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Hi Anthony,

I typed a really long and detailed reply and it did not show up on checking.  So this time I’ll be brief.

Are there any newer drivers for the network hardware on the system?  If so please try a driver update.  That’s going to need a reboot.

If no drivers, please use device manager to locate and delete (not disable) the specific network hardware for the system.  Reboot and allow windows to re-detect the hardware and install drivers.

I’d suggest checking the routing table to see if more that one default route is showing if you are able to delete any multiple default routes and re-add just one it may be a temporary fix.

G

 

[36dups]

Hi Anthony,

Okay, sorry that the simple fix did not work.  I’m assuming that the “Unidentified Network” appeared when the access to the Internet was lost.  I can give you a few things to try but it’s a bit hit and miss, also note I’m assuming an IPv4 only system. I’m also assuming that other devices can use the local network to access the internet – you may need to use them to download files…

First check if the routing table is showing 2 default routes.  Do this with an admin CMD window and use the command:

<b>route print</b>

The resulting display has several sections, the first SHOULD be the list of interfaces Windows thinks it has and then at least one Route Table (IPv4 first then maybe IPv6).

On a normal system this should list at least one interface and only one default route identified in the table as destination and netmask as all zero’s in the IPv4 address. If the routing tables show more than 2 default routes you can delete them and re-install a single default route. You’ll need to record what the gateway is (your router IPv4 address) before you start and then use the command:

<b>route delete 0.0.0.0 netmask 0.0.0.0</b>

This will remove the default route, repeating in will delete the next default route.

To add a new default route use the command:

<b>route add 0.0.0.0 mask 0.0.0.0 gateway <i><IPv4 of router></i> IP metric 10 if <i><Interface number></i></b>

The correct interface number to use is the first number in the list of interfaces for the relevant hardware device on your system.

If replacing the route has an impact then Internet access will be working at this time. This is not a fix by the way.

Assuming this works then the H/W is fine it’s just Windows is mis-configured. A possible fix is to use the device manager to delete/remove the hardware device and then reboot and allow windows to re-detect and reload the default H/W drivers.

Please reboot after each different attempt just to see if there is a lasting change of networking behavoiur.

If there are newer or more specific H/W drivers available upgrading to these later drivers can also solve the problem.

It’s also possible that a total clearing of the Windows 7 network settings may resolve things. If you want to try then using an admin CMD session issue all of the following commands one at a time. This is a superset of the simple approach you’ve tried and may have no impact.

<b>ipconfig /release
netsh winsock reset
netsh int ip reset
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /registerdns
nbtstat -R
nbtstat -RR
netsh int tcp set heuristics disabled
netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled
netsh int tcp set global rss=enabled
ipconfig /renew
netsh int tcp show global</b>

Are you having fun yet?

Let me know how you go.

G
So if that

• This reply was modified 4 years, 5 months ago by 36dups. Reason: Formatting not correct

Hi Anthony

If Win7 is showing 2 networks connections and one is the dreaded “Unidentified Network” it may be all you need is a simple reset of the IP stack.  From an CMD window (run as Admin) issue the command:

netsh int ip reset c:\resetlog.txt

Then once this has completed please reboot the system and hopefully the local network problem will be resolved.  See how you go.

 

Okay. thanks for that. There is nothing in your network that would need a WPAD configuration so disabling the feature as suggested should not make any difference.  Wired makes WiFi a non-consideration.

A quick look and the Zyxel 3000z supports standard NAT and is not supposed to be acting as a proxy, so it’s not likely to be the cause.

CenturyLink are known to have be doing DNS hijacking, although that is unlikely to be requiring a WPAD configuration for that.

POP3 is not accessed via a HTTP stream, just straight packets to port 110 or 995 (normally).  WPAD is only used for routing connections via a proxy server (and mainly HTTP or HTTPS).

Do you have any idea as to how fast your connection is running.  If not have you tried a speed test from an external site, say OOKLA, to check if it’s running really slow?

Question?  What happens if you change the DNS servers from your ISP’s (or Modem’s) setting to say the google.com ones, 8.8.8.8 and/or 8.8.4.4  (the assumption is you are using IPv4).

See what that happens, sorry nothing shows obviously as a problem. 🙁

Hi @Jimsul, WPAD on a home network is not a normal situation.  Please would you give some more details on the network configuration at your end.  For instance are you running a Pi-Hole device or something more esoteric rather than a simple NAT via the ISP router.

Also, you refer to Outlook.  Is your email via an exchange server or IMAP/POP3?

This may help in finding what may be the issue.

 

@Paul-T, very true, hence the may.  If you are talking enterprise grade routers I agree.  Alas, most of the low end SOHO stuff not so much.  I’ve found that the Netgear stock Linux based firmwares to be overloaded with bells and whistles which can not be disabled and result in lower overall packet through-put.  If the OP is happy with the stock firmware then changes are not required, and that h/w should be good for 200Mbps speeds. 🙂

If your link to the internet link is rated at 200Mbps you are correct that you existing router is not up to the task.  Consider a more capable unit.  Say a Netgear AC1750 (R6700), which sports gigabit wired ports and 802.11ac WiFi.  It’s should just make it into the sub $100 price point you specified.  The WiFi speed is always quoted as “up to” because it is dependent on the environment, the speed tests in near perfect conditions are rarely reproduced in your home or office.

