Home Network Anomaly

Topic

New Reply

I have 3 laptops all connected to a 2WIRE (2701HGV-E Gateway) ADSL broadband modem connection in a Home/Office environment.
Each PC has a different OS (XP Professional, Vista Home Premium, & Home Premium). All the PC’s are connected to the 2Wire via a 5-port switch (not intelligent, simply a hub). The switch and the printer are directly connected to the 2Wire. All have Wireless capability. The XP is mostly unused and is thus off most off the time.

All was great until last Monday (and I have absolutely no idea why it started, i.e. what changed), when network connectivity became a complete nightmare. After much struggling with a mixed situation of Internet/lno internet access, local only connections, including being able to print or not, irrespective of whether connected via wireless or LAN cable and getting the ISP out (he left a very confused lad), my partner and I have discovered that if she starts up her Windows 7 PC connected to the LAN first (!!!) and then I start up my Vista PC, everything works as it should!

If either of our machines goes to sleep due to inactivity or the lid is closed, then we both have to restart the PC’s in the order mentioned. If we start them in the reverse order, I (on Vista) get full connection, i.e. both Internet and the ability to print and she gets only the ability to print or nothing, the network centre showing that she has Local only for both IPv4 and IPv6, her connection shows as Public with no option to change it to the Home or Work setting.

Any clues/suggesting/spells? Thanks.
Brian

Reply | Quote

Replies

I have 3 laptops all connected to a 2WIRE (2701HGV-E Gateway) ADSL broadband modem connection in a Home/Office environment.

All was great until last Monday (and I have absolutely no idea why it started, i.e. what changed), when network connectivity became a complete nightmare.

Any clues/suggesting/spells? Thanks.
Brian

Have you turned the 2WIRE router off and on again ?

Reply | Quote

Brian,

I think your problem is the same as this thread. Unfortunately we have been unable to get that one figured out either. I have spent some hours with the problem you describe and have not figured out exactly what causes it. I have got it to finally work in most cases by turning off IPV6, Link-Layer Topology Discovery Mapper I/O Driver and Link-Layer Topology Discovery Responder. This does disable “homegroup” and “network map”.

If you wish to test the above workaround, go into ‘Network and Sharing Center” and Click on “Local Area Connection” under “Connect or disconnect”. Go to “Properties” and the “Networking” tab.
Uncheck the items listed above.

On the one that I couldn’t make work, I finally had to replace the router

Reply | Quote

You might also check out this thread..

http://windows7forums.com/windows-7-networking/7408-fix-unidentified-network-no-internet-access.html

Reply | Quote

@gfamily – thanks, I have turned the 2Wire on and off a few times – and in fact the ISP replaced it and the problem persists.

@mercyh – thanks also – I have read through all the threads and so far only rebooting helps.
ipconfig /renew does nothing, SSID broadcast is switched on
I have unchecked IPv6 and the others to no avail
I have tried entering a fixed IP address with Subnet, but still I need to reboot.
and yet, while the wired connection is connected and not seeing the internet, I switch on wireless and VOILA! I am connected to the internet (and I can type this post!)

So far, my conclusion is – don’t try to fix it (‘cos it cannot be fixed), but live with the constant rebooting – scream! 🙁

Perhaps I need to create a new domain and move all the computers onto that – I will try that on the weekend – I have to get some work done sometime!
Thanks so far
Brian

Reply | Quote

Brian,

I see that you saw the solution on the other thread. There are a couple of ways to test this.

When you have the problem with no connection to the internet, open a command prompt. (type CMD in the search box and hit enter)

from the c: prompt first type

Code:

ping [url]www.google.com[/url]

. If you get a return the problem is not with your network, it is a browser issue.

IF the above fails (it will give four “request timed out” responses) type

Code:

ping 8.8.8.8

this is the ip address of one of google’s public dns servers. If this is successful after the first ping failed, the problem is almost sure to be DNS issues.

Reply | Quote

Brian,

I ran into this issue again last evening on a network where I am administrator for a small business. This network is 1-xp desktop, 1 Win7 laptop and 1 Win7 desktop. The Win7 desktop is the newest machine and about 4 days after install it began losing connection intermittently. Last night I went in and turned off the three items I recommended above. We had network connection but the network Icons all showed errors. I then went back in and turned on all but IPV6. It has been stable so far . I am running the following program on the machine.

http://www.colasoft.com/ping_tool/

We are running continuous pings on the following three targets:

Internet gateway (this is his router’s internal IP address, in his case 192.168.1.1) this tells us if we maintain connection to the local network.

http://www.google.com
(this target tells us if we have connection from the network to the internet and internet DNS is working properly. If this works and a browser does not load http://www.google.com we know the problem is with the browser) This is not quite a true test as once his computer has resolved DNS for http://www.google.com, the dns system could quit working properly and we still might be able to ping the domain with information stored in his local cache.

