Internet connection drops every hour
I recently built a new desktop computer, which works fine except for connecting it to our network. I have an ethernet cable directly connecting my modem to my computer, and around every hour or so, the internet connection cuts off not just for me, but for all devices in my network. My computer uses Windows 10.
When my internet cuts off, it doesn't completely cut off. What seems to happen is that on my end (desktop computer connecting directly to the router), the DNS server is unable to be reached. This is the problem that Windows Problem Solver is giving me, and what I've been able to confirm for myself, as IP addresses can be reached but plain web addresses cannot be. In addition, it kicks every device using WiFi off the network. Our WiFi network can still be detected by these devices, but they are unable to connect to it. When the modem is turned off and on again, it works fine again for an hour until the same problem occurs.
Some things I've tried and established:
- The ethernet cable should not be the issue here. Before building my new computer, I used a laptop which I also directly connected to the modem using the same cable I do now, and we haven't had any problems like this for 1.5 years.
- My new PC being connected absolutely has something to do with this. If the modem is reset while my new PC is not connected, no problems occur.
- On the other hand, disabling and reenabling the Ethernet connection from my PC after it has already connected to the modem does not affect the 1 hour timer.
- My new PC is the only device connected to our network that is running Windows 10.
- Performing a factory reset on the modem did not appear to have any effect.
- I'm currently having my Ethernet connection use Google's DNS servers (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4). When the network cuts off this does indeed allow me to continue browsing, so it does appear to have something to do with DNS servers. Similarly, applications like Skype still function normally. This isn't always the case though, as sometimes the modem just seems to completely lose all internet connection causing me to be unable to use it at all, though this tends to happen longer than an hour after resetting the modem.
- Changing the WiFi channel doesn't do anything (though I guess this was to be expected).
- Updating my version of Windows 10 didn't do anything. This was a decent possibility since my installation of Windows 10 came from a disc that was burned half a year ago. My installation of Windows 10 has also not been activated yet, but I'd like to leave that until I have managed to fix this problem.
- My modem has an ECO function which causes the modem to be shut off at specific time intervals, but this is disabled.
- According to the manual, our modem automatically performs updates. I haven't found a way to manually perform an update or check the version of the modem.
ipconfig /all gives the following information.
Ethernet adapter Ethernet:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : home
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) Ethernet Connection (2) I219-V
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 4C-CC-6A-64-E6-FB
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::2cb6:ee01:e72e:ceb1%8(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.2(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : maandag 9 januari 2017 23:45:35
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : dinsdag 10 januari 2017 23:45:36
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.254
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.254
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 55364714
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-1F-F4-C9-9B-4C-CC-6A-64-E6-FB
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 8.8.8.8
8.8.4.4
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled
Tunnel adapter isatap.home:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : home
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
That is about all I know for now. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
I have the same problem myself, but it is not with windows. It is with my ISP.
Try opening Command Prompt and type ping -t 8.8.8.8
(I think you use -t, haven't used Windows in a long time).
Next time it drops look at the output of that command. It should either look like one of these three things:
32 bytes from 8.8.8.8
- this means that the problem is with the server you're connecting to.
Request timed out
or Destination host unreachable
- now you know that the problem is with your connection, not with the server. Your internet connection or router might be having problems.
Change 8.8.8.8
to your router's IP address, should be 192.168.2.254
or 192.168.2.1
.
If that drops like 8.8.8.8
, then your internet connection is fine. Either your router or your computer is dropping packets.
If that stays up, bad news - you need a new network card. Your old one is wearing out.