Dsl Connection Reset

I live 22,000 feet from the nearest telephone exchange. The telco has provided me with DSL, but have set it to 1.5 Mb/s (1/2 their normal rate) because dropouts were too frequent. I still get the occasional carrier loss, which kills my connection. The only way I have found to reset that connection is to reboot (XP Pro). I connect through a modem + router feeding a wireless router. Is there a command line code or some other way I can use to re-initiate connection without having to reboot? Richard

Sorry to hear about your connection problems.

Mind you I am in training and not a substitute for the experts that will help you here. This will not do any harm to your computer or software.


Two things I do to re-establish a network connection that has dropped and works most of the time.

Assuming you are using XP

1. Locate the the Network icon in the task bar next to the clock, (looks like two montors set in front of each other)
Right click and select from the menu. "Repair"

Failing to have that icon in the task bar, navigate to the control pannel and open up network connections and locate the network connection (usually in the Lan/highspeed section) and right click and choose "Repair"

2. For the He-man, She-woman command line way: Click start…Run…and in the Run Box dialogue window, you will see a Text entry box Labled open.
Type in that Text entry Box: cmd

This will open a command line window and you will see something like c:\\someusername and a blinking cursor

Type at the blinking cursor: ipconfig /release_all (note a space before the slash) and enter
Now Type at the blinking cursor ipconfig /renew_all (note a space before the slash) and enter

To leave the command line interface type: exit and enter

Give your internet browser a try and see if it now goes where you want to go.

Mind you it doesnt always work, but sure beats having to reboot if it does.

Good luck

(1/2 their normal rate)

i hope they are billing you 1/2 their normal rate.

Hi rmalcolm, You may have an advantage to put into play, since you indicate that you connect via Router. Many/most Routers have a optional function labeled "keep alive", usually located near the "max idle time" setting. If you select "keep alive", your router will regularly check for an active internet connection and automatically renew the connection if it is lapsed. I'm not able to give you specific steps to enable this feature, since so many routers, even from the same manufacturer, have differing configuration instruction layouts. You should be able to find your Router's "keep Alive" feature via downloadable UserManual that is most always provided by the router manufacturer at their website. Best Regards

seriously, in my area dsl can come in several "packages" based on down/upload speeds. make sure you arent paying for a package that dosn't deliver the bandwidth.

Thanks kazoo, shelflife and doug for your prompt replies. I waited until I had an occasion to try your suggestions. Kazoo: I tried both the "repair" and the "reset" options, but neither worked. The repair option led to a prompt which told me to consult my Network Administrator. Since this is a stand-alone computer and I am logged on as administrator, I assume that there is a registry key that will not accept the necessary changes. However, I do not know enough about the registry yet to locate that key and change the permission. When I tried the ipconfig /renew option, it reset the parameters but I still did not have a connection to the internet. Doug: I have a modem/router and a wi-fi router in series. I studied both routers for a "keep alive" function, but could not find it on either one. The wi-fi is a WRT54G Linksys, and while the notes mention that function, a detailed search could not locate it on any page of the setup. The only thing that I have found to work besides a computer reboot is to reboot both routers which takes about the same amount of time as a computer reboot. As for the ISP charges, I had to cajole, plead, wheedle etc. to get them to remove a bunch of noise filters off the phone line so that the DSL carrier would reach my place at all. I am paying for their most basic rate. I live on the top of a ski hill in the woods. In the circumstances, any talk of fee reduction would likely be met with ROFL. RM

Hi rmalcolm,

WRT54G Linksys is a fine Router.
I just set up A WRT54GS yesterday with 4 wired machines and 10 wireless laptops, using WPA encription.
The Default position for "keep alive" is "on" for the PP0E ISP connection in use with that network.
so you probably already have it in that setting.

To reach the Setting, use the WebBased Utility for Setup.

Open a Browser
in the Address Bar - (type)192.168.1.1 - Press Enter or Go

this brings up the Web-Based Router Configuration Utility

Select - Setup(tab)
Select your type of ISP Internet Access (probably PPPoE)
Enter your ISP Login and Password information.

Just below where you enter that information you will see the entry to Select "Keep Alive"
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Hi Doug; Thanks for the suggestion. When I go to the settings page enter my username and pword into the PPPoE setup, after I click on save changes the size of the password string increases. Apparently something is adding to what I entered. The result of this is that the connection no longer works. I reset the username and pword boxes to empty, went back to DHCP (Automatic) and the connection was good again. The strange thing about this whole episode is that my laptop, which is connected via wi-fi, remained connected even though my tower, which is connected to that router via Ehternet, lost its connection. Is it possible that Win XP Pro has a "keep alive" function within it? RM

Hey rmalcolm, Yes that's odd. Have you changed the Web Based Utility - Password? Have you set up WEP or WPA encription? You probably received a CD with your WRT54G called "EasyLinkSys Setup" <– or something like that. My opinion is that the CD based installation causes more problems than it's worth, so I do my own installation via Web Based Utility. However the EasyLinkSys CD does have a good user interface for viewing the Network. If you have the CD, install it and Select the "Network" (tab) It takes a few minutes, but will show you what machines are connected to your Internet Access. Is it possible that an unwelcome guest has found your Wireless Connection and has fouled you up by changing the Router Settings before you Password Protected and Encriped it?

For clarification, you say your Desktop is connected by Ethernet (CAT5) "hard wired" You say your Laptop is connected by "wi-fi". The term "wi-fi" is often used incorrectly. Is the Laptop connect by: –USB cable? –Actual IEEE fireWire cable connector? –Wireless?

The laptop is connected by wireless, 802.11b I live in the middle of a forest and the closest point that anyone else could try to access the wireless signal is more than 1500 feet away. I tested the signal strength by walking around with the laptop and it drops off to useless at about 300 feet. Accordingly, I did not set any WEP or WPA encryption. I have not created a network containing both computers yet, as I wanted to keep things simple while sorting out this connection loss problem with the Ethernet connected computer. RM