8.8.8.8 (this target tells us if we have connection to the internet but DNS is not resolving correctly.)

I have instructed him to leave the ping tool run on his taskbar and if he loses connection, he should call me and we can go over what we see.

Reply | Quote

I am still at the “SCREAM!!!” stage.
I have now disconnected the switch and now having wired connections for only the 2 PC’s, HP printer and a Buffalo 2 TB network storage box connected to the 4 ports of the 2Wire 2701 Broadband ADSL.
Even so, the situation persists.
If the HP Compaq Presario CQ45 with Vista Home Premium OS (#1) connects to the 2Wire via cable first, then it gets full Internet and local access.
However, the other PC with Windows 7 Home Premium (#2) can get no better than “local” on its wired connection, i.e. no Internet.
If #2 connects on cable first, it can get full Internet connection and so can #1, but only if started 2nd.
If there is any hiccup with #2, in order to reconnect it, the cable to #1 must be disconnected. After #2 has reconnected (on cable), #1 can be reconnected by activating the wireless connection.
If #2 is switched on after #1 starts on wireless, it can only get “local” access,
Go figure!
I would like to reset the Vista machine to its default network status – something must have changed somewhere where it becomes the “master” when connected by cable and no other PC’s, not even the XP machine, can get Internet when linked by cable at the same time – very strange indeed – it is a level of networking I don’t pretend to understand. It used to work perfectly – sigh!

Reply | Quote

Sounds a little like you have multiple DHCP servers running – the router should be the only DHCP server.
Can you run this DOS command on each machine when they work and when they don’t, then post the results?

Code:

ipconfig /all

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

HI Paul
I am attaching 4 word files showing the ipconfig /all – the 1st name indicates on which PC the ipconfig /all was captured
* Vista PC connected after Windows7 PC – full internet/network access on both
* Vista PC connected on wireless, Windows 7 PC connected on cable – full internet/network access on both
* Windows 7 PC connected before Vista PC – full internet/network access on both
* Windows 7 PC connected after Vista PC – no full internet/network access on W7 PC (full internet/network access on Vista PC)
Let me know if you need more.
Thanks in advance

Reply | Quote

Brian,

I only have Word 2000 and it won’t read the files. Would you mind re-posting just the text?
Use the Code tags on the site – highlight the text you want to include in the code tags, then click on the second last icon above the edit window. Click on “switch to full editor” below to preview the post.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

I am going to post the information from the three files that I consider pertinent.

From the first file:

Code:

C:UsersBrian_2>ipconfig /all
Windows IP Configuration
   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Brian-HP-PC
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : gateway.2wire.net
Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : gateway.2wire.net
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) WiFi Link 5100 AGN
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-21-5D-11-F3-D4
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::1d73:b981:9589:5877%13(Preferred)
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.64(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, 11 July, 2010 19:15:30
   Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, 18 July, 2010 19:15:34
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
   DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
   DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 285221213
   DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-10-37-E8-84-00-21-5D-11-F3-D4
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

From the third file:

Code:

C:UsersSueG>ipconfig /all
Windows IP Configuration
   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : hp-PC
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : localdomain
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : localdomain
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 70-5A-B6-92-94-6E
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::5863:27e1:32b2:f5b2%11(Preferred)
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.193.130(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, 11 July, 2010 8:47:46 PM
   Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, 11 July, 2010 9:17:46 PM
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
   DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.193.254
   DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 234890786
   DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-13-C4-55-B8-70-5A-B6-92-94-6E
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.193.1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

From the fourth file:

Code:

C:UsersSueG>ipconfig /all
Windows IP Configuration
   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : hp-PC
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : gateway.2wire.net
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : gateway.2wire.net
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 70-5A-B6-92-94-6E
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::5863:27e1:32b2:f5b2%11(Preferred)
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.6(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, 11 July, 2010 9:06:02 PM
   Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, 18 July, 2010 9:06:02 PM
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
   DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
   DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 234890786
   DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-13-C4-55-B8-70-5A-B6-92-94-6E
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

I would suspect that Internet Connection Sharing has been turned on on the Vista machine. Go into change adapter settings from Network and Sharing center and check the SHARING tab for each of your adapters.

see the following link: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Disable-ICS-Internet-Connection-Sharing

Reply | Quote

One other thing that is really strange

Why, if you are using DHCP with no reserved addresses, would the vista get 192.168.1.64 and the win7 gets 192.168.1.6? You state you only have three machines, can you give a list of ALL the devices on your network?

