Windows 7 Keep losing wireless Internet Access

[micdab]

Hi,
I have a very frustrating problem that i can't seem to find a solution to...


I have an ADSL modem connected to a Cisco E-1000 wifi router. I have two laptops (Windows Vista and 7), an iPad and two smart phones. The iPad and the phones connect without any problems at all and stay connected without interuption. But the two laptops keep losing internet access! They stay connected 10-15 minutes, then invariably lose internet access. I have to manually disconnect and reconnect again to get back on the net - but again, only for 10-15 minutes.


If anyone has a suggestion, I would greatly appreciate it. I've tried many things - changing the channel, playing with all sorts of parameters (as suggested by the online chat guy) - but to no avail.


Thanks in advance for any help,
mic

 

[Saltgrass]

Have your tried turning off all other devices beside one of the laptops? Maybe something is knocking you off.

Are you wireless signals good and would moving the laptop to another location guarantee a good signal?

You might get us a screenshot of the ipconfig /all readout when run in a command prompt. One when connected and one after being disconnected might help. Use the snipping tool to take the picture, edit as you wish in Paint, and attach using the paperclip on the Advanced Reply.

There are network troubleshooters that seem to help...If you follow them through, you may have the opportunity to see what was repaired.

 

[Trouble]

As Saltgrass has already suggested an example of
ipconfig /all
when the problem is present, as well as when everything is working (10-15 minutes) may give us an idea of what is going on, and the network troubleshooter as well.... If it suggests that you are having issues with DNS then it may be a result of mDNSresponder.exe, a product of either Bonjour (Apple/iTunes) or ##Id_String1.6844F930_1628_4223_B5CC_5BB94B879762## a product of Adobe Creative Suites software as well as a couple others.
You can check your services console;
click the start orb and type
services.msc
and hit enter
check (scroll as needed) for the presence of either Bonjour Service or ##Id_String1.6844F930_1628_4223_B5CC_5BB94B879762## if either or both are present, double click and set the startup type to disabled and click the stop button.
Regards
Randy

EDIT: You may also want to check the downloads section here Link Removed - Invalid URL and see if they have a new firmware update for your router. It may help

 

[micdab]

Hi Guys,
thanks for your answers. So let's see:

- i haven't tried turning off the other devices, i can try that. but if that's the case, then what could i do to fix the problem and still be able to use all the devices?

- the wireless signal is very good, i live in a small apartment

- i'm attaching a screenshot of ipconfig /all when everything's working and during the problem. the upper portion of the readout got cut off - is that a problem?

- i didn't find Bonjour or ##Id_String1.6844F930_1628_4223_B5CC_5BB94B879762## in the services console

Thanks again! I may just add that I've used this wireless router in the past without any problems at all. The problems came when I changed my ISP recently... i've set up the PPPoE exactly as they've specified so I don't understand why it's not working properly.
mic

 

[micdab]

oh yeah, and i did update the router firmware just recently.
regards,
-m

 

[Trouble]

Unfortunately both images have cut off the important stuff at the top.
Try this
Click the start orb and type
cmd
and hit enter
then type
ipconfig /all > desktop\ipconfig1.txt (ipconfig1.txt the name of the text file when it is working)
and
ipconfig /all > desktop\ipconfig2.txt (ipconfig2.txt the name of the text file when is is not working) or what ever you would like to name them to indicate the connection is up or down.
This will create two text files on your desktop with the names you have given them. You can zip them up and attach them to your next post.
Thanks
Randy

 

[Saltgrass]

Entered in error...misunderstood exactly what wasn't connecting.

 

[micdab]

Hi Randy,
Great - i was wondering how to save that into a file!
Here they are: ipconfig_up.txt and ipconfig_down.txt in the attached zip.

Thanks!
Regards,
mic

Unfortunately both images have cut off the important stuff at the top.
Try this
Click the start orb and type
cmd
and hit enter
then type
ipconfig /all > desktop\ipconfig1.txt (ipconfig1.txt the name of the text file when it is working)
and
ipconfig /all > desktop\ipconfig2.txt (ipconfig2.txt the name of the text file when is is not working) or what ever you would like to name them to indicate the connection is up or down.
This will create two text files on your desktop with the names you have given them. You can zip them up and attach them to your next post.
Thanks
Randy

 

[Drew]

Hi,

My 2 cents is this... here's my hunch, for what it's worth:

The problem is not in the 2 laptops. Contect the IP responsible for the modem & Support for the router. If, 2 machines are doing the same thing it's before them not them, both. The common denominator is not to different machines.

Drew

 

[micdab]

Hi Drew,
Thanks for the input.

What do you mean by "Connect the IP responsible for the modem & Support for the router"?

I also think that it must be possible to fix the problem upstream, ie. at the router level. Still, it must be a Windows-related problem, since the other devices (the phones and the ipad) don't get knocked off, just the laptops... right?

Hi,

My 2 cents is this... here's my hunch, for what it's worth:

The problem is not in the 2 laptops. Contect the IP responsible for the modem & Support for the router. If, 2 machines are doing the same thing it's before them not them, both. The common denominator is not to different machines.

