[edmacke]

I have 2 virtually identical Dell Vista laptops (details below), both bought about one month ago. One has a reliable connection to my wireless network, the other initially connects fine but then drops to "limited connectivity" almost daily.

On the problem laptop, everything will work fine, then my daughter goes to use it and the "internet is down". Looking at the laptop, I see it has "limited connectivity". Frick. It can see the network, and signal strength is "excellent". My wired desktop unit and the other wireless laptop work fine, so definitely seems like an issue with this laptop.

If I reboot, it will work fine... right up until the point that it doesn't again. Lather, rinse, repeat. I tried the Vista "fix my problem" wizard last night - I can't remember the exact steps it did but I know the first try didn't work (maybe releasing and renewing its IP addr from DHCP?), the second step worked... so hooray for that. But I don't want my daughter running the "fix my problem" wizard every 24 hours!

I've searched the forums and can't find any answers for the situation where the networking works, then doesn't, then does again.

Details:

• Router: Linksys WRT54G, WPA2, DHCP for 5 users w/ max expire time (7 days?)

• "Problem" Laptop: Dell Studio 15, Vista Home Premium. One month old.

• "Good" Laptop: Dell Inspiron 1525, Vista Home Premuim. One month old.

• Desktop: Dell XPS 400, XP w/ SP2, Linksys wired card

• Also have a Wii on wireless network, if it matters, soon to add an Xbox

• I don't have any 3rd party firewall (e.g. ZoneAlarm) so it's just whatever firewall Vista has by default - I haven't changed it. I did replace the standard Dell/McAfee A/V trial with SpySweeper AntiSpyware and AntiVirus.

[JohnWill]

When you first boot, then again when you have the problem, please post this.


Try these simple tests.

Hold the Windows key and press R, then type CMD (COMMAND for W98/WME) to open a command prompt:

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following commands one at a time, followed by the Enter key:

IPCONFIG /ALL

PING <computer_IP_address>

PING <default_gateway_address>

PING <dns_servers>

PING 206.190.60.37

PING yahoo.com

Right click in the command window and choose Select All, then hit Enter to copy the contents to the clipboard.
Paste the results in a message here.

<computer_IP_address> - The IP Address of your computer, obtained from the IPCONFIG command above.

<default_gateway_address> - The IP address of the Default Gateway, obtained from the IPCONFIG command above.

<dns_servers> - The IP address of the first (or only) address for DNS Servers, obtained from the IPCONFIG command above.

If you are on a machine with no network connection, use a floppy, USB disk, or a CD-RW disk to transfer a text file with the information to allow pasting it here.

[edmacke]

Update: I've got the "good" results... everything looks normal. I'm just waiting for it to break again, which of course it's not doing since it knows I'm watching it

I'll post good and bad as soon as it breaks again...

[JohnWill]

Just think, you might have to wait for years for a failure, problem solved!

[edmacke]

OK, it happened again. Listed below is the good, followed by the bad, IPCONFIG info.

I tried the Vista "diagnose" utility, and selected the "Reset Network Adapter". After a minute or so of watching the "repairing" progress bar, it came back with a message that it was unable to repair the problem since it wasn't getting a response from the router. However, without me doing a single thing, I could see the network window underneath saying "identifying..." and eventually it successfully re-connected to the network (while the "couldn't fix the problem" message was still up!).

One other thing to note: when I first did the IPCONFIG when it was broken, it looked like the DNS servers might have had IPv6 addresses. I went into networking and removed the IPv6 protocol from the adapter (thinking maybe it was breaking due to switching to IPv6, which my router doesn't support). After removing IPv6, I did another IPCONFIG, although nothing really changed and the laptop was still broken. It didn't start working until I did the "diagnose"...

*********************************************
Good state
*********************************************
\Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6001]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Kelsey>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Kelsey
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Dell Wireless 1397 WLAN Mini-Card
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-22-5F-52-1F-4D
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::394d:f2f7:64cb:d390%12(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.104(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, January 12, 2009 5:53:26 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, January 21, 2009 3:54:21 PM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom NetLink (TM) Gigabit Ethernet
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-22-19-DC-26-54
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 6:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{9820D610-803F-46CB-A6A9-DB403EB14
840}
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 7:

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. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:4137:9e50:84e:4d7:3f57:fe97(Prefer
red)
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::84e:4d7:3f57:fe97%10(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 11:

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

C:\Users\Kelsey>ping 192.168.1.104

Pinging 192.168.1.104 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.104: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.104: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.104: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.104: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.104:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 1ms, Average = 0ms

