Internet Problem

[guest_the gaffer]

hello people, im currently having internet problems,i use virgin net for my internet access, just lately when i connect quite often i cannot get pages to load i keep getting cannot find server or page cannot be displayed, ive found that if i shut down the pc and then restart and reconnect it clears the problem 99% of the time, i also changed my homepage as if i use the virgin net home page it seems to make the problem worse,the virgin page loads but the adverts on it just have action cancelled written in the boxes, also when im on the net and this happens i cannot sign in to msn messenger or yahoo, any advice would be apprecited,im running windows me, and IE 6

[locustfurnace]

dial-up access? or broadband?
do you have an external modem? or internal (if dial-up)
is the service your using, similar to AOL? meaning they make you run their Internet Suite software. or just set you up with the DUN.
did you install a firewall? did you install a proxy? did you make changes to the IE to use a proxy?
are the DNS servers correct in the networking connection? you might have DNS problem.
running anti-virus?
have you tried shutting down all uncessary apps, then trying to conenct.
do a ctrl+alt+del , shut down everything not needed, all you need to have running is Explorer and systray, should be left in the ctrl+alt+del dialog box.
then try connecting to the net.

[guest_the gaffer]

yes im using dial up connection,with an internal modem 56k, i have not installed a firewall and the connection was made with dun, i seem to connect ok to the net but am unable to load web pages, unless i restart the pc before going online, i have used the function to restore internet explorer defaults,and this seems to have no effect, im wondering, the other week i had an email from virgin to update my connection and didnt have any problems before that, im wondering if the update has messed it up some how, mant thanks,

[locustfurnace]

Originally posted by guest_the gaffer@Nov 25 2003, 12:13 PM
the other week i had an email from virgin to update my connection and didnt have any problems before that, im wondering if the update has messed it up some how, mant thanks,

yes, they might have switched to different DNS servers. DNS servers allow you to surf the net, without them, any address you type into the URL address bar, will not get resolved to the IP address.
DNS converts character based addresses into dotted IP addresses. the internet does not work on character based addresses, such as http://oldversion.com, but works on the IP address to locate the computer.
so when you type (for example) oldversion.com, the DNS looks it up in the DNS table and converts it to a dotted address such as 127.0.0.1
without the conversion from a DNS server, you will not be going anywhere on the internet, unless every site you went to had the conversion in your systems HOST file.

also, with the update, they may have updated their DHCP servers, so without updating the DHCP server address, you will not be assigned an address when you log in, you can still log in, and not get a IP address. you wont be able to do much, since your computer will not be assigned an ip address, and therefore, you wont be able to connect to anything. you computer needs the IP address, so other computers can find you when you make a request for anything, such as www, MSN, yahoo. whatever.

If you updated, and now are suffering from problems, then your first place you should have contacted was your ISP. they can resolve the issues, since they are offering the service, and you are paying for the service.
email them, or call tech support.

[guest_the gaffer]

i have emailed support and understand from them they are having problems at the moment, and have said to expect a wait of up to seven days for a personal response to my email, due to the large volume they are receiving at the moment, so i guess ile have to just sit tight until they get it sorted it sounds like they sre struggling to sort problems at the moment, a shame but never mind, they usually run an impecable service, any way mate thanks for the advice and allowing me to share your wealth of knowledge,

[locustfurnace]

They could be in the process of an upgrade, adding new equpiment which benefits the customers in the end.
If you don't often have problems with the service, then just sit it out, much better to wait and deal with a big problem once in a great while, then to have problems on a monthly occurance for short periods, as some ISP are prone to.
With my current provider, I have only had 1 outage in over a year. very good service overall. thats even with half way through the year there was a switching of owners, yet no interrruptions.
Since you can still get online by doing your boot-up, restart & boot-up process, i'd just deal with it for a few days. atleast your not without service.

[Guest]

Originally posted by locustfurnace@Nov 26 2003, 10:52 AM
They could be in the process of an upgrade, adding new equpiment which benefits the customers in the end.
If you don't often have problems with the service, then just sit it out, much better to wait and deal with a big problem once in a great while, then to have problems on a monthly occurance for short periods, as some ISP are prone to.
With my current provider, I have only had 1 outage in over a year. very good service overall. thats even with half way through the year there was a switching of owners, yet no interrruptions.
Since you can still get online by doing your boot-up, restart & boot-up process, i'd just deal with it for a few days. atleast your not without service.

i guess they maybe had loads of problems like mine and have done some serious sorting out , im back to normal now and it seems better and faster than it was before, no problems at all since last night, perhaps they sorted it after they got my email and just havent got round to replying to me yet,anyway thanks again for your guidance,