Internet Service Problem or Not?

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
I've never seen a NIC die in the way the OP is describing. To me it sounds like a cheap junk modem or an OS issue. He seemed to have narrowed it down to an OS issue but there is now that wildcard he posted so...

Wait until the new modem arrives I guess and see if that fixes it.


Yes, there have been a couple of trouble-shooting instances where when it's churning and there is no network traffic, I've left everything alone and ONLY power cycled the modem and it all came back. Guess I don't see how it could be OS related under those circumstances.

I'll check inside the NIC, and then when the new modem comes will go from there.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: ClutchDisc
Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
I'm running Bitdefender Free and Malwarebytes PRO (both real time runners) ... that's it.

Looking through some of the earlier posts.... Try removing Bitdefender free, that could be your whole problem. I've seen Bitdefender give people weird problems like this before. Try something like Avast free and you might solve your problem. Worth a try anyway.


I was thinking of doing that ... remove Bitdefender free and loading up Avast free. Since a new modem is coming, I'm going to hold tight and see if that cures it before going down the software path.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
I'll check inside the NIC, and then when the new modem comes will go from there.

I was actually referring to the NIC inside the computer, which I've seen fail outright, but with which I have no other experience.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
I've never seen a NIC die in the way the OP is describing. To me it sounds like a cheap junk modem or an OS issue. He seemed to have narrowed it down to an OS issue but there is now that wildcard he posted so...

Wait until the new modem arrives I guess and see if that fixes it.


Yes, there have been a couple of trouble-shooting instances where when it's churning and there is no network traffic, I've left everything alone and ONLY power cycled the modem and it all came back. Guess I don't see how it could be OS related under those circumstances.

I'll check inside the NIC, and then when the new modem comes will go from there.


I think you are confusing NID with NIC

The NIC (Network Interface Card) is the one that is in your computer.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
I think you are confusing NID with NIC

The NIC (Network Interface Card) is the one that is in your computer.

... yes, I was thinking NID. Yes, I guess I could open up the box and re-seat the Ethernet card and blow all the dust out of the box.

I left my modem on all last night and had put the computer into "stand-by" mode. This morning I woke up the computer and started using the internet. About 10 minuted into it, I had a major network freeze episode. Left everything alone except just power cycled the modem and it would work for 5 min and lock-up again.

So I left everything alone except turned off just the modem and then unplugged the power cord for the modem and let it sit that way for 20 min, which also cooled down the modem. I read in one of Actiontec's modem user's manual that unplugging the power cord seems to reset something beyond just a power cycle.

Plugged the power cord back into my UPS, and powered up the modem. It then was working normally and has been for some time now. It's gotta be the modem going bad.

 

[sleddriver]

Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
It's gotta be the modem going bad.

That's my guess. Rings too many bells.

 

[Rand]

why not try booting in safe mode w/networking and see what happens.

when you see the bios post screen start hammering the f8 key

if you see the windows logo you missed it

then select safe mode with networking.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: Rand
why not try booting in safe mode w/networking and see what happens.

when you see the bios post screen start hammering the f8 key

if you see the windows logo you missed it

then select safe mode with networking.


I could try that, I didn't know I could have networking in Safe Mode. I probably won't have any real-time antivirus protection either, but could only surf sites I know are safe.

 

[ZeeOSix]

So this was strange & interesting tonight. I had booted up in Precise Puppy Linux and was browsing with SeaMonkey. Surfed around for over an hour and it seemed like it was acting kind of slow after awhile. So I tried running www.speedtest.net and it worked with SeaMonkey tonight. I'm sure I had tried it the other night with SeaMonkey in Precise Puppy and it wouldn't work. Anyway, here are the results - pretty slow on 1) & 3):

1) 0.62M download, 0.28M upload w/118 ms ping
2) 1.18M download, 0.51M upload w/84 ms ping
3) 0.20M download, 0.04M upload w/374 ms ping

Then on the next speedtest run, SeaMonkey locked-up, I couldn't even close it. I power cycled the modem, then all of Precise Puppy was locked-up. I had to manually power down the computer.

Booted up Win XP in "Safe Mode w/Networking", therefore no Malwarebytes PRO or Bitdefender (and whatever else) running real-time in the background. Had left the modem off and unplugged from the wall power for over an hour. Powered the cold modem back up and ran some speedtest.net tests in Firefox.

1) 1.32M download, 0.64M upload w/107 ms ping
2) 1.37M download, 0.66M upload w/71 ms ping
3) 1.39M download, 0.66M upload w/97 ms ping

These are the best ones I've seen ever - probably due to the CPU having more to offer since things weren't running in the background.

Then restarted Win XP normally, and ran speedtest.net right after fully booted up again in Firefox.

