My internet shuts off for a brief moment and then it turns itself back on, what's wrong, do i need to do something to my ip adress to connect my computer to my router better?

Let me guess, another ATT customer who will spend hours on the phone with multiple calls having to give the same info over and over again until they finally send you a new $10 modem to fix the problem. When you get past all this (takes about two months of service calls and extensive diagnostics), make sure to request a couple of free months of service for your troubles.

Works best if you tell them that you work from home and depend on the web to make a living.

Or just tell them to send you a new modem and be done with it.

Is it DSL? It may be having trouble syncing.

Do you have a cable modem? That’s normal for cable modems, where service fluctuates dramatically. With DSL and FIOS that rarely happens.

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies Ha, Ha – that is exactly what happens with Comcast as well. My son used to work for them and it made no difference to the technician who came out to the house. They are contract and don’t work for Comcast anyway.

Mine disconnected when I used my cordless phone. Wireless and phone were on the same frequency.

I have a couple of ideas, but I’ll need some more info. Here’s a couple o’ questions for you

1. Do you have DSL, Cable, FiOS, something else? It could be something based on any one of those.

2. How often does it happen? Every few minutes, once an hour, every few days? Does it happen in pattern (like every day at 5) or is it pretty random?

3. I apologize if this one’s a little condescending, but is it your modem (the box with the coax cable coming out of the back) the router (Which should be plugged into the modem, and will not have a coax cable in the back) or is it a combo deal, where the modem/router is the same box, in which case it’ll have a coax cable (the cable that’s screwed in) in the back along with multiple places to put ethernet cords. If you’re not sure, if you can find the model number (like Netgear WRTG or something like that) I could probably pull some info off of google.

4. Are you using wireless, and does this happen when you’re plugged in directly? If you have a router, can you skip that and plug the computer directly into the modem to see if you get the same deal?

Basically, there’s a lot of things that could cause something like this to happen, but it’s a matter of isolating the problem first. The router could be going bad, the signal could be weak, something could be affecting the wireless, it’s just really hard to pinpoint at this..er, point.

Read the terms of service though if you do tell them you need the internet because you “work from home” in the fine print it says you are not to use their internet connection to do business with. They can technically suspend your service for doing business from home, they have business class service just for that purpose in where you will get same day service and much faster response time. So before trying to get crafty with them read what you agree to.

That’s good advice @earthduzt .

It sounds like it may be a DHCP problem. If it’s happening regularly, like clockwork, you could be getting errors when DHCP releases your IP address and tries to get a new one. Check your DHCP settings and see if your disconnections coincide with your release timer.