Random internet cuts

[Bionic Apple]

I started to notice about a week or two ago that I got a weird "Server has stopped responding" message plus pause for about 4 seconds every 3 minutes in Team Fortress 2. I simply shrugged it off as a game glitch. However, other Source games had the same problem. Then I noticed every game had the random server-drop problem. Even networked Flash games! Now I even notice that Firefox downloads have moments where they are at 0% done and 0kbs speed. I disabled my anti-virus, repaired my connections in Windows, and even uploaded a new firmware for my router!

Specifications:

• Wired connection
  
• Dell Dimension 8400
  
• Windows XP*
  
• Latest Tomato router firmware
  
• Linksys WRT54GS v1

*I also have Arch Linux and Pacman (package manager) time-outs with the repository (updating server) once in a while. I assume it is related to the problem above.

 

[spidey07]

That is most likely your provider. Try without any home networking gear, plugged directly into your modem, if the symptom still exists call your provider.

If it is exactly every 180 seconds and you can measure it, tell your provider. That's one of the "magic numbers" of networks.

 

[Tarrant64]

Originally posted by: spidey07
That is most likely your provider. Try without any home networking gear, plugged directly into your modem, if the symptom still exists call your provider.

If it is exactly every 180 seconds and you can measure it, tell your provider. That's one of the "magic numbers" of networks.

I've seen that kind of stuff at work and we've had to contact our ISP about problems(Ex: drops between sites every 5 minutes)

You could try putting your PC on a DMZ(not permanently, but just to see). Not sure if that router has the option, but at my place I have to do that just to VPN in to work. It will drop constantly unless I do. It's a router issue, and putting myself on a DMZ for 20-30 minutes isn't a big deal.

 

[JaceX]

I'm having similar issues (frequent lag hiccups in tf2, etc).
I've narrowed it down to my wireless setup.
I don't lag when connected directly to the cable modem and I don't lag when connected directly to the router.

Here's the info:

My router is a Buffalo Tech WHR-G125 loaded with the latest dd-wrt.
My wifi card is an MSI PC60G pci card.
I've used Inssider for a site scan.
Unfortunately it looks like there are about 7 other routers nearby.
I don't know much about wireless and radios and such, but that seems like a lot.
I've set my wireless channel to 1. The only other router that inssider picks up as broadcasting on 1 is the furthest one away. All others are on 6 or 11.

My question is:
What should my next step be?
Are there any other tips or tricks anyone can think of?
Are there any other techniques of narrowing down whether it's perhaps the router or the wifi card or just too many nearby routers?
Should I perhaps make the jump to 802.11n and try 5Ghz?

I've provided all the info I could think of, if there's more that would be of use, let me know.

Thanks for any help!

 

[spidey07]

Jace - that's probably wireless noise/interference of somekind. Good job on setting to channel 1, 6, 11 and seeing which channel has the lowest signal via that tool.

There's not much you can do short of removing the noise, pre-standard N is still going to suffer but "may" help. 802.11a will give you great results but doesn't penetrate quite as well as 802.11g.

 

[JaceX]

Would N suffer as much if I were to get an N wifi card and router and use the 5Ghz band? I'm in the same room as the router so wall penetration wouldn't be an issue, it's just that the connection is on the other side of the room and rearranging stuff isn't at the top of the list =)
Also, if that seems to be the way to go, I would be getting an N router to go along with my G router (the other wireless connections are just for web/other light stuff).

 

[Bionic Apple]

Alright, sorry for the late reply, but here is the results of my latest tests. Keep in mind that I measured these in Team Fortress 2, because that is where the problem is most noticeable and measurable. Also, they are approximate.

Computer -> Router -> Modem -> Cable:

• 1st Time-Out -> 2nd TO = 60 seconds
• 2nd TO -> 3rd TO = 240 seconds

Computer -> Modem -> Cable:

• 1st TO -> 2nd TO = ~3 minutes

Observations: The timeouts don't occur until about 8 minutes after joining a server. After that, they become more frequent. I also noticed is that it seems that with the router, the time-out is longer. However, without the router, severe latency seems to follow a time-out for a few seconds. The last thing that I have seen is that Arch Linux's package manager, Pacman, seems to lose complete connection with the repository once in a while.

 

[Bionic Apple]

Alright, I know it isn't my computer(s), the cables, the router, or the modem. Apparently the only thing in the way from a direct connection from the modem is a single cable splitter. Is it possible that a bad cable splitter could cause this?

 

[spidey07]

Whole lot of things come into play as long as you are plugged directly into the modem with no splitters. Call your provider.