Connection problem with Full Tilt and Pokerstars

[Clever Nickname]

Since yesterday, I have been experiencing connection problems on both Pokerstars and Full Tilt. At random intervals, my connection lags out for anywhere from 5 to 30+ seconds. The time between these connection drops is random, anywhere from 10 seconds to a few minutes. However, during these lag periods, I can still continue to load web pages just fine, and my internet radio continues to stream without any problems. I have also not experienced any problems while playing videogames online. I have noticed that if I have Pokerstars and Full Tilt open at the same time, they both lose and regain their connection together. I have not installed any new software or made any system changes recently. I am running Windows XP with all the latest updates. Some other information:

-Rebooting the computer does not fix the problem.
-Turning off Pokertracker/PokerAce Hud has no effect.
-Cycling the power on my cable modem and wireless router has no effect.
-I have run virus and spyware scans on my computer and it has come up clean.
-I am not running any filesharing software.
-I am using BitDefender as my firewall.
-The connection problem has been constant since yesterday morning, through all hours of the day.

Does anyone have any idea of what might be causing this?

[fozzy71]

If you have a router - you prolly dont need a firewall as well - a router is a firewall. I use the XP firewall only, with my router. Do you have cable? Is it set on a Static IP address? Have you ran a speedtest to see how your up/down speeds compare to your expected cable service? Have you called your cable co. to have them check the modem/line from their end?

I was just having real slow speeds, and disconnects in general. My cable service person on the phone told me I had a line problem (26db instead of 33db). When the repair guy came out - my feed had an extra splice, etc - he ran a new, single cable, feed to my house from the box. After testing it with his meter - he said that I still needed "my signals balanced", as the reading on the high-signal was out-of-whack. Don't know if they have done that yet, but my connection seems to be fixed now - no disconnects and tests near max speed most times.

[Clever Nickname]

It's not a problem with cable speed. I just tested and I'm getting 4285Kb/s down and 454Kb/s up, and like I said, I've had zero problems with any other internet usage. You're possibly right about not needing to run BitDefender firewall on top of my router, but I've been running it for months now with no problems so it doesn't seem to be a likely culprit. Could this possibly be some kind of network backbone issue with my ISP, since PokerStars and Full Tilt servers aren't (I assume) based in the US? I'm using Charter Cable in Missouri, FWIW.

[fozzy71]

I would call your cable company - and ask them about it. Have them run any diagnostics they can from their end (perhaps your modem has a glitch?). Worst case, schedule for a tech to come out and use his signal meter, etc. It shouldn't cost you anything - except time. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[Clever Nickname]

Bleh. Called the cable company, they don't want to send out a tech because my modem lights stay solid during the outages, "therefore it is not a problem on our end." I couldn't really explain the nuances of the situation to the guy on the phone because he barely spoke english. So... anyone else have any ideas?