Strange Internet Connection Issues

[Lux-Aeterna]

I have been having some interesting internet connection issues recently when I play DDO.

At some seemingly random point while I am playing, my internet will fail. This will not immediately effect the game, but any browsers I have will stop working as if the internet had been disconnected. I often watch movies on Netflix while playing, so this is noticeable immediately. While DDO will continue running as normal, my browsers will not.

At this point, the game continues to run ordinarily, until I encounter a loading screen. Then, the new zone will fail to load and eventually crash. At this point, I will be unable to log back into DDO and my browsers will still be down. After about a minute, DDO will allow me to log in again and my browsers will start to work as well.

During this entire time, my computer thinks my internet connection is working fine. There are no disconnect alerts, and the icon in my taskbar that represents my connection remains unchanged.

Any thoughts?
Thanks.

[MsEricka]

Go to Start - control panel - administrative tools - event viewer. Then click on the System link on the left hand side. If you scroll down you will see the time where you had the issue. Let us know what it says exactly.

Note - You will see a yellow exclamation point or a red X indicating what the issue is.

[Lux-Aeterna]

The event(s) say "Name resolution for the name (website that I was on) timed out after none of the configured DNS servers responded."

[My2Cents]

Please forgive the brevity of my reply, I've only got a minute, I'm sure MsErika and others can expand on this in more detail:

This is a problem with your connectivity to your DNS servers (those servers your ISP uses to resolve internet web site names into underlying numeric addresses.)\

The first thing I would do is be sure you're using your ISP's DNS servers. Then I'd contact my ISP for more assistance. Is there a particular time this started or has it been this way for a long time?

If your ISP cannot help or is no help check back here, there are one or two fairly remote possibilities to check on your PC.

(I have ComCast re: Very Big Company and I found their DNS servers could not resolve a couple of government web sites the other day, and it really was their problem this time.)

(This assumes you are not running a "server" for other people, and that you do not have more than one network adapter installed - most people don't.)

(One cause of this problem is "multihoming" where a server along the connection path uses more than one IP address or connection path and one of them fails. I'm sure there are other causes.)

[Lux-Aeterna]

This has been happening for only about a week or so. I do not remember making any changes that could have caused this.

It is only me on my network.

[GrampaBill]

Let's start with the simple stuff first:

Hold down the Windows key (the one between the left hand Alt and Ctrl) and hit R. This should bring up the Run window. Type cmd and hit enter. This should bring up a command line. Type ipconfig /flushdns and hit enter.

Once this is done, type ipconfig /all and hit enter. At the top of the results you should be able to find your network card's information. Write down the DNS Servers address information. Type exit and hit enter to leave the command line.

When/if you have the problem again, do the ipconfig /all portion again and check to see if the DNS server information has changed.

[Lux-Aeterna]

It did not change.

[Mirthgar]

I suspect that the dns related error may just be symptomatic rather than a cause. What it sounds like is either the modem or router is resetting during DDO's connection. We see this occasionally when there's some issue with the device and supporting how the game connects (detailed here for reference).

Here's what I'd recommend for testing:

- First call your ISP and ask them if any 'firmware' updates were pushed recently (around the time this started happening). One of the symptoms of a bad firmware update is resets on the modem/router.

- Second, if you connect with a separate router and modem (e.g. they're two different units rather than a modem with built in router functionality) try bypassing the router and connecting directly to the modem instead. This will help eliminate the router from the causes. If it's a two in one device try power cycling just it then (unplug it, wait 30 seconds or so, plug it back in) and see if a reset has any effect.

My suspicion is just that while trying to handle data for DDO the device is hitting an issue causing it to reset and stop handling all or at least almost all internet traffic back and forth.

(Edit, for clarification "firmware" basically refers to what amounts to the operating system of the networking hardware.)

[GrampaBill]

We're making a basic mistake in this thread, we haven't ascertained what it is we're working with.

1. What is your operating system?
2. What is your Antivirus maker?
3. Have you done a scan with Malware Bytes free scanner?
4. What brand of computer?
5. What is your type of network connection? (Wireless, wired, USB).
6. Is the networking card the original or originally purchased separately?
7. What type of internet connection do you have? (Cable, DSL, Satellite, etc)
8. How are you connected to your ISP? (Modem or other)
9. What equipment is between your ISP and you? (Router, Switch, Nothing, etc)
10. What is your technical expertise level? (Allows us to skip explanatory steps)

[Lux-Aeterna]

I spoke to my ISP about this.

They performed some sort of miracle over the phone without me doing anything and the problem has not replicated itself yet today (previously it happened every two hours at least).

[Mathermune]

I spoke to my ISP about this.

They performed some sort of miracle over the phone without me doing anything and the problem has not replicated itself yet today (previously it happened every two hours at least).

With no information other than bat-sense. I would wager a tasty ham that it was the PPPoE connection dropping, then reconnecting and the machines re-connecting to the network, but not seeing the internet connection.