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  #1  
Old May 28th, 2017, 03:53 PM
Mrs.Lufbra Mrs.Lufbra is offline
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Intermittent Internet

Hi all, long time no talk to! Hope you are all well. About two days ago, I started having intermittent internet problems. Mr. Lufbra and I are connected to a cable modem for internet, and every two or three hours or so, my internet will stop working. His computer is actually the "main" computer next to the modem physically, and my computer is just across the same room. His internet is still working each time mine goes down. I can get mine back every time with a reboot, but sure enough, two to three hours later it goes down again, and it has consistently done so for about two and a half days now.

Wondering about memory issues, I switched FROM the Chrome browser TO Microsoft's IE, but the same problem happened. I have Windows 8.1 Pro, 32-bit Operating System. Both of these desktop computers that we're using are old enough that neither is WiFi-enabled, so we are both hard-wired to the modem. Currently I believe I am using a 100-foot ethernet wire to be able to string it around the room to the modem, because that's the longest I had on hand, but I'm thinking of purchasing a 50-foot to try swapping the wire out to see if that could be the problem. I am in the process of swapping that out (must order it online, I can't think of any store near us that would sell such a long ethernet wire). I do realize this problem may be my old computer (probably about 247 years of age in human years), but before I run out to the store to spend several hundred dollars on a new one, is there some setting somewhere anybody could suggest I look at? I didn't knowingly change any settings since this started happening, and of course everything was fine a week ago. By the way, I'm working on an HP Pavilion a1512x.

Could a reformat possibly help? I can do that, though the last time I did so it was difficult because Microsoft IE couldn't even install because the computer was so old. I ended up having to install a very basic Chrome browser, somehow to get me started. Thoughts?
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  #2  
Old May 28th, 2017, 11:31 PM
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zipulrich zipulrich is offline
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Hey Ms. Featherduster

Before doing anything else, try this - get your hubby to remove the network card from its slot on the mainboard (promise him a beer...he'll do anything you ask!) and clean the contacts off real good. Blow the dust out of the slot it fits into and reinstall nice and tight. Fire everything back up and see how long your connection lasts.
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Old May 29th, 2017, 01:18 AM
Mrs.Lufbra Mrs.Lufbra is offline
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Hi there, Zip,

Brought my Featherduster out, and even a gentle vacuum and cleaned everything out as best I could, but to no avail. The next time I turned on the computer, the internet lasted only 10 minutes. *Sigh* I thought it was a good idea, too, although it really wasn't too dusty in there, as I remember opening the computer up and doing that about a year ago.

Thank you for the suggestion, though!

Mrs. Lufbra/Featherduster
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  #4  
Old May 29th, 2017, 02:10 AM
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zipulrich zipulrich is offline
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Important part is cleaning the contacts on the network card and reseating it. I used to use a pencil eraser to gently clean the contacts. Rubbing alcohol works, too.
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  #5  
Old May 29th, 2017, 07:41 AM
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smurfy smurfy is offline
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Also, you could try swapping cables with Dave for a session, see if yours stays up and his drops (that may involve swapping positions with him if his cable is too short).

I have plenty of PCs laying around older than yours... it's worth consideration that the hardware may be just dying of old age. That PC has a built-in 10/100 NIC. Is the Network cable plugged into the port that is part of the motherboard or an add-on PCI card?

If it is the on-board port, you won't be able to do as Zippy suggests.
You could try re-installing the drivers for the on-board network card - just delete it from Device manager and reboot.

It could be worthwhile purchasing a cheap ($10) ethernet NIC to see if that makes a difference.
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  #6  
Old May 29th, 2017, 03:39 PM
Mrs.Lufbra Mrs.Lufbra is offline
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Hi Smurfy,

Yes, I suspected that I was not going to be able to remove that NIC -- it is the original I am using, the original port that's part of the motherboard.

The idea of purchasing an add-on card might be a good idea, perhaps it might give a little more life to this computer. I might also try running a shorter ethernet cable just directly across the room before purchasing another one, just to see if the current 100-ft cable is the problem (it's only a year old, though). I can also try reinstalling that driver, as you suggested.

You're right, the hardware just may be dying off. But if buying a $10 or $20 NIC could give me a little more life for now, I might be able to purchase a new computer a bit easier at the beginning of next year. If I'm able to fix the problem, I'll let you all know! Thank you!

