RIght now I am using wireless on my WIndows XP. THis started happening recently when I switched over to RR cable from dial-up. THis is a 3 yr OLD Toshiba laptop. I have spent the last 4 weeks dealing with techs from both companies(RR & Toshiba) and the problem is still erratic. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I have done all of their suggestions like going thru the ipconfig---release---and renew stuff. I went thru the one of taking out the battery, shutting it off, pushing the off swicth for 15 seconds waiting and putting it all back together. I tried a different Ethernet cord and it worked for about three days. I also did the RR thing of disconnecting the laptop power source/modem and turning it back on after counting the required number of seconds. I was about to try black magic when I ran across this site (I was learning about external commands). Retirement sucks when I cannot use my internet. Help. Please.Road Runner, not so beep beep?   

Does the RR cable run through the telephone exchange?
I assume the 'modem' is actually a wired router?

I SUGGEST first looking under your router admin gateway.
To go to that your'll need to type '//' (without quotes) and the router's IP address in your web-browser and enter your admin details. Read the manual that came with the router if stuck.

Under connection details, you should see 'Uptime', 'Bandwidth (Up/Down)', etc...

Find 'Line Attenuation (Up/Down)' and 'SN Margin', ensure the [dB] doesn't change a lot when refreshing that page.

You might also want to check:
Loss of Signal / Power (Local/Remote)
FEC, CRC, and HEC Errors (Up/Down)

Depending on your router model, they should be all on the same page. Post the results here if possible and note any continous changes on refreshing that page.


If you have a noisy line, another way of testing this is pick up the phone and dial just one number to clear the dial tone and LISTEN for STATIC or noise.  Noise on the line hugely decreases internet performancee and it get's too much, the line will cut and attempt to reconnect with another IP address. This might be your issue?