Reply | Quote

Also note that both 3rd and 4th machine have the same “Host name”, they need to be different.

And there is no “Default Gateway” listed for 3rd machine.

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

Reply | Quote

3rd and 4th are the same machine, but 3rd has no network because the IP address is a rather odd 192.168.193.130.
The correct DHCP Server is 192.168.1.254, which I assume is your router.
And what mercyh said!

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

PT was definitely right on the guess that there are 2 DHCP servers.

My suspicion is that ICS on the Vista is one of them, as the weird address and the problem shows up when the Vista is booted FIRST and then the 7 is brought online….

I would also be interested in the model # of the 5-port “switch”.

Reply | Quote

Thank you very much so far.

I will post the ipconfig /all for all 3 machines for both a working plus non-working state – I just need to make a hole in my work day to do so 🙂 – the Vista and XP PC’s take an age to reboot. The W7 PC is a 13 second switch off and a 17 second power up – what a pleasure….

In the meantime, I have checked all three PC’s, and none of them have ICS, i.e. sharing, enabled. I did not have to uncheck any of the tickboxes.
Sadly, I can confirm that the problem persisits notwithstanding.

In an attempt to remove the problem, I no longer use the switch – all the PC’s are now directly connected to the 2Wire Gateway Box. However, the switch is a powered, 5-port NETGEAR Fast Ethernet Switch FS605 v2

Reply | Quote

In an attempt to remove the problem, I no longer use the switch – all the PC’s are now directly connected to the 2Wire Gateway Box. However, the switch is a powered, 5-port NETGEAR Fast Ethernet Switch FS605 v2

Well this is not the problem. I thought it was possible you were using an old router as a switch and had not turned off DHCP.

Reply | Quote

It is possible that the Vista box has some other software that provides a DHCP server.
Try connecting the Vista and W7 box to just the switch, nothing else connected, then power up Vista, then W7. Post the results. Try all 3 machines….

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

Done! Only Switch connected to 2Wire. Printer and Storage device (Buffalo) and 3rd PC (XP Home Premuim) fully disconnected.
Only Vista and W7 PC’s connected to Switch. Vista PC started first, W7 2nd. Ipconfig /all on both. Then disconnect Ethernet and activate Wireless on both.
Results – OK for Vista PC for both Cable and Wireless, ZERO for W7 PC for both wired and Wireless when connected after Vista PC. OK for W7 PC on wired connection, but only if Vista Cable removed.
Note: In all instances where the is no connection, IP Address has 193 in the 3rd position instead of 1, eg 192.168.193.130 as compared to 192.168.1.64

Vista Home Premium PC
Connected first (Internet and Local networking OK) 15/7/2010
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6002]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:UsersBrian_2>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Brian-HP-PC
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : gateway.2wire.net

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection* 18:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Check Point Virtual Network Adapter For SecureClient
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 54-BB-F2-7D-A3-17
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : gateway.2wire.net
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) WiFi Link 5100 AGN
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-21-5D-11-F3-D4
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : gateway.2wire.net
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1E-EC-9D-4D-1B
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::31d2:1d53:ec8c:a299%12(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.65(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, 15 July, 2010 12:31:18
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, 22 July, 2010 12:31:17
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 201334508
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-10-37-E8-84-00-21-5D-11-F3-D4
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 12:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-00-54-55-4E-01
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:4137:9e76:2cb9:2daa:3f57:febe(Preferred)
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::2cb9:2daa:3f57:febe%14(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

C:UsersBrian_2>
—————————————————————————————————————————
Vista Home Premium PC
Connected first (Internet and Local networking OK) – then disconnected Ethernet and activated Wireless – (Internet and Local networking OK) 15/7/2010
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6002]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:UsersBrian_2>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Brian-HP-PC
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : gateway.2wire.net

