hey people, whenever i turn my external hdd on it cuts the internet out, which is a pain in the ass when i wanna leave something downloading whilst i'm watching a movie from my hdd on the ps3.

anyone else have this problem? causes? fixes?

cheers in advance

A few Q's which should help me and the other IT lads offer some suggestions:

1. Brand and model of router/modem
2. Is the HDD plugged into the modem via usb, plugged into the network (i.e NAS) or is it plugged into a computer you have running?
3. Is said computer a notebook or desktop, and is it plugged in via cable or wireless?
4. Is it a notebook or desktop size drive (does it have external power or is it powered by usb)?
5. Have you watched the modem to see what it does? Does it restart or does the internet just drop out and you have to power cycle it yourself?

Start with those that should give us something to start with...

alright

1. ASUS wl-am604g
2. hdd is plugged in to the computer via usb
3. is a desktop, and is plugged in to the router/modem by cable/ethernet
4. is desktop sized drive, 640gb, has external power plug, which powers it.
5. the modem looks fine when i turn the hdd on, but then internet will just stop responding, ps3 will disconnect from network, and sometimes the little '!' will flick red then go fine, the internet will work after about an hour or so but then drop out once your on it for a bit.

How far away from the modem is the HDD? Sounds like you got a strange one there. How long is tha phone cable from the modem to the wall socket?

How are they all plugged in? Try isolating the modem and hdd on extension cords to another powerpoint or even another room. As silly as it sounds ive had similar dramas with other devices

does the modem appear to lose auth or sync? one problem ive found (i troubleshoot these things all day) is skype and some security software can cause modems to do a soft reset and kill the auth on modem to server. one way to try and fix is disabling Upnp.

you tried a 2nd known working modem? and also in full isolation testing offending device first, then slowly hook up more devices and test? 9/10 times youll find its always the modem being a retard. try factory reset and reconfigure :-D restart, reboot, reinstall.

the approach to troubleshooting is all based on wether its an auth drop out, or sync drop out.

moem is about a metre from the hdd, next time i turn the hdd on ill check the 192.blah.blah.blah site n do the troubleshoot thing cos i know it makes 2 things fail, i think it changes the DNS or something,

uPnP needs to be on for my ps3 lol so i can't disable that, i think i might just try plugging the hdd in to the ps3 when i wanna watch stuff but im not sure if they can play .avi files without them being converted so ill have to find that out

ps3 can play avi files just can be a bit picky with what codecs are used in the avi

alright so i ran the modem diagnostic, this was the results :
Test your Wireless Connection: PASS
Test ATM OAM F5 segment ping: PASS
Test ATM OAM F5 end-to-end ping: PASS
Test PPP server connection: FAIL
Test authentication with ISP: FAIL
Test the assigned IP address: FAIL
Ping default gateway: FAIL
Ping primary Domain Name Server (210.15.254.240): FAIL

then after that i turned the modem off, powered it back up and they all failed, i think somehow the hdd is interfering with the router, its the latest firmware as far as i can tell aswell

When I turn my external on my speakers buzz of their head lol..Can't have the speakers on whilst the external is on..even if they are turned all the way down but still on they buzz :\

go to

start panel
control panel
system icon
hardware tab
device manager tab

then look down the list to see if the network adapter and or ubs controller or disk drives on the list have like a red cross or similar on them
if this is the case right click on them and go to properties and it will have a window that says device status. Might get you pointed in the right direction

may be an address or driver conflict. try the diff combination when doing this, only modem in, neither in, both in ect ect ect

hope this helps, been a long time since ive played with computers

well, ATM passes mean good sync to exchange, PPP fail is an auth drop. if your running PPPoE-LLC 8/35, try PPPoA VC mux 8/35 and vice versa. In my experience, PPPoA drops out less than PPPoE depending on your ISP.

for shits and giggles, try disabling upnp and see how it affects it.

of all the dropouts ive troubleshooting at work, 60% are filtering/hardware related, other 35% are software based and turning off upnp fixes those, remaining 5% are random/virus drops or modem errors.

since its PS3 with an external HDD issue, you tried asking sony techsupport?? ill ask my mate at work and see what he has to say, he has a ps3 with lots of crap running off it lol

the hdd isnt actually running off the ps3... the hdd is hooked to the pc by usb, pc is hooked to modem by ethernet/lan cable, ps3 is hooked to router by ethernet cable. it also does it when its not hooked to the ps3 so i know its not that, thought it might of been running too many usb cables cos its got like 7 or 8 slots and all of them are full except 1.

'm fairly sure its already running PPPoA vc mux 8/35 aswell, i'll try turning uPnP off n see if it still does it, i've got a feeling its something to do with the external case cos the last one i was using shat itself so i got another one, n its just now that its the new case it started playing up, and it does the same as bazs and starts getting feedback when the speakers are also on

does the HDD use a power supply or draw it from the USB?

power supply mate

id suggest another testing with another modem mate. upnp make a difference turning it off?

moveteh HDD as far away from teh pc as possible. The drive/psu is noisy most liekly causingyou issues an external drive SHOULD Never cause noise through speakers either

If everything else works and never stuffs up apart from when the HDD is on, i'd say try another HDD not modem...

that is true, but i assume he wants to be able to use the HDD on his network :-)

i agree lower quality drives would get this :-) i have 2 IDE drives hooked up sitting on top of my pc right near my PSU lol. no issues yet :-P
agree with HDD not causing speaker issues, unless its drawing USB power and causing interferance with onboard sound? or USB speakers? other USB HDD's cause same prob?

thanks for all the help guys, since it seems like its not gonna stop, i'll just have to put up with it, only time i need it turned on is when im transferring shit, or watching a movie.

didn't think people on boost could be so helpful haha

Does the Local Area connection disconnect at all?? If you remove as many usb devices as you can does it still do it? you using front usb ports or rear motherboard usb ports?

now im using front ports, but i was using rear ports before, n its done it with both. pretty sure local area connection doesnt drop out either

its really weird haha, could just be because its a cheap external casing

not taking the piss

wrap it in alfoil a few times (in a way that does not block vents) and lean it against the back of your tower, in a way so that the alfoil is touching the bare metal of your tower and therefor has an earth tap. then see if it is still causing a problem.

All the haters and hardcores, before you quote me giving me shit, just shut the fuck up instead

its like the old hard drive in a sealed bag in the freezer for 15 mins then plug it in upside down :-P

not a bad idea your thjinking maybe Emf problems Im guessing

yea, no amount of plastic will stop inductance. only thing that will stop it is distance or a metal shield that is earthed. may need to be a ferrous metal, in which case alfoil will fail.

if it does fix the issue then you should be well within your rights to take it back under warranty. may also be sending inductance down the lead and screwing with things. maybe even use a different lead as it may be the issue