Tweaking.com Support Forums
Main Forum => General Computer Support => Topic started by: DanTheTechMan on January 02, 2021, 09:07:01 am
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Hello,
My Internet connection drops after a few hours and I have to restart to regain internet access. I am running Windows 7 SP1 64-Bit. I can access my router and local network fine but not the internet. I have my FIOS ONT box connected to my DD-WRT router, which is connected to a ethernet hub which connects all my devices to the internet (I strongly prefer to use wired connections wherever possible). As far as I can tell, it's just my desktop computer that disconnects. I have tried everything I can think of to resolve the issue, such as running various commands like ipconfig /release and ipconfig /renew, changing various settings on my router, running the NetAdapterRepair tool, and I even changed my security software from Bitdefender to Kaspersky, thinking that would solve it. Nothing I have tried works so far. The built in Windows troubleshooter doesn't help because Windows thinks I'm still connected. Does anyone have any ideas on how I can solve this dilemma? I have literally been losing sleep over this.
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You could try going into Device Manager - click on View/Show hidden devices and expand Network adapters.
Right click on the Ethernet one and select Properties.
Under Power Management uncheck the box for Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power - OK
Under Advanced scroll down the dropdown and click on Wake on magic packet then change the value to Disabled - OK and close Device Manager.
If Internet works okay otherwise then I think the winsock and TCP/IP stack should be okay, but as a belt and braces, run a Command Prompt as an administrator and enter these cmds -
netsh reset winsock catalog
netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /registerdns
shutdown /r /t 00
The last one will effect an immediate reboot to effect the cmds.
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I've already tried all the above, and I still have the issue. 2-3 hours after booting my computer, without fail, my internet will cut out, and I will have to reboot to restore full connectivity. I'll try the commands again, however, I'm not too hopeful.
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I tried running the above commands again, and I'm still having the same issue. I even uninstalled some software that I thought might be causing the issue. That didn't help. I'm typing this on my phone as my computer currently does not have internet. I'm at a loss as to what to do now. I don't want to have to restart my computer every 2-3 hours.
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There's a couple of other things you could try.
In Device Manager scroll down that pane again until you see Receive side scaling.
Click on that and change the value to Disabled - OK
Right click on your WiFi icon or go into Control Panel and select Network and Sharing Centre - right click on the Ethernet adapter and select Properties and uncheck the box for TCP/IPv6 - OK and then see how the machine performs.
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Tried that as well. Still no luck. Any other ideas?
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Not really, other than changing the Ethernet cable.
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Ok. Thanks for your help so far.
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Upon further investigation, it appears that my router isn't renewing the lease for my desktop, even though I set a static IP for my desktop on my router with lease set to never expire. I removed the static IP for my desktop from my router's settings. Assuming that won't work, does anyone have any ideas on how to remedy this?
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This won't be easy; there are a lot of possibilities. I would look at my router first. Is a firmware update for your router? Is your router failing? Is this a known issue and they have an updated router availalbe.
Otherwise, browse this topic:
https://forums.verizon.com/t5/Fios-Internet/DHCP-lease-not-renewing-properly/td-p/516327
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On re-reading the opening post, Ethernet goes through a number of devices and while the computer needs to "talk" to the router, I was wondering if connecting the Ethernet directly to the router would eliminate a breakdown in the other devices.
Does the Internet still drop in Safe Mode with Networking ?
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@Tim_Tewaking: I don't use Verizon's router. I have my own, as I need to be able to set static IP addresses and forward ports, in addition to other advanced networking tasks that just wouldn't be possible with a Verizon provided router. I just updated the firmware (DD-WRT) 2 days ago, which didn't help fix this issue.
@Boggin: I have 8 devices connected via Ethernet and the router only has 4 LAN ports. I strongly prefer to use wired connections whenever possible, so I really don't have another option.
Don't get me wrong. I do appreciate all the suggestions so far.
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I didn't take it wrong in any way. We're just scratching our heads with you.
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I was thinking just temporarily connecting the affected computer directly to the router to see if it maintains a connection.
Have you tried that machine in Safe Mode with Networking ?
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I actually removed the static IP for the desktop from the router and rebooted the desktop. I left it on the login screen and went to bed. I wake up this morning and to my surprise it maintained an active internet connection all night. So, at this point, it's either 1 of 2 things: the static IP was somehow expiring and not being renewed properly (even though I specified in the router settings that it would never expire), or some software installed on my desktop is conflicting with or blocking the internet connection after a while. If my internet drops out again, then it's the latter scenario. I'll let you know, however, I would appreciate any tips or advice on how to pinpoint the software causing the issue if it comes to that.
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Safe Mode with Networking will isolate all 3rd party programs from running in the background and if the machine maintains a connection in that mode then you will need to perform a clean boot to find which program it is in your start up menu.
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Ok. Thanks. I'll try that if I lose internet again. Since it takes around 2 hours after booting my computer for my internet connection to go out, should I just let my computer sit idle in safe mode to see if it loses internet before trying to pinpoint the exact software product(s) causing the issue?
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You can still use your computer in that mode but it will be using the onboard graphics and you would lose audio.
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Ok. Thanks.
