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Solved: Connection dropping on Desktop yet Wireless connection remains fine

1K views 12 replies 3 participants last post by  design 
#1 ·
Hi folks, would greatly appreciate any help and advice on the following problem that's been happening over the last few months...

I have a Dell Dimension 9200 running Windows XP and use a Buffalo WBMR-G54 Wireless Router to connect to the internet. I also connect wirelessly with a Dell Latitude laptop and an iPhone.

What's been happening on the desktop computer is a loss of connection for 30 seconds at a time or so with the message 'Local Area Connection (a network cable is unplugged)'.

Yet while my desktop is disconnected my other devices are using the wireless connection without a break so it doesn't look like there's anything wrong with my broadband provider.

The Network Connection properties are:
Intel(R) 82566DC Gigabit Network Connection
PCI bus 0, device 25, function 0
Link speed: 10Mbps/Full Duplex
Driver Version: 9.4.21.0

It seems to be happening much more frequently in the evenings than during the day, especially when using Skype.

Any pointers and help would be great, let me know if you need any more info.

Many thanks
 
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#3 ·
Thanks for getting back so quickly TerryNet.

My ADSL provider connects at 10 Mbps (maximum) averaging between 8-10 Mbps. Would that explain why it's connecting at that speed? I just ran the connection diagnostics for auto detect and it passed all the tests.

Would you recommend buying a new ethernet cable or any next steps I could take?
 
#4 ·
Another cable is one way of testing. Another way to test is to connect the laptop using the same cable and router LAN port.

I assumed that "Link speed: 10Mbps/Full Duplex" is the nominal connection speed, having nothing to do with actual data throughput or ISP maximum bandwidth.
 
#5 ·
Thanks and apologies if I misunderstood the 10 Mbps speed question, a bit out of my depth in this area!

Took your advice and moved the cable from the desktop to the laptop (using the same LAN port) and it had the exact same problem has the desktop with the connection dropping intermittently. With wireless enabled on the laptop the connection goes back to normal and connects at 54 Mbps.

Just found another ethernet cable so replaced the one I was using before. Was hoping it would fix it but looks like I'm getting the same problem as it's dropping out quite a bit at the moment (just typed this out twice after forgetting to copy before posting when I lost connection!)

I've previously changed the LAN ports I was connecting to and the problem persisted so didn't appear to be specific to one port.

Stumped for now... any more tips would be great!
 
#6 ·
Sounds like the router's ethernet part is failing. That was my first guess, but it's better to eliminate the other possibilities as you have done.

Sometimes a router will behave itself if you reset it to factory default settings and reconfigure it.
 
#7 ·
Just restored my router to factory default settings and it's not dropped since. Early days but fingers crossed it might be behaving now. I guess if it starts again it might be time to look for a new router, but hopefully won't need to.

In the meantime, really appreciate the help TerryNet, thanks again!
 
#11 ·
Ah, one should never tempt the gods of fate... it's back to losing connection on and off since I clicked the solved button. Short of inventing a new solved-ish button any more next step ideas I could take? Off on a week's holiday tomorrow so hoping it'll get all the playing up out of system before I get back...
 
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