[Macpilot]

OK, I talked my buddy into going Mac, and he got an iMac (17" Superdrive 768 Ram) and it is hooked up to a DSL modem.

He is having repeated problems with his internet connection.

It will work for about 30 to 40 minutes, then it will no longer work.

He can send data (emails) but then it will stop receiving data. A replacement DSL modem has been tried. Reinstalling 10.2.6. Several tech people from Apple, Sprint, Earthlink have looked at it.

They have changed settings in Network Prefs, rebooted the Mac and modem, etc. Problem still persists.

Now, if his iMac suffered a power surge (lightning), could the Ethernet card suffer PARTIAL damage? I would think that hardware damage would render the Ethernet card TOTALLY busted, and not partially.

This is really wierd!

I have connected my Powerbook to his iMac via Ethernet and transferred files with no problem. This leads me to believe these Sprint and Earthlink DSL people don't know their rear-end from 3rd base about Macs! But then again, my buddy told me that one of these tech dudes had him reconfigure some stuff in the Terminal, which I thought was a little extreme. I have never had to fiddle with the Terminal to fix anything. It worked for a while, then like clockwork, it failed a short time after!!!!???

This whole thing makes me glad to have an easy to set up and use Cable modem!

Anybody want to take on this issue to help out a new switcher?

[Raining Down in Texas]

Originally posted by Macpilot:
OK, I talked my buddy into going Mac, and he got an iMac (17" Superdrive 768 Ram) and it is hooked up to a DSL modem.

He is having repeated problems with his internet connection.

It will work for about 30 to 40 minutes, then it will no longer work.

He can send data (emails) but then it will stop receiving data. A replacement DSL modem has been tried. Reinstalling 10.2.6. Several tech people from Apple, Sprint, Earthlink have looked at it.

They have changed settings in Network Prefs, rebooted the Mac and modem, etc. Problem still persists.

Now, if his iMac suffered a power surge (lightning), could the Ethernet card suffer PARTIAL damage? I would think that hardware damage would render the Ethernet card TOTALLY busted, and not partially.

This is really wierd!

I have connected my Powerbook to his iMac via Ethernet and transferred files with no problem. This leads me to believe these Sprint and Earthlink DSL people don't know their rear-end from 3rd base about Macs! But then again, my buddy told me that one of these tech dudes had him reconfigure some stuff in the Terminal, which I thought was a little extreme. I have never had to fiddle with the Terminal to fix anything. It worked for a while, then like clockwork, it failed a short time after!!!!???

This whole thing makes me glad to have an easy to set up and use Cable modem!

Anybody want to take on this issue to help out a new switcher?

Does he have a static IP or a dynamic IP from the DSL provider? Does the DSL modem have a web page you can look at for connection status? Have you tried connecting your Powerbook to the DSL modem to see if it behaves properly?

It is possible to "partially" damage hardware to the point where it behaves normally for a while and then flakes out. I have seen cases where a piece of hardware works normally until it heats up a little, and then suddenly stops working - it was due to a cracked trace on a circuit board that maintained connectivity while cool, then seperated when it got warm enough to expand the board beneath it.

[Macpilot]

Thanks for the information! So I guess his iMac might be toast. It is really going to be a bummer for him to send it to Apple via MacMall. A good reason to get a better Surge Protector!