If you are looking to experiment you could deploy the same hardware with an aftermarket firmware, dd-wrt, which may improve the overall experience as it can get more out of the hardware.

Hi @Deany, if you want to do live synchronisation for outlook and not use a MS Exchange backend then you’ll need a third-party tool.  If the requirement is for centralised multi-device sync then have a look at Outlook CalDav sync:

https://caldavsynchronizer.org/

It’s able to sync the local outlook client with a range of CalDav and CardDav cloud based back-ends that would also facilitate the same data sync with your android device.

 

@ifubiok, if all you need is to do is print to a PDF rendition from any application then have a look at the PDFCreator Free tool.

https://www.pdfforge.org/pdfcreator/download

It should provide the required PDF assembly that is now a paid for feature in the Foxit offering.

@cybersar, a very real life warning to others to be vigilant.  From your description it would have made little difference with the selection of IMAP vs POP as with even using POP the attacker could still siphon off messages before the local client had downloaded them.  The necessity to poll for POP emails leaves a window of opportunity to capture the inbox message state and as each client has it’s own list of what email message have been unread there would be no traces except that in the POP server logs an entry showing the attacker accessing the account.

Unfortunately poor security hygiene is a problem for many, regardless of business size, and the choice of a less than secure password has at oft times been the downfall of many.  Both POP and IMAP current reliance on password based authentication makes 2FA a non starter. 🙁

@glnz with what your suggesting ti should work fine.

If you do not want to add the “@outlook” address you can elect to skip it when creating the account.  If you have 365 you can use the control panel mail applet to add the required accounts before event starting the outlook desktop application.  Using POP or IMAP as required for each account.

When you moved from Outlook Express did you migrate the emails over to an Outlook PST file?  If not it MAY be sensible do do so before decommissioning the XP boxen.  That way you can have the email history storage  as an Archive folder in the 365 (local to the new Win10 system only).

As long as any connected POP client is set to NOT remove the emails from the server the IMAP connected client will still see all of the emails.  If you set a single POP client to remove the messages after a delay then only the messages still on the server will be available to any IMAP client.  A workable solution as long as you do not starting moving messages into non-inbox server side folders using the IMAP client (as a POP client will never see these non-inbox folders).

The use of the Outlook client local rules and IMAP are compatible as @mn and @chris-b have noted.  The rule can select either a local folder or a folder that is available via IMAP.  That’s an all client side process.  If you are considering this then the same functions could be performed by server side add on (assuming the email service provider supports it).  It provides for a rich mail filtering process on the system that holds the mail store.  It really depends on the server side implementation but it’s agnostic to either POP or IMAP as the message retrieval process.  If your using a Linux based email server then Sieve is most likely available, an Exchange based mail system has a similar feature when using the Outlook client to setup rules.

The problem is that POP does not support folders so in real terms the use of Sieve is limited to accessing the mail store with IMAP (or using some web based direct mail store access mechanism).

@mn, mail store access via MAPI provides a whole new raft of possibilities for application developers but no so much for the end user.  Access to an Exchange server via IMAP for an Outlook client would work only for emails. Accessing the same system using MAPI would get ALL of the Exchange groupware features like calendaring, o-o-o replies, shared folders.  From the OP’s original text I did not think that MAPI was part of the desired mix, although it may be an option.

If I’m reading the TP-Link documents correctly the Deco M5 unit requires an external service provided by TP-Link for at least the initial setup.   So it’s required that internet access be via the Spectrum modem/router with a UTP cable to the first Deco.  The phone app communicates via the TP-Link servers to configure the first Deco device.  You noted that the unit was connected via the android app so it’s booting.

I assume you tried a simple hard reset of the Deco unit, it may help.  And swapping over to the other unit to see if it responds to setup attempt any differently.

I also assume there is no problem with either the phone’s or the Deco’s bluetooth systems.

Does the app show any indication that the device is connecting to the internet.  It should be part of the setup checks.

Once you get the first unit online you will need to change the working mode from “Router” to “Access Point” to retain the current modem/router.  It seems in Access Point mode most of the advanced feature are non-functional because the Deco is NOT the gateway to the internet for the local network.

You may want to disable any WiFi capacity on the modem router at that stage.

Then once setup the first unit as required add the other Deco unit later (assumes you get that far).

If you mean the open source DB Browser for SQLite:

https://sqlitebrowser.org/

The yes there is a portable and also ZIP only version.  But 300Kb not so much.

Maybe the default CLI tools will do?

https://www.sqlite.org/2020/sqlite-tools-win32-x86-3310100.zip

 

Cat by the tail.

Red herring

Cold feet

Bird brain (?)