Connection Interruptions

Hope I've got the right forum; if not please reassign as appropriate

I'd be very happy if some kind person can throw some light on this problem which has been driving me nuts.

I've been plagued with internet interruptions for many months now, and gone through all the usual ISP help line rigmarole, with reset profiles etc, all to no avail. I was however becoming increasingly suspicious that it wasn't a line problem and it was only when it occurred to me to look at the computer event log I finally got confirmation of this.

What I'm seeing is the following entries, which coincide with the interruptions

Warning Date Time Source: RTL8167 Event ID:1 Task Category None Description: Realtek PCIe FE Family Controller is disconnected from network.

These correspond with router log entries as follows:
[DHCP IP: (IP address for IPv4 LAN connection)] to MAC address of the same connection, day, date, time

It appears that the computer DHCP server is trying to talk to itself and forgetting to keep lines open to the rest of the world while doing so. The interruptions seem to mostly last up to about 10 seconds, and while transmissions cease, they quickly resume and the router maintains sync. Any streaming connections are usually lost, and while service can sometimes be interrution free for up to 12 approx hours, at other times there can be dozens in a day.

I've trawled the internet for info on this, but I've not come across anything similar, and sites that might be relevant are invariably for IT pros using typically (completely) impenetrable jargon.

My setup is Dell Inspiron 15R, N5110, W7 and NIS all fully patched and up to date; Netgear DGND4000 router.

I've run a MalwareBytes deep scan which identified several PUPs and these have been deleted; no other problems found.

The current ADSL 2+ profile is 15 dB syncing at 7092 kbs down and 893 kbs ip. ISP is Talktalk Business

Any help gratefully received.

The router is the DHCP server, the PC should be a simple dumb DHCP client. If its anything else then you have a very odd network setup and the question would be why.

To me it looks more like maybe the network lead or its connector is dodgy. On some Dell devices there can be issues with power saving modes and Ethernet controllers, so disable any power saving for the Realtek PCI controller.

If it is JUST a DHCP issue, then assigning a manual IP address, subnet mask, gateway and DNS settings to the Ethernet interface on the PC would fix that.

Thanks for that.

I agree that the Router should be the DHCP server, so I'm somewhat baffled as to why the computer is putting out DHCP signals. I have already unchecked the power setting 'allow system to turn off network adaptor', but I'll go back and verify it. Then I'll try the static IP address and report back.

Cheers

Because as the client it will shout, hey my network interface has become active, do you have an IP address for me to the router.

So presumably then, once the start up sequence is sorted out, the network interface won't need to shout, as long as it remains powered.

I've gone into power options and changed the 'Link State Power Management' option for the PCIe ('Plugged in') from Moderate to Off. So far, I'm still seeing the PCIe disconnections, but, I haven't observed any interrupts since the change, touch wood. Curioser and curioser...

I'll update in the morning.

Edited by Mygri (Tue 04-Feb-14 16:53:27)

You don't have a SamKnows box do you?

Simple answer - no.

First step would be to ensure that your NIC drivers are up to date (I know you state fully patched and up-to-date, but people do tend to forget their drivers...).
As MrS states, next step would be to put a static IP in and see if that resolves the problem - if so then it's a DHCP issue.
If that doesn't do it the next step would be to replace the network cable between the laptop and the router.
If the cable doesn't make a difference, I would head down the route of it being a faulty network card. My experience tells me that they are a pain the the backside to properly diagnose, but that's where I'd be erring at the moment based on what you've said.

Rob.

Firstly, abject apologies for the radio silence. I was laid low yesterday by a rather unpleasant condition that recurs from time to time and makes computer work, reading and TV viewing quite impossible. I'll spare you the details...

Anyway, I've tried your power setting suggesting, changing 'Moderate' to Off for the powered-on state. The disconnections have continued. I've fired up this morning with a new network cable, as per Rob's suggestion, and am watching event viewer for developments. If that doesn't work, I'll set up fixed IP. I'll update later on.

For the record I had a Dell XPS that had an annoying habit of powering down the Ethernet card when unplugging the power and turning off power save helped, but would still find times when I had to manually disable and enable the network card to get it working.

Hi Rob, and thanks for your suggestions.

Apologies for the slow response; as per my reply to MrS, I was out of the loop yesterday, but I am trying a new network cable as that was a very easy check to perform. I've already seen a couple of disconnects, so that's not looking promising but I'll keep monitoring for the time being.

