dab Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 DSL is great..no complaints except one: periodic and frequent bouts when my browser (IE, Opera, Mozilla or Firebird) hangs and goes nowhere. Ping, tracert, or NeoTrace go nowhere either; just dead in the water. After perhaps a half-minute to several minutes, it starts working again.I haven't had it pause, as during a download, just when trying to go to a new link.The three main reported errors:The operation timed out when attempting to contact xxxxxCannot open xxxx site.The connection to the server was reset…Sprint DSLDynamic IPPPPoEZyXEL 645M modem provided by SprintNetwork Everywhere NC100U-WM 10/100 Ethernet CardDual-boot of XP-Home and 98/SE (I haven’t noticed the problem in 98…but I rarely use it anymore.)In Local Area Connection Properties I have: a. Client for Microsoft Networksb. File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networksc. QoS Packet Schedulerd. Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)If I apply the “standard accepted†fix to XP-Home for PPPoE/DHCP errors, )from http://www.dslreports.com/faq/718 ) it kills my connection completely. (I entered 192.168.1.10, and 255.255.255.0, into IP address and subnet mask fields respectively. I’ve made no other changes except as listed in this post.)In “administrative tools/services†I’ve tried having “DNS Client†enabled and disabled. Couldn’t see any difference either way.I’ve also tried “ipconfig /release†and “ipconfig /renew†but it’s not conclusive if that has helped or it just started working again on its’ own.And, I also tried a “disable negative caching†.reg from http://cable-dsl.home.att.net/#dns_cache which also didn’t help.In "Internet Properties", "Connections/Local Area Network (LAN) settings" should "automatic configuration/Automatically detect settings" be checked or unchecked?I’m outta ideas at this point….?? It would be great to find an answer before my youngun shoots me.... ================================================Maxtor 33073U4 5400 RPM, (98/SE)Maxtor DiamondMax 6L040J2, 7200 RPM, (XP Home)Elite Group K7VZA MotherboardMatrox G450 AGP 3d Dual-Head (but only one monitor in use).AMD Athlon 1.2GHzBIOS: Award 6.00PGElitegroup VT8363/5 KT133/KM133 System ControllerMemory 512 SDRAMMemory Bus Speed 133MHzMicrosoft Optical Intellimouse/Microsoft Trackball/Standard PS/2 mouse (depends on activity)Generic IEEE-1394 PCI card w/Buslink 20GB firewire driveLucent PCI Win-Modem(Software: Too numerous to list.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peachy Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 Welcome Dab!I've seen this problem before and it's probably your Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) value, a.k.a. the default packet size of an Ethernet frame, which is 1500 bytes. Some PPPoE connections require that you lower the value in order to get the packets to go through without timing out.Try setting your MTU value to 1452.Using regedit, find the following key and add the MTU value name if it isn't there and set the value data to 1452 or if it still doesn't work set it to 1454.System Key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\[Adapter ID]]Value Name: MTUData Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)Value Data: Default = 0xffffffff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dab Posted June 11, 2003 Author Share Posted June 11, 2003 Thanks for replying Peachy,I'll give that a whirl and see. (I should have mentioned that the problem is inconsistent. It may work fine for hours or a few days and then have a lot of problems.)I’d downloaded DrTCP from DSLReports web site. It says my MTU is 1492.Below are DSLReports stats from this morning in case it's any help: Your Tweakable Settings:Receive Window (RWIN): 255552Window Scaling: 2Path MTU Discovery: ONRFC1323 Window Scaling: ONRFC1323 Time Stamping: OFFSelective Acks: ONMSS requested: 1400TTL: (less any hops behind firewall) 64TTL remaining:54Actual data bytes sent: 146000Actual data packets: 105Max packet sent (MTU): 1440Max packet recd (MTU): 1440Retransmitted data packets: 0sacks you sent: 0pushed data pkts: 2data transmit time: 1.549 secsour max idletime: 144.2 mstransfer rate: 49149 bytes/sectransfer rate: 393 kbits/secThis is not a speed test!transfer efficiency: 100%ICMP (ping) checkMinimum ping: 61 msMaximum ping: 65 msPing stability:64 63 63 63 63 63 65 62 61 64 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teacher Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 I have had periods of intermittent connections. I found that if I go to my network connection and right cick and go to repair. That works. Otherwise, if I unplug the router and replug it in (no off switch) then it will start working again. I don't have that problem so much since I started running both the router and DSL box through my UPS. That made a big difference. Good luck. Peachy I looked at your directions to see if it made any difference for mine but when I got down to the Interfaces, there was nothing below that level that came close to your settings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peachy Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 Is it reproducible for specific sites or does it matter? If it is reproducible with specific sites then it definitely is an MTU problem. If its not, then it may be something else and MTU might be irrelevant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dab Posted June 11, 2003 Author Share Posted June 11, 2003 No, it's not reproducible for a specific web site. It affects "any" web site, with "any" application. