Maximum PC

I can tell my Internet connection is tweaking, but I'm not sure how to tell whether the problem is my router, my modem, my computer or all of the above. Is there any suite of diagnostic tools that I can run to test the various parts of my network?
I'm running Windows XP on the PC and have some other stuff hooked up too. I've got DSL and a Lynksys router and whatever modem came form AT&T many moons ago.

Thanks!

ping and tracert. Yes, srsly.

What do you mean, "I can tell my Internet connection is tweaking"? I assume this means you think it's not working correctly, right?

There are lots of netowork diagnostic tools available. Plug the thread title into Google and start clicking.

Different tools will test different things, but it's hard to recommend a tool if we have no idea what you actually need. Also, you don't sound too sure what sort of data you're hoping to get from using these tools. They don't really make something that says your (insert network device name here) is slow and you should replace it.

yep. In a home network, why would you need more.

That's exactly the problem. Is my ISP crimping its bandwidth? Is my router occasionally ceasing to broadcast its signal? Is my wireless adapter on my computer iffy? Is my processor too creaky to deal with the information it's receiving? That's what I need to narrow down. I've run tracert and ping; I thought they were more for seeing if there's a point in the chain where there's a breakdwon - not so much for seeing interanal problems.
I know I could google network diagnostics. I was hoping someone could recommend one they felt was more useful, more informative etc etc.

I don't believe there's a diagnostic suite or tool that will tell you which part is failing, if a part is failing at all. This isn't like an OBDII code reader that just spits out codes telling you "Oh yeah, your CPU is bad." I was going to say that this is a networking issue so there's no need to blame your CPU, but you still haven't really told us what the problem is.

We can help you troubleshoot though, but you'll have to be more clear about what the problem actually is. All you've told is that your internet connection is tweaking. Tweaking like a crack-head? What does that mean?

Is your network signal going intermittently? Please explain as clearly as you can exactly what the problem you're experiencing is.

According to your original post, you said that you're using XP on the PC with "some other stuff hooked up too". What other stuff are you talking about here? Is this a laptop or a desktop?

You also said that you've got DSL and a Linksys router. Does your router have WiFi capability? If so, are you using it in this case?

Whenever you notice the issue, call your ISP and tell them about it. If it's on their end, they'll either fix it or they'll set the wheels in motion to fix it. If it's not their issue, than you can start troubleshooting ahead of the modem.

>>I was going to say that this is a networking issue so there's no need to blame your CPU, but you still haven't really told us what the problem is.
--My computer's pretty old (AMD Turion) so it was a thought - especially when streaming videos. I was wondering if at higher res the computer just couldn't keep up.

>>Tweaking like a crack-head?
--LOL

>>Is your network signal going intermittently?
--Yes - sometimes it just crawls to a clunk - hard to enter text in remote boxes on web pages, streaming video locks up and then catches up etc. Sometimes I'll see a notification box saying "your wi-fi's connected again" (paraphrasing).

>>According to your original post, you said that you're using XP on the PC with "some other stuff hooked up too". What other stuff are you talking about here? Is this a laptop or a desktop?
--One or two laptops (visitors) wirelessly, desktop wired. WII, iPod touches sometimes, all through a Lynksys router.

>>You also said that you've got DSL and a Linksys router. Does your router have WiFi capability? If so, are you using it in this case?
--Yez. MC address filtered, password too.

>>Whenever you notice the issue, call your ISP and tell them about it. If it's on their end, they'll either fix it or they'll set the wheels in motion to fix it.
-How could I prove this?

Thank you so much for your help.

One thing I'm particularly interested in determining, especially in regard to the habitual connecting and reconnecting, is, is this my router or modem tweaking, or is this my DSL being overwhelmed? How could I test or monitor my ISP or router to prove this?

Turion isn't that old. However, streaming video is almost always Flash, and Flash is very CPU heavy, however I don't think this is a PC hardware issue, if a hardware issue at all. I've got a much nicer machine (figuring your Turion rig vs my Core2 Duo rig (no offense or anything), and I get streaming video issues from time to time too. It happens, we live with it. If it's happening all the time, then something is wrong. I have cable and live in a decent-size apartment complex, so during peak hours (evening hours), my internet becomes very slow. With DSL, the speed is fair consistent (as far as I know, IE it isn't too affected by others on the same segment), but rather the distance between you and wherever you're getting the signal from is what's important.

Streaming video is all about bandwidth. You're almost guaranteed to be bottle-necked by bandwidth than your computer not having the power to process and display the video, since your machine isn't that old. Pentium 2 is old.



The notification you're seeing about your WiFi being connected again is the key to your problem there. Somewhere along the line (and it's a rather short line too, just between your WiFi adapter and your router), your connection is becoming intermittent. I've had this problem whenever I'd had 802.11g networking going on. Just going up one floor can hose your connection signal. It's leaps and bounds above B, but it's still perfect for an extremely small, single story, 1 to 2 bedroom house/apartment. If you're trying to get signal through multiple walls, forget about it unless you've got some serious antenna action going on.

One thing I'm curious to know is if you've tried this on more than one computer. This is a laptop and others are using wireless. Are you having the same issues on the other laptops? The Wii? The iPod touches?



You don't have to prove it. If they ask for proof, you tell them to fuck off and demand to speak to a manager. Tech support is just as much about being techincally inclined as it is about customer service. They might ask you for screenshots of an error message you're receiving, but that's not to prove there's a problem.

Calling your ISP when you're experiencing the problem is only so they can check if they see any issues from where ever the hell they are and your modem. They can't really be expected to support the use of every router, switch, hub, and adapter under the sun, so they may refer you to Geek Squad or someone if they believe the issue is on your side of the router.

OK is there a point to you posting a link to speedtest? Most of us already know about this site.

This is overkill, but here you go

http://www.wireshark.org/

I'm scratching me head as to why he'd post that in a thread he started...