Playing Video Disables Web!

[rixware]

I just installed a new DSL modem (from Qwest, model 2701HG-D), and I'm having a very weird problem:

Whenever I play any multimedia content (video or audio, any player, any format, on the web or locally on the PC), the Ethernet light on the modem goes dark and the web connection goes dead. As soon as I stop the playback, the Ethernet light comes back on and the connection comes back to life after a few seconds.

My Ethernet card is a Marvell Yukon Gigabit (built into the Asus P4P800-E Deluxe motherboard). The driver for the card is current. The Marvell diagnostic program says everything is OK with the card unless video is playing, then it can't talk to it at all. From this I deduce that the problem is in the PC, not the modem.

I've tried disabling all the video codecs with VCSwap, but it doesn't have any effect (it was just a hunch anyway).

[edDV]

That is wierd. What did Quest say?

[rixware]

"We have determined that the DSL service is working properly. Please consult your computer manufacturer for further trouble-shooting."

(Over and over. As if reading it from a card.)

+

[Krispy Kritter]

My first thought is IRQ and/or video drivers. But this is a very weird problem.

Have you tried using task manager to watch cpu/memory usage?
You could alse check the event viewer to see if windows is seeing and logging the problem.

[rixware]

CPU/memory doesn't seem to be an issue. It spikes as the video loads, but then settles in at about 35% CPU usage while it plays. Memory never gets even close to full.

I'm not sure what the "event viewer" is that you refer to. I did download a network monitor tool, but all it tells me is that the router goes off-line when I play a video. It doesn't really give me any clues as to why...

[redwudz]

Event Viewer: Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Event Viewer.

This is sounding like you are sending the video over the LAN, or at least some program is attempting to. Maybe this is overloading the connection or blocking the connection. You might try a program that monitors your traffic and see if it shows anything. I'm not sure if the graph in Task Manager for network traffic would show anything. Or disable file sharing if it's activated. But, just a wild guess.

[rixware]

Solved: Dumped the Marvell onboard Ethernet. Bought and installed a $19 LinkSYS NIC instead.

I finally got the hint from a two-word archived post on a networking board about the Marvell Yukon series: "shitty drivers."

Thanks for all the help.