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.