How does a wireless ISP work?

978 Views 8 Replies 6 Participants Last post by ChIck3n, Mar 17, 2009

ChIck3n

Discussion Starter · Mar 16, 2009

Ok, I have Texas Wireless internet. They have been OK for the past few months (except for dropped connection for a minute or so around once an hour), but recently seem to be blocking Steam, Xfire, and non steam games. They say that they don't block any ports or programs. I bypassed my router and connected to the internet directly and it still does not work. I can go to other places with my computer and it works fine. I don't see how it can be me, and they say it is not them...:swearing: Firefox, windows update, and oddly enough windows live messenger all work fine. Xfire gets online once every 50 or so login attempts, but has like 30 sec latency. COD4 detected a few servers, but they had like 10,000 ping.

All I know about how this works is that I have an antenna on my roof which gets a wireless signal from a tower. Could there be something wrong with my antenna that would cause it to block some things but not others? Other people that have this service seem to be able to game just fine.

I had a similar problem before (same programs blocked) and changing my router's MAC address fixed it. That does not work now.

All I want is to be able to play my games! Anyone have any input?

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gonX

· #2 · Mar 16, 2009

Try running a port scan on every port from 1-65535, post which ones are closed/stealthed

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Skullzaflare

· #3 · Mar 16, 2009

wireless ISP's actually are a series of routers together
you are no where near connected to the internet directly, yo uand everyone in your area use the same IP

ask your ISP is there is another tower around you and if so if they can put you on that one instead

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Asus Mobile

· #4 · Mar 16, 2009

Do an Internet speed test.

I don't think it is your Internet connection. I suspect antivirus or firewall or something else.

Try speedtest.net?

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xxicrimsonixx

· #5 · Mar 16, 2009

Probably anti-virus. I dont think that an ISP can block programs on your computer, I am pretty sure that it is with you. Check ports and check anti-virus on your computer like everyone else suggested. If not, try and reinstall steam and see if that works.

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ChIck3n

Discussion Starter · #6 · Mar 17, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by xxicrimsonixx

Well, the ISP does not block me from starting the programs, just them connecting to the internet (eg. I can start steam in offline mode). Also, if it were an antivirus problem, why would it work when I connect to a different service? I don't even turn my laptop off between the AP it works on and the one at my house. I tried my laptop as well as my desktop at home, both don't work. I find it strange that the exact same problem happens on 2 different computers that I use for different things.

Here is the speed test:

Um, I don't know why it says road runner business for the ISP...

Also, how do I run a port scan on every port from 1-65535? The scanning services I found online limited it to 500 ports, that could take a while

Skullzaflare, you made me think of something. Could a weak connection cause this? I had some really strong winds kick up about the same time this started happening. Could the antenna have been blown to where it is not pointing at the tower, but still have enough connection to browse the web?

I connected it directly to my desktop, which has no firewall installed, to make sure it was not the router. It still does not work.

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yawnbox

· #7 · Mar 17, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by gonX

Try running a port scan on every port from 1-65535, post which ones are closed/stealthed

that's actually illegal in some states if you don't have a PI license. (scanning networks that don't belong directly to you or to a private company that you work for.)

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Asus Mobile

· #8 · Mar 17, 2009

Your speeds suck? My wireless I piggy back on is over 5000kb/s I then connected my Sprint mobile? Over 2000 kb/s download.

Not sure if that is your problem but does not help.

OK you say some things work fine and "steam" does not? OK what bandwidth do these want? I mean Google needs little?

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ChIck3n

Discussion Starter · #9 · Mar 17, 2009

I don't think steam needs much to connect. These are basically the speeds I have had all along (the service I bought is 1Mbps). Also, Xfire (a chat program, which is also not working) worked fine when I had dial up. I don't get cell phone reception at my house, so I don't think I could switch to sprint service.

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