Part of network has a internet timeout problem

Hi,

Here is my network:
- BEFW11S4(v1.45.3) connected to DSL via a PPPoE connect, max idle time is
40m.
- notebook XP via a wireless connection - WPC11.
- Dell desktop win98 via a cable connection - Linksys LNE100TX(V5).

My problem:
- Wireless Notebook PC stays connected to the internet all of the time.
- Wired Desktop PC internet connection seems to timeout after 5 minutes.
- On the desktop PC, I have disabled virus, firewall, and pcdoctor software
and rebooted, but still have the timeout problem.
- I have used both IE5 and Mozilla, and have the same timeout problem.

- When I have the timeout problem, I still can access my email from my ISP
and also send email.

How can I determine what my problem is?

Thanks,

Fred

(to send email - get the lead out)

 

What's the precise error message?

How do you have DNS set up on the desktop? Via DHCP or set to a fixed
value? What's your DHCP lease time?

 

Hi,

Thanks for the questions - here is what I found:

"The page cannot be displayed ... cannot find server or DSN error"

When I do winipcfg on the desktop, it shows the ISP's IP address for the
DSN.
When I check the router setting, it shows that DHCP is enabled. and the DHCP
lease time to be = 0 min (0 means one day).

I have disabled my firewall, and virus, then restarted but it still times
out.
Any ideas on what to do next?

Thanks,

Fred

 

do you have "keep alive" or "connect on demand" settings on your router ?
(try the 'keep alive')

 

Hi,

Here is an update to my problem.

I use The Shield Professional 2005 from PCSecurityShield which has a virus
checker and a firewall (shield). Even though I disabled the firewall, I
still was having the problem.

I removed the shield from the start-up programs and added Zone Alarm as my
firewall. I have not had any problems since. I don't know what the shield
does (I did add the IP address of the DSN & DCPH in the shield, but it did
not help), but I seem to be the one causes the problem.

Fred
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Very often I've discovered that when a firewall is causing a problem on the
system, disabling it using the prescribed methods (by the software
manufacturer) doesn't solve the problem because the firewall is still
running albeit in a "disabled mode" right from startup. I've often
recommended that when people have problems with browsing similar to what you
are having that they completely uninstall the firewall program, and see what
happens. 9 times out of 10, that solves the problem. Usually the same
software can be reinstalled and work perfectly fine (until the next time it
gets corrupted). In your case, it seems that removing it from startup and
installing another firewall program seems to have acheived the same net
effect. Um... excuse the pun.

 

second that ..uninstall if in doubt