Drew

 

[Drew]

I mean contact Tech Support Help Desks @ both the router maker & the Internet Service Provider whose signal is connect to that (their) modem

Yes, I realise it's ok w/ Apple devices & not Windows. But, I see this affecting 2 different computers. If there were 2 & only 1 connected, the other has a problem... when it applys to both, I would not think both have a connection problem. But, might just be my twisted sense of logic. lol

Drew

 

[Saltgrass]

Just wondering why the DNS address (192.168.1.2) and Default Gateway address (192.168.1.1) are different.

I would probably use ncpa.cpl to disable the Ethernet and Bluetooth adapters, if you are not using them.

 

[Trouble]

Assuming you didn't make any mistakes regarding your text attachments, their is no difference between the two (up and down) ip addressing configurations.
The only thing confusing is that you seem to be getting IP addressing and default gateway information through 192.168.1.1 and yet your DNS server is 192.168.1.2, is there a second router on the network or our you using your own local DNS server for FQDN resolution?
My first recommendation would be to adjust that setting to reflect your ISP's DNS servers at least temporarily on the two problem PCs, at least temporarily to see if that resolves the issue.
You can test on one, either or both problem PCs
Click the start orb and type
ncpa.cpl
and hit enter
highlight and right click the problem adapter (Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection per your attachments) and choose properties
Uncheck the box next to Internet Protocol Version 6
Select Internet Protocol Version 4 and click the Properties button
Select the radio button that says "Use the following DNS server addressess:" and enter the following
Preferred DNS server: 195.186.1.110
Alternate DNS server: 195.186.1.111
OK your way back out of there and test results to see if problem persists.
You may also want to experiment by using what appears to be the second (primary or upstream) router 192.168.1.1 as the Preferred DNS server leaving the second Alternate DNS server Blank and see what that produces.
Keep us posted.
Regards
Randy

 

[micdab]

Hi Guys,
So the reason I'm using different IP addressing is that my ISP's modem's address is 192.168.1.1 and the guy at the ISP's help desk told me that in that case i should assign 192.168.1.2 to the wireless router to avoid conflicts. Should i go back to assigning them both ...1.1 ???

I disabled the IP protocol v.6 and assigned to v.4 the DNS addresses that Randy suggested. I'll let you know if it helps.

Saltgrass: not sure if it's a good idea to disable the Bluetooth and Ethernet adapters: i actually use Bluetooth quite a bit and the ethernet port too from time to time... do you think they might be interfering?

Thanks again and regards,
mic

 

[Trouble]

Hi Guys,
So the reason I'm using different IP addressing is that my ISP's modem's address is 192.168.1.1 and the guy at the ISP's help desk told me that in that case i should assign 192.168.1.2 to the wireless router to avoid conflicts. Should i go back to assigning them both ...1.1 ???

I disabled the IP protocol v.6 and assigned to v.4 the DNS addresses that Randy suggested. I'll let you know if it helps.

Saltgrass: not sure if it's a good idea to disable the Bluetooth and Ethernet adapters: i actually use Bluetooth quite a bit and the ethernet port too from time to time... do you think they might be interfering?

Thanks again and regards,
mic

Answer to first question is a very firm NO.
No two network nodes can have the same IP address. But you should probably be using the upstream router as your preferred DNS server for FQDN resolution.
And as for disabling devices that may potentially be causing some conflicts, it is easily done and then un-done just temporarily for testing purpose to advance the diagnostic process.

EDIT: And just so we do not get to far afield chasing a DNS issue that may not be a DNS issue, Can you test...
when the problem is present and you can not seemingly connect to the internet.
Open a browser and copy and paste or type this
209.85.145.105
into the URL address bar at the top of the browser page and hit enter and tell us if the default Goggle pages comes up?

 

[Drew]

Instead of assigning things, set it to Auto Find

 

[Snake]

Hi Guys,
- the wireless signal is very good, i live in a small apartment

Might want to try changing the channel on your wireless router. Someone else is wifi could be interfering with yours.

 

[Saltgrass]

My thinking was the number of Tunnel 6to 4 adapters would seem to indicate something is searching, or using new connections rather that using the previous ones. Trouble's suggestion of turning off the IPv6 might solve that problem, I suppose we will see, but as Trouble mentions, it is easy to disable and enable.

What do you use the Bluetooth for, audio devices and some phones? I have Bluetooth, but nothing that uses a network adapter.

Since you assigned a different IP address to the router, you did not change its LAN address, but I do see where you might have added it into the static DNS server addresses.

 

[micdab]

Guys,
Thanks so much for all the help.

SO: It looks like disabling IPv6 helped: I’ve been on-line for about 2 hours now without getting knocked off! I’m off to bed now (I’m on European time) but I’ll keep you posted tomorrow. If the problem persists, I’ll try Trouble’s suggestion about typing 209.85.145.105 when I get knocked off.

Just in case: how do I make sure that the upstream modem is used as the preferred DNS server for FQDN resolution?

As far as channels are concerned, I chose Channel 9, 20 MHz width. And regarding Bluetooth: I use it to transfer files to my phones and also to connect to the internet through my phone’s 3G when I’m on the train.

Regards,
m

UPDATE, following day: well, so far everything's OK! I'll repost again tomorrow. So it seems it was disabling IPv6 that did the trick, though I wonder why that worked?