[newbe]

I have a broadband connection that has been dropping frequently, most often during peak hours. This has only really started recently that I can tell, since I notice it clearly while playing online game this past week. Prior to this, I wasn't...

I have a broadband connection that has been dropping frequently, most often during peak hours. This has only really started recently that I can tell, since I notice it clearly while playing online game this past week. Prior to this, I wasn't gaming for a few weeks, but before that, there was never a stability issue with the connection.

System Specs:

Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium (6.0, Build 6001) Service Pack 1 (6001.vistasp1_gdr.080917-1612)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
System Model: System Product Name
BIOS: BIOS Date: 05/12/08 Ver: 08.00.14
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5000+ (2 CPUs), ~2.6GHz
Memory: 3326MB RAM
Page File: 1027MB used, 5860MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 10

2Wire Gateway (model: 2701HG-G) connected directly.

I did a series of tracerts to my ISP and noticed frequent timeouts on hops after the ISPs own servers. Sometimes the tracert would complete after just a single unresolved hop, and other times, it would continue to timeout at the 30 hop max. This was happening even when my connection was working.

I'm not sure what that may mean, but I don't trust my ISPs support to understand it. They've been less than helpful so far.

I notice no latency or slow service, just a complete interruption for periods between 5 seconds and a few minutes. I only detect a problem when my game becomes unresponsive. At this point, I'm also unable to browse and *sometimes* there's a warning light on the gateway showing no connection. But even this is only occasionally. Most often it stays green.

I haven't made any changes to my network setup in months and everything is connected securely.

Here's a copy of the last 2 tracerts I ran. The first eventually resolved while the second never did and I broke it at hop 14. Otherwise it will have continued right to 30.

1 2 ms 1 ms 1 ms mymodem [192.168.2.1]
2 10 ms 9 ms 11 ms 64.230.197.116
3 11 ms 9 ms 8 ms dis17-ottawa23_Vlan105.net.bell.ca [64.230.228.2
]
4 9 ms 9 ms 9 ms core2-ottawa23_G14-1-4.net.bell.ca [64.230.164.2
45]
5 8 ms 9 ms 8 ms core2-ottawatc_POS5-0-0.net.bell.ca [64.230.132.
234]
6 15 ms 15 ms 15 ms core3-toronto63_POS1-2.net.bell.ca [64.230.204.1
65]
7 14 ms 14 ms 15 ms core2-torontodc_POS3-1.net.bell.ca [64.230.206.2
]
8 15 ms 15 ms 14 ms dis4-torontodc_Vlan82.net.bell.ca [64.230.206.11
8]
9 17 ms 17 ms 17 ms 64.230.233.38
10 16 ms 16 ms 17 ms 142.182.19.69
11 * * * Request timed out.
12 19 ms 17 ms 16 ms 198.235.69.11

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1 1 ms 1 ms 1 ms mymodem [192.168.2.1]
2 17 ms 11 ms 9 ms 64.230.197.116
3 9 ms 9 ms 9 ms dis17-ottawa23_Vlan105.net.bell.ca [64.230.228.2
]
4 8 ms 9 ms 9 ms core1-ottawa23_GE11-2.net.bell.ca [206.108.107.1
13]
5 10 ms 9 ms 9 ms core2-ottawa23_POS0-1.net.bell.ca [64.230.228.17
8]
6 11 ms 11 ms 11 ms Ncore3-montreal02_POS0-4-0-0.net.bell.ca [64.230
.147.133]
7 11 ms 11 ms 10 ms core3-montreal02_POS10-1-0_core.net.bell.ca [64.
230.168.234]
8 10 ms 11 ms 11 ms dis11-montreal02_POS7-0.net.bell.ca [206.108.99.
166]
9 13 ms 12 ms 13 ms 207.35.184.146
10 * * * Request timed out.
11 * * * Request timed out.
12 * * * Request timed out.
13 * * * Request timed out.
14 ^C

Any ideas are appreciated.