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus K Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 If I apply the “standard accepted†fix to XP-Home for PPPoE/DHCP errors, )from http://www.dslreports.com/faq/718 ) it kills my connection completely. (I entered 192.168.1.10, and 255.255.255.0, into IP address and subnet mask fields respectively. I’ve made no other changes except as listed in this post.)Just to make sure, that IP address is meant to be applied to the NIC (not the PPP adaptor,which is assigned/changed dynamically everytime by Sprint). I used a similiar approach, but I entered the IP address that XP was assigning everytime I rebooted.If you go to run-> command-> ipconfig, it should show the IP that XP is assigning to your ethernet adaptor.Note that IP and subnet mask.Now go to Local Area connection-> properties (it should show your NIC)-> TCP/IP-> properties, and enter the IP and subnet mask there (tick 'Use the following'). You can ignore the DNS field. For me it cut the original log on time from 50 seconds to about 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dab Posted June 11, 2003 Author Share Posted June 11, 2003 Thanks. Will try that later (time for getting ready for work now).The only clue I have is that "sometimes" it happens as it just did now. I was at one particular web site reading for an extended time. (Over 10 minutes...) It was fine till I finished and tried to go to another web site.Nothing. Nada. Tried release/renew. I even rebooted. Still nothing (plenty of packets "sent" (78), but only 2 "received").I finally shut down completely. Turned off the DSL modem for a few minutes, then restarted everything. Works again. When it's dead in the water like that...how the heck do I tell if it's on my end(PC hardware/settings)...or Sprint's end?? I appreciate all the suggestions. DSL speed is wonderful...but not so wonderful if it won't even get off the starting block. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dab Posted June 11, 2003 Author Share Posted June 11, 2003 Just want to make sure, because this is the only place I find to make those changes:Network Connections/Local Area Connection and Right click select "Properties"Highlight "Internet Protocol(TCP/IP)", select "properties"."General" TabTick "Use the following IP Address"Enter specs in "IP Address" and "Subnet mask", but leave "Default Gateway" blank??I notice when I tick "Use the following IP address, that below it, "Obtain DNS server address" automatically" beocmes greyed out, and "Use the following DNS server addresses" becomes automatically ticked???Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.2 Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.252 Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus K Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 Seems like you got it. I'm using SBC Yahoo/PPPoe (hopefully yours is the same). Here's a pic of mine. I would imagine the dummy IP that DSLReports suggested would work. As I mentioned the one I entered was the one I got from ipconfig (XP's own assignment). When I went to enter the subnet mask it kinda just popped in automatically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibe98765 Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 Call your ISP and complain. They should send someone out to test your line and all the components. Also try getting them to give you a different brand of modem. Since the problem applies to all websites at different times, I think that it is most likely something with the service, hardware or line, NOT your connection parameters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marsden11 Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 Uncheck Qos... you do not need it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Absorbine_Sr Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 Also, take a look here. http://www.dslreports.com/faq/156Some of what has already been said is duplicated here but there is additional info as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ThunderRiver Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 Check with your ISP for your DNS server. It seems like your DNS server is failing to resolving URL address into proper IP address.Also, check with your router and see if it is being tempered. There might be someone from inside is using Ettercap or some other programs to monitor your Internet usage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dab Posted June 17, 2003 Author Share Posted June 17, 2003 I did finally figure out how to manually add addresses to TCP/IP, using results from IPCONFIG.I've only had it happen once since then. I have a couple of batch files within a single click, to run tracert on an address, using name and numerical address. While my browsing was dead, I ran the batch files. Tracert wouldn't trace.The strange thing is, I'd been using Sygate to provide more detailed connect info. Tracert "should" have caused Sygate to request OKing the connection, but it did not. After a a half-minute or so, when I could browse again, I tried tracert again. This time Sygate requested an OK.It just has me scratching my head why, while having browsing problem, that Sygate also did "not" seem to know that other programs were trying to access the net? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gus K Posted June 17, 2003 Share Posted June 17, 2003 It just has me scratching my head why, while having browsing problem, that Sygate also did "not" seem to know that other programs were trying to access the net?It would appear that while your rig was in that state nothing was coming in or going out (including tracert) and there was nothing happenning that Sygate could respond to. In other words tracert was unable to establish an outside connection.Now that you mentioned Sygate, it might would be worth a try to disable it for a while, and just run with XP's firewall to see if the problem goes away. If the problem goes away maybe a complete uninstall/reinstall of Sygate would be in oder, or try another firewall that plays nice with your particular hardware/software configuration. Worth a test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dab Posted June 18, 2003 Author Share Posted June 18, 2003 Appreciate the thought about disabling Sygate, however, I only installed Sygate after the problem started. Sygate’s log files are pretty easy to read and sometimes a great help in diagnosing connection quirks.And also appreciate all the suggestions from everybody. Since there’s only been one time in the last 4-5 days that the problem has happened, (since manually entering addresses into TCP/IP) I can live with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.