Mrs.Lufbra
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  #7  
Old May 31st, 2017, 10:50 PM
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renegade600 renegade600 is offline
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do you have a splitter for the cable between the two computers? or are you plugged directly into the router? they do go bad. maybe it is time to go wifi.
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  #8  
Old June 1st, 2017, 12:39 AM
Mrs.Lufbra Mrs.Lufbra is offline
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Hi Renegade,

No splitter, we're both directly plugged into the cable modem. I have found that the issue is not the ethernet wire itself, since swapping it out produces the same problem. Therefore, I have ordered a NIC to install that will hopefully temporarily fix the situation until I can consider getting a whole new computer, probably early next year. I'm not totally against WiFi, we have several devices on WiFi, but I do prefer my wire connection for my main computer as I find it's faster and more reliable.

Mrs.Lufbra
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  #9  
Old June 3rd, 2017, 09:13 PM
Mrs.Lufbra Mrs.Lufbra is offline
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The Saga Continues, Unfortunately

Hi all,

I'm sad to say that purchasing a new NIC didn't work. I really thought that would solve the problem, but I installed it at about noon today, got it up and running fine, and then sure enough, shortly after 3:00 p.m. my internet went down again.

Only just now I have now uninstalled the drivers for the FIRST NIC (on the motherboard), rebooted, and I am now back on the internet again with that first card, just to say I've tried it. I was a little nervous to try that before when Smurphy suggested it, I confess, in case I would somehow make matters worse for myself, but had more courage to try that today since I now have two NICs. But I can't imagine now that will fix my problem, since the second NIC is having the same intermittent problem.

When my internet goes down and I've tried to go to a web page, I do get an option to run some kind of network diagnostics, which I tried to do, and it just told me that I have no Diagnostics Policy Service, and so it cannot complete the diagnostics. (Is that because it's searching the Internet for something, and I can't get to the Internet? Or is there an additional reason -- I'm not sure what the diagnostics is doing, so I'm not sure).

I have also contacted our cable service, and they have told me there is nothing they can do at their end, since the other computer we have attached to the internet does not go down, which does make sense to me. But is there any way a weak signal of some sort could make one of our computers go down every couple of hours though the other computer is up? Sounds almost silly asking that, but I'm just trying to be thorough with my thoughts.

Anything else I could try before buying a new computer? Or is that my only option, do you think?

*Sigh*

Mrs.Lufbra
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  #10  
Old June 3rd, 2017, 09:32 PM
IPR512 IPR512 is offline
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Mrs Lufbra
Have a look here:
https://www.trickyways.com/2015/06/f...e-not-running/
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  #11  
Old June 4th, 2017, 01:30 AM
Mrs.Lufbra Mrs.Lufbra is offline
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Hi IPR512,

I did have a look at the link you provided, and I did manage to successfully put those commands in. However, I do still have the intermittent internet problem.

When my internet just went down, I didn't have all of the options to run diagnostics that I had earlier when I got the "Diagnostics Policy Service not running" error. I only had a link to "check the proxy and the firewall" this time.

Thank you for your suggestion!

Mrs.Lufbra
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  #12  
Old June 4th, 2017, 02:43 AM
IPR512 IPR512 is offline
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Sorry that didn't help. Can you switch your ethernet cable to a different port on the modem? Maybe try using the port that your husband's computer is using.
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  #13  
Old June 4th, 2017, 02:39 PM
Mrs.Lufbra Mrs.Lufbra is offline
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Hi IPR512,

In fact, I have tried two different ports on that modem. It has four altogether, and so I switched from the one I was originally in to a third one, although not the one that my husband is using. Still, the problem has occurred on two of the ports.

Thank you!

Mrs.Lufbra
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  #14  
Old June 4th, 2017, 03:23 PM
IPR512 IPR512 is offline
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Sorry Mrs. L, I'm as baffled as you are right now.
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  #15  
Old June 4th, 2017, 04:25 PM
Mrs.Lufbra Mrs.Lufbra is offline
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Agreed, IPR. Very strange!

I'm plugged back in to my NEW NIC card now. It seemed to give me a little faster internet, at least maybe I can enjoy that in between reboots to restore my connection.

Thanks again! If anybody thinks of any other suggestions to try, please let me know. Thanks!

Mrs.Lufbra
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