WinXP with pppoe connection problem

[YBS1]

I've searched the MS knowledge base but couldn't find anything related to this, seems like it would be easy enough to fix though so I thought maybe someone here would know how to stomp this little issue.

I'm running WindowsXP Pro with a Sprint Fast Connect DSL connection, using the XP pppoe client. I'm going to try to explain this problem exactly so there is no confusion. Normally after I connect, if I open Task Manager and go to the Networking tab it will show Local Area Connection as Operational and Sprint FastConnect as Connected. Now, under normal circumstances I can disconnect and reconnect without issues. When I do this (disconnect) the Sprint FastConnect connection disappears as it should.

However, occasionally after disconnecting the Sprint FastConnect doesn't disappear and instead changes to Non Operational. Once this happens, I can still "reconnect" to Sprint, however none of my internet applications seem to "see" this and continue trying to use the first instance which is of course Non Operational. The only way to fix this seemingly is to reboot. I'm sure there must be a way to "kill" the first instance of Sprint FastConnect, but I've yet to figure it out. Can anyone shed some light on this?

 

[mattbta]

Never had a problem with the built in PPPoE client in XP on my dad's box, so I can't really give you an answer, but if the problem persists and begins to annoy you, try out RASPPPoE. It's a great little client.

 

[GrumpyMan]

Go to DSL reports many people have fixed that very same problem. Go to the forums under the pppoe section.

 

[aircooled]

You could always get a router that supports PPPoE (like a linksys) and not use any PPPoE software. But that's the expensive answer (though it is the most secure).
A hardware router/firewall, plus ZOneAlarm (or any other software firewall) would be a much more secure setup, and much more stable than a software PPPoE connection.

 

[jaylek55]

I'm having the same problem. I've narrowed it down to Zonealarm in my case. If I don't load ZA and connect to my ISP and disconnect, the connection dies. I am able to connect and reconnect to my heart's desire. But if ZA is started, I get the "non-operational" status from that connection if I disconnect. I then have to reboot. I've looked on DSL Reports and have found no answer to this dilemma. Still looking for a solution...

YBS1, do you use ZA?

 

[GrumpyMan]

I also use Zonealarm and if I go to the Event viewer in the managment console and check under the applications events I always notice that XP Pro has a problem with the True Vector engine that Zonealarm uses. It always has a red X on it. It is just not very compatible with XP Pro and I have found no solution for it yet. I am looking at other firewalls that don't have problems with XP. I hear that the pro version does not have this problem or the Tiny firewall program works well too.

 

[YBS1]

Yes jaylek, Zone Alarm Pro 3.0 to be exact, though I've had the issue since using WinXP. I don't think it's ZA in my case, at least not to your degree if so. I can sometimes disconnect 4-5 times and it not happen, but eventually it will, sometimes after the first disconnect. There never seems to be a pattern to it. I went and looked on dslreports forums but I was unable to find the issue I'm talking about, though I could only search back 10 days it seems. The issue similar to ours in which GrumpyMan was referring to seems to be issues when XP goes into stand-by, sleep, or hibernation which I don't have.

Zone Alarm may very well be part of our problem, but I'm not really that concerned with that at the moment. XP is the NT kernel, surely someone knows how to "kill" and restart the non-operational connection. Though as aircooled said, I'll probably end up getting a router capable of handling the pppoe aspects of the connection, as I need to get multiple systems I have sitting around hooked up without having to resort to pulling the jack out of the NIC everytime. That isn't the point though...I don't like having an issue I have no clue how to fix.