I have been having problems with my Internet connection going down several times per day for almost 4 months now. I have talked to HP, Linksys (about my wireless-G USB adapter) and AT&T. They always say it's not their problem/equipment, etc. But last night, I had an AT&T tech tell me that AVG & Zone Alarm are incompatible with the AT&T modem software and that is why my Internet is crashing all the time.

Is this true or just another ploy to get me to use McAfee?

hogwash!

ANY A/V or Firewall product can interfere with access, but the actual connection is not under their control.

back to some basics:
First, what KIND of connection do you have to the ISP {Cable, DSL, Satellite}

Second, please list the make/model of all your network hardware
Modem:

Router(if any):

Your network card in the system:

I have DSL, with a 2WIRE692 modem. It is wireless using a Linksys Wireless-G USB adapter. I don't have any cards installed. I am running Vista Home Premium. My PC is only about 20-25 feet away from the modem.

I started using AVG and Zone Alarm in December or January. I started having trouble with my connection shutting down in mid January.

Each one of the companies, HP, AT&T (I even thought it was a Google problem) has said it's not them. Then two nights ago, a tech agent told me that AVG and Zone Alarm, or any third party software, is incompatible with AT&T modem software. I do not want McAfee (free from AT&T) or Norton because they make my system go slow.

I am sick to death of having to restart my system 25/day. It is annoying and time consuming. I just got 100ft of ethernet cable and will be hardwiring the modem to my PC to see if that works any better. But if it is an incompatibility problem with the software, I don't know what to do.

see this to find the right driver for the USB
http://www.nodevice.com/driver/company/Linksys.html
They all need updated software

they ALWAYS say that

Make sure that Zone Alarm is not enabled for the A/V Feature got to use only
one A/V

this should help *IF* the WiFi is at the root of the issue. Just be aware, that the ISP will and does refresh the connection
(it's just like a /release+/renew but initiated from their end) and frequently this causes issues. The good part is it is usually limited to ONCE/day.

Thank you, jobeard for the help. The driver link you gave me does not have my Wi-Fi adapter listed. I am now hard wired in and still having the same problems, although my surfing time is slightly increased.

I have been told by the AT&T techs that my problem is now an incompatibility issue between FF and my OS. I was told I need to use only IE if Vista is my OS. The AT&T tech told me to call MS, which I did and was nearly laughed at because this "theory" is so preposterous! They will not concede that it could actually be their equipment that is the problem. I turned off ZA firewall to see if I still have the issue, and I still do, although like I said earlier, my surfing time is slightly increased.

However, if I leave the ZA firewall on, I cannot get any pages to load no matter what browser I use. AT&T still maintains that ZA is incompatible with their modem/software. So now i need a firewall that is free and does not interfere with AT&T.

I have been having issues for 4 1/2 months! But it was fine from mid-July last year until mid-January this year. This saga will never end it seems.

the will say ANYTHING to move the focus from them to anything else. Firefox 2.* and 3.* are quiet happy with Windows, Mac OS X, and a great many of the Linux systems this is most likely to the protection rules, NOT ZA itself. Make sure that the Windows FW is not running.

I would suggest you install the latest ZA and use only the default rules and retest

• if it still fails, disable ZA and enable Windows FW
• if that works correctly, then the ZA rules need adjustments