Internet Help?

[crayauchtin]

Hey guys,

So I've been having some Internet issues for a while, that I've just dealt with cause I couldn't find the problem anywhere....

Basically, any time my computer detects another network while connected to our home wifi network, it disconnects from the Internet. Not the network -- just the Internet. There's about four networks in the vicinity that it sometimes detects -- some days it never seems to see them, other days this leads to me losing internet every five minutes. Literally. So, you can see why that would be aggravating.

Anyways, some of the other computers on our network did have the same issue for a while (the network also dropped out whenever we used one of our home's cordless phones). Apparently, they figured out that issue, changed some things with our network and now my computer is the only one with this problem.

It's also the only Mac on our network, I don't know if that relates?

Also, my battery apparently needs servicing (although I haven't noticed anything wrong with it, the computer just started telling me that. *shrugs*) I'm not sure what the battery would have to do with my wireless internet connection....

Anyways, does anyone have any idea how I could fix this? It's seriously aggravating. Today it's doing the every-five minutes thing. (It's dropped Internet twice while I was writing this post.) Sooo, would love to have that stop, y'know?

[KatieHal]

Call your service provider. Particularly since it's happened more than once with more than one computer, that to me says it's a service issue and not a computer issue. And even if it is a computer one, they may have dealt with it before and be able to walk you through fixing it.

[waltzdancing]

My internet use to do that, it was the router that was going bad. It could also be where the service is coming from. When we were having our problems our phone provider was Quest and their internet was always going down. It definitely sounds like it is a provider issue so I'd give them a call.

The battery message just means that it is no longer holding a charge and will need to be replaced soon.

[crayauchtin]

Waltz, I was pretty sure that's what the battery thing was. I kinda guessed, batteries don't last forever! This one's had a good run and it's still hanging in there but I'm missing about a half hour on my charge when I'm unplugged.

See, I would have thought it was the router except that no one else is having these issues (or at least, they're all denying it when I ask). So, that makes me think it's my computer.
Although, now that I think about it, the PC downstairs that I'm using for gaming is having similar issues but it's also so far from the router that some days it has trouble just finding the network. (And downloading TSL took forever! )

[waltzdancing]

My laptop use to have the same issue as yours, internet wise. When my brother's computer was on at the same time as my mother's the wireless would not work. I don't know why. Try resetting the box, before it goes to the router. This usually helped us solve the problem but I do think it is a provider issue. It's not the laptop.

[crayauchtin]

That makes me feel better!

Though I did reboot my laptop and so far it's been fine.

......the Internet is *about* to drop out on me just for writing that, isn't it?

[snabbott]

We have a somewhat different issue - our laptops occasionally lose the internet (but not the network) connection. We always end up having to reset the routers to get it working again. I don't know if that would help your situation, but it might be worth a try.

We have an odd setup. We have a non-wireless router from Vonage, and we have a wireless router (with DHCP turned off) attached to it - basically functioning as a hub. It turned out to be cheaper to buy a wireless router than to buy a wireless hub.