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection* 18:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Check Point Virtual Network Adapter For SecureClient
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 54-BB-F2-7D-A3-17
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : gateway.2wire.net
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) WiFi Link 5100 AGN
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-21-5D-11-F3-D4
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::1d73:b981:9589:5877%13(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.64(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, 15 July, 2010 13:26:43
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, 22 July, 2010 13:26:44
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 285221213
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-10-37-E8-84-00-21-5D-11-F3-D4
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : gateway.2wire.net
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1E-EC-9D-4D-1B
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Bluetooth Network Connection:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-21-86-80-19-99
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 12:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-00-54-55-4E-01
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:4137:9e76:1c0d:2ef7:3f57:febf(Preferred)
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::1c0d:2ef7:3f57:febf%14(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

C:UsersBrian_2>
—————————————————————————————————————————–
W7 Home Premium PC
W7 PC connected 2nd – no Internet or Local networking
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7600]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:UsersSueG>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : hp-PC
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : localdomain

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : localdomain
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Atheros AR9285 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : C4-17-FE-53-75-AE
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : localdomain
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 70-5A-B6-92-94-6E
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::5863:27e1:32b2:f5b2%11(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.193.130(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, 15 July, 2010 12:53:41 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, 15 July, 2010 1:23:41 PM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.193.254
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 234890786
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-13-C4-55-B8-70-5A-B6-92-94-6E
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.193.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter isatap.localdomain:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : localdomain
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

C:UsersSueG>
—————————————————————————————————————
W7 Home Premium PC
W7 PC connected 2nd – no Internet or Local networking – then Ethernet cable unplugged and Wireless activated – still no Internet or Local networking
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7600]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:UsersSueG>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : hp-PC
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : localdomain

Ethernet adapter Bluetooth Network Connection:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-27-13-8E-F7-BB
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : localdomain
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Atheros AR9285 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : C4-17-FE-53-75-AE
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::540c:c432:d3aa:582c%12(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.193.131(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, 15 July, 2010 1:04:07 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, 15 July, 2010 1:34:07 PM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.193.254
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 301990783
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-13-C4-55-B8-70-5A-B6-92-94-6E
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.193.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : localdomain
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 70-5A-B6-92-94-6E
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.localdomain:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : localdomain
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.{4B69164F-FE23-46A4-9CD2-513EC5B27CE1}:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

C:UsersSueG>
——————————————————————————————————-
Then Vista PC cable unplugged, Wireless on W7 PC turned off and cable re-connected – full connection!

W7 PC
Vista PC cable disconnected, W7 PC Ethernet replaced after Wireless switched off – full connection restored!
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7600]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:UsersSueG>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : hp-PC
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : gateway.2wire.net

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : localdomain
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Atheros AR9285 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : C4-17-FE-53-75-AE
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : gateway.2wire.net
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 70-5A-B6-92-94-6E
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::5863:27e1:32b2:f5b2%11(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.6(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, 15 July, 2010 1:36:17 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, 22 July, 2010 1:36:17 PM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 234890786
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-13-C4-55-B8-70-5A-B6-92-94-6E
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter isatap.localdomain:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.gateway.2wire.net:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : gateway.2wire.net
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #3
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:cf2e:3096:302d:1c10:86f9:763d(Preferred)
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::302d:1c10:86f9:763d%15(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

C:UsersSueG>

Apologies for the long response, hope there are clues hidden in all the above. What still fail to undestand is why is worked well for months and then suddenly stopped.

Reply | Quote

Something new – I looked at theServices running and found that the VMware Software that is started at bootup on my Vista PC (which is needed for some software I demo and sell into the broadcast industry),
appears to have a DHCP Service running – could that be source of the problem?

Virtual Disk Provides management services for disks, volumes, file systems, and storage arrays. Manual Local System
VMware Authorization Service Authorization and authentication service for starting and accessing virtual machines Started Automatic Local System
VMware DHCP Service DHCP service for virtual networks Started Automatic Local System
VMware NAT Service Network address translation for virtual networks Started Automatic Local System
VMware Registration Service Remote access service for registration and management of virtual machines Started Automatic Local System
VMware Virtual Mount Manager Extended Started Automatic Local System

Reply | Quote

and if it is, how do I disable/stop it while at home, but enable it while I am on the road – the software I demo is on a separate hard drive. The VMware mimics the environment of a Windows 2003 Server, which acts as the server for the software program I demo from my laptop. I do not want to do something that stops my being able to do demos.

Early on in trying to solve this mystery by myself, I disabled the VMware Network Adaptor connection that shows in my Network Connections – it appears as Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection* 18 in the ipconfig /all lists. Needless to say, disabling it did not solve the problem.

Reply | Quote

and if it is, how do I disable/stop it while at home, but enable it while I am on the road – the software I demo is on a separate hard drive. The VMware mimics the environment of a Windows 2003 Server, which acts as the server for the software program I demo from my laptop. I do not want to do something that stops my being able to do demos.

