Hi All

I'm not sure really where to post this so I thought the would be as gooder place as any! - Any suggestions for a more appropriate place then let me know.


I have recently (since January) had a lot of problems connecting to the internet in the evenings (very sporadic and slow, it looses the connection every 2 mins or so).
By a process of elimination I have discovered that my Dell (Dimension E520) only works 24hours a day with a 1.5 metre ethernet cable .
Before I had the same 10 metre cable and never had any problems with my old Sony laptop (used it in my current house for about 2 years).


Just by way of a history
I have tried - Linux, new motherboard, new network card, different cable between the phone socket and the modem, different 10m cable, starting in safe mode, Windows Explorer, Firefox, different modem (same model and brand though). But always the same dodgy connection in the evening.
An interesting twist is that when I took the Dell to a neighbour and he tried it with my 10m cable there was no problem.

My set up is: a modem, no router, ADSL connection through a phone socket, only running one computer at a time.

Another possible clue- when the connection is lost and I am on the phone I hear a quiet "peep".


The ONLY way I can get the DELL's internet connection to function properly in the evening is with a 1.5m network cable or take it to my neighbour and surf the internet there!

I was under the impression you should be able to have a 100m cable before signal problems set in.

My ISP won't help because that say that due to the fact that the SONY doesn't have the same problem the fault can't be with them. It must be the DELL.


Does anyone have any other ideas how I can fix this problem? I could completely rearrange the room to accomodate the DELL.



Cheers

Dan