Internet connection drops when downloading files, but does not affect the network.

[Pathnic]

Hello everyone!

I've been having this problem for about a month now and I can't seem to find a fix for it. Whenever I download files, usually games or updates, through steam or other launchers my connection to the internet goes down, but my network stays up telling me that I have no internet connection. What happens without fail: the download will start as normal and I will have a speed of around 2.5-3.5 MB/s, but at some point during this process the speed will inevitably dwindle down to 0 and then I will no longer be connected to the internet. I want to make it clear this problem isn't occurring on torrent software and I do not currently have any torrent software installed on my PC. I think that it is important to note have been using the same NIC without issue since I first built this PC years ago. The only things that I changed were the GPU and Procesor, but I added these months ago. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated and if they do not work for me I will add them to the list below.


I have tried the following to fix the issue:

Updating my network adapter drivers
Uninstalling and reinstalling my network adapter
Disabling internet connection sharing
Switching to an Ethernet connection



Additional information about my PC:

NIC: Linksys WMP600N Wireless-N PCI Adapter with Dual-Band
Operating System: Windows 10 Home 64-bit
System Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
System Model: GA-970A-D3
BIOS: Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD FX-8370 Eight-Core Processor (8 CPUs), ~4.0GHz
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960

 

[Ralston18]

If the connection drops are occuring with both wired and wireless it may not be your computer.

Are there any other network devices having problems?

Do you have access to the router's logs? See if there are any error codes there.

First call your ISP and have them check things from their end. May take a few calls especially if the problem is intermittent.

Inspect your network wiring starting with the ISP connection to your residence. Look for loose connections, bare metal showing, rodent chews, corrosion - any physical damage. Make sure all power connections are firm and tight.

 

[Pathnic]

If the connection drops are occuring with both wired and wireless it may not be your computer.

Are there any other network devices having problems?

Do you have access to the router's logs? See if there are any error codes there.

First call your ISP and have them check things from their end. May take a few calls especially if the problem is intermittent.

Inspect your network wiring starting with the ISP connection to your residence. Look for loose connections, bare metal showing, rodent chews, corrosion - any physical damage. Make sure all power connections are firm and tight.

Thanks for the response Ralston18!


There currently arren't any other network devices (besides computers/laptops) that are having this problem. I currently have printers and LiveBook storage device connected to the internet.

I haven't checked the router's error codes, but that's a great start and I will do that ASAP, thanks for the suggestion.

I want to hold off on calling my ISP just to try and avoid and frustration of trying to fix the problem over the phone with someone until I know that I've done everything in my power to try and fix the issue.

None of the wiring seems to have any notice damage.

 

[Ralston18]

That is a viable approach.

Suggest that you take a look at the IP addresses being assigned to all of the devices - could be a conflict of some sort; e.g., duplicate IP address.

Especially if you have set up any static IP addresses.....

Are you familar with the netsh commands? Or flushdns?

Either one may help clean things up and get your network running again.

May be the next steps to consider....

 

[Pathnic]

That is a viable approach.

Suggest that you take a look at the IP addresses being assigned to all of the devices - could be a conflict of some sort; e.g., duplicate IP address.

Especially if you have set up any static IP addresses.....

Are you familar with the netsh commands? Or flushdns?

Either one may help clean things up and get your network running again.

May be the next steps to consider....

Well, apparently flushing my dns was what I needed (ipconfig /flushdns). Downloads seem to be normal so far without any issues. I can't believe that I forgot to try this especially since I use this command almost every day at work during the school year. Thanks, again for the suggestions (and solution obviously ).