I'm subletting an apartment in Paris. The owner has a Wanadoo ADSL account which has always worked perfectly for her, but it's giving me trouble on my computer.

I'll be surfing along fine, then the connection will apparently go dead. All of the lights on the modem (USB connection to my computer) are properly lit, and everything on the computer will say that I've still got a connection, but I'll get a "cannot find server" error when I try to browse the Web.

If I use the software to disconnect and reconnect, I'll get an error message saying that a connection cannot be established. Sometimes the error message (721) will say "we could not establish a connection to the Mire." (The message is in French. I have no idea what "Mire" means, however.)

Wanadoo's technical support (0.35 euros/minute) says everything looks fine and has no idea what the problem is. The owner has never had this problem.

The only thing that works to get back online is to turn off my computer, wait 45 minutes, then boot it back up. Waiting 45 minutes without rebooting doesn't work.

Any ideas?

Can't guarantee it will achieve much, but it won't hurt to try..

If you're using Windows, run a command prompt and enter the following two commands:

ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew

I was having some similar issues awhile back (albeit with my cable connection) and that seemed to fix things. It doesn't address whatever the cause of the issue is, but if it works at least it will save you the waiting time.

You can also web into the DSL router to see if it thinks the connection is up. Also try a power off and on of the DSL router to see if that fixes it. These and the above may highlight if it is a PC problem, a DSL router problem, or a Wanadoo problem.

I'll bet it's interferrence on the line. Probably somebody on the same line or sets of lines with a phone that isn't compatible. A while ago they stopped putting DSL splitters on the lines here, not sure if they still use them there or not (a splitter isloated the DSL and phone lines where they come into the house to prevent interferrence from each other), and I know that since they stopped using them, I've had a ton of problems.

I got a splitter off e-bay, and no more problems, though that won't help you there.

You should split it at the junction box and run a separate line to the modem from the splitter.

Tried this. Get a message that says "there is no device in the proper state to perform this operation" or something like that.

Not sure if I can do this. All I have is a DSL modem plugged into my computer by USB port. I don't know if it has this capability.

There's a splitter / filter plugged directly into the wall outlet, one line going to the phone, one going directly to the modem.

I thought it might be a noisy line too, but then that doesn't seem to explain why I need to shut the computer off for a full 45 minutes before I can reconnect.

1) I assume the router only has USB, no ethernet?

2) What brand/model is the modem? I assume an Alcatel?

3) I am assuming you have had to install some kind of driver for the modem to be detected on your PC? If so, try and find the updated driver version.

4) If it worked on the other laptop, and not on yours then there has to be a deifference between the 2, usually it is in the TCP tweakings, but it could even be something as simple as whether or not the laptop is connected to a grounded outlet. Also, go to http://www.broadbandreports.com/tweaks and run their tweaks, poorly setup settings could be causing this.

I had almost the exact same problem with a DSL provider in Germany, and tried the exact same things. In the end, just turning the DSL modem off for 30 min. and restarting my computer worked. I have absolutely no idea what the reason for the problem was. It really angered me, too...because I know at least enough about computers to try the steps which were suggested in this thread, but in the end, only turning off everything and waiting worked...

Yes.

Thomson SpeedTouch 330

I'll give this a shot.

OK, thanks.

Yeah, Thomson purchased the Alcatel modem business, you don't seem to be the only person with these problems:

http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...0%20disconnect

Some of the other solutions put forward are a lack of USB power, do you have any other devices hooked up USB?

Upgrading the modem's drivers didn't help.

I've got a Bluetooth dongle plugged into the USB port as well -- I'll take it out and see if that lets me stay connected longer.

Hmmm, a friend recently had a similar problem with a new PC though in his case the modem seemed to loose power completely. It turned out that his motherboard had problems powering the modem. The solution? Go out and buy a four port high speed USB card.

Alternatively, if you don't like the idea of opening up your PC and inserting a new card (my friend happens to be very comfortable with this kind of work), I suspect a powered USB hub might also solve your problem.

The prize goes to ScottC - removing the Bluetooth USB dongle seems to have worked - I've had two several hour long connections today (both terminated at my request) - versus the typical 15-20 minute sessions I used to have.

Since I'm only going to have this setup for a couple more weeks I'll just live with it for the time being.

Thanks everyone for your help!

I have a Thompson Speedtouch 609 for this reason. No USB! It's an ethernet router/switch with four ports. I have two PC's, an 802.11A access point and a Vonage box at home and I knew I wasn't going to get that to work well with USB coming out the DSL box.