by Orlando C. Fernando
version 1; September 9, 2000
Occasionally you will suddenly lose connection with the INTERNET on your cable modem service while on your computer. This quick troubleshooting tip is a common solution in Windows 95 or 98 to attempt to restore your connection. The likely problem is that your IP address (your computer's identity number to the INTERNET) is stale and needs to be reset. I do make an assumption that your cable modem had been working fine prior to the disconnection and that you have not attempted to change any of your network or IP settings when this problem occurred. Please use this tip at your own risk. I am not a technical support person. I recommend that you contact your technical support should this solution not work. This guide assumes you have a simple knowledge of Windows 95 or newer.
Close all your applications, saving your work.
Step 2: Check your cable ready lights.
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Your cable modem box should have different lighted indicators, one of which may be called TEST. See if it is on or blinking. If it is then your cable modem company may be updating the software for your cable modem, which will usually take about 5 - 30 minutes. Shut down your computer and turn it back on when the TEST light goes away. If TEST is OK, check if you have another box light that indicates whether or not you are on-line, perhaps named CABLE. Usually this light should be green, rather than red or off. If it is off, you may want to check that your cable's connection with your outlet (the cable wire, not the power cord) did not get disconnected or loose. If so, reconnect it, restart your computer, and see if the light is restored. If still off, contact technical support. If the CABLE light was OK, go to step 3. |
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Step 3: Run winipcfg.
| From your menu, choose . Type winipcfg in the textbox and hit Enter. You will get a small application box with several options to affect your IP address. |  |
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Click on . That will reset your perhaps stale IP address to 0.0.0.0. (In a cable modem world, your IP address is dynamic. It is supposed to change periodically, perhaps every 2 hours. If it does not after a long time, it could cause problems such as the one you're experiencing now.) Click on . That will have your cable modem look for a new freely available IP address (one that isn't already used by some other computer in the INTERNET world). Think of it as moving your house on the same street and making sure you don't get the same street address as someone else already there. |
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Step 4: Reboot your computer.
Reboot and that's it! Hopefully that will fix the problem. If it does not help, contact technical support.
Copyright 2001 by Orlando C. Fernando. This page is for personal use only. It may be openly distributed for non-profit in whole or part, but authorship must be credited.