Second Life Disconnects me.

Ok this is a weird one folks.

I've been having this issue for a few weeks now. I can run any application you can think of online of offline and everything is fine. But now I seem to have a hit and miss issue, sometimes when I run second life it completely disconnects me from the internet, browsers yahoo messenger everything. And the only way I can get it back is to re-boot. I thought maybe it was a hardware issue. I've replaced my motherboard ram gpu psu (all needed upgrading anyway) but alas still no different. Sometimes I can play second life all night, others its reboot after reboot after reboot, and im getting a bit tired of it. Has anyone experienced this issue if so did you resolve it and how, because its starting to drive me nuts, im sinking good money into sl and I HAVE to be there to build up a new store.

Does it happen only in specific sims? If so, can you post some of their names? (edit: and if there's sims it seems to never happen in, those names would be good too)

/me has a friend who was getting disconnected annoyingly often from SL the other night but it only seemed (_seemed_) to be happening on sims that were in Texas..

Are you using a Router?

I had that issue with an old Belkin Router. Had all the ports open for SL but would lose the connection, but only to SL. Eventually I replaced it with a different router and havent had a problem since.

I havent tried different sims yet, ill try that, although I cant see how that would affect my entire internet connection. It cuts everything off not just sl but any application that connects to the internet.
Also no im not using a router, its me connected directly to my modem.

Maybe your modem is on the way out. It certainly does sound like it.

Nope its not my modem, did you read what I posted EVERYTHING works fine EXCEPT second life, I played 4 hours of counter strike earlier, no problems. I log into second life and blam no more internet.

Tod69 brings up a good point about external network gear. Try powering off the modem for a few minutes and see if that helps any.

LL recently had problems, scary problems, with a router in Texas. Geeks can get details here: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/User:Poppy/Network_Errors_and_Data_Loss_2008-01 . If there's still some router down there flipping random bits on/off, it could be that your network card is freaking out over some bogus packet and toasting all network stuff.

/me is totally guessing here, tho...

..but SL uses a LOT more system resources than any other app I've run (including net bandwidth)

It's analogous to a car that only sputters when you go over 60mph.

System resources yes, bandwidth yes, but to compare i can run usenet downloading at 400kbps and sometimes more for hours and hours and hours and hours, it uses a lot more bandwidth or at least an equal amount to second life, but that doesnt disconnect me.

I give up, yet again im faced with the choice of having to quit second life.

Before even powering off your modem for a few minutes? You give up too easy!!

I cant power off my modem, there are other people in the house online, and apart from anything i've tried all this before, does this mean i have to power off every time I want to connect to second life ? doesnt sound like much of a solution.

Squiz, this started happening to me too, several weeks back. In my case, I have to reboot my computer AND the DSL modem/router.

I'm using Verizon, a 3MB/sec DSL connection. The modem/router/WAP box is a gray thingie...I don't remember the make/model. Not Netgear or Linksys or Belkin or 3Com, though...

[EDIT] Oh...and it happens more often when one of the kids is also on the internet, playing Guitar Hero or Halo on X Box.

Ok.. Sorry to see you go! Can I have yer stuff?


/me again wonders if others have noticed this happening on certain sims or not happening on certain sims.

You could try using the PING and TRACERT commands. See if they do their thing successfully.

Ping the network card. Then Ping your ISP. Then the LL servers (I forget the IP). See if thats successful.

Run Tracert to the LL Servers. See if there's any glitches along the way.

Second thing: Check and see if the correct ports are open. If you have Anti-Virus or Spyware stuff running, try shutting it off or letting it accept transmissions from SL. Stuff like that sometimes blocks SL.

Third: In the Control Panel, under Administrative Tools, check Event Viewer & see if there are any warnings, etc. Look for any possible TCP/IP or UDP errors.

Considering the nature of my issue, you asking for my stuff is a little ironic.

AH! Here's an IP Address to try with PING & TRACERT:

63.210.157.188


Squiz- Check the temperature of the Modem. Before and After SL. Maybe it's overheating?

SL is one heck of a resource hog in every way possible and the modem may be switching off connection to your comp to save itself. It's a worse resource hog than any MMO out there. I do recall having this problem once, when the DSL modem died on us. It could run simple browser things, sometimes City of Heroes without coughing, but it'd kill the connection we ran Second Life.

I have the same thing happen whenever there are two or more people accessing any sort of high graphics internet game as well as SL at the same time ... and in our household that involves one to three lnksys hubs and a cable modem. We have agreed to take turns doing our thang now (which basically undermines everyone having his/her own computer *rollseyes*).

Your all missing the point, why would it do it sometimes and not others, at this very moment im the only person in the house using the modem, just little me. No other computer is online nothing at all is running. As soon as i log into sl and try to get my inventory it cuts me off. So all the ideas you guys are coming up with as much as they are appreciated are totally wrong.

Ok, 1 last thing I just thought of:

How are you connected to the Modem? Is it connected to your computer with a USB cable?

I've seen it happen. Stumped me for a while. The cable/DSL guys just plug in the USB cable when they'd install it. Problem is, USB cant handle the bandwidth, nor several people sharing the same line.

Its connected via usb which should make no difference, ive been connected this way for a year and a half, and using sl with no trouble until now.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/robin.d.h.walker/cmtips/usb.html

First paragraph is your answer.

Second Life is quite heavy on resource & system usage.

While it may have worked before, coding for SL changes, possibly disrupting what you once had working.

USB would've been fine for other games, but then those games are stored in their entirety on your hard drive. Second Life is not.

*EDIT*

Also look here: http://www.everythingusb.com/usb2/faq.htm
Specifically, #4 on the right, where it starts with "Additional notes from Alex Esquenet - our engineer friend based in Belgium..."

Im well aware of the pros and cons between usb and ethernet, but connecting via ethernet means only i can use the internet. Unless that is im prepared to forgo the expense and hassle of using a router with my hub. But as i stated i've been doing it this way for a year and a half with no issues whatsoever so the solution is nonsensical, why would it work for all this time and then all of a sudden not work. Its not just that but the issue is intermittant sometimes it works no problems, others i have to reboot my computer and reset my modem half a dozen times before it will stay online.

/me looks confused.. The modem goes straight to your PC but power cycling the modem would knock off everybody else in the house, too?

You're playing SL on a PC that's bridging connections to the rest of your LAN?