C:\Users\Kelsey>ping 192.168.1.1

Pinging 192.168.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=47ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 2ms, Maximum = 47ms, Average = 13ms

C:\Users\Kelsey>ping 208.67.222.222

Pinging 208.67.222.222 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 208.67.222.222: bytes=32 time=26ms TTL=56
Reply from 208.67.222.222: bytes=32 time=23ms TTL=56
Reply from 208.67.222.222: bytes=32 time=23ms TTL=56
Reply from 208.67.222.222: bytes=32 time=22ms TTL=56

Ping statistics for 208.67.222.222:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 22ms, Maximum = 26ms, Average = 23ms

C:\Users\Kelsey>ping 208.67.220.220

Pinging 208.67.220.220 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 208.67.220.220: bytes=32 time=22ms TTL=56
Reply from 208.67.220.220: bytes=32 time=22ms TTL=56
Reply from 208.67.220.220: bytes=32 time=23ms TTL=56
Reply from 208.67.220.220: bytes=32 time=48ms TTL=56

Ping statistics for 208.67.220.220:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 22ms, Maximum = 48ms, Average = 28ms

C:\Users\Kelsey>ping 206.190.60.37

Pinging 206.190.60.37 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 206.190.60.37: bytes=32 time=47ms TTL=53
Reply from 206.190.60.37: bytes=32 time=48ms TTL=53
Reply from 206.190.60.37: bytes=32 time=47ms TTL=53
Reply from 206.190.60.37: bytes=32 time=49ms TTL=53

Ping statistics for 206.190.60.37:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 47ms, Maximum = 49ms, Average = 47ms

C:\Users\Kelsey>ping yahoo.com

Pinging yahoo.com [206.190.60.37] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 206.190.60.37: bytes=32 time=53ms TTL=53
Reply from 206.190.60.37: bytes=32 time=49ms TTL=53
Reply from 206.190.60.37: bytes=32 time=50ms TTL=53
Reply from 206.190.60.37: bytes=32 time=48ms TTL=53

Ping statistics for 206.190.60.37:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 48ms, Maximum = 53ms, Average = 50ms

C:\Users\Kelsey>

************************************************************
Bad state (couldn't ping computer, DNS, or gateway since
no IP was listed for those)
************************************************************
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6001]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Kelsey>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Kelsey
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Dell Wireless 1397 WLAN Mini-Card
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-22-5F-52-1F-4D
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::394d:f2f7:64cb:d390%12(Preferred)
Autoconfiguration IPv4 Address. . : 169.254.211.144(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : fec0:0:0:ffff::1%1
fec0:0:0:ffff::2%1
fec0:0:0:ffff::3%1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom NetLink (TM) Gigabit Ethernet
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-22-19-DC-26-54
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 6:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{9820D610-803F-46CB-A6A9-DB403EB14
840}
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 7:

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

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 11:

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

C:\Users\Kelsey>ping 206.190.60.37

Pinging 206.190.60.37 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 206.190.60.37:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),

C:\Users\Kelsey>ping yahoo.com
Ping request could not find host yahoo.com. Please check the name and try again.


C:\Users\Kelsey>

**************************************************************
Continued bad state, but after IPv6 removed from adapter
**************************************************************
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6001]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Kelsey>ipconfig/all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Kelsey
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Dell Wireless 1397 WLAN Mini-Card
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-22-5F-52-1F-4D
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration IPv4 Address. . : 169.254.211.144(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom NetLink (TM) Gigabit Ethernet
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-22-19-DC-26-54
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 6:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{9820D610-803F-46CB-A6A9-DB403EB14
840}
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 7:

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

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 11:

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

C:\Users\Kelsey>ping 206.190.60.37

Pinging 206.190.60.37 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 206.190.60.37:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),

C:\Users\Kelsey>ping yahoo.com
Ping request could not find host yahoo.com. Please check the name and try again.


C:\Users\Kelsey>

[JohnWill]

Well, it appears that your router is not responding to DHCP requests. This could be malware on the computer, a defective NIC, or most likely, wireless interference.


Some things you can try here.

1. For wireless connections, change the channel on the router, I like channels 1, 6, and 11 in the US.
2. For wireless connections, try moving either the wireless router/AP or the wireless computer. Even a couple of feet will sometimes make a big difference.
3. Update the firmware to the latest version available on the manufacturer's site.
4. Reset the router to factory defaults and reconfigure.
5. Update the network drivers (wired and wireless) on your computer to the latest available.

Many times these measures will resolve a lot of intermittent issues.

[edmacke]

I have tried changing the router channel, but it's hard to tell how big a difference it made, if any. It still drops the connection from time to time.

