Hi - Second Life is dropping my internet connection.

[Steve Lobo]

I am having trouble with my internet connection being dropped.

 

Windows 7, 32-bit.

 

I just switched to Verizon FIOS, and I'm running at 35 Mbps....speed is great.

 

Also, I just installed a new video card:

 

PNY NVIDIA GeForce GT 440 1GB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0  The card is not on the SL approved list, but the graphics are fine. No problems there.

 

I log in just fine. No problems there.

 

But something is kicking me off. If I don't run SL, I stay on the internet all day. But as soon as I log in, it's just a matter of time, - 30 seconds, sometimes, 20 minutes others, before my connection is dropped.

 

I'm hard-wired to my router - no wireless at all.

 

I'm thinking it might be a port issue? I'm not knowledgeable on ports, or configuring a router to allow the game to go uninterrupted?

 

Also, it might be a FIOS setting...when I changed to FIOS I had to rest my email ports in Outlook...

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks

 

Steve Lobo

 

 

 

[Nyll Bergbahn]

What router are you using?

Some Netgear routers have proved troublesome, in particular the DGN 1000, resulting in disconnections such as you are experiencing. Netgear tried to resolve with LL but received no response.

[Steve Lobo]

Thanks for your response. It's an Actiontek - which appears to be standard issue with Verizon FIOS.

 

I can get the model number later today, if that would help.

 

Thanks

[Nyll Bergbahn]

I haven't come across anyone mentioning that router as causing problems. There are some useful pages here on configuring ports and firewalls.
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Is_my_firewall_responsible_for_problems_with_Second_Life%3F
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Configuring_your_firewall_to_allow_access_to_Second_Life

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Configuring_your_corporate_firewall_to_allow_access_to_Second_Life

[Cinnamon Lohner]

Have you looked at your SL network statistics and checked for packet loss?  You may be pulling in data too fast for your computer and/or GPU to handle.    Ctrl-Shift 1 will display the real time stats.  Packet loss is also showned in the Help - About Second Life menu.

--Cinn

[Steve Lobo]

Thanks Nyll and Cinn...I'll check out the ports info as soon as I get back.

 

Cinn - if I'm pulling in data too fast, is there some user setting I can adjust to fix it? Or do I just need a faster PC? (hope not lol)

 

Thanks

 

Steve

[Cerise1488303085]

Hi, I can think of two things that might cause this, maybe one of them will apply to you.

Did you get a new router with your new Internet service? If yes, does it have a feature called SPI (stateful packet inspection)? Some implementations of this are not prepared to deal with Vista and Win7 networking, and they can eventually hang the connection with various errors. If turning off SPI makes the problem stop, check if there is a router firmware update available before you try to switch it back on.

Are you using AVG antivirus? It can have a strange interaction when there is a program like SL that makes lots of network connections, eventually Windows will stop being able to make new connections, and Windows will not see any errors; only a PC reboot will unstick it. The cure for this is to not use AVG. Microsoft Security Essentials is a reasonable alternative that is a lot more stable, and it won't fill your browser with useless adware and browser hooks.

[Peewee Musytari]

Hi Steve,

Are you an Optician? That post is like an a sight test chart LOL

Strange that you are not just losing connection to SL but the entire internet. Is it just dropping your connection or is your whole puter crashing & having to restart Windows?

[Nyll Bergbahn]

A quick Google search reveals pages and pages of people complaining about disconnections using Verizon FIOS and the Actiontec router features in a number of these. Some specifically mention more frequent disconnections while playing games such as WoW.

I recently had serious problems with disconnections in SL but I also had general disconnections as well although these were less frequent or at least less of a nuisance as the connection would usually (but not always) come back in seconds. Some disconnections were longer. This started soon as I was provided with a new modem after a line update. After a month of discussions with my ISP, it seems that the modem supplied (not Actiontec) was causing an inexplicable conflict with my line line that no amount of firmware updates or replacement modem/routers could fix. In the end, the solution was to supply me with a different model of modem/router and so far it's working fine. Why this happened to me and not thousands of others I have no idea and neither did the ISP's tech section (went beyond call centre staff) but seems some others have same issues.

See if you can persuade Verizon to supply you with a different model altogether as a trial.