Broadband works on one PC - not on other!

[DragonQ0105]

Hey, I have a PC and Laptop. I just reformatted my PC last night and reinstalled XP Pro SP2. I cannot get the internet to work correctly. If I install the Modem and activate the connection, it gives no errors and everything seems to be fine. However, when I go to google or any other site, it stays at "connecting to xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx" for 10 seconds or so, then it works.

Then, I can normally have the internet working for about a minute (although it's slow), then I'll just get "Page cannot be found" for everything. It's not even TRYING to find the site I don't think - it comes up straight away.

Sometimes resetting to modem gets it working slowly for another minute or so, then it happens again.


Strangely, when connected to the Laptop (also with XP Pro SP2), it works fine.

Here's some more specific info:

PC:
- MSI KM2M Motherboard
- AMD Athlon 1700+ (266MHz FSB)
- 512MB PC100 SDRAM
- 64MB GeForce2 MX 400 Graphics Card
- 52x52x32 CD-RW
- 50x CD-ROM
- 19GB 5400RPM ATA100 HDD
- 75GB 5400RPM ATA100 HDD
- Netgear Ethernet Card
- On-Board LAN Ethernet
- 6x USB2.0 Ports

On the PC, I've tried:
- Connecting to the Ethernet Port on the Netgear Card
- Connecting to the Ethernet Port on the Motherboard
- Connecting via USB
- IE6 SP6
- Firefox 1.2
- Uninstalling + reinstalling the modem and ethernet interfaces
- Disabling + Enabling the connection many times
- Repairing the Connection many times

No luck.

Laptop:
- Toshiba Satellite Pro 4320
- 6GB HDD
- 32x CD-ROM
- 1x USB1.1

Works perfectly on the laptop, suggesting something is wrong on the PC. However, I've tried all 3 available drivers on BOTH computers (Windows XP ones, the ones on the CD they gave me, and the updated ones on the internet - that are supposed to fix "intermittent connections"!!). They do not affect it at all.

Oh, last thing, it's a Scientific Atlanta WebStar 100 Series Modem on Blueyonder 1Mbps Broadband. I've tried Blueyonder's phone help when I had a similar problem before, and they were useless and told me they couldn't think of anything else to fix it than what I'd already tried.

Can anyone here help me please??

 

[LloydSev]

has the broadband ever worked on the PC?

If Yes - Have you tried restarting the cable modem before hooking it up to the PC?

If No - It is possible your cable company filters via first mac after DCE. It is possible they will ONLY allow the laptop to connect. You'd have to call them to get this situation corrected.

Computer/Network Technician
CCNA

 

[aquias]

If it was the cable company I don't believe he'd even be able to get an IP. They would just have the modem drop all packets from any other, internal MAC address, or only have one IP to lease.

With your computer hooked up to the modem, run an IPConfig /all and see if you're receiving an address. Do this while you cannot surf the web for a true test. Once that is complete, I'm guessing you'll have an IP.

If don't have an IP, try running an IPconfig /release, followed by an IPconfig /renew. Try again and see what happens.

If still no lovin, then I would suggest loading the MS Spyware beta and a virus software to scan this system. I know, I know, it's a fresh build but if you're experiencing a slow connection that is evenually dieing, it's possible a port is being flooded by something and if the system is hooked up to the web, you may have taken a hit.

Last, but not least, check out the firewall...I don't believe you would see this behavior from an incorrect setting but it doesn't hurt to look.

 

[LloydSev]

my guess is he is getting an internal IP from the modem, since the cable company does not control what content comes back from the modem.

Computer/Network Technician
CCNA

 

[DragonQ0105]

LloydSev - Yes it has worked on the PC before, BUT I've had similar problems a few times before - and if my memory is correct, this exact same problem occured last time I reinstalled Windows too...but I cannot remember the solution.

Funnily enough, I've never tried the Internet Cable Modem on the Laptop before, but it works.

Aquias, I will try some of those suggestions.


I did notice that when the connection stopped last time, I was in the middle of downloading something - and the download was perfect! It was 130KB/s constantly, and when the internet stopped working, the download continued as normal....weird...

 

[LloydSev]

Have you tried a "hard reset" of the cable modem, setting it back to factory settings? It would automatically redownload the config file from your ISP, so it won't mess that up.

Computer/Network Technician
CCNA

 

[DragonQ0105]

Well I did IPCONFIG /RELEASE then IPCONFIG /RENEW and it didn't give any errors and appeared to work as normal but didn't help.

I also tried Adaware and Norton - nothing came up.

Here's a screenshot of IPCONFIG /all:

dragonq.port5.com/Scr01.bmp


Does this give any ideas to a solution?

 

[LloydSev]

what are those Teredo entries?

Computer/Network Technician
CCNA

 

[aquias]

My next question, try to ping

http://www.google.com,

http://www.yahoo.com,

and a few others. Do you receive a reply, even though you cannot surf them?

 

[DragonQ0105]

I have no idea what those pseudo-interface things are - but there are no other Network Connections except the 3 I mentioned before (On-Board LAN, USB and Netgear Ethernet)...

I can ping those sites even though I cannot view their web pages...Here's the screenshot:

dragonq.port5.com/Scr02.bmp

 

[DragonQ0105]

Oh, and I have tried Hard-Resets by removing the power plug from the modem for 5 seconds and putting it back in, but it does not help unfortunately...

 

[LloydSev]

Goto your device manager

View -> Show hidden devices

Now how many network adapters are there?

BTW, there are supposed to be a lot.

Generally speaking.. 6 WAN Miniports, Direct Parallel, and then the rest from your local network adapters.

Computer/Network Technician
CCNA

 

[LloydSev]

Oh, and I have tried Hard-Resets by removing the power plug from the modem for 5 seconds and putting it back in, but it does not help unfortunately...

That is considered a soft reset, as your preferences and everything are still preserved.

Computer/Network Technician
CCNA

 

[DragonQ0105]

Network Adapters including Hidden Devices:

dragonq.port5.com/Scr03.bmp


How do I do a Hard-Reset then? Is that little reset button that you need a pen/pencil to push a Hard-Reset?

 

[LloydSev]

Yes.. and do the steps aquias asked too.. those will be very telling.

My next question, try to ping

http://www.google.com,

http://www.yahoo.com,

and a few others. Do you receive a reply, even though you cannot surf them?

Computer/Network Technician
CCNA

 

[DragonQ0105]

I did do those things, and I did post the results...

I can ping those sites even though I cannot view their web pages...Here's the screenshot:

dragonq.port5.com/Scr02.bmp"

 

[DragonQ0105]

Hard-Reset with the Reset Button did not help

 

[bcastner]

Many cable broadband systems depend on the MAC address of the computer for authentication.

This is why most broadband routers offer the feature to "clone" the MAC address.

You cannot just plug the modem in between various computers without calling the cable company and telling them you are using a new computer with a different MAC address.

Add a router to this system.

 

[DragonQ0105]

Why should I need to do that?! I have NEVER used this connection on the laptop before, and am only doing it now because the Desktop isn't working with it!

The MAC hasn't changed, surely! All I've done is reformatted and reinstalled windows!

 

[bcastner]

The MAC address is a physical ID. Some network adapters permit a software change to the MAC.

But in the absence of a deliberate change to the MAC, you cannot just flip machines on a cable broadband system without calling them to tell them that you have done so, or "cloning" or "spoofing" the MAC from the original machine.