Internet Connection Failure

[bobbabuoy]

I have no idea if this is the place for this but I am desperate here. My internet connection started sporadically failing about a week ago and I can fix it by recycling the router. I have since swapped the router with a new one (both the old and the new are ActionTec) but that did not solve the problem. The connection may stay active for a couple of days and in some cases it drops every 10 minutes or so. I absolutely need this fixed and am looking for ideas. When I am down, I can ping anything on my network but can't get outside of it.

Here is a little about my system:

I have four WinXP Workstations, a Win2k server that hosts an Exchange 2000 Server, and a Win2003 server that serves as my web browser. One of the work stations has a sql server 2000 that I use as the backend for my websites. They all funnel into a Linksys switch which is connected to a Watchguard Firebox firewall, and that is connected to my router. I have made no changes in this set-up for many months.

Recently I have upgraded by Win2003 server to the most recent service pack and added McAfee GroupShield to my exchange server. The rest of my system is protected by Panda Antivirus with their AdminConsole.

When the system fails, the router lights are just fine-they don't flicker or go out or anything.

I am wondering if my exchange is being used as a relay but I tried to close it down and so I am not sure about that.

I have contacted my isp and my dsl host, as well as the host for my primary and secondary dns servers and no one sees any problems. Can anybody give me an idea as to where to look next? I would really appreciate it!

Thanks in advance!

[MstrBob]

This would be better off in the Computer Issues Forum. By my mighty Moderator powers, I make it so!

[theuedimaster]

They all funnel into a Linksys switch which is connected to a Watchguard Firebox firewall, and that is connected to my router. I have made no changes in this set-up for many months.


Maybe the switch or the watchguard firebox firewall have gone out. Try borrowing another one to see if it your connection will work. It may just be a hardware problem. Obviously it isn't a router problem, so I'd target these two devices.

[Mausau2000]

Sounds like the switch's problem

[bobbabuoy]

My next step will be to replace the switch. It hasn't gone down in a couple of days now but I am certain it will again at some point. If there is a wiring problem where there are power surges, could that cause this even if everything is behind a surge protector? I would think if it went down due to something like that it would come right back on again?

[PhillMc]

It does sound like the switch, but...

About the 1 cat5 cable, did you wire/crimp it yourself or is it store bought? Is it's wiring in the right order? (Stripped Orange, Orange, Stripped Green, Blue, Stripped Blue, Green, Stripped Brown, Brown) -- this probably isn't the problem, but it is a possiblity.

Even though you have a firewall, it could be a virus -- I recently cleaned a worm from the stores systems and it sole task was to flood the internet connection with hundreds of different connections. At first I thought it was our ISP's fault, until I noticed 430 different NAT translations... This sounds a lot like the problem you are having as the modem shows no external signs that anything is going on and my connection went out anywhere between days and minutes...

Hope this is helpfull.

[bobbabuoy]

thanks, that is very helpful.

[Mausau2000]

Do what my sig says

[Mausau2000]

Check with the ISP they may be having problems