connection problem

need some advice. first off, i'll tell you that i have been having some phone line issues... which at&t has maybe fixed (water around the junction box at the side of the house im guessing since the tech dropped a big tube of silicon in the garden he stomped his way through). the symptom was not being able to recieve phone calls but i could still make phone calls.

during this same timeframe, i've been crashing a lot more than usual. not the typical "memory can not be read" type of crash. this is a red lettered warning "connection problem". the screen freezes, sometimes i can still hear all the sounds as other players keep playing while im frozen, other times i get no sound at all. then i either crash (after what seems to be a looooong time frozen) or i return to play after a loooong pause and the weapon in my hands is invisible and my rebel model jingles like a combine. so, i keep playing like that until i really crash, or i leave the server and rejoin with everything working normal.

last night when i had this crash during draft, i would lose the connection to vent at the same time. and although the hl2dm crash was long in duration, the vent connection auto rejoined within seconds.

so.... is my dsl fooked? my pings remain fine and i see no choke or loss before this happens. its like my connection suddenly disconnects. but i dont think its for more than a few seconds. which hl2dm doesnt appear to like. any apps out there that i can use to monitor this situation? something that will tell me about disconnection rather than slowdowns in upload/download? all suggestions welcome.

Yep sounds like a connection issue with your ISP. Could be some moisture still in the box or somewhere else down the line? I've had this happen before with a junction box down the street. Once they got it dried out it was fine.

It is not a problem with your computer itself. You get the same sort of message when a server crashes and you lose connection to it.

Best advice I can give you is to get away from DSL if at all possible. DSL connections are very unreliable and prone to this sort of thing.

well, if things dont improve i guess i can go with charter cable.

who filed for bankruptcy.

ya, i've seen that red connection error b4, most of the time it happens when the server crashes and everybody loses their connections. if it's just you that it happens to in a DM then its deffinetly your internet or your NIC. could just be a hiccup in your connection which would disrupt your packet stream. you also most likely wouldnt see a jump in your ping or choke before it happens. you would be fine until the hiccup reached you. think of it like throwing a stone into smooth lake or pond. the water outside the ripple is totally fine and undisurbed until the ripple gets to it. i highly reccomend getting cable if you have the money and/or reporting these accorances to your ISP, see if others have reported the same issues in your area.

well last night it was definately just me. i was getting raped on aim by herb, and el prez and a couple others. got the connection warning crash 3 times in one map.

none of them were effected.

at&t has always had me over the barrel. charter cable didnt service my area... they literally stopped 10 houses down the street. grrrr. but maybe charter has expanded, i havent checked for a few months. but now that they've declared backruptcy, i'm not even sure i should check.

i did call at&t. we had our usual discussion regarding the paid plan speed "up to 3 Mbps" (i get 1.5 max) being within acceptable parameters (fuckers!). then we discussed my connection problems. kinda went like this:

me: i seem to be getting disconnected for a second or 2 while playing online games
tech: did you check the lights on the modem?
me: the disconnect is pretty fast. when i look, the lights all ok.
tech: so the lights are ok?
me: its like a second or 2 i think
tech: we've checked your modem and you seem to be connected now
me: its a very brief disconnect and its intermittent.
tech: did you check the modem lights?
me: last night it happened 6 times in 2 hours
tech: the lights were ok?
me: when i looked, yes...
tech: your modem is working fine now?
me: its a brief issue...
tech: check the lights.
tech: if the lights arent all on, call us back

Your dsl is probably running along 50year old phone lines. the quaity of your phone shoulg you a clue.
Cable is new

CellarDweller wrote:well last night it was definately just me. i was getting raped on aim by herb, and el prez and a couple others. got the connection warning crash 3 times in one map.

none of them were effected.

at&t has always had me over the barrel. charter cable didnt service my area... they literally stopped 10 houses down the street. grrrr. but maybe charter has expanded, i havent checked for a few months. but now that they've declared backruptcy, i'm not even sure i should check.

i did call at&t. we had our usual discussion regarding the paid plan speed "up to 3 Mbps" (i get 1.5 max) being within acceptable parameters (fuckers!). then we discussed my connection problems. kinda went like this:

me: i seem to be getting disconnected for a second or 2 while playing online games
tech: did you check the lights on the modem?
me: the disconnect is pretty fast. when i look, the lights all ok.
tech: so the lights are ok?
me: its like a second or 2 i think
tech: we've checked your modem and you seem to be connected now
me: its a very brief disconnect and its intermittent.
tech: did you check the modem lights?
me: last night it happened 6 times in 2 hours
tech: the lights were ok?
me: when i looked, yes...
tech: your modem is working fine now?
me: its a brief issue...
tech: check the lights.
tech: if the lights arent all on, call us back

i love how he is asking if your modem is working atm while he's fucking talking to you on the internet. ummmmm.....level 1 tech?

The Argumentalizer wrote:Your dsl is probably running along 50year old phone lines. the quaity of your phone shoulg you a clue.
Cable is new

naw, the house is only 6 years old. parts of the subdivision are even newer than that.

Well I have DSL and I usually dont have a problem and have had pings on the same server comparable to someone with Cable living within 10 miles from me.

It isnt DSL per se it is the company. I have Verizon, considered one of the best if not the best DSL provider. AT&T sucks ass.

I will say though that I do have the 3M upload speed, rather than 1.5.

i'm PAYING for the 3m and GETTING the 1.5

Then go smack someone around will ya?

similar thing was on my line ages ago except I could not phone in or out but could use the internet although it would disconnect randomly. My problem was a break in the phoneline about 30 metres from house.