"Customer" net connection issues?

[mikehende]

What do you Techs do when a "customer" has net connection issues?

1] Shouldn't this be a job for both them and their ISP provider to work out?

2] Reason I'm looking into this is because a friend of mine has been having "intermittent" connection issues so I told him the first best thing would be for him to bring his pc over to my house and leave it for a few days so I can know if it's something on his end and not the pc itself, would this be the way you would handle this or not? If not, what would you do?

[Erik]

Depends on why it is dropping, what kind of ISP he has, etc. etc.

Pretty much I would only bring a PC to my location for diagnosis that couldn't be done in the field (almost nothing really) and also it is more convinient for me.

Basic things to check would be if it happens without router, or with, firewalls on/off. As long as everything is correct on the PC, and no virus/malware/spyware infection then call up the ISP and get them to fix it. It could be congestion, cable issues, they are down, bad modem, etc.

[deddard]

You'll never have a real chance to sort an intermittent net connection problem unless you're onsite.

Best thing to do is set up the logging to record just about everything including applications, - make sure you've set the log to be big, and then get them to record when they can't access the net (a notepad document is fine)
Then go back and check the log for any pattern.
If they use a router which has logging capability, check the log there as well - it could be something like a failed DHCP, but unless you are lucky enough to reproduce the error whilst you're there, logging is the best way to go.

edit..........
One thing I have come across is a faulty RJ45 connector on a cable modem. The user had previously used a USB connector, but when I built a new system for them, we switched to ethernet via a router. This of course is a more robust way of connecting to the net because of USB issues.
It did throw up an intermittent error, whereby no net connection was available. Looking at the lights on the router showed no WAN connection, and applying pressure to the Modem RJ45 jack alleviated the problem.

Heat made the problem worse, as metal obviously shifts a bit as it heats up, and the problem occurred mainly after the unit had been on a while (the modem & router were on top of the PC)
It's obviously a fault with the modem's connection (new cables didn't solve it) and we made a 'temporary' fix by taping the jack in place.
NTL (the ISP/modem provider) were contacted, but even after a year they haven't got round to fixing it, even though several emails and letters have been sent from myself and the client.
DSL modems are not easy to find, so we can't just swap it out as if it were an ADSL unit (as used by BT)

This also throws up another possibility for your user's problems - USB. If they are using USB, ..........well, change it to Ethernet! USB is a shared medium, and doesn't play too well with other devices sometimes.

[LordEric02]

Best thing to do is set up the logging to record just about everything including applications, - make sure you've set the log to be big

Where do you go to enable this?

[Erik]

It depends. It will either be a feature on your router or some software that needs to be installed.

[mikehende]

This notebook [Gericom] comes with a Phone Modem and not an Ethernet so I tried connecting directly to our phone line but it doesn't connect to net, normally when I connect anyone's pc via ethernet to my router, it connects to the net, any ideas what's going on here?

[Fruss Tray Ted]

Does it dial a connection? Are you trying to use your isp or theirs?

[mikehende]

using my ISP which works all the time with desktops with an Ethernet port which plugs into my router

[classicsoftware]

To connect this PC at your place, you either need an ethernet card or a phone jack. You cannot connect to your broadband modem with a dial-up modem.

[mikehende]

Don't understand Ben, I had disconnected the modem from the phone line then plugged the laptop's Phone modem directly to the house phone line?

[classicsoftware]

If you have DSL you may need to have a filter on the line. You should try a different phone line or jack. You will also need phone numbers to connect to the ISP from your location and you will have to click on the dial-up connection in order to connect. Just clicking on IE or Firefox will not do anything for you.

[mikehende]

ok understood now, thanks!

[mikehende]

Another issue. Was working on this pc, the owner uses AOL, I have verizon Yahoo, I connected to the net here at my home via a wireless pcm card but could only access the net using AOL Explorer and not IE, why is this?

[classicsoftware]

A firewall issue??? A malware problem?? Who knows. Not enough info to help you out....

[mjc]

Of course, there is the old standby...it's AOL.

[mikehende]

Another issue, this HP desktop which I am working on cannot connect to the net when I plug into it. Looking in Device Manager, I see the Ethernet Controller has the yellow sign, I try to update the driver but there isn't any software installed for this it seems, what should I do here please?

[classicsoftware]

Is it on-board Ethernet? Is it a PCI card? Try another slot , try another card?

[mikehende]

integrated ethernet, used AIDA32 to find the name of the controller which is Broadcom, went to HP's site to find the driver, found it here

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareIndex.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodNameId=337531&prodTypeId=12454&prodSeriesId=337529&swLang=13&taskId=135&swEnvOID=1093#11395

ran the driver but looks like windows can't find it no matter what I do.

[mikehende]

it created a folder named swsetup, got it now, seems I had to run the setup exe from within the created folder.

[Fruss Tray Ted]

Great! :p

And yes. With Notebooks most times, the operating system does not come with drivers for them such as in a typical tower type pc. The manufacturer's site will have the specialized drivers for sound, LAN, video, etc but usually in .exe form so trying to let windows discover the drivers by pointing it to a specific area does not work. As you discovered, the only way is to run the .exe and reboot.

Again, glad you got it going and thanks for letting us know how you did. :)

[mikehende]

Great! :p
The manufacturer's site will have the specialized drivers for sound, LAN, video, etc but usually in .exe form so trying to let windows discover the drivers by pointing it to a specific area does not work. As you discovered, the only way is to run the .exe and reboot.
)


You're correct, got to do both the audio and video too in the same way, pain in the ass!

[Fruss Tray Ted]

Tell me about it! :rolleyes:

Recently bought a new, faster and bigger hard drive for my laptop. Reloaded 98SE 5 (yes FIVE), times loading all drivers each time. Wifi, Lan, Modem, video, Sound, Power management (for battery), pci and inf (for pcmcia and cdrw), a few others. Each time I could not get the external Motorola wireless 802.11g pcmcia card working. Spent time with Tech support to the tune of over an hour, no luck.

Gave up on Win98, installed WinME, all drivers, found I had not left enough space for my mapping software on the partition I had made. Wiped the drive, repartitioned, reloaded Win ME and all drivers. Tried to install a duplicate ME onto D: (know what I did wrong now but) drive for something to fall back onto should C: drive fail, on first reboot of install, the laptop defaulted back to C: and I ended up with 1.5 installations of ME on C: :rolleyes: Wipe again!

After 7 installs I FINALLY have it the way I want. If I have to do it again, I can do it with my eyes closed! But I am waiting for a couple parts to arrive so I can install a second HDD and make an image of my C: drive as is to save all this trouble, should it EVER happen again!!!

I know there are other ways to resize a partition or make a dual boot but I don't want 3rd party softwares cluttering up my system. It's just me and I'm stubborn I guess but I have it exactly the way I want now, clean as a whistle! :)

[mikehende]

I am having problems getting the correct driver for the audio, can anyone help please? Seems like whichever driver I download from Intel's site for this is not working, this is exactly what's written when I use Aida32

intel 82801 db[M]-ac'97 audio controller [B-O]

help?:confused:

[mikehende]

Alright, got it, pc is complete now, thanks!

[mikehende]

Took my personal pc over to a friend's house yesterday and could not connect to the net but even though I use a wireless connection here at home, the pc's integrated network card would always connect to the net anytime I used an RJ45 to connect directly to the router. When I looked in Device Manager, the Ethernet controller had the yellow exclamation mark on it so I downloaded and installed the drivers for it but what I'd like to know is why this happened, anyone?