Motorola Cable modem keeps disconnecting

I have Fidelity cable internet which I believe also goes by the name Cobridge. I also have a Motorola Surfboard SB5101U cable modem. Every few days, or maybe once a week or so, my internet connection becomes disconnected although the modem lights show internet activity. So maybe the internet is blocked as opposed to disconnected? A Windows troubleshoot shows problems with the connection/modem although no resolution is stated.

The usual way for me to get connection back is to disable the Windows firewall and reboot the PC (Windows 7 / 32 bit). Then the connection comes back and I can re-enable the Windows firewall, until connection stops again in a few days. I notice that when I do an ipconfig command there is a dns service of ats.com, if that means anything. The modem does not appear to have any settings and trouble shooting is very limited as well. Is there some setting in my Windows firewall I need to make to stop the internet disconnection/blocking problem? Should the ipconfig/renew command be able to solve the problem?

There's very few details about the cable modem and I'm assuming there's no firewall built with it. So I'm guessing if I get the Windows firewall issue resolved to just stick with it for a while? Any ideas or suggestions?

 

any errors or warnings in event viewer logs?

 

CoId={E8F30CA3-7330-4327-9AA8-4B8432154EE0}: The user Admin-PC\Admin dialed a connection named Broadband Connection which has failed. The error code returned on failure is 651.

and I found this regarding the 651 issue -
http://www.windowsreference.com/windows-7/error-651-with-pppoe-connections-in-windows-7/

I have my windows updates, although I don't know if a fix for this was ever issued or not

 

Acr1965, you are correct to say that the Motorola cable modem you have does NOT have a built-in firewall. Like the other brands of cable modems out there, the modem coverts "cable-in" to "Ethernet-out" in a simplistic description.

Given the error(s) that you are getting, I would strongly suggest that you check to see if your ISP has upgraded firmware available for your cable modem. I have no personal experience with Fidelity, only Comcast, RoadRunner, and Cox, so I can't advise you on Fidelity's support. When I got a replacement Comcast-supplied cable modem recently, their install process upgraded my modem firmware early on in the process. My Internet connection has been rock-solid ever since.

 

I checked fidelity and didn't see anything regarding any updates so I ended up sending their customer service an email. Thanks

 

Do you have a router between your computer and the modem?
What version of Windows?
Do other computers on your network lose connection too?

Instead of doing that, unplug power to the modem for about 30 seconds or so, then plug the modem back in. This should reset the modem and force it to go out and get a new, or refresh its current IP assignment.

Note that Ethernet cables are not very robust and can only take getting yanked on or tripped over a very limited number of times. I would consider replacing your interconnecting Ethernet cables - at least temporarily for testing purposes.

There should be no reason you need to disable your Windows Firewall to get connected. Rebooting should be enough.

 

no router/ Windows 7, 32 bit / no network
I've tried unplugging the modem and plugging it back in to reset the connection and that does not work...the only thing that seems to work is to disable the Windows firewall and rebooting

 

So just rebooting does not work (not disabling the firewall)?

That is really odd. I use Windows Firewall with W7 too and have no problems like this.

What about other computers on your network?

Have you tried your computer on another network?

 

Acr1965,

Would you please tell us what security software you are running on your system. Also I understand that you do NOT have a router and that your computer is connected directly to the cable modem via an Ethernet cable; is this correct?

 

no router and computer is connected directly to the modem via ethernet cable

my current internet security (since this weekend) is kaspersky IS which has its firewall active
previously I was running a resident av and had windows firewall active
I've not had a disconnect issue since installing kaspersky IS but the disconnect problem seems to happen once every couple weeks or so

rebooting alone does not seem to solve the problem immediately as the only thing that would work in the past was disabling the windows firewall and then rebooting

FWIW - I remember I was away when the cable guys hooked up the internet and when I first tried to connect there was no service...so I checked around some and finally just decided to disable the windows firewall to see if that would make a difference and after a reboot I was hooked back up to the internet

also FWIW - when the disconnect would occur I never would get any sort of warning from windows telling me an outgoing/incoming connection was blocked but the internet activity icon in the task bar would show disconnected

 

rebooting alone does not work and there are no computers on a network, just my computer hooked up to the cable internet, no router

 

Acr1965,

In twenty years of "doing" networking for a living, I have never experienced any problem similar to the one you are reporting.