I'm wondering if interference is the issue, since most of the time the laptop is within feet of the router, and rarely beyond the next room.

The firmware on the router is as recent as Linksys has (which, disgustingly, is several years old).

The laptop is brand new, so I would hope it has the most recent drivers, but I'll check Dell's website just to be sure.

Also, remember that I have another almost identical laptop that doesn't have a problem, despite being in the same conditions (same rooms, etc.)

If it is a DHCP issue, would I be better setting everything up with static IP @'s?

[JohnWill]

I really doubt this is a DHCP issue. Once DHCP has assigned the IP address, it's not in the picture until the lease is half expired when it wakes up again and requests a renewal. This is automatic, and in all the years I've been doing this, I've never seen the DHCP client have a problem with this protocol.

[edmacke]

Little confused: you said "it appears that your router is not responding to DHCP requests" but then later said "I really doubt this is a DHCP issue".

Regardless, I made a command decision and decided to make everything static instead of DHCP.

It's not like I'm dynamically adding and removing machines to my network - (actually, from a security standpoint I'd like to prevent such things), so I don't really need it - more like I was just too lazy to enter IP @'s for everybody.

As of now, it's been up and running for several days. Could be coincidence, could be removing IPv6? That's really all I've changed, other than changing the channel - which didn't seem to matter and is back to the original value of 11.

Also, just an update, below are all the things I've changed or checked.

1) Removed IPv6 support from network adapter.
2) Changed channels (currently 11). Hard to tell, but didn't seem to make any difference one way or the other.
3) Did not move router... doesn't seem a likely cause since laptops are usually line-of-sight to router within 20 feet or so.
4) Checked firmware is current
5) Checked network drivers are current
6) Did not reset / reconfigure router - this will be a last ditch effort.
7) As mentioned, switched from DHCP to static

[JohnWill]

I still doubt it's a DHCP client issue, the indication was that the DHCP client simply got no response to the DHCP request. That happens all the time for any number of reasons.

If it continues to work, I guess you have a solution.

[edmacke]

So are you thinking that it's not DHCP at all, or that it could/might be a DHCP issue but it's not a DHCP client issue?

We'll see if the changes continue to hold... If not, we can go from there...

[JohnWill]

DHCP is normally a very robust system, and it's extremely rare for it to fail.

About the only failure I've seen is something that prevents the DHCP Client service from running. If you find it's not running, check it's dependencies tab and see if those services are running that it depends on.

[edmacke]

What's confusing me is your initial reply of "...it appears that your router is not responding to DHCP requests", but then your later reply of "DHCP is normally a very robust system, and it's extremely rare for it to fail".

The DHCP client service should be running. Again, these are brand-new Dell Vista Home Premium laptops... I've barely had a chance to get them set up, certainly no time to go and disable the DHCP service (like I did one time with my desktop system then wondered for days why I couldn't get an IP address when I went from static to DHCP )

[JohnWill]

Well, the indications are that the server is not responding to a DHCP request. This is most frequently simply a problem of connectivity between the server and the client. If the server's DHCP is working for any machine, it should be working for all of them.

Did you actually check the DHCP client service? I know it "should" be running, but maybe something in the dependencies is screwed up and it's not. The indications are that it is running, usually you'll get an IP address of 0.0.0.0 if it's not running.

There's always the old standby of doing a stack reset, can't hurt here.


TCP/IP stack repair options for use with Windows Vista.

Start, Programs\Accessories and right click on Command Prompt, select "Run as Administrator" to open a command prompt.

In the command prompt window that opens, type type the following commands:

Reset WINSOCK entries to installation defaults: netsh winsock reset catalog

Reset IPv4 TCP/IP stack to installation defaults. netsh int ipv4 reset reset.log

Reset IPv6 TCP/IP stack to installation defaults. netsh int ipv6 reset reset.log

Reboot the machine.

[edmacke]

Gotcha.

No, I didn't think to check the DHCP service when it failed last time. I "assumed" it was still running. Now that it's static, it shouldn't matter, but that's an excellent thing to keep in mind (I might go back to DHCP at some point).

So, question: let's say there was some interference between the laptop and router, such that DHCP wasn't working. If the laptop moves back in range, and the interference goes away, should things just start up working again, or is one of those things where once it's screwed up, it's screwed up until you reboot?

Also, is there any way to put the stack reset in a command file (and is a reboot really required)... maybe a bat file and create an icon with "run as" as administrator? My daughter is pretty young, so I'd like to give her an easy way to get her laptop up and running again.

BTW, thanks so much for your time and advice!!