Repeated Loss of connection - can't understand why

[#1]

Hi
I seem to lose connection on a regular basis starting a few days ago. Actually, I am unsure if that is really the case or some other issue...
Basically web pages suddenly fail to load completely or at all, downloads will stop, streaming will also stop. This happens on both PCs which are connected via a 4 port router to a Solewise SAR 130. No setting have been changed manually, all cables have been checked and are OK.
I contacted CS and was told that I have only one line drop in the past few months which was at around 10:00 this morning
It isn't because of any restrictions being apllied as speedtesters show over 5MB Down and 300 to 350KB up but it can take two or three attempts to get these results and the upload test can sometimes appear to take much longer than normal. The BT tester shows no problems with a throughput of over 5.1MB.
My line stats are:
Local Line Att: 2.0 dB
Remote Line Att: 4.5 dB
Local SNR Margin: 14 dB
Remote SNR Margin: 25 dB
Modem Sybcing at 7296 Kbps up and 448 down.
When D/ls and webpages stop The lights on the modem are as follows:
LAN
10/100 Light Static
Link Light flickers
DSL
ACT light flickering
Link Light Static
Power light static
This is very frustrating. Both PC have been fully checked for Virii, malware, etc and appear clean.
Can any advise me whether there is a history log available within the SAR 130 I can access and how to find out what may be happening. Could this be a sympton of the 6 year modem dying?
Any help or advice would be appreciated.
Edit: I have tried rebooting modem after 30 seconds power-down and then 60 seconds.

[#2]

The problem seems to be getting worse e.g. while watching iplayer or ITV equivalent we get the percentage count while the picture freezes every minute or two. Occasionally it corrects itself but, usually, a page refresh is required. Downloads still stop at around 5 or 6%.
Tomorrow night I will connect using my mother's old Dlink DSL 320B modem. Hopefully that will solve it if it is a hardware fault but, if not, can anyone offer any other ideas of what I could be looking for?
TIA

[#3]

See this thread:
http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,70189.0.html
Is this the same problem?
John

[#4]

I've been reading that thread with interest but, unfortunately it doesn't have any bearing on my problems:
I installed SP3 on a clean re-install of XP several weeks ago and the problems only appears a few days ago.
The SAR 130 is wired only.
Thanks for your input, though.

[#5]

This morning, I noticed that I had a usage of 1.32GB peak time yesterday. My wife never used her PC all evening as she went to bed early plus I never downloaded much or watched iplayer, etc as I was now into Level 1 management.
I then noticed that the modem data light was flickering rapidly although I was not downloading anything at all and my wife was out. I disconnected my PC with no change. I then closed all open browsers on my wife's PC with no change and then disabled her internet connection. All activity ceased even though my PC had been reconnected.
So it seems that my wife's PC may have been constantly downloading and/or uploading continuously all night.  I have asked CS for a breakdown of all yesterday's (5th) off-peak/peak activity in the hope that it may give an indication as to which program's were accessing the internet.
My understanding is that iplayer and the like only use excessive bandwith if you download files to the PC as they get shared on a kind of peer-to-peer basis - is that correct? Neither my wife or I download them, we stream only.
Perhaps there is a Trojen or similar at work but all scans have shown nothing.
Can anyone offer some advice as to how to find what is causing this excessive use?
BTW, since disabling internet access (via Control Panel - Local Area Connection) on my wife's PC I have not had the problems reported in my original post.

[#6]

My guess would be that you still have the Kontiki P2P software active even though you only use the streaming.

Quote

When you download TV programmes using iPlayer -- as distinct from watching streamed versions online -- they are downloaded using Kontiki (kontiki.com). This is a peer-to-peer file sharing program, which is also used by similar services such as Sky by Broadband and Channel 4's 4oD. Kontiki seems to load and use your bandwidth, even if you are not using iPlayer: use the Windows Task Manager to see if Kservice is running. The BBC has a page that explains how to stop it running on startup and when you are not using iPlayer. You can remove it altogether using the kclean.exe program from http://www.omn.org/support/. However, if you do, any Kontiki-based programs such as iPlayer may not work.

Check using Task Manager as indicated above...

[#7]

Ian:
Could you provide a link to that BBC page to stop Kontiki from loading at Start Up.

[#8]

see picture in BBC iPlayer settings - untick "Run Download Manager at Windows Startup" and "Allow Programmes to be shared when you exit Download Manager"

[#9]

Thanks for that but my main concern is the Sky Player.  I don't have the iPlayer downloaded, just watch programmes on demand.  Have you any idea how to prevent Kontiki running at Start up on that?

[#10]

Mav,
CSC have passed your ticket through to networks as they're not able to see CBC usage on your account (and neither can I).
I believe the reason for this is that Broadband Premier calculates usage based on the Ellacoya's rather than on CBC.  Networks should be able to tell you given a bit of time.

[#11]

Quote from: coastergrotto

Thanks for that but my main concern is the Sky Player.  I don't have the iPlayer downloaded, just watch programmes on demand.   Have you any idea how to prevent Kontiki running at Start up on that?

it was your reference to BBC which threw me.
Unlike the BBC iPlayer the others 4OD and Sky don't include that feature so the best bet may be to try this program http://odmonitor.blogspot.com/

[#12]

Many thanks Oldjim.    I'll may well try that.  At least I know it can be done now.

[#13]

@coastergrotto,
Here's the link I got that info from http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/askjack/2008/jul/10/controllingtheiplayerskonti

[#14]

Thanks Ian,  You quoted the article in it's entirety, but thanks anyway.  When I get around to it I'll try Oldjim's suggestion.

[#15]

Thanks for the replies.
Just had a quick look at my wife's Task Manager and no sign of Kservice running. Would kservice only be running if iplayer was open?
I've just woken up and must go out now but will dop more investigation later.
Thanks
Edit: @Jameseh
Not sure what is hapening with ticket ID 26907302 - I asked for a complete breakdown of traffic on the 5th so that it may help to know what was active during this time and, hopefully, find the cuplrit program/malware/trojan or whatever. Yesterday I was told by phone that I would get the result today sometime but it seems that my request is being bounced around.
Also the ticket raised by the CS agent I spoke to has the comment:

Quote

Customer would like a copy of his usage logs for yesterday during peak times as he doesn't think this is correct and so would like a breakdown of this.

I never indicated I was questoning the amount of usage as it is likely to be correct - I just want further info as above.