Secondary by its nature is reliant on other users for most of its traffic and connection stability, as you can imagine you can't control what other users do or their stability, and it directly effects you as a secondary. That said its not impossible to stay connected as a secondary for many hours and even days. It's important to note here that disconnections on a semi regular basis are not uncommon or a reason to go making too many changes.
So, now if you think your having disconnections more often then you should be, here are some things to look at to try to resolve it.
Client Bug/Fakes
First of all if your noticing these disconnections happening in conjunction with other activities on the Network such as searching or getting a room list, there are two main causes of this both have one fix. Make sure your using the latest patch version of the Modified WinMX Group Patch.
Modified WinMX Group Patches
3.53 had a known bug that has been fixed in WinMX v3.54 beta 4, that is disconnections if your secondary, when you ask for a Chat Room List. The problem was with names that were not handled correctly by WinMX of Chat rooms. It's also been addressed in a patch that relieves this problem and that has been incorporated into the latest patches from the WinMX Group so adding this may help to resolve this if you want to stay with 3.53 version of WinMX.
The second reason for this type of disconnection is flooded search results and instability of the primary your connecting through because they are handling those search requests for several users. A flooded search request is loaded with fake files from the RIAA/MPAA companies and when a user makes a search that matches, tens of thousands of results flood in knocking the primary offline. This in turn would cause you to disconnect, even if you're not the one that asked for the search. Again upgrading to the latest patch from WinMX Group will address this as it prefers to connect you to other latest patch primary users. The latest patch blocks these companies from uploading and helps control this problem.
Another frequent cause of disconnections could be having one of these fake files in your Incompletes waiting for download. The best way to know for sure is to use the Clear Incompletes from your Transfers screen and reload them one at a time and watch them, if they seem to find hundreds of results that all time out then more then likely you have a fake file, and the Auto Find Sources setting is causing it to refind these bogus sources often enough to cause you to disconnect. Although, the WinMX Group Patch can keep this from happening to you on fresh downloads the older ones you have would need to be checked. If you find one of these files its best to delete it completely and find a new download.
Vista Users:
Recently we have seen yet another cause of frequent disconnections for Vista users on Secondary connection to WinMX, and when I say frequent, I mean sometimes every few seconds they will reconnect. The fix for this is the Vista version of the Modified WinMX Group Patch, which you can get from here:
Modified WinMX Group Patch Download
Sypware/Adware
The other reasons for frequent disconnection might seem to be more geared for the Dial Up users however, I have seen spyware, adware, and trojans cause folks to loose connection with WinMX. Especially if your on Dial Up but, I've seen it with both. Be sure you run scans regularly for these things and again if your finding this problem. If you need some advice about programs we recommend then have a look here:
Virus Removal Information
Set Up for 56k
Firewall Causing loss of Connection
Its very important that you have allowed WinMX in your firewalls to have permanent access to the Internet. Some firewalls such as Sygate for example, allow you to give temporary access and then later when it needs to communicate its not got the correct access. Be sure this is done properly, and if you need help with some firewalls look here:
Information on Configuring your Firewall
Firewalling.com for Other Firewalls
Help Configuring Routers/Modems for WinMX
Internet Problems Causing Disconnections
The last major cause of disconnection that I can think of is internet connection disconnecting momentarily as does with routers or modems. Make sure your firmware is up to date, and that you don't have any timers on your lease of Internal IP, you may have to check your manual for these settings. Most have a page that will allow you to set it to never run out, or you can set up a static ip.
How to Set Up a Static LAN IP
NOTE: People often get Static LAN IP confused with a Static WAN IP as can only be provided by your Internet Service Provider. If you have a Router or router-like Modem you CAN set a Static LAN IP.
If you need more information than provided here please visit the forum for help.
Secondary Problems Index
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