I'm having an odd problem with internet access in Windows ME. This system is receiving a shared cable internet connection from another system running Windows XP. At what seems to be random intervals (usually a few minutes or so), all internet activity will completely stop. Any links or addresses I try to go to in Mozilla will just sit there saying "Resolving host...". And it's basicly the same for anything else, Mozilla Mail, Internet Explorer, Gaim, etc, will all just sit there doing nothing. If I wait 15-20 seconds, it'll work again. This isn't happening on any of the other computers on the network, and it's only happening in Windows ME on this system (both 2000 and XP work fine). And during these times, all other network access from this system to the others still works perfectly fine. I was also experiencing the same problem with Windows 98SE on this system, before I switched to ME. Any idea what could cause this, and how to fix it?

One other thing: I'm also noticing a weirdness where most internet activity will stop, but not quite all. For example, just a second ago, while everything on Computing.net was working, several other sites I tried would just say "Resolving host", and Gaim wouldn't log on. A few seconds later it all started working again. It's kind of confusing...

Hrrmm - my first thought is it's some kind of DNS problem. The PC's are having delays contacting whatever DNS (domain name resolution) server your network is telling them they should be contacting. How to properly test/repair this depends entirely in how your local network is setup; wether there's a router/NAT/Server installed, or if the XP machine is sharing the connection or if they're all just pulling public IP's. Whatever the case, it just boils down to making sure the DNS is set correctly for that network setup.

Well, the computers are just connected by phoneline cards, with the XP system sharing the cable connection after having used the Network Setup Wizard.

Phoneline cards? Hmm, I guess ill assume you mean network cable - as networking via phone lines is not impossible but is really really rare, and quite wierd. In that case you could manually set the primary DNS of the non-XP systems to point twords the Local IP of the XP machine directly, then secondarily to the cable providers' DNS servers. (or argueably it will work the other way round too) You should be able to get the DNS servers your cable provider uses directly from them. Or, try a ipconfig /all from the XP machine and see DNS settings it's pulling from the cable provider. Doing a properties on the TCP/IP of the correct device in the network control panel on the 9x boxes will reveal the area to input the DNS settings, do a Google search for more detailed how-to's if needed. Since your XP machine is sharing, also make sure it doesnt go to sleep or anything. Other possibilites could be something simple like a bad hub/switch in the local network - or network cards that are having trouble auto-detecting speeds between each other. And of course the usual spyware/virus scans as always. Hope it helps -YM

"Phoneline cards? Hmm, I guess ill assume you mean network cable - as networking via phone lines is not impossible but is really really rare, and quite wierd. Nope, they're actual phoneline cards. (HomePNA 2.0, 10Mbps, Broadcom chipset) Anyway, I'll try those suggestions and see if they help, thanks!

I checked, and the Windows ME system's TCP/IP properties had DNS disabled, so I set the first DNS server to the IP of the XP system sharing the connection, and then added the two servers from the ISP after that, but the problem is still occuring, so I'm not really sure what else to try...