1) 1.03M download, 0.45M upload w/151 ms ping
2) 0.99M download, 0.48M upload w/182 ms ping
3) 1.07M download, 0.46M upload w/276 ms ping

Anyway, I'm pretty much done playing around. New modem will be here next Wednesday and I have lots of testing data to compare to when the new modem gets put into the mix - this thread is basically my testing log. Any comments on the above are welcome.

 

[Garak]

I think you've tested plenty. Given the price of the modem, even if it isn't that, it's not a big loss. But, if it were me, that would be my first guess. Then again, like I said, my ISP exchanges them at a whim, and they're only like 10 blocks from my house.

 

[JustinH]

Those speeds are absolutely terrible.

 

[Subdued]

At this point it does look like the modem

And I agree those speeds are really bad, but I'm one of the lucky ones that has 15mb DSL available.

 

[ZeeOSix]

So the saga continues. Here's some testing that has me now puzzled.

I booted up earlier tonight in Precise Puppy Linux and was surfing around using SeaMonkey. I ran speedtest.net 5~10 min after the boot-up and the speeds looked pretty good. About 3~4 hours later the surfing seemed pretty slow, so I ran speedtest.net a couple of times and get horrible results.

1) 0.05M download, 0.01M upload w/827 ms ping
2) 0.09M download, 0.01M upload w/577 ms ping

Without touching anything, I then re-booted into Win XP in 'Safe Mode with Networking'. I ran speedtest.net again a couple of times right after booting up and got.

1) 1.31M download, 0.67M upload w/57 ms ping
2) 1.33M download, 0.66M upload w/73 ms ping

When I booted up in 'Safe Mode with Networking' I saw the Ethernet LED on the modem turn off for few seconds, then turn back on as Windows was loading up.

So what's going on in this scenario to make the network speed go to it's full potential by just booting up Windows in Safe Mode?

Recall that I have also seen the network speed come back by touching nothing else and simply turning the modem off for 20 min to cool off, then turning it back on. What I saw tonight as described above just muddies the waters now. Any ideas what happened here?

 

[Subdued]

Yep, looks like the modem is a pile of [censored]. I don't think there's anything else to narrow down at this point short is using another PC.

The ethernet LED turning off and back on is the driver loading and is normal. That may very well be what brought the connection back to life, but it makes no sense that it would unless there was a severe flaw in the modem's firmware.

 

[ZeeOSix]

I guess having a new driver load-up when going into Safe Mode could be why it snapped back to working well again. Do you think it's the same driver that is used when booting up in Win XP normally, or is it a different driver only used in Safe Mode?

And when I boot-up in Precise Puppy Linux, I'm wondering what driver is being used.

I haven't stayed in Safe Mode very long to see if the modem degrades back to horrible operation with time or not. Doesn't really matter now as the new modem should be delivered tomorrow, so that will be the real test to see if my network performance goes back to 100% and stays that way. Might not have a real chance to get the new modem in and configured until the weekend.

 

[Subdued]

it'll be the same driver in windows safe mode or not.

i'm sure linux has its own module to handle the network controller, it certainly wouldn't be a windows driver.

 

[Garak]

I'm definitely leaning towards the modem, too, still. The symptoms are similar to my cable modem issues a few years back, but that was a grounding issue and not on DSL. The cable company wouldn't listen to me and the problem disappeared when I installed a new grounding box.

 

[ZeeOSix]

So tonight I booted Win XP in "Safe Mode with Networking" and it's been running for 4 hours. Have done speedtest.net runs throughout the last 4 hours and all the speeds come back real good - all around 57 ms ping, 1.35 Mbps download and 0.74 Mbps upload.

That's as good as I've ever seen it. I don't think I've ever seen the network performance get bad when in Safe Mode. What could explain that based on the results of all my other testing?

When I was testing it out with a normal Win XP boot-up, and also in Linux, it sure looked like the modem was flaky. If it is the modem, why doesn't it show up when running Windows in Safe Mode?

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
When I was testing it out with a normal Win XP boot-up, and also in Linux, it sure looked like the modem was flaky. If it is the modem, why doesn't it show up when running Windows in Safe Mode?

I call it dumb luck. The Linux coding and the Windows coding won't even be remotely the same, so any potential error in Windows drivers (or the OS) that could be causing the problem wouldn't manifest itself in Linux.

 

[Rolla07]

Only cheaper thing then buying a new one is factory reset. Resets wont neccessarily work..if the modem doesnt give you better ping times and speeds you should go to your provider with this testing and ask if the first line of their tech support has a higher tier. Seems like you have already spent alot of time on this, if you can do a speedtest off of a cell phone wifi connection or other computer it will cancel out the possible NIC card being at fault. Its up to you but personally I wouldnt be diving into possible complex software issues when it might possibly be something as simple as a modem or bad NIC card. These gateway devices have a lifecycle..and yours sounds all too likely to be overheating or just sign of it being bad. Most gateways last 2-3 years before running into questionable territory. Let us know how the new modem tests out.