Help, I need somebody,
Help, not just anybody,
Help, you know I need someone, help.
Couldn’t resist throwing a little Beatles in there, especially since Tipa has been on a recent anti-Beatles rampage.
I’m in need of advice from any networking gurus out there.
For quite some time I’ve been experiencing random disconnects from my ISP, Comcast. Sometimes it’s a quick disconnect but resynch’s fairly quickly and I’ll only see a brief error trying to view a website or a brief period of lag in an online game. More frequently, however, even if the cable modem itself resynch’s quickly I still have no internet — DNS error — until I reboot my cable modem and router.
Frequent disconnects while gaming affects not only me, but everyone in the game with me, and it only takes a couple forced resets due to a disconnect to get tempers flaring.
I replaced my aging Linksys DOCSIS 1.0 modem last week with a Motorola SB6120 DOCSIS 3.0 modem. I also replaced my Linksys WRT54G router with a Netgear Rangemax Dual-Band N router. Still the disconnects, loss of DNS, whatever is going on, is occuring.
At this point I’m inclined to think it’s Comcast. Anyone have experience with Comcast to have an idea what I should be asking for help with? I’ve heard they have different tiers of tech support; if that’s true, any suggestions for getting to the top tier guys immediately? I don’t have much time at home this month to be sitting on hold and wasting time with scripted “Is the computer plugged into the wall?” type questions.
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I think you can only listen to the Beatles so many times before it just becomes too many times. I’m sure Salieri would agree with me
I use DSL. It’s not as fast as cable, but it’s steady.
The Salieri comment just cracked me up. Now let’s talk about Joseph Haydn…
The first thing you can try is bypassing your router and connecting your cable directly, and see if this changes things. Then you can say if it is the router or not.
If it is not a router related issue, the issue is probably not on your end. Switch off Firewall, connect someone else’s laptop (just ask them if they have half an hour of spare time to help you) and see if they have the same issues.
It is most likely:
1. your router
2. software (firewall, virus scanner, something else)
If this does not help, ask around if your provider has issues, as you already suspected.
@Tipa: Oh, I know. Thanks to a radio station in Ohio I don’t care if I ever hear Boston or Rush again in my life because they played them every 30 minutes. I guess I just very rarely hear Beatles music so it’s still good to me.
@Longasc: But if all my hardware is brand-spankin’ new yet I’m still getting the exact same problem as before, shouldn’t that eliminate the hardware anyway? I can remove the router from the equation easily enough though to check.
Assuming you eliminate all of the local variables, you might want to try Comcast on Twitter before you mess with the 800 number. I can’t vouch for that method personally, but I’ve heard from others that they’ve gotten better/faster solutions.
Sad, isn’t it.
If you have replaced the hardware it is very unlikely that you are having a problem in that area, but I would do as Long suggested and try it without the new hardware inline just incase. I’ve picked up two bad cables before so its possible you bought a bad router. Possible, but unlikely.
In the past I’ve heard of connection issues with Comcast from a lot of people, so I would be inclined to think it is your provider. I would, however, avoid AT&T as a possible provider, if you have to switch. I have a friend in Atlanta that has massive problems with them.
Hope you get everything fixed.