
To figure out why your Internet keeps dropping and the reasons for an intermittent Internet connection, read the article below.
When your Internet keeps dropping, the root of the problem may range right from your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to your router settings. It is a common problem that most of the users face. There may be several reasons for an intermittent Internet connection. In this article, you will see some root causes of this problem and a probable solution for the same.
Internet Service Provider (ISP)
First of all, the most common cause of this problem definitely lies with your Internet Service Provider (ISP). If it’s a problem with your ISP, then there is no point that you keep searching over for a particular cause or try to troubleshoot the problem yourself. Simply give a call to the customer care service of your ISP provider and let them solve the problem. Internet dropping once in a while is a quite common problem that lies with the settings at the ISP. However, if you are not able to connect every time you turn on your machine, or if the signal strength keeps dropping every now and then, well you need to take some steps yourself.
To figure out, if the problem lies with your settings, simply go to the command prompt of your computer, and type ping (website), where (website) should be replaced by the url of a website, or even better, if it is the IP address of another machine in the same network. If you see that the computer can receive and transfer bytes or packets, then the chances of your ISP having some problem is minimal. You will get a message that some amount of packets have been received or some number of packets have been transferred if everything is functioning well.
Cable Connection
If you do not get the desired output, then it’s still not necessary that the problem lies with your ISP, there can be various other reasons too. Just check if you see something at the right hand corner of your Start menu toolbar, if the connection is disconnected. If so, then you should rather be glad, as it is not a very serious problem. Simply unplug and plug back the cables going into your router and modem. This is one of the most common reasons as to why a cable Internet keeps dropping. Of course, the step stated above, most of the time fixes the problem, but in certain cases you may have to change the cables or the connectors.
Drivers
The next reason that may be causing the problem is that the drivers in your computer are not updated. But, this need not necessarily cause a problem. If initially, when you connected your computer to the Internet and it was working properly, then this should not be a reason now. But surprisingly, updating drivers solves this problem many times. Try it out.
Excess Terminals
When you have a single Internet connection at your home and have connected a good number of computers to the same, through a default gateway, chances of your connection dropping is very high. Though this may not always happen, but you may face problems like Internet freezing or timing out, if you have a slow connection. I don’t think I need to provide an explanation as to why is this one of the reasons. If your wireless Internet keeps dropping, it may happen that the signal strength at the place where your router is placed may not be good. So, you can of course try shifting over your router to different places and figure out, if that is one of the cause of your problem.
Troubleshooting Tips
- As already mentioned, plug out and plug all the wires into your modem and router.
- If it is a wireless Internet connection, try using a wireless signal booster.
- If your Internet connection is slow and your Internet keeps freezing, disconnect one or more computers from the router and find out if the signal strength improves.
- Check if your router settings are correct and if you need a WEP key, then have you entered it properly in the configuration.
- If you find the error ‘Server Not Found’ for some of the websites, then try removing or adjusting one or more of the firewalls that you are using.
- Last but not the least, if nothing works out, call up your Internet Service Provider and ask him to resolve the issue.
If your Internet keeps crashing then of course, besides giving a call to the ISP, you can also try running a virus scan on your computer with a good antivirus software.