Early on in trying to solve this mystery by myself, I disabled the VMware Network Adaptor connection that shows in my Network Connections – it appears as Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection* 18 in the ipconfig /all lists. Needless to say, disabling it did not solve the problem.

Can you give us an idea what this actually is? Does the Virtual MACHINE startup every time you boot this machine or are these just services that the VMware program is running? In other words, do you have a booted Server 2003 virtual machine running whenever the laptop is turned on?

What version and flavor of VMware do you have?

Do you have support from your business’ IT department to help you? It seems pretty clear that something has changed with either the VMware settings or the settings on the Server 2003 virtual machine.

There is a setting within VMware that tells it how to connect to the network through its virtual network adapter. The three settings in player are “bridged” (this makes the VM look just like another computer on the network), “NAT” (This makes the host computer act as a router to the VM with the host computer’s network connection as the “untrusted” or “WAN” connection and the VM’s network connection as the LAN connection.) and something like “local” (this creates a network only between the host computer and the VM. I would suspect that this is the correct setting for your situation.) There is also a “Not connected” option which I would use for troubleshooting……

Reply | Quote

It won’t be VMware, the DHCP server is internal to the VM network.

I notice that the “bad” DHCP server has an address of 162.168.193.254. We can find out what this is if you can list the MAC address.
1. Fire up the W7 PC so it has no internet.
2. Check the IP address is 192.168.193.xxx by typing ipconfig.
3. Run this command: ping 192.168.193.254
4. Run this command: arp -a 192.168.193.254
Post the output of the arp program.

Alternatively, disconnect the 2 wire from the switch, go through the start up process and see when you get a 192.168.193.xxx address.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

It won’t be VMware, the DHCP server is internal to the VM network.

Well it “might” be. If he actually has a booted Server 2003 VM running with DHCP enabled AND has his VMware connection setting to “Bridge” would that not make the 2003’s DHCP server available to the network?

Or am I in my usual confused state…….. ??

Reply | Quote

4. Run this command: arp -a 192.168.193.254

you could also use Zenmap (nmap) to scan your network and see if you could find what it is. Beware though, this utility is pretty techy and the more intense scans can bring a large network down because of the large amount of traffic it creates.

http://nmap.org/zenmap/

Reply | Quote

One word “Vista”.

Reply | Quote

If he actually has a booted Server 2003 VM running with DHCP enabled

That would be still not be the VMware DHCP providing IP addresses, but it might be a guest machine doing the work – although the guest is unlikely to fire up when VMware starts unless you changed the default behaviour.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

Following the 4 steps above – here are the results

W7 PC – on cable – no network
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7600]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:UsersSueG>ipconfig

Windows IP Configuration

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : localdomain
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::5863:27e1:32b2:f5b2%11
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.193.130
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

Tunnel adapter isatap.{B036FBF6-6688-408A-B461-6201B70ACD8A}:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Tunnel adapter isatap.localdomain:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : localdomain

Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

C:UsersSueG>ping 192.168.193.254

Pinging 192.168.193.254 with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 192.168.193.254:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),

C:UsersSueG>arp -a 192.168.193.254

Interface: 192.168.193.130 — 0xb
Internet Address Physical Address Type
192.168.193.254 00-50-56-fc-f3-f8 dynamic

C:UsersSueG>

Another strange thing – I booted up the Vista PC and neither the W7 PC or the XP PC could get Internet access (as usual), But …
if I simply unplug the cable and activate the Wireless connection on the Vista PC, I instantly get full internet access on that PC, and …
on rebooting the W7 PC and XP PC, they both get full Internet access. i.e. the strange IP address 192.168.193.xxx only occurs when the Vista PC is connected on cable, not when on Wireless!

To answer Mercyh’s earlier questions, I do not run the VMWare Server Console on bootup. I only do so when I need to demo the software I spoke of, so the VMWare software services are activated (as shown above), but the actual server is not running all the time. The VMWare Server Console version is 1.0.10 build 203137. I will need to fire up the full system to tell you what kind of bridging is in place, will do so sometime this weekend.

Thank you very much to all for your time, effort and patience so far.

