MAJOR Networking Connection Problem. :(

[MichaelDBang]

Greetings,

I've been having this issue with Vista for over a year now. I just recently reformatted my machine AND bought a new PCI network card (I thought maybe the problem might be related to the onboard network port/driver) and the issue still persists.

This is a nasty one. My network connection simply cuts out at random times. By random I mean I'll be connected between 15 or so minutes to up to 2 or 3 days before the problem occurs. My network icon down in the task tray will show a yellow exclaimation with the message "limited network connectivity."

The only way to fix this is to reboot. What's worse is that there are no errors in thrown in any of the Event Viewer logs.

I'm hoping someone can direct me to a way of troubleshooting and fixing this problem.

I also VPN into work on a VPN connection, so I'm wondering if there might be a setting I'm overlooking.

Thank you for any assistance direction any of you can lend.

 

[SuperXero]

The yellow exclamation mark means your computer is phyically connected to the network but does not have internet accesss. This is usually a ISP problem or
This could be an ip address problem. Instead of rebooting go to the cmd prompt and type ipconfig /release and then type ipconfig /renew. It might give you an error if you are not an administrator. Let me know if this helps.

SuperXero

 

[MichaelDBang]

I have tried this in the past and I believe the commands just time out. I will try this the next time it happens and report here the exact result.

Thank you!
Michael

 

[SuperXero]

Alternatively you could try disabling your network connection and then re enabling it.

 

[mongooseza]

Hi there,

I installed Vista Ultimate x64 and SP1 last weekend. Since then I've also noticed a random disconnecting of the network. However I can still use chat programs, but browsers and network activity like copying fiels or multiplayer games all come to a halt. I thought it was my Router but realised that all the other machines were fine on the network. It's the same problem as the author of this topic but i've not found a solution yet.

I can disable and re-enable the connection then it works fine, but still it shouldn't be like that.

 

[MichaelDBang]

Mine problem is different. It just happened again this morning. I can release the connection, but /renew fails with the following message:

Windows IP Configuration
An error occurred while renewing interface Local Area Connection 4 : unable to c
ontact your DHCP server. Request has timed out.

If I try to ping my router:

Pinging 192.168.0.1 with 32 bytes of data:
PING: transmit failed, error code 1231.
PING: transmit failed, error code 1231.
PING: transmit failed, error code 1231.
PING: transmit failed, error code 1231.
Ping statistics for 192.168.0.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),

The only way to fix this is to reboot. Sometimes when I do reboot, Vista just hangs on "Logging Off..." I've left to go to the gym and come back an hour later on this message.

 

[SuperXero]

Check your DHCP Server/Router/Gateway for a setting called "LAN ANY IP" and set it to disabled.

SuperXero

 

[MichaelDBang]

This is the closest I found to that setting:

I'm beginning to suspect that this only happens when I'm VPN'd into work. So it appears that VPN is the culprit.

Also, while digging through my router, I found that the system time was not set, so licenses were set to expire in 2002. I've set the router to pull its time data from a NTP server (not sure why this isn't the default!). Perhaps there was a problem with timing and license expiration?

I've also tried disabling IPv6 with no luck.

 

[SuperXero]

Nope that's not it. That' s just DHCP. Maybe your router doesn't have that feature. Hopefully vpn is your culprit.

 

[MichaelDBang]

Hm. I now believe that the problem is related to my Zune. I only experience problems when I connect my Zune. What a mess.

 

[MichaelDBang]

Nope. Not the Zune. I'm beginning to suspect I'm going to have to find another forum to find the answer to this one.