Author Topic: Internet Connection Crashes, but not WinMX (Read 1445 times)

Mick832 · « **on:** September 23, 2006, 11:40:29 am »

This is an intermittent problem I have been having for many months. It occured when I used to use WinMX with the pie patch and also now with the dll, so it does not seem to relate to WinMX. First some details.

OS, XP Pro with SP2 running latest updates. I used to have same problem a while ago when my XP Pro was "borrowed", but now it is fully legit and still has problems.

Firewall, Symantec Client Security, programs are allowed thru firewall.

Modem/Router D-Link DSL-504T, I have 2 pcs on permanently and 1 laptop which goes on occassionally for updates. Ports are forwarded in router for programs, and also all 3 pcs are set to static ip in the router on the LAN using MAC address. This is the third modem/router we have tried. 2 were 504G, which were RMAd. Updated firmware to latest version as advised by D-Link support.

Aussie ADSL

The problem is I lose connection to MSN messenger first. Usually if I run Connection Test it tells me I have a firewall or DNS server issue. I also lose connection to all websites through IE, the usual error message, Cannot Find Server.

WinMX stays connected for a while longer, I can still stay in a chat room until I reboot modem/router. UTorrents also continues running with no noticable loss of down or up speed.

I was told it could be a problem with TCP/IP limit set by XP. I did run a patch which reset that to 50 I think, rather than the normal 10, but no great fix there either.

I have a dynamic IP, usually at night a 220.235.***.*** range, but during day it seems to commonly be 124.150.***.***

I am told that my IP should not change unless I reboot my modem, but I am fairly sure I have noticed it change without me rebooting modem/router.

Have checked phone lines, filters etc, but no easy fix found.

My ISP blames the modem, D-Link blames the ISP. ISP now has me on a temp ADSL account with an IP of 202.173.***.***, which is very close to their DNS server IP address.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. At this stage I tend to think a new modem/router might be the way to go. Ran a D-Link DSL-200, a usb modem no problems for a while while waiting for a RMA, but network is too hard to set up on that.

KM · « **Reply #1 on:** September 23, 2006, 11:56:17 am »

does only that one computer have problems, or the others as well?

Mick832 · « **Reply #2 on:** September 23, 2006, 12:28:27 pm »

The other as well has identical problem.

nylly444 · « **Reply #3 on:** September 23, 2006, 12:35:16 pm »

Mick, please check if you've set your router to be the dns server in your connection settings for xp.
If so some routers (mine included) can't keep up with dns requests and crash, i.e. not processing dns requests properly anymore.
Try changing to your ISP's DNS server (grab the IP's from their website or maybe the router status page) and thus bypassing the router.
You can either set you connection to those completely or try just changing in your winmx under Settings > Internet Connection > Host Name Resolution > Use external DNS Server.... and put in your ISP's DNS server IP.

For me this stopped the crashing, maybe it helps with yours too - give it a try and let us know?

Mick832 · « **Reply #4 on:** September 23, 2006, 12:56:58 pm »

I think I have tried this before.

"please check if you've set your router to be the dns server in your connection settings for xp."

In Network Connection Details where i can see Physical Address, IP Address 10.1.1.2, Subnet Mask 255.0.0.0, at the bottom I have DNS Server 10.1.1.1 which is router.

"Try changing to your ISP's DNS server "

In Network Connections, Local Area Connection Status, Properties, Internet protocol (TCP/IP), Properties, I have Obtain an IP Address Automatically and Obtain DNS server address automatically. I did once change this to Use the Following DNS server address, and added in two DNS servers in there, as obtained from ny ISPs website, a preferred and an alternate. My ISP support told me to remove them and go back to Obtain automatically.

While I had it set to the preferred and alternate I did not notice an improvement, tho it was only for a short while.

I also have an option in the router itself to set a Preferred DNS server and an Alternate DNS server. Maybe I should try setting the DNS in the router rather than the Auto setting in there?

And thank you for reply. This may be something where I get a few ideas and try out over a few months.

nylly444 · « **Reply #5 on:** September 23, 2006, 01:21:42 pm »

Leave the router alone and let it get the DNS servers automatically, just try changing it in your network settings from your router IP to the ISP's DNS server addresses and give it a while to see if it helps things.
Usually it's the router not being able to process all the dns requests if it's set to act as the dns server. Maybe there's a firmware update you can get as well.
Alternatively you could try connecting directly without the router and see if that helps.

The reason why the ISP's want you to get the DNS server IP's automatically is that they may change from time to time or a different one gets assigned for your region.
You need to check into your routers settings from time to time to see which ones it gets and make sure you're using the same ones, but for me that's only about once a year or so that they change.