Internet connection drops out sporadically?

[Fred_Flintstone]

Hi people..

Been having "glitches" with my wireless connection recently.
Desktop running XP Pro SP2
Netgear DGB111G Wireless router
IEEE802.11g Wireless LAN card

No recent changes/updates/installs etc, but every now and then the internet connection drops out!
This has been going on for the past week or so. Odd thing is, the "Wireless Network Connection" icon in taskbar still shows status as connected/ signal strength = good to very good... even "excellent" on times but browser will not connect.
Reboot and it comes back on and works fine ('till the next time of course)!!..

Looked in device manager..no apparent problems.
Looked in logs (Event Viewer) and got the error info below:

The system detected that network adapter \DEVICE\TCPIP_{3115C425-9D1B-47C5-B4DC-4A6CAB408421} was disconnected from the network, and the adapter's network configuration has been released. If the network adapter was not disconnected, this may indicate that it has malfunctioned. Please contact your vendor for updated drivers.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.


Any ideas??

Fred..

[mjc]

The first thing I would try is a new cable...just on the off chance that it has developed a loose wire.

[Fred_Flintstone]

The first thing I would try is a new cable...just on the off chance that it has developed a loose wire.

Hi mjc..:D
Router is connected ok and the other pc upstairs is connected ok..

Just this WiFi pc downstairs is giving problems!

Just discovered wifey has been "tidying" in here... moved the damn pc to "dust" behind it so is definitely a possibility that something got shook loose or something!..:mad:

Will strip out and reseat cards and stuff I think...
Thanks..;)

[mjc]

OK...then pay special attention to placement...even a couple of inches can put the wireless into a 'dead spot', especially if you've got cordless phones and such. Antennas being bumped and such...

[Fred_Flintstone]

Getting more and more puzzled by this!..:confused: :confused:

Log shows this now:

The master browser has received a server announcement from the computer LYNDA that believes that it is the master browser for the domain on transport NetBT_Tcpip_{3115C425-9D1B-47C5-B4D. The master browser is stopping or an election is being forced.


Mean anything to you??...:rolleyes:

[Variable]

This is a common message. When you have a workgroup of computers, i.e. several computers linked together that have the same Workgroup name, one computer is elected to act as the master browser, the master browser keeps a list of what shared folders and devices are on the network. The other machines, that are not Master browsers, use ask the Master Browser occasionally if the shares on the network have changed, this gives the computers an idea of what they should have in My Network Places for instance.

The problem is MS gives preferrence to who can be the Master Browser based on the OS. The most current OS has authority and server OS has even more authority. One XP machine in a room of Windows 98 computers will always be the browse master, add a 2003 server OS and it will be the new boss. Problem comes when you have 4 XP pro machines. They bicker amoung themselves as to, who the boss is.

If you have one machine you want to be the browse master you can stop the other machines from trying to become the boss. You do so in the registry thus:

Open regedit from command line and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Browser\Parameters
Look for the setting "MaintainServerList" and set it to No.

[Variable]

Sprry I double posted. Im such a newb.

[mjc]

Variable said it much better than I would have...I probably would have said something like the machines on the network can't decide which one is in charge. Accurate to a degree, but not a very helpful answer (and no, I don't work for MS writing error messages).

[jlreich]

I probably would have said something like the machines on the network can't decide which one is in charge. Accurate to a degree, but not a very helpful answer (and no, I don't work for MS writing error messages).
Hehehe... :D

[Variable]

:) MS error messages are getting better. The problem I see most often is that what triggers the event log entry is not necessarily indicative of the problem but simply a generic symptom. This may sound obvious but, the devil is in the details, and any one service has so many variables ;) and only so many error log messages or to put another way, the OS tries to do so many, many things that it may have to tag an issue with a generic error message that does not define the particular error well. Just look at eventid.net and look at the event ID and then the multitude of fixes for examples. It will not get any better, the OS's are getting more and more complicated and Vista, for example, will try to do even more things by default than XP. Linux only does a few things by default, you want to add functionality you have to configure it. Windows OS's out of the box, try to do everything a standard user might try. It is the swiss army knife of operating systems. Which equates to job security for people in IT - IMHO.

[mjc]

It is the swiss army knife of operating systems. Which equates to job security for people in IT - IMHO.

And some guaranteed sales for Tylenol...

[Fred_Flintstone]

If you have one machine you want to be the browse master you can stop the other machines from trying to become the boss. You do so in the registry thus:

Open regedit from command line and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Browser\Parameters
Look for the setting "MaintainServerList" and set it to No.

Have changed the reg key value as suggested..:)
Will keep you posted..

Thanks a lot for the info guys..;)

[Fred_Flintstone]

Well..have tried the above..still got the problem!..:confused:

Have stripped the "network" down now.. got 1 pc (this one of course)!!..:D
connected to the router (WiFi)...
Should be no conflicts from now on... 1 pc.. 1 router..1 internet connection??

Noticed..error logs etc..

EventType mptelemetry, P1 8024402c, P2 endsearch, P3 search, P4 1.1.1593.0, P5 mpsigdwn.dll, P6 1.1.1593.0, P7 windows defender, P8 NIL, P9 NIL, P10 NIL.


Any thoughts?/

:mad:

[Variable]

Fixing the master browser problem was not a fix for the wireless dropping. It is unrelated.

Windows Defender is a legitimate program. If your signal drops this dll may be responsible for downloading updates and complain that it cannot connect, hard to say. If you think it could be the problem disable Windows Defender and see if the problem abates.

Looking at the first error you posted it sounds like the signal dropped, the machine dropped it's DHCP lease, the connection came back and the machine never received another DHCP address, probably because the router shows the DHCP lease for your wireless card is still in use. The router keeps a list of MAC addresses and a corresponding DHCP assigned IP address. It will not renew the IP address until the DHCP lease ends (usually 24 hours), the machine reboots or you manually release the IP address and renew. When the signal drops again go to a command line Start, Run, type CMD and hit enter. Type ipconfig /release and then ipconfig /renew. See if you can browse. You can also try disabling the wirless connection and the enabling, by right clicking it from Network Connections and click disable and then again to enable.

Generally:
Signal drop outs or disconnections are usually not software related with a few caveats, if your TCP/IP stack is corrupt or security software is blocking connection. If you see the event viewer message in your first post, with no corresponding event from another piece of software, (like a firewall) I would look at hardware issues/interference; looking for a software problem in the event viewer could be a red herring. Hardware related problems can pop off out of the blue. They sometimes cause miscellaneous errors depending on what software is running. You cannot always go by what error messages pop up because they are simply the resultant errors from a cascade affect of a something else failing.

Disable any software that you think may be causing an issue. Check the services and stop any service related to the software. You may want to jot down what you disable :)

If the problem persists it is probably a hardware problem. If it was signal interference that is intermittent, I wouldn’t think rebooting would fix it unless, your router is set to auto switch channels. A wireless connection that drops tries to reconnect automatically (or should.) If it cannot reconnect or doesn’t try I would try another NIC.

[Fred_Flintstone]

Hi Variable..

Well, whatever it was..system restored back 2 weeks and it is now sorted!
Can't think of anything I have changed on my system in that time.. but what the hell....:rolleyes:

It worked and that's what matters in the end eh??..:D

Thanks again to everyone for the help..;)