David, here's a suggestion.
If he's assuming that the connection is down because IE stops working
tell him to download and install FireFox so that he can confirm easily
that it's connection trouble rather than something weird with the
browser.
There are so many potential problems out there with spyware and other
junk that patches have been arriving thick and fast and from a few posts
in other groups it seems as if some of them are "Breaking" IE's
connectivity - not so much because IE is being broken but because IE has
been interfered with by other things.
In any case this avoids one delaying tactic the ISP may use, namely "Are
you sure it's not the browser".
The problem with cable tech support is they will always have you power
"Everything" off so there is no diagnostic info related to any specific
device, they simply hope that if it starts working again you will go away
The reason I suggest FF is simply that it seems to coexist well enough
with everything else and most reports I've seen indicate that it's a
fairly simple and foolproof test that anyone can install and use. Just
because there's a bit of rivalry between browsers doesn't mean you can't
have two.
I didn't see any mention of the lights on the modem. I'm kinda assuming
the lights confirm a dropped connection but are you sure about that or is
it just apparent connectivity?
Charlie
message
:
On Mon, 28 Nov 2005 22:14:50 -0500, "Lanwench [MVP -
Exchange]"
<
[email protected]>
wrote:
In David Langschied <
[email protected]> typed:
I have a friend who has a cable modem for inernet access. He loses
the connection once every 1-2 weeks. He has to power cycle his modem
every time this happens. The cable company (COMCAST) has told him
that is his router, so last week I changed routers for him and, six
days later, he loses his connection again. The cable company seems
to be leading him around. I thought maybe somebody out on this board
might be familiar with the problem. It has become a real sore spot
with this guy. Any ideas?
Does power-cycling the modem itself (and not the router) fix this?
When this
happens (Internet outage) can he still ping the router's LAN IP/work
normally on his own network?
If this is happening with two routers, it really sounds like they're
just
passing the buck. See if you can escalate the call. .... your friend
should
buy you a nice bottle of wine for this, btw. ;-)
Howdy,
I had similar problems with my Comcast supplied cable modem.
I called, insisted that it was a modem problem, and they
sent a gentleman out with a new modem within a day.
All the best,
--
Kenneth
If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS."
I am pretty sure has said that he had the LAN still. Every time that he
called them the process included turning everything off modem and
router.
Then booting modem and then router. I have been assuring him that the
modem
was probably the problem.
He had a Comcast tech to his house and the guy replaced the modem, but
for
some reason he indicated that the modem was not the problem and switched
them
back. I was not there so I cannot vouch for anything that actually
happened.
They called him yesterday and told him that for $150 plus a $10 a month
increase they would supply him with a modem/router.
I have one more nugget of info that does seem strange. He lost his
connection again tonight. He started up the PC and immediately got onto
the
internet and went to his e-mail. After a couple of minutes, no
internet. He
repaired his connection on the desktop no problem. Tried to get on, no
internet. Rebooted his PC, the internet works. I do not know where
this
could possibly fit into the existing situation, but I wantd to get it
out
there in case it has any bearing on the issue.
Thanks!