Why wont AIM stay connected?

[housecat]

I have the newest AIM, and a Linksys WCT200(?), cable modem/wireless/wired router in one.

I've gone into AIM and connection and did the autotry to find best connection, no change.

I have it set to automatically reconnect and it does, but pulls me out of games and other programs.

It never did this before, and it does it on both of my computers.. one is using 802.11g and the other cat5e.


I just doesnt make any sense, as far as I've seen MSN messenger does stay connected for long periods of time like its supposed too..

one thing im trying now is disabling windows firewall (SP2) as its redundant anyway.

but theres no firmware updates for my router and i just have no idea whats goign on here.

ive used AIM for many years and never had this occur so often. infact, MSN was the unstable one in my experience.. i expect it to "crash" at least once every 24 hours... while I've had AIM goign 12-20 days.. and that kind of uptime is nothing to be surprised about.


Now its like every 20-30minutes its reconnecting (set automatically). I messed with a bunch of wireless settings until i noticed my other PC was doing it too.


We'll see if its SP2's firewall, as I just installed SP2 on my other machine...

any suggestions? besides "dont use aim".. yar har har.

 

[housecat]

yep its still doing it. im honestly considering a format.. as I couldnt imagine my router being at fault.. i have no idea what else it could be.

i also very very rarely get connection issues while in a game.

when this cable service was installed the guy used a splitter for the internet/bedroom cable tv.. i am very curious if i pull that sucker off if things will improve. he said it was a high quality splitter, as usually i hate using splitters (even high quality ones), i prefer it comes straight from the wall to my cable modem.
but i thought, "instead of be a little b*tch about it, just try it".. and lo and behold, unexpected pains in my ass.



also, this pc uses nortons worm protection, the other PC doesnt.. and exhibits the same symptoms. but its ridiculous, it just disconnected again as im typing.


any suggestions?

 

[Tarrant64]

Check the router's settings is my first suggestion. You've seemed to look everywhere but the router itself. You could always test to make sure that the conection between you and your router isn't faulty.

Also, i have this issue when my internet connection gets 'real' low. I mean 'real' low. Aim starts cutting me off rapidly as well as MSN. I lag out of games(even Star Craft for cryin' out loud, which only requires 56k). So see if there is anyway you can run a constant test or something to see what kind of connection speed your getting.

Hopefully someone else will come in here with more suggestions.

Good luck,

 

[housecat]

i dont see many router settings to change.. ive changed and tinkered with all the wireless settings but none change anything.

and like i said, it affects the cat5 connected PC as well. my average download is always great, 300k/sec.

 

[housecat]

could it be any of this?

Basic Data Rate
Control TX Rate
Beacon Interval
ms (range 1 - 65535, default 100)

DTIM Interval
ms (range 1 - 255, default 3)

Fragmentation Threshold
(range 255 - 2346, default 2346)

RTS Threshold
(range 0 - 3000, default 2347)

Authentication Type


I've tinkered with nearly every setting.

 

[nihil]

My roomate's machine has the exact same issue you are describing.

We have a linksys router, and ever since I moved in he has this strange problem where he would be dropped from aim over and over again.

We've tried using a different router, calling linksys to ask them for help, we tried taking my machine off the LAN to see if it would make any difference, tried swapping out the cables.

However, when we hook him up right to the modem, instead of through the router, he doesn't get dropped....

It has to be something with the router, but we just can't figure it out.

Is it just one machine on your LAN that has AIM connection troubles?
Also, who is your ISP? Ours is Time Warner, and for some reason I have a feeling that may have something to do with it.

 

[housecat]

actually i continued this problem search here http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=1500435&enterthread=y

to answer your questions, its every machine on my LAN that has aim problems. my ISP is mediacom, a midwest provider who took over @home in my area.

even though i hate this provider (i prefer mcleod, another midwest provider more), i cant switch at my current location. and i honestly think from the investigation i've dug into.. that the linksys is at fault.




im just nearly in denial cuz i love this hybrid box.. and i have no idea what to replace it with..

but yes, there seems to be no fix as i've emailed Linksys twice, and they just respond with blank emails.
as if they are required by the company to respond, but they can get away with answering with a blank message and still do their job.


it would take more than the loser that recieves the email to fix this problem regardless. its a firmware issue, and that solution has fixed this issue for other linksys router models.


it might be a not-so-common sh/tty ISP problem combined with a router that is quirky with the given ISP.. but i honestly think its the router.

they seem to not want to update it, and i dont know why (crappy company maybe?)
they sold a bunch of these to comcast for some faster bandwidth cable service.. and those people have ran into problems with this hybrid as well.

all the info is in that post i linked to you.

 

[speed01]

Did you just get the Linksys or did you already have it and this problem just started?

Speed

 

[skadoo323]

my friend had a similar issue with his linksys wireless B router. i upgraded his router's firmware and ever since then he has always been on aim w/o any problems. try upgrading your router's firmware. if you have alot of data i wouldnt reformat just yet. if a firmware upgrade doesnt work, try using another wireless router. buy one, see how it works, if you have the same problems return it. most stores have atleast a 14 day return policy.

 

[housecat]

Did you just get the Linksys or did you already have it and this problem just started?

Speed

It started when I got the Linksys.

my friend had a similar issue with his linksys wireless B router. i upgraded his router's firmware and ever since then he has always been on aim w/o any problems. try upgrading your router's firmware. if you have alot of data i wouldnt reformat just yet. if a firmware upgrade doesnt work, try using another wireless router. buy one, see how it works, if you have the same problems return it. most stores have atleast a 14 day return policy.

I already reformatted, I format about every 6months anyway, and I have it down pretty pat.
I only have a single 80gig HDD, but PartitionMagic works great for wiping a system out and saving critical files.


Unfortunately, there is no firmware update for this model. The other linksys models that have been effected by this problem did get an update.

I cant return it becuase i bought it online, and thought at first it was not the router.. took me a while to comprehend that this is what is wrong. I blamed the ISP/the computer/everything else first.

 

[piasabird]

WIN XP SP2 has some problems with certain kinds of java programs and java pages with pop-up windows. Because it has a Pop-Up Blocker Built in. I have found certain programs work better with a Netscape Browser.

I think I use AIM at home also, at leas my son does. I have SP2 Installed there so it can not be that. You might have to change the setting on your network connection to allow certain protocols. i.e HTTP, FTP, TELNET, ETC.

 

[housecat]

i tried without sp2. and i use firefox.