Windows 7 connection issues...

[Moontrash]

I've had my Windows 7 going for about 18 months now....ever since I built my quad core pc, i have these issues where the net connection just stops. I can Use Firefox or Opera, it doesnt matter, it just stops. If I Restart the browser it starts to work again. I mean i'll be surfing and all of a sudden if i click on a bookmark or a link to a previous page, it's dead. I also will have uTorrent running in the background and I can watch it's leech/seed speed go down also. Now this problem doesnt happen all the time but it's happened frequent enough that I know it's not my ISP or my PC. Here are the reasons I know this...

I thought maybe it was a cable (LAN/CAT5) issues so I redid the cable and still have the same problem. I have a brand new Laptop with 7 Home premium and it does the exact same thing. Thought maybe it was the switch I was using but to clear these "maybe's" up, I've had the same XP machine on the same line running 24/7 for the last 4 years...w/o a disconnect.

I've looked around online and some of it seems to be driver issues but the drivers on my quad core and my laptop are all updated, so at this point I'm dead lost for an explanation. I'm seeing a lot issues when I google search for a problem so I'm guessing it's Windows 7 at this point.

the only similarities between the 2 Windows 7 machines I have are that they both have avira free AV, Firefox, Opera and both have a custom hosts file (hostsman). The laptop is basically bare bones except for those items. The quad core has a lot more stuff on it.

Any ideas or thoughts would be appreciated

[redwudz]

I've got five W7 machines running on two different ISPs and have never seen that problem. Assuming you are using a router, check the router logs. I would also run some speed tests because it could still be ISP related.

W7 has a lot more security, but it should warn you if it has to drop a connection for some reason. You didn't mention IE8, but I would try it temporarily to see if any warnings appear with it that might not show on Opera of FF. IE8 will block some websites if they are trying to DL something it thinks could be problematic. Maybe those blocks don't show with Opera/FF, though that seems unlikely.

Also check Windows firewall. It's less than effective, but it might be blocking for some reason. I use Comodo instead.

The suspicious part is that it's happening on more than one machine. Unless they are configured exactly the same, that seems to point back to router/ISP issues. You could try bypassing the router temporarily and hook directly to the modem, but studying the router logs would probably be easier.

[yoda313]

It might also be a dchp issue. I know I've had it where it does like a week long lease to a machine than resets. I don't know the terminology of this as I am not fully network literate. But it might be something in the router setting as redwudz says.

If the other computer works find try switch the ports that your computer that has the issue is using. Switch the lan cable to the port you know works. If it doesn't have issues on that then perhaps the other ports are faulty. MIght even be a bad lan cable? Check for snags or kinks in the line maybe.

If all else fails try a different router.

Also could there be powerdown modes in windows? I know some have automatic power settings to save power and things like that.....

[Bjs]

Try and disable ipv6 protocol on the network device for windows 7... assuming the networks other devices are pre ipv6 .

[neomaine]

I like the IP release/renew thinking here. I'd setup static IPs for your computers first and see if that helps.

[pirej]

Thought maybe it was the switch I was using but to clear these "maybe's" up, I've had the same XP machine on the same line running 24/7 for the last 4 years...w/o a disconnect.

Well.. everything work's fine("4 years") until it brokes..
So "to clear these "maybe's" up" you should try connecting without the switch.
I work in "internet technical support team" so i know that you're ISP provider must have the right tools to test you're internet connection, and they should know if the line(cable.. or whatever) is the reason for that disconnections, so you should call them first.
p.s. the IP release/renew (in my company) happens every 6 hours...

[Moontrash]

I've already remade the lan cables..i have 2 connections upstairs where these pc's are and both do the same. This 7 machine is connected to the line that my xp machine is and it still does the same thing. It seems to only do it when i open a browser oddly enough. There's an XP machine downstairs connected to the same switch and it's nvr had an issue either. The switch I use has been around for i'd say, 5 or 6 years but as these xp machines don't have the same problem, I'm guessing thats not it(have had the same speed for the last 5 or 6 years). If I had a router with this setup I'm sure I'd pull my hair out cause I'm clueless on router issues.

I'm gna try the ipv6 trick and see if that helps. I also decided to undo the hosts file and restore it back to its original state and turn DNS client back on in services.

I've run bandwidth tests and they're all up to specs

The same scenario happens all the time(not every time)....I open up a browser and surf...within i'd say an hour or 2 of online use, i'll click on a bookmark or somewhere else and it'll give me the webpage hasnt loaded thing in FF or opera. I restart either browser and it works fine again. I havent tried IE8 cause I havent really ever used it.