return back to normal. This would happen about every 10 minutes.

Try it with your computer connected directly to your modem (i.e. remove your router). Make sure your firewall is enabled since your computer will be directly exposed to the Internet and all sorts of port scans. And you may need to reboot your modem to get it to recognize that a different device is connected to it. But most of the time I've seen intermittent Internet connections while Ethernet remains connected, it's because of the router. Either it's faulty (sometimes they just start dying), or overheating. If everything works without the router, then you need to replace the router or (if it's overheating) reposition it so it can get better cooling (don't put it on top of shag carpeting or other equipment which gives off heat).

There's also a small chance it could be a problem with a cable, or the specific LAN port on the router you have your computer's cable plugged into. So since cables are cheap, try using different cables (between your computer and router, and between your router and modem) and use a different LAN port. Also make sure your LAN cables do not run next to power lines, or if they have to that it's only for as short a length as possible.

If you've been running without a router (i.e. computer directly plugged into the modem), I would assume your computer has been hacked. And the Internet loss is because the hackers redirected all your Internet traffic through their proxy so they could eavesdrop into everything you were doing (including passwords and logins). The proxy is not able to keep up with all the traffic it's getting from you and other hacked computers, so is occasionally dropping the connection. It's extremely dangerous to run without a router. New vulnerabilities in Windows are constantly being discovered, and hackers will run random port scans to try to find Windows boxes which they can then infiltrate with those vulnerabilities. In this case, get a router. Use another device like your phone to test if it suffers the same disconnect problem. If it doesn't, wipe your computer and reinstall Windows, and change your password on every online account you have.

 

[Harpssss]

I'll try that, currently my PC is hardwired directly to my modem, and a possible "hack" you stated is possible, being that I am a streamer, etc. Anyway, about the overheating you had said, i had noticed my modem has been getting a bit warmer recently, since we're going into march, inside my house is a bit warmer. I will try moving my modem somewhere more cool and see if that fixed my issue. Just to clarify and add another note, the other PC that I have tested with a different Ethernet cable has the same issue, normally I'll have a live stream up and when my PC buffers or drops, ill check the other PC, same issue. So if it was some sort of hacker, could it be affecting my modem or any PC that was hardwired at the time being? Just want to be sure before I do any factory resets on my PC or anything. Anyway, I'll move my modem or have some cooling on it and let it sit for a bit and do some testing. Thank you for the reply, worst case I'll wait for your reply and try any other troubleshooting prior to factory resetting it. Thanks!

EDIT: Forgot to add in, I've gotten a new modem from my provider just a few days ago, I'd assume that would eliminate the idea that the modem has any faulty ethernet ports, cheers!

Edit 2: I'm also gonna be washing some dishes, in the meantime, I will disable my cellular data and only use my phone wireless while watching a live feed (twitch) if the video buffers, i can assume that my internet has dropped wireless as well, if not, it's safe to assume that it's a problem on my PC.

 

[Harpssss]

So, I've been AFK for about 45 minutes, no drops or anything. I went onto my modem settings and noticed that the security/firewall was disabled, I re-enabled it prior to doing some errands around the house, no drops on my phone so far and as I'm aware, none on my PC either so far. I also adjusted my router a it for better cooling. Is it possible that having no firewall within the modem settings could have been a problem? I have windows firewall disabled because according to other forums, they suggested you to turn it off as it may cause latency issues or random disconnects. I'll update if my internet drops for the rest of the day, planning on doing some gaming in a few after I make lunch and hope for the best. I would much appreciate your feedback 😀 when it comes to networking im not very fond of it lol. Anyway, do you suggest that i also turn on Windows Firewall? I'll update if I see any connection drops while I'm gone again.

 

[Harpssss]

ALRIGHT, so it disconnected again on my PC and my phone this time. So, this could eliminate any problems and that this is tied to my ISP and/or my modem? It's odd because I had 6 techs come out last week, install a new wire, said the feedback and signals were great. Something still doesn't add up. Any suggestions?

 

[Solandri]

Oh, if your phone is able to connect to your modem wirelessly, you actually have a modem/router, not just a modem. It will have a firewall which helps protect you.

Yup, phone and PC disconnecting simultaneously localizes the problem to your modem/router or your ISP. Since you got a new modem from your ISP and had problems with both, that would suggest the problem is not the modem.

Try running opening a command prompt and run:

tracert 8.8.8.8

You don't need to let it finish. You just need the first 4-6 IP addresses. Traceroute gives you the ping time to each hop on your route to 8.8.8.8 (Google). The first one should be your router/modem, the next 2-5 should be your ISP's network hops. Write down those IP addresses, then open up a separate command prompt for each IP address. In each command prompt, type (assuming Windows 10):

ping -t ip_address

Where ip_address is one of the IP addresses you wrote down. A different IP address for each command prompt box. The -t makes it ping continuously. Next time your connection disconnects, you'll be able to look at the different pings and figure out where the disconnect is happening. It's probably the first hop after your modem/router, but it could always be something else. And the ping will provide evidence that there really is a problem and it's not all in your head.

If your ISP is willing to help troubleshoot, you can add the -s 2 flag to your pings. That will give them timestamps so they can compare to what their device says happened at the same time.