I did check the drivers before my original post, but I will take a look at the Dell forums to see if any one else is having problems - something I should have thought of sooner. I'll also check out the possibility of replacing/ updating the network card, but not until I've checked out the fixwd IP option.

I'll update in due course

In reply to a post by Mygri:

I have already unchecked the power setting 'allow system to turn off network adaptor'

Try re-enabling this.

Hi,

I've re-enabled, but as I've run out of time, I'll have to check the outcome in tomorrow. I'll advise in due course. Thanks for the suggestion.

Hi Rob,

I've been running the new cable today, no joy, still getting interruptions. I'll try static IP tomorrow and advise the outcome.

Cheers, Mike

I've re-enabled, but as I've run out of time, I'll have to check the outcome in tomorrow. I'll advise in due course. Thanks for the suggestion.

No change, so on to other avenues. Thanks again

Status so far:
The new network cable has shown the same behaviour as the old one, so no gain there.
After looking around the Dell Forums, I did find what may be a more recent driver, although not sure it's strictly applicable to this nic. I decided to give it a roll, and it's installed alright, but is still showing interrupts. I think it may also have reset the audio drivers, as I'm getting no sound at the moment. I'll run it from a cold start on Monday, but unless things improve I will roll back to the official Dell version.
So after that, it will be trying fixed IP address.

I'll update in due course.

Cheers
Mike

Update,

NIC interrupts are still occurring after:
- Replacement network cable,
- Later driver (although not entirely sure of its applicability, it did not appear to affect network function), now rolled back,
- Fixed IP.

So I'm left with the conclusion that it's a faulty nic, and I either live with it using wireless, which I don't like for day to day usage, or find a viable replacement.

Thanks for your suggestions and comments which are much appreciated.

Edited by Mygri (Mon 10-Feb-14 17:55:25)

Hi Rob,

I've just posted a reply to MrS with the latest situation, namely that I seem to have exhausted all the options with no positive outcome, so I'm relectantly forced to the conclusion that it's a faulty nic

Thanks for your comments and suggestions- much appreciated

Mike

It still could be many things if you really would rather use the built in interface, it takes two ends to make a connection after all.

As one step (no need to try each individually), make sure your router firmware is up to date, swap the cable to a different router port, in the realtek driver settings set the speed and duplex manually rather than auto, and disable your security suite firewall and enable windows firewall.

If this doesn't work you can try a different spare router or configure the spare as a switch inserted between the computer and router (connect it to PC, give it a static IP outside the netgears address range then disable it's DHCP server)

You can contact Dell and/or Netgear to see what they can offer, it's not acceptable for an essential feature not to work. Or USB ethernet interfaces work just fine and 100Mb are cheap as chips.

It's refreshing to see someone update their progress and be so polite, I hope you get it fixed.

Hello again,

Thanks for your further suggestions and kind words - much appciated!

I'll follow up your suggestions and report back. In the meantime, I've got my ISP to put me back and a 6dB profile, and I'm now syncing at 10.7Mb/s, which is nice.

In fact I've already looked at the router firmware, and I did find one later version, but it appears to be for US settings. I might try it nonetheless.

Watch this space...

Hi,

The latest position is that I did find an update for the router firmware, which has loaded successfuly, and made absolutely no difference! I also tried alternative router ports, similarly with no effect.

I've still to try speed/ duplex settings, but at the moment I'm monitoring things having re-routed the connection between the router and computer. I've got an 8 port gigabit unmanaged switch (TP-Link) which normally links 3 printers to the router. Following your suggestion about using the old router as a switch, I've simply plugged the computer into the switch and am now awaiting developments. With the number of diconnects and re-syncs I was getting with the old router, I have serious doubts about its fitness for purpose, although it has given several years' stirling service.

I'll update again as things develop.

Cheers

!!SUCCESS!!

It was the switch wot sorted it! Simply transferring the computer network cable from the router to the switch has caused the downstream trace to go completely flatline, but in a really good way. I've had two interruptions since making that change, one nic disconnect during this morning's start-up sequence, which is probably normal and certainly no problem, and one after midday, when I went back to auto IP acquisiton (followed by reboot).

So, good call vimto_girl. My thanks to you and all who contributed.

Not all flatlining is bad...

Mike

Edited by Mygri (Fri 14-Feb-14 15:55:53)

In reply to a post by Mygri:

So, good call vimto_girl. My thanks to you and all who contributed.

Glad you solved it (fingers crossed)!