Mon Nov 12, 2012, 10:24 AM

Odd wifi behavior

I've had strange connection problems before but this is a new one to me.
I've got 4 active computers in the house:
- desktop running XP cable-connected to the router
- notebook running Win7 on wifi
- netbook running Win7 on wifi
- iPad 3d Gen wifi-only

Everything was fine over the weekend then last night around 3 AM I woke up and felt like listening to some Internet radio. I got out the netbook and couldn't connect. Re-booted and still nothing.
I checked the notebook in another room and had the same problem.
I checked the desktop and it was fine.
Finally I got out the iPad and it connected fine. (and I made sure it was connecting to my network, not the neighbors' or something)
I doublechecked the notebook and netbook and they were still not connecting, so it wasn't a temporary thing. Both 'see' my network but can't connect. And it persists this morning (I'm on the desktop right now).

So what would happen that would simultaneously screw up the notebook and netbook but not the iPad?

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7 replies	Author	Time	Post
Odd wifi behavior (Original post)	Gidney N Cloyd	Nov 2012	OP
Update	Gidney N Cloyd	Nov 2012	#1
win 7 does weird things with connections sometimes.	hobbit709	Nov 2012	#2
Looks like a DHCP problem in the Router	ChromeFoundry	Nov 2012	#3
Same problem 1a.m. P.S.T. to 1:30a.m. P.S.T. daily	easychoice	Nov 2012	#4
If it's just DU,	woo me with science	Nov 2012	#5
Thank You for taking the time to respond	easychoice	Nov 2012	#6
You are correct...	ChromeFoundry	Nov 2012	#7

Response to Gidney N Cloyd (Original post)

Mon Nov 12, 2012, 11:51 AM

Gidney N Cloyd (10,548 posts)

1. Update

As one might expect, once I rebooted the wifi router all was well again.
But still, why would the netbook and notebook get knocked out (at the same time) but not the iPad? Are iPads more forgiving? I thought I recalled them having lots of connectivity issues at one time.

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Response to Gidney N Cloyd (Original post)

Mon Nov 12, 2012, 11:52 AM

hobbit709 (26,488 posts)

2. win 7 does weird things with connections sometimes.

Usually rebooting the router makes it work again.

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Response to Gidney N Cloyd (Original post)

Mon Nov 12, 2012, 03:07 PM

ChromeFoundry (2,874 posts)

3. Looks like a DHCP problem in the Router

Last edited Mon Nov 12, 2012, 03:09 PM USA/ET - Edit history (1)

that was cleared up by rebooting the router. If your router configuration has a "DHCP Lease" time, duration or similar.. value should be in seconds... set it to 14400 seconds (4 hours). this will keep your DHCP lease database fresh, and remove older entries that are no longer connected.

You could also set up individual reservations for the different MAC addresses if you do not want your ip address changing, ever. This would only be needed if you are forwarding protocols to specific machines through the firewall to an internal address from the Internet.

What model/make of wireless router are you using? Are you using third party firmware such as DD-WRT?

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Response to Gidney N Cloyd (Original post)

Mon Nov 12, 2012, 04:21 PM

easychoice (212 posts)

4. Same problem 1a.m. P.S.T. to 1:30a.m. P.S.T. daily

Every day for months now Firefox,Chrome & I.E. can't find the server if I clik away from the page I am viewing.The problem lasts 10 or 15 minutes and then I return to total connectivity with the site.As a test I have gone to other websites and everything is fine,no connection problems whatsoever on XP-2003,VistaSP1 or Win.7...
I am in Seattle and I use Comcast.
Anybody got a clue why D.U.'s servers quit talking to me at random times around 1a.m..

Don't tell me to check my settings because the situation is self healing so I believe it has to be related to D.U.'s servers.
I think it is funny/laughable but I would like to know what is going on behind the curtain.

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Response to easychoice (Reply #4)

Mon Nov 12, 2012, 08:08 PM

woo me with science (20,239 posts)

5. If it's just DU,

I think that's normal. I believe (though I'm not sure) that they do some updates or maintenance with the servers every night around that time. I'm on the East Coast, and I usually can't connect to DU for about ten minutes starting at about 4:00a.m.

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Response to woo me with science (Reply #5)

Tue Nov 13, 2012, 01:56 AM

easychoice (212 posts)

6. Thank You for taking the time to respond

I am pretty sure that is what is happening but I haven't found a thread about it from someone puzzled about it . I have been looking for someone posting about it casually.My quest is over thanks to you.

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Response to woo me with science (Reply #5)

Wed Nov 14, 2012, 08:11 AM

ChromeFoundry (2,874 posts)

7. You are correct...

Found this old post from Elad which states that the servers are all restarted every 30 minutes, starting at this time, until the nightly maintenance jobs are completed:

http://upload.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=437&topic_id=4794&mesg_id=4842

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