USB Connection Unreliable?

[maxibyte]

Hi,
I have recently just joined virgin broadband but I seem to be having problems holding a connection (the line appears fine after calling them). I am trying to connect using a old laptop that runs XP prof. The laptop does not have a ethernet port, therefore I have to connect to the hub using a USB cable (virgin did not provide one).

However, the connection does not start or hold if it does connect, i.e. if I am lucky if it will load the home page or if it does it will only load one or two other pages before losing the connection. All the correct lights appear to still be on the hub and the lan connection states connected (even if pages do not load, IP address is also valid).

I have read that usb connections are not that reliable.
I was wondering if a ethernet to USB adapter might solve the problem. Something like this:

http://amazon.co.uk/o/ASIN/B000J0H6YY/ref=s9_asin_image_1-2259_g1/026-8462826-7672433?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=082PAW31R3QJHNRN3QTJ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=139046091&pf_rd_i=468294

Would the above adapter have the same problem as it is connecting into the USB slot?

I think the laptop is to old to really try a PC ethernet card. (would prob have problems installing the hardware).

Any help would be great as it is not much fun getting BB and only being able to surf a couple of pages before it gives up!!

Thanks,
Gareth.

[Stuart]

Unless the USB port/circuitry on the modem is faulty, you'll still have the same trouble, as. to all intents and purposes, you'll still be connected via USB (just with an ethernet connection in the middle).

If your laptop has a PCMCIA/PC Card slot, try http://tinyurl.com/2l3pw7.

[dave6x]

I agree wit Stuart C, get your self a PCMCIA cardbus adaptor. In addition to a couple of desktops, I use an elderly Toshiba laptop with a LAN adaptor that you can get from PC World for less than £10 and this works perfectly. Problem with a modem on USB1.1 on old limited spec PCs is that it can hog a lot of the bus resources and this may be conflicting with other items, that could be causing your apparent "dis-connections"

[maxibyte]

Although it is a bit strange, I DL service pack 2 last night but was not able to view any webpages. strange that it is still connected but unable to view. I have clean installed XP a couple of days ago and installed all the USB drivers. Maybe it is a problem with IE? Mozilla does not connect at all.

I was also able to connect to BB on a phone line using a USB cable and the connection did not really drop / not work then. Although I was running Win Me then.

[dave6x]

Maybe your laptop is seriously challenged running XP Pro SP2? Is the spec adequate?

My poor old Toshiba is a P3 600Mhz with only 128MB of RAM and is running Win 2000Pro SP4, it is very slow at times but runs surprisingly well considering the lowly spec. I'm using both Firefox and IE6 OK, and now use a PCMCIA wireless card sometimes as an alternative to the LAN adaptor.

[maxibyte]

It is around 500Mhhz, 196 ram so just about meets the mini spec

[Stuart]

I was also able to connect to BB on a phone line using a USB cable and the connection did not really drop / not work then. Although I was running Win Me then.

The problem with USB is that it's not really designed for sustained high data transfer speeds. Therefore, when you do transfer at a high speed, it makes a lot of use of the computer's CPU. You wouldn't notice this on a phone line as the data transfer speeds would be nowhere near high enough to cause a problem. With broadband they are.

Proper ethernet cards (and PC Cards like the one above) get past this problem as generally, they have enough processing power built in that they don't need to access the CPU much.

[Callumpy]

I would get the PCMCIA adapter!!

[vmtech]

what i would do is buy a new laptop!!!

[dave6x]

what i would do is buy a new laptop!!!
Seems a bit extreme to spend £300+ when a £10 PCMCIA Lan card would prob do what he needs!

[vmtech]

yeah but a new laptop would solve his problem and the things ancient! there comes time when you have to upgrade your pcs and laptops cause that thing must run so slow!

[dave6x]

I don't want to hi-jack this guy's thread, but if the laptop does the job required why replace it until you have to?

My desktop PCs and laptop are all pretty old, but as I'm not a high-end gamer I don't need the extra performance, and I don't need Vista bloat-ware clogging them up either, so I'm happy with the performance I get for surfing, video editing, music creation, etc, the machines are optimised for what I do with them!!!

[maxibyte]

Had a bit more of a dig around and I think it is a problem with the Ram. Not sure there is enough, hence IE is struggling, seems to work if I stop alot of Ram hungry processes. Will have to look into upgrading it, although don't reckon will be cheap as they have probably stopped making it!

---------- Post added at 09:49 ---------- Previous post was at 09:48 ----------

Oh and cheers for the advice guys

[dave6x]

More memory is probably not as expensive as you think, it probably uses 144 pin sodimm PC66 or PC100, you should be able to get 128MB on Ebay for less than £10.

[maxibyte]

had a look at the memory as recommended by kingston is
the Kingston KTC311/256LP. Should be able to get for around £60 of amazon.

Specification
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Data Width: 64bit

Form Factor: 72-Pin SIMM Module

Memory Package: SIMM

Memory Size: 256MB

Memory Size (Total): 256

Module Size: 256MB

Number of Modules: 1

Pin Configuration: 72

Slot: 72-Pin (x1) SIMM

Warranty: Lifetime



Is it possible to buy cheaper memory with similar stats that would do the job or is the memory specific?

---------- Post added at 13:05 ---------- Previous post was at 12:50 ----------

actually not sure the stats above are correct.