Help With Internet Connection

[Grizzlyone]

So I am new, found nothing regarding my delima so I am posting my problem here since I suspect that my Ethernet Card might be going. My sons and I like playing WOW. Just recently it started kicking us off at random intervals. I use an Authenticator and have seen none of the usual indicators of compromised account. Here's the question; how can I effectively troubleshoot a problem with an internet connection that forces the game to disconnect? Also, when I upgraded my video card, I noticed additional slots in that same area (PCI IIRC). Do ethernet cards come in a PCI slot configuration?
Thanks,
Grizz

 

[Celegorm]

They do and are pretty cheap.

Newegg.com - PCI, gigabit nic pci

They also come in PCI 1x and 4x (really small slots) If your motherboard has one of those available I'd recommend using that instead, the cost should be about the same for one of those cards.

 

[jmacavali]

Check the internet connection when the game kicks you off.

Ping google with the -t (Start>run>cmd...type ping Google -t) and see if any of the results come back without replies.

Is it one computer that gets kicked off? Do you all play at the same time from different computers? Is it possible that they have some kind of limit on the number of connections from the same IP?

 

[Grizzlyone]

At one time we have up to 3 computers online playing. My two older boys do not get disconnects on their computers, just mine. One of their is on a desktop and wired the other is on a laptop and does either wireless or wired depending where he wants to sit. Mine is wired direct to the router. I will try the ping, I just don't know what I would see if there is a problem or if all is as expected. Thank you for the replies/suggestions so far.

- Grizz

 

[Celegorm]

An easier result to read than ping (but doing the same thing) is to go to pingtest.net. It'll run ping and a few other tests and tell you if there is a problem. Packetloss and a high amount of jitter (high being like above 30ms) in that result set is not a good thing.

 

[jmacavali]

Also, I meant to do it right after it happens, since that seems to be when the issues are. You could do it when no one is playing and again when all 3 are playing and you get DC'ed. What's your Internet speed?