BT Broadnabd Part 2

[Kingy]

I followed BT instructions ie switch off for three minutes, disconnect the modem and other connections from the computer and start again.

I swapped around the filters in the house.

I downloaded the most recent drivers from the internet for the modem.

BT say they have tested the external line and it was OK yesterday, but today they have asked me to disable my firewall and they are running another test.

My questions are now the following:
1. Does any of this nonsense work?!?
2. Does my printer/fax/speakers/cordless phone/ sattelite TV affect the modem effeciency? (These were all suggestions from BT).
3. Why have I got this problem out of the blue? I haven't changed any of my programmes or downloaded anything different or unusual in the last few days.
4. Why would my firewall affect the performance of the internet connection? And if it does - why now and not over the last two years off successful surfing with BT Broadband?
5. BT people asked to me to run the following on my computer -
'cmd' and then 'ping www.yahoo.com'

I got the reply that the request for this site was not able to do at this time, try again later.

Any help would be gratefully received.

[Gandy]

Based on what you describe, I would say that the problem is more likely at your end than BT's.

When you have what appears to be no connection open up the command window as BT requested using CMD.

Type netstat /a

If you genuinely have no connection to the internet you should see NO established TCP connections. If any are established then it is possible you have a dialer on your PC.
Make a note of the IP addresses of any established connections and then check on www.whois.net to see where they are registered or post them on here.

Also, download and run Hijack This from www.Merijn.org reporting software. Once you have a report, post it on here and I'll have a look.

[kepla]

I've been with BT for my internet for ever and had their broadband for 3 years. I agree, their tech help is pretty lousy - particularly when you cansoder that it is a paid service ! The sudden change, if you are certain that absolutely nothing has changed at your end, might be due to one of their technicians changing a board in your exchange so you wind up with a bit less gain on the line. If you are using one of those stupid ADSL modems which draw power from the USB line then ditch it ! I had one and it gave me no end of problems as they draw more current than some USB lines can provide. You could try running it from a powered hub. Your best bet, and thisis the solution I use, is to get a separate self-contined ADSL modem/router/switch/access-point. I got a Netgear one and all these problems vanished instantly and haven't returned yet. BT do have a 'home hub' which they supply in some circumstances, so you could try to persuade them. An added advantage, apart from then being able to use several computers through your broadband connection, is that these units contain some basic firewall stuff, so you can set-up your firewall outside of your computer.