Member Avatar for dankillough

I have a desktop with XP Pro that looses connection to the network every 2 hours. Power cycling the modem/router fixes the problem for 2 more hours. System worked properly before adding an external ip phone to my TalkSwitch PBX. Setting up the external IP phone required some port forwarding. I have since uninstalled the external ip phones and deleted the port forwarding.
System specifics:
Windows XP Pro SP2
Verizon DSL with Actiontec GT704WGB Router
Computer is direct connect to the router.
2 computers on network, only 1 computer is kicked off
Here is what I have tried:
Verizon Tech support ran malware software--no luck
Replaced router--no luck
Replaced network card -- no luck
DHCP Settings set to Dynamic
Computer is set to Dynamic IP
TCP/IP is set to "Obtain an IP address automatically" and "Obtain DNS server address autmatically"
I have spent at least 40 hrs on with verizon tech support and talkswitch tech support. I am ready to throw the computer into the lake. I have power cycled the router so many times, the switch quit working. Please help.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by suley04

Dani AI

Generated

Good catch by that removing the TalkSwitch stops the two‑hour drop — that narrows this to a device interaction, not a faulty NIC or cable. The behavior (regular interval) strongly points to DHCP lease/renewal, a rogue DHCP server, or periodic network traffic from the PBX that upsets the router (ARP storms, multicast/broadcast spikes, or NAT/SIP interactions). The following troubleshooting steps are ordered from least to most intrusive.

Quick checks to run on the PC before and during a failure:

ipconfig /all        (show DHCP server IP and lease info)
arp -a               (look for duplicate MACs)
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
  1. Static-IP test: give the affected PC a static IP outside the router DHCP pool (same subnet, router as gateway, public DNS like 8.8.8.8 optional). If the PC stays stable for several cycles, the issue is DHCP-related.
  2. Verify DHCP source: confirm ipconfig /all shows the router as DHCP server. If another device (TalkSwitch) is listed, disable its DHCP.
  3. Check lease timing: open the router DHCP settings — note the lease time. A 4‑hour lease renews at ~2 hours (T1). Temporarily set a long lease (24h) to see if the pattern disappears.

TalkSwitch and router settings to inspect:

  • Ensure TalkSwitch is set to a static LAN IP outside the router DHCP pool or use DHCP reservations for phones.
  • Disable any DHCP server functionality in TalkSwitch if present.
  • Disable SIP ALG/UPnP on the router; some PBXs and routers conflict there.
  • Update TalkSwitch firmware and router firmware; check TalkSwitch logs for repeated reconfig or DHCP requests.

If the problem persists, capture network traffic (Wireshark) during the failure with filter bootp or arp to reveal DHCP or ARP conflicts, and collect router logs. Provide those captures when escalating to TalkSwitch support — they can often identify a misbehaving module. Finally, consider isolating voice devices on a separate VLAN or switch to eliminate broadcast/traffic interaction with the LAN.

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Member Avatar for jingda

Looks like some settings on your computer have change does other computers have the same problem?

Member Avatar for dankillough

Update
I also have a TalkSwitch PBX connected to the router. I disconnected the TalkSwitch unit, and now the desktop stays on the network with no problems.

The TalkSwitch unit is a PBX which handles all of our incoming calls, voicemail, and IP phones. With it off the network, our phone system will still function but the IP phones will not work. At least all the computers stay on the network now. I guess it is back to TalkSwitch tech support to determine why it causes all computers that are directly connected to the router to be booted off the network.

Member Avatar for jingda

Never use TalkSwitch before so I am unable to give you more help. Try doing what you said and see whether TalkSwitch Tech Support can help clear your doubts.

Member Avatar for suley04

Hi,

There used to be a similar problem in my work place, where every so often the internet would "drop" the connection and the computers would be in an offline state for a few minutes until you either reset the router via the web interface or until you physically took the power connection out from the back of the router and re-inserted it. However, I don't know if this is exactly the same problem you are having or not but you could try....

either replacing the Micro Filter/Splitter you have at the phone socket which connects to your router, or if that doesn't work then you probably need to go into the routers web interface and change the time it takes to reset the router (as this will probably be whats causing the problem).

Obviously, if that hasn't made any difference then let us know and we will try to investigate further.

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