Error 12007

August 22, 2009 10:44 AM

I periodically have what appears to be a common problem with my Internet connection. Anyone in here have an idea for a fix?

Periodically, I have problems with my connection just dropping or getting slow. It's not a line problem, I've isolated that -- I run the Windows diagnostic and get an error code "12007," which has something to do with a firewall, it says. I do not have a firewall.

Usually I just run the Windows diagnostic when this happens, it disconnects and reconnects, and that fixes it. Once in a blue moon I need to go into the cmd prompt and do a reset of a couple things, and that also fixes it. But the problem just periodically comes back; it's just a nuisance level problem rather than anything crippling.

I've linked to a Google search I've done, which makes it look like a lot of people are having this problem. Someone's come up with a widget that "fixes" it, but the advance word I've heard is that that "fix" wreaks havoc with your registry and monkeys with other things, so I do NOT want to download that.

So. Does anyone have any experience with this error? Does anyone know what causes it? It seems like my computer is not automatically resetting some string of code when it should be (or is when it shouldn't be), and that's causing problems.

I can keep doing what I'm doing, but I was curious if anyone knew of any other more permanent fix.

posted by EmpressCallipygos to computers & internet (6 comments total)

Can you clarify what you mean by "Once in a blue moon I need to go into the cmd prompt and do a reset of a couple things, and that also fixes it."

Are you by chance releasing and renewing a DHCP lease? (command "ipconfig /release" followed by "ipconfig /renew") ?
posted by crazyray at 10:54 AM on August 22

Do you have a router, or are you connecting straight to the modem?
posted by sinfony at 11:22 AM on August 22

crazyray: I do something similar. I call up the cmd prompt (I think that's the word for "I bring up the screen that has the DOS prompts"), I type in "netsh int ip reset reset.log", and I reboot. Actually, I think I may have also done what you suggested once or twice as well, as I can never remember what I did last time and have to keep looking it up on Google and I think I always find something slightly different.

sinfony: I have a router.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:30 PM on August 22

It's probably your router. You might be able to find a solution in your router's settings, which your manual will tell you how to get to, but you may actually have to get a new router if this is a frequent problem. Most routers have a built-in firewall, actually, so in all likelihood, you do have a firewall.

What sort of websites does your connection drop out on? I've got a Belkin router, and it's great, other than the connection sometimes drops out on a few websites, like my bank, the page for my university's tuition payment system, and oddly enough the Pizza Hut online ordering system (haha). I'm not sure if there's a connection between the sort of security methods those sites use and my firewall going crazy and knocking out my connection for a minute or two, but once it reconnects by itself, it will usually allow me to browse them freely. It's annoying, but it rarely happens, so I've not worried with it. I'm almost positive that it's a router firewall issue.
posted by metalheart at 3:59 PM on August 22

You'll want to get into the router's interface. If you have the manual, it'll tell you how to do that; the IP address might also be printed on the router itself. Failing that, go to the command prompt and type "ipconfig /all" and look for the section on your wireless adapter - the address listed for "Default Gateway" will be your router. If you've never logged into its interface before, you'll need to know the username and password. The manual or Googling will tell you; it's probably something like "blank/admin" or just an empty username and "admin" for the password.

Once you're in there, look at the logs to see if anything jumps out at you. Make sure that DHCP is enabled (and check in your Windows network adapter settings that you've set it to get an IP address automatically).
posted by sinfony at 4:34 PM on August 22

Metalheart: there's no one type of site it drops out on. It most often happens when I'm trying to connect for the first time in a session -- I pull up outlook or IE, it doesn't connect, I run the diagnostic, it detects this error and disconnects and reconnects, and then everything's fine. You say this happens to you -- are you also getting error 12007 as well?

sinfony: you say that I should look at the logs to see if anything jumps out at me. How would I recognize the jumping-out-at-me part? (I know nothing about code.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:38 PM on August 22