Broadband and internet

[Kr1s]

Hi, we have recently setup a new BT Business Hub, all seemed to work well for a few days until it was noticed that the Ethernet connection would randomly be lost, the light on the hub would go out and we can not access the internet through this wired connection. If the network cable is unplugged then put into another port on the hub then it 'finds' itself again and the Ethernet light re-lights and all runs well again. After speaking to the online help I was advised to reset the hub, so I reset it to the factory settings (fresh out of the box setting) and see what happens.

However the problem is still apparent, the connection is fine until the wired PC is shutdown and the hub switched off at the mains, next time it is switched on (for example the next day) the connection (Ethernet) is lost, to get it reconnected I have to disconnect the cable from the PC or hub and reconnect it until it renews the connection.

The wireless connection is always working.

The PC is a Packard bell  running vista approx 14 mths old, this is wired to the business hub and there are a few other devices which connect to the hub wirelessly, one PC and a few ipods. The wireless PC also shares a printer which is connected to the wired PC. No phones are used on the line and filters are fitted where required.

I have tried another cable besides the one supplied and still get the same result, I wouldn't have thought there would be a problem with the network card on the wired PC as prior to having the business hub we were using a voyager modem on the same PC since we've had it and had never had a problem.

Any advice welcomed!

[adamgraham]

The only idea I have is that your pc dhcp request is happening and failing before the Biz Hub is ready, so:

Next time this happens go to:

Start -> Run. Type 'cmd' and hit return.

Then in the comand prompt type ipconfig

Are you getting the correct ip address?

If you get an ip beginning with 169.

Then type ipconfig /renew and check your ip address again.

Let us know how it goes?

Good Luck!

[spank]

Hi there,

Could be a power save option gone wrong.  Try disabling it.

Start > right click My Computer > choose Properties.  Click Hardware Tab then Device Manager.

Locate network adapters, expand it and right click your LAN adapter (NIC) and go to properties.

Click the power managment tab and untick everything.

Thanks

[Kr1s]

Thanks for the replies guys, sorry for the delay in replying but I only returned back at work today.

I've unmarked the power saving options for the card previously which didn't solve the issue I think I also turned off power saving settings for the actual PC to see whether this would help but obviously didn't.

I tried the ipconfig once the PC booted, but it says something like media disconnected, if I unplug the and reinsert the network cable which makes the connection then it does display the IPv4 as 192.168. so on.

What I also tried today was to leave the PC turned on and switch the router off at the mains, prior to doing this the PC was connected and working fine using the network cable into port 1, after restarting the router the Ethernet light stayed off and the connection to the PC was again lost so I unplugged the cable and placed it into port 2, then 3 which didn't connect then I tried port 4 and the connection was successful. (Don't know why)

During the christmas break  I left the PC connected using a wireless adapter which worked fine. Today I connected the PC using the USB port and that seems to work ok, if the router is switched off it re-establishes connection ok.

I'm going to see what happens if the router is wired to another and then switched off, but i'm beginning to think its an issue with the actual router.

Will post back once i've tried this, any other advice in the meantime is welcomed.

Many thanks! 

[Kr1s]

Latest: Took my laptop to work today to try with the router and everything worked as it should, if I turned the router off and then back on the router would connect perfectly.

So now i'm thinking the issue actually lies with either the NIC on the PC or something within Vista as my laptop runs XP, have tried another driver for the NIC and also unticked different options of the cards properties, but none of this solved the problem.

One more thing i'm going to try is to get a longer cable as we have another PC in another room which is exactly the same as the 'problem' PC and see if that works ok, if it does I may try another NIC and see if this finally fixes the problem.

The only thing I can't understand is how come it has worked fine for well over a year with the voyager modem yet started to play up after a few days of having the new router. 

The card fitted at the moment is a Realtek RTL8101 family etc.

[Kr1s]

Another update!

Haven't managed to try another NIC in the computer, although i'm now not sure if this is now at fault, as i thought the problem was sorted by connecting to the router using the usb cable instead, however this isn't the case.

The pc and router can be switched off at the mains and back on without the connection dropping, however we are still experiencing a problem, the connection can be working fine (pc and router left switched on, no power saving), then for some unknown reason access to the internet or email is lost, which results in the connection dialog box (ignore or fix)  being displayed, if you choose to fix, it eventually says no connection. The only way to resolve this is to switch the router and pc off at the mains and restart them both.

Again, the wireless connection on other system units are running perfectly, as is the internet (you can access the internet / emails on other pc's).

[spank]

Hi there,

It's probably the router.  I had a similar problem with a netgear.  I was connected to it wirelessly and it would randomly lose DNS which meant no web or email but the connection was still there.  I would connect the cable and have exactly the same problem.  As soon as I reebooted the router it worked.  All the while my wifes laptop would be working perfectly fine.

Replaced the router and sorted.

Thanks