Reply | Quote

That MAC address is indeed a VMware adapter. From your note above it seems VMware running on the Vista machine is providing a DHCP server either directly, or via a virtual machine that is running. You need to see if you have any virtual machines running and if so, turn them off. Next you need to disable the VMware DHCP service and see if that fixes the problem.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

This is terribly odd. I have a 7 machine that has VMware player, VMware server, Windows Virtual PC and Sun’s Virtual box all loaded. On bootup there are no Virtual machine services running from any of the above mentioned software. I am really afraid to make any more suggestions at this point as we may end up disabling something that needs to be running to perform the work function of demo’ing his software.

I am sure we could keep telling him what to turn off until it begins working but then he will have to figure out what to turn back on and what can be left off so both his home network and his work demo software work correctly. I am not comfortable working with this long distance……..(If I had my hands on the machine and could experiment I could maybe come up with a working combination)

I go back to my question above,

Do you have support from your company’s IT department? Can you tell them that you are seeing their VM install turning on a DHCP server that is messing up your network and see if they have a fix that will keep their software enabled?

VMware server has a somewhat difficult console to understand and I am suspicious that your company starts the Virtual Machine at bootup, I have no way of checking with out haveing my hands on the machine.

Was there any change or update in your demo software around the time this trouble started?

Reply | Quote

Good advice, thanks.
I have been told by the IT specialist (who agreed that ” something must have changed”) to simply uninstall VMWare, make sure the PC is clean of any and all references to it, and to re-install the VMWare. Then if the problem persists, then it is not VMWare. I will do so – probably breaking the now-functioning demo system in the process 🙂 !, but will test the network aspect before re-installing VMWare and again after. I will post the results to let you know.
Again, thanks so far for the advice/help.
Brian

Reply | Quote

IT WORKED – IT’S FIXED!!!!! YEEHAH!
I uninstalled VMware, tested the boot up with no network problems on any of the PC’s, i.e. started the Vista PC then the others. I then re-installed VMware and again no problems (it’s true, I did break the demo system and needed the IT people to come onto my machine remotely and “fix” it – it was also to do with IP issues in that the Hosts file needed updating after the re-install – I should have spotted that, but one lives and learns).
Thank you one and all for your patience, forebearance and advice. I am sorry that I seemed to have wasted your time with what turned out to be almost a non-problem, though it caused some havoc in my life. The manifestation belied the cause. I have no idea what changed or how it changed, but I am now much better armed for the future – I have read about extensively and now know so much more about networking and the difference between Vista and W7, and ICS and and and … THANK YOU VERY MUCH! Brian

As promised, here is the new ipconfig /all result (in this process, I have even learned how to do this copying directly from the DOS window!)

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6002]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:UsersBrian_2>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Brian-HP-PC
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : annova.de
gateway.2wire.net

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 3:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : VMware Virtual Ethernet Adapter for VMnet8
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-50-56-C0-00-08
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.224.1(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection* 18:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : annova.de
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Check Point Virtual Network Adapter For SecureClient
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 54-BB-F2-7D-A3-17
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::8dba:550e:b644:d4c9%16(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 172.16.15.21(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.240
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, 21 July, 2010 09:51:43
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, 5 September, 2010 16:58:21
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 172.16.15.17
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 592755698
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-10-37-E8-84-00-21-5D-11-F3-D4

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 172.16.17.100
172.16.17.101
Primary WINS Server . . . . . . . : 172.16.17.100
Secondary WINS Server . . . . . . : 172.16.17.101
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : gateway.2wire.net
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) WiFi Link 5100 AGN
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-21-5D-11-F3-D4
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : gateway.2wire.net
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1E-EC-9D-4D-1B
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::31d2:1d53:ec8c:a299%12(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.65(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, 21 July, 2010 09:21:54
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, 28 July, 2010 09:21:53
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 201334508
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-10-37-E8-84-00-21-5D-11-F3-D4

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 3:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : VMware Virtual Ethernet Adapter for VMnet1
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-50-56-C0-00-01
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::b87b:f85d:86a0:d0de%54(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.80.1(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 1073762390
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-10-37-E8-84-00-21-5D-11-F3-D4

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : fec0:0:0:ffff::1%1
fec0:0:0:ffff::2%1
fec0:0:0:ffff::3%1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 12:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-00-54-55-4E-01
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

C:UsersBrian_2>

Reply | Quote

Hey,

Glad you got it sorted. Some have likened networking to Black Magic. It is NOT. Networking is actually quite simple and intuitive in its basic forms, HOWEVER, there are about as many variables as the weather and things can be a teeny bit difficult to troubleshoot at times…

I would never consider a post like this a waste of time. I have learned another thing to check for when I go onto a customer’s site who is experiencing network problems of this sort.

Reply | Quote