"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote in message
. ..
I have a whole-house surge suppressor built into my circuit box, and I also
have all electronic equipment attached to separate surge suppressor. My
CPU and monitor are connected to an APC back-up UBS.

I recently had technicians from the cable company (SuddenLink, formerly
Cox) at the house twice. He solved one problem but not the other. I was
not getting some channels on the TV that I have in the computer room, and
the reception on the channels I did receive was terrible. He solved that
problem. However, he was not able to do anything about the other one.
That is, I frequently (several times a day) lose connection to cable and
to the Internet. This happens regularly immediately after I send a fairly
large e-mail (using Eudora), but it also happens at other times without
any warning and without any real pattern -- I could be surfing the
Internet, reading newsgroups, sending mail, etc., and access is suddenly
gone. When I check the little connectivity icon in the task bar, it will
then show "Local access" only instead of "Local and Internet access." I
can usually (but not always) regain connection if I turn off the surge
suppressor that is connected to everything *except* the CPU and monitor.
As I said, they are on a separate UBS. The CPU, monitor, and Zoom modem
are all new. Only the router (LinkSys Wireless-G) is older. This problem
has been occurring with increasing frequency for more than a year, so it
started while I had my older computer but has continued with the new
equipment.

The cable company technician changed the splitters "just in case," with no
noticeable effect on the system. He suspects that the router is at fault.
However, he tested the router and it responded correctly. Moreover, the
cable company was able to "ping" it from the home office. Does anyone
have any ideas? I can replace the router, of course, but that will
involve more expense than just the router because I had a networking rep
come out to set up some of the equipment because I wanted to make sure
that my laptop was not vulnerable to "drive-by hackers." They supposedly
set a type of security that is better than what I had done through Control
Panel. So, I really hate to do that unless I can be fairly certain that
the router is at fault. Incidentally, I have a lot of experience with
several types of software, but I have absolutely no knowledge of hardware
and would not even be comfortable with software that involved editing the
Registry.

One thing the SuddenLink technician said surprised and confused me: He
said that they "preferred" that homeowners not use *any type* of surge
suppressor. He did not request that I disconnect mine, but I don't
understand that statement. Does anyone know why the cable company would
take that position. He also said, "They don't do any good anyway."
Actually, I had a small surge suppressor that proved its worth a few years
ago. My microwave would not work after a major thunderstorm, and I
thought it was ruined. It turned out that the surge suppressor had been
destroyed, but it had done its job -- the microwave worked perfectly after
I discarded that surge suppressor.

MaryL



Far from an expert on the subject but will share the little I know more or
less as random comments.

Wireless routers are subject to interference from 2.4 GHz phones and some
microwaves. Really from any device in that general bandwidth.

Routers are generally the failure or problem point in a lost cable
connection. Try a direct connect to a single computer and see if the problem
goes away. I don't use wireless I have wired. even so I have to reboot the
router every now and then.

I can't see where an AC surge protector would affect anything. Running the
cable connection through a suppressor might.

Newer wireless routers are fairly easy to lockdown if you can read and
follow directions. There are in fact two different levels of encryption I do
not recall the names. (/?wep and wap?)


Colbyt