I am going to check into ISP Fidelity and see what kind of Internet connection type they use and help you get to the bottom of this.

On a side note, I think you will be happy with KIS; the integrated firewall in it is one of the best ones in ANY suite. If I was a betting man, I would bet that you may very well never have the connection dropping problem using the KIS firewall. I may take some criticism for saying that ; please let us know if your connection drops the same way again anytime soon.

 

Well, understand you do have a network, though it consists of just 1 computer. And that's fine though I do recommend you get a router eventually as it will add a significant layer of security - in addition to allowing you to add more network devices, such as more computers, network storage, or network printing.

It is likely installing KIS reset a setting that now allows you to access. It was not KIS itself, but the fact a different program was installed. I suspect if you uninstalled KIS and setup WF again with MSE or another anti-malware solution, it would work again. KIS is good, but it does not "fix" things.

 

Bill_Bright, your last post (as usual I am finding) concerning a 'setting reset' after installing KIS is "spot on" what I was trying to say in my previous post. That is why I don't believe that acr1965 is going to have any more problems with his Internet disconnects.

I also always recommend a router for every Internet connection because of it's integrated SPI firewall. I did not mention that in my previous posts because I did not want acr1965 to "muddy the water" with a router in the middle of his network until his disconnects were solved.

 

You can easily test if a firewall driver is the culprit. Go start, control panel, Network and Internet, Network and Sharing Center, now click on change adaptor settings, after that right click on your network card(s) choose properties now look for anything with Kaspersky or NDIS filter driver and uncheck it and click on ok. If you don't have any issues now, then the problem lies with Kaspersky firewall driver.

What also can help is reset your winsock settings by following these instructions.

 

Note that SPI (stateful packet inspection) is NOT inherent in routers - but is a feature of some routers.

And while SPI is certainly a good thing, a plain ol' basic router with NAT (network address translation) is much better than no router. SPI just adds another layer of icing on the cake.

Note since disabling Windows Firewall and installing KIS, the problem is gone.

 

the issue is weired. any way if it is me, I will try two things.

1. removing kaspersky from system
1. upgrading modem firmware

one of these might fix the problem.

 

Very well stated in your post...

 

I'm hoping that acr1965, the originator of this thread, will let us know if he has experienced any more Internet disconnects since installing KIS...

 

I'm hoping to get an email back from Fidelity support but have not received one yet. Since using KIS I have had no problems with disconnections. The disconnection would seem to happen, maybe once a week or so. But so far, so good. I would like to get to the bottom of the issue in case I switch security again in the future.

thanks for all the replies...I read everyone and will try to answer more in a few days regardin whether I have heard anything back from Fidelity or if the disconnection problem comes back

 

You are most welcome my friend.

 

Follow-on:

1) I sent several questioning emails to Fidelity customer support concerning their connection "techniques"; the bottom line is that they refuse to answer any techinical questions from me because I am not a Fidelity customer.

2) When I talked with their support staff on the phone (briefly), I can assure you with complete confidence that I know a whole lot more about cable modems than the persons that I spoke with.

3) The Fidelity support website leaves a LOT to be desired.

 

I had another disconnect tonight. My modem was showing activity available but my computer would not connect to the internet via the modem. Rebooting would not help, neither would unplugging the modem from the computer and reconnecting. I finally decided to remove TrendMicro Safesync and rebooted to find my internet connection problem resolved. I'm not sure if this is a short term or long term fix but I'll report if the computer disconnects again.

BTW - is there some way to check for Trend Micro drivers and safely remove them, if still present?

 

One of the things we have not looked at is Network Interface Card (NIC) drivers. Acr1965, have you checked to be sure you are running the latest drivers for your Ethernet NIC?

 

I checked Dell's site and the only drivers that needed updated had to do with the v.92 modem. I updated those anyway.