> we're getting internet dropout of upto a couple minutes, then ok > again, repeating every few minutes, at a client's office in vermont, > connected via comcast cable. the comcast modem does not do NAT, and > is connected to their linux server which acts as firewall and does NAT. > > running a "ping google.com" at the linux server shows ping times of > around 40ms, and shows dropouts of several seconds or several minutes > every few minutes. comcast of course does not support linux, and > wants a windows machine attached to diagnose. i'm waiting to hear > whether the dropouts continue or not with the windows machine > connected to the modem. > > meanwhile the windows machine surprisingly shows ping times of around > 20ms. we've gone back and forth between the machines over a couple > days, and the difference is consistent. but why should they be > different? the linux server is ~ a year old, the windows machine ~ 3 > years old. well the internet dropouts are now fixed after changing the linux eth config from a fixed address to dhcpc. with that setup wrong, i'm perplexed it kept coming back to life at all! and now windoze gets the same 40ms ping times. must just be variable network time via comcast. oh well thanks anyway nate.