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I spent the entire day troubleshooting this issue, just as I have been doing for about the past week. It occurred to me I failed to mention what was probably a vital part of the way I have my internet connected, which is I had my ONT connected to my router via powerline adapters (it wasn't a direct connection), which I suspected for a while was at least part of the issue, but didn't initially want to admit or change it. My ONT is in a closet and my router is in the living room. So, I finally gave in and removed the powerline adapters and connected my ONT directly to my router via a 25 ft CAT6 cable that I had lying around. After all that, I was still having the issue, so I did some more investigating, and come to find out, I'm experiencing what is a well known issue with Verizon FIOS, especially for those who opt to use their own router, which I did. The issue is that the lease between the ONT and the router is not renewed properly. A common solution is to powercycle the ONT, then powercycle the router, however, since I opted in to receiving the battery backup, I have the additional step of removing/unplugging the battery backup before powercycling the ONT. This is too much to do every 2 hours for the foreseeable future, so needless to say, I will be calling Verizon tomorrow.
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Glad to see you may have found the cause.
I assume you will be asking for one of their routers.
We have a much simpler system in the UK.
For the most part we get our broadband through the phone line from the nearest exchange street cabinet, although there are some companies that use a coax connection in the home.
For Fibre connections it's much cheaper to use the ISP's supplied router although I had my own while I was on ADSL prior to changing to Fibre.
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Unfortunately, here in the US, the ISP supplied routers are pretty heavily locked down, and I need to be able to tweak settings that just wouldn't be possible with an ISP supplied router, so asking for one of their routers just isn't an option. A technician is scheduled to come out to install some wall jacks and look at my equipment in a little over a week (that's unfortunately the earliest I could get an appointment). I'm still not completely convinced that the aforementioned FIOS issue is the only issue at play, as my WiFi never went out, it was only the connections on my desktop, so I'm hoping that by the time the technician does arrive, I will have solved whatever else is causing issues with my connection, if there are any other issues.
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Did you check to see if the connection remains stable or not in Safe Mode with Networking.
If it still drops out then it won't be because of any programs you have installed.
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Yes. I just checked. It doesn't drop in safe mode. While in safe mode, I did some more investigating. I disabled some components of my security suite that may be interfering with my internet connection. I will report back with the results.
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If that doesn't do it then go Start - type msconfig and press enter.
Under Start-up click on Disable all - Apply - OK - Restart and check again.
If that resolves then you will need to enable one item at a time until you find the one that is causing the problem - Apply - OK - Restart.
If it still drops with those disabled, then go back into msconfig and click on Services.
Check the box to Hide all Microsoft services - Disable all - Apply - OK - Restart.
If that resolves then enable 2 or 3 items at a time until the problem returns then it will be a process of elimination of the last group you had enabled.
When you uncheck the box for your antivirus program in Services, you may find that it reinstates itself when you click on Apply.
Remember to check the box to Hide all Microsoft services each time you go into msconfig/Services.
Given that you have to wait about 2hrs to check, this will be a long process, but hopefully worthwhile.
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Well, after 2 additional days of troubleshooting, I believe I have found the root cause of my internet dropping out about every 2 hours (give or take), which was my desktop failing to renew the DHCP lease with my router. I've also narrowed the list to 3 programs that may be causing this issue: My media center of choice (JRiver), my web browser of choice (Opera), or my reminder/daily planner/scheduling software of choice (MyLifeOrganized). I highly doubt it's the 3rd, however, that software does have a WiFi or Cloud Sync feature, so it's possible that it could be the cause. I'll update when I know exactly which of those 3 softwares is the cause, however, if it is one of the first 2, then I'll have to figure out exactly which setting or feature is causing the internet to drop out.
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It looks like you are getting close.
Sometimes it may not be any one program/Service but two conflicting with each other.
Disable all three then enable just one of those at a time, disabling it before enabling the others in turn.
If neither on their own cause a drop out then there are 3 combinations of pairs you'll need to check out.
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Sorry for the late reply. I believe my issue is solved (I have a Verizon tech coming out today), however, I'm not exactly sure what I did (if anything) to fix it. The first day that it worked without going out was Friday. The only thing that I can think of that might have fixed it was when I upgraded an extremely out of date software product I had installed on my desktop (DVDVideoSoft's Free Studio, to be exact), however, I'm not completely convinced that was it. In any event, my internet seems to be working now. To everyone who assisted me with this, thank you, and a BIG thank you to @Boggin for sticking with me through this until the end.
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Let me know if the tech finds anything but good to see that your connection is remaining stable.
Why did you think that one of those three other programs were the cause ?
BTW - You're Welcome :)
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I started by disabling all startup programs and re-enabling them one at a time, and after I started all of them manually (with the exception of a few unnecessary programs), my internet was still stable, so I then proceeded to check which of the programs I open manually at startup was the cause. Roughly 2 hours after I opened JRiver, my internet dropped out (I had opened the other 2 before the 2 hours was up). However, before I started checking the manually opened programs, I made the mistake of re-enabling ALL of the startup programs, not just the necessary ones, which is how I missed the true cause the first time. So, just to be sure, I started from the beginning again, however, this time I did NOT enable all of the startup items before checking the programs I open manually, and that's how I found the true cause. I'm still not sure if it was DVDVideoSoft's Free studio or if it was my printer software, however, I'm fairly confident it was one of those two.
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Okay.