Internet connection drops

[lifeform23]

Hi folks
I qouls appreciate any suggestions you may have about a problem with my wireless network. The internet connection drops offline after working for a period of time ranging from a few minutes to a few hours. The only way to resume the internet connection is to reboot the router. The wireless network worked fine for months before developing this habit.
The internet connection is always-on high speed cable. I haven?t added any new software but there have been upgrades to Windows XP running on my two computers. I have a laptop with XP home and a desktop with XP Pro. The router was a D-Link DI-713P, then a second D-Link DI-713P and is now Linksys BEFW11S4. The laptop has a D-Link DWL 120 card and the desktop has a DWL 650 adapter.

I have replaced the router twice. I have scanned for viruses using two kinds of software. The cable connection works fine when directly connected to the cable modem.
I have spent hours on the phone with D-Link technical support. Can anyone please suggest how I can tackle this problem?
Thanks
David A

 

[Seeruk]

Similar probs here - so bump

I have seen about 300 of these posts now on various boards but no definitive solutions - there must be a common element as the routers and nics and setups vary yet the problem is the same.

Or is wireless really that bad?

 

[Garion]

Whenever you do this kind of troubleshooting, always try to pinpoint the problem. Here's what I'd do.

1: Check the connection between your PC and the router. Use something like Ping Plotter to setup a constant ping from your PC to the inside interface of your router (usually something like 192.168.1.1). When your Internet connection goes away, does this ping still work? If it stops, then you have a LAN problem - Replace the cable, etc.

2: If yes, use Ping Plotter to the OUTSIDE interface of your router. You'll have to find this IP by looking in the config of the router. If it keeps working, then move on. If it stops, then you've got something odd in your router.

3: Go into your router and see what IT'S default gateway is. Hit this one with Ping Plotter. If it fails when everything else works, then it's your ISP's problem and you should grumble at them.

If you're feeling lazy, do one of these at a time. If you're impatient, run three instances of Ping Plotter and try to see what breaks. You'll get nice historical graphs from each, so you'll be able to match things up pretty well.

This won't give you an absolute answer, but it will help you narrow down your troubleshooting to something more specific.

- G