Intermittent Limited or No Connectivity

[Lem]

I have a situation where sometimes -- but not always -- I get the
"Limited or No Connectivity" warning. Sometimes I can fix this by using
the "repair" connection button; smetimes it takes a power cycle; and
sometimes it takes a shutdown and wait for some period of time before
trying again.

I understand that a corrupt winsock and/or TCP/IP stack can cause this
message to occur, but I would have guessed that this sort of corruption
would cause a permanent problem -- not one that comes and goes. Before
I repair winsock, either with netsh winsock reset catalog or one of the
various winsock repair tools (which will then probably require
reinstallation of various apps), does the intermittent nature of this
error suggest that something other than a corrupt winsock and/or TCP/IP
stack? Should I start looking for problems with the cabling or the DHCP
server itself?

The "problem" pc has WinXPpro sp2. I haven't ever had to remove malware
from this PC (apparently one of the causes of a corrupt winsock). The
last time I got the warning, I restarted in safe mode and scanned with
the following and found no problems other than a few tracking cookies:
Norton a/v 2004 with uptodate defs; Spybot S&D latest version with
uptodate defs; and Ad-Aware latest version with uptodate defs.

The error occurs on a wired LAN (which has 2 other PCs that don't seem
to have connectivity problems and a third pc that seems to be on a dead
LAN connection) [this is in a small office -- not where I work -- that
has "limited or no" tech support; the LAN was installed several years
ago solely to share DSL access; as I recall, it uses a switch plus a PC
running some unknown application --WinRoute or WinGate??]

FWIW, at the same time the "problem" PC is connected via its on-board
NIC to the LAN, it also is connected via a Linksys WPC54g pci card
running in ad-hoc mode to a wireless printer (with built-in print
server). No connectivity problem has ever been observed when connecting
to a wireless (infrastructure) LAN via the WPC54g (i.e., away from the
LAN where the above problem happens).

 

[Chuck]

I have a situation where sometimes -- but not always -- I get the
"Limited or No Connectivity" warning. Sometimes I can fix this by using
the "repair" connection button; smetimes it takes a power cycle; and
sometimes it takes a shutdown and wait for some period of time before
trying again.

I understand that a corrupt winsock and/or TCP/IP stack can cause this
message to occur, but I would have guessed that this sort of corruption
would cause a permanent problem -- not one that comes and goes. Before
I repair winsock, either with netsh winsock reset catalog or one of the
various winsock repair tools (which will then probably require
reinstallation of various apps), does the intermittent nature of this
error suggest that something other than a corrupt winsock and/or TCP/IP
stack? Should I start looking for problems with the cabling or the DHCP
server itself?

The "problem" pc has WinXPpro sp2. I haven't ever had to remove malware
from this PC (apparently one of the causes of a corrupt winsock). The
last time I got the warning, I restarted in safe mode and scanned with
the following and found no problems other than a few tracking cookies:
Norton a/v 2004 with uptodate defs; Spybot S&D latest version with
uptodate defs; and Ad-Aware latest version with uptodate defs.

The error occurs on a wired LAN (which has 2 other PCs that don't seem
to have connectivity problems and a third pc that seems to be on a dead
LAN connection) [this is in a small office -- not where I work -- that
has "limited or no" tech support; the LAN was installed several years
ago solely to share DSL access; as I recall, it uses a switch plus a PC
running some unknown application --WinRoute or WinGate??]

FWIW, at the same time the "problem" PC is connected via its on-board
NIC to the LAN, it also is connected via a Linksys WPC54g pci card
running in ad-hoc mode to a wireless printer (with built-in print
server). No connectivity problem has ever been observed when connecting
to a wireless (infrastructure) LAN via the WPC54g (i.e., away from the
LAN where the above problem happens).

Lem,

The literal reason for "Limited or no connectivity" is that your computer is
setup for automatic address assignment, but it's not getting service from a DHCP
server. It's instead assigning itself an address, using APIPA:
<http://support.microsoft.com/?id=220874>

Lets start by looking at output from "ipconfig /all" on all computers. Read
this article, and linked articles, please:
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/troubleshooting-network-neighborhood.html#AskingForHelp>

 

[Lem]

I have a situation where sometimes -- but not always -- I get the
"Limited or No Connectivity" warning. Sometimes I can fix this by using
the "repair" connection button; smetimes it takes a power cycle; and
sometimes it takes a shutdown and wait for some period of time before
trying again.

I understand that a corrupt winsock and/or TCP/IP stack can cause this
message to occur, but I would have guessed that this sort of corruption
would cause a permanent problem -- not one that comes and goes. Before
I repair winsock, either with netsh winsock reset catalog or one of the
various winsock repair tools (which will then probably require
reinstallation of various apps), does the intermittent nature of this
error suggest that something other than a corrupt winsock and/or TCP/IP
stack? Should I start looking for problems with the cabling or the DHCP
server itself?

The "problem" pc has WinXPpro sp2. I haven't ever had to remove malware
from this PC (apparently one of the causes of a corrupt winsock). The
last time I got the warning, I restarted in safe mode and scanned with
the following and found no problems other than a few tracking cookies:
Norton a/v 2004 with uptodate defs; Spybot S&D latest version with
uptodate defs; and Ad-Aware latest version with uptodate defs.

The error occurs on a wired LAN (which has 2 other PCs that don't seem
to have connectivity problems and a third pc that seems to be on a dead
LAN connection) [this is in a small office -- not where I work -- that
has "limited or no" tech support; the LAN was installed several years
ago solely to share DSL access; as I recall, it uses a switch plus a PC
running some unknown application --WinRoute or WinGate??]

FWIW, at the same time the "problem" PC is connected via its on-board
NIC to the LAN, it also is connected via a Linksys WPC54g pci card
running in ad-hoc mode to a wireless printer (with built-in print
server). No connectivity problem has ever been observed when connecting
to a wireless (infrastructure) LAN via the WPC54g (i.e., away from the
LAN where the above problem happens).

Lem,

The literal reason for "Limited or no connectivity" is that your computer is
setup for automatic address assignment, but it's not getting service from a DHCP
server. It's instead assigning itself an address, using APIPA:
<http://support.microsoft.com/?id=220874>

Lets start by looking at output from "ipconfig /all" on all computers. Read
this article, and linked articles, please:
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/troubleshooting-network-neighborhood.html#AskingForHelp>

Chuck -- thanks for responding quickly. unfortunately, I won't be able to do the same. The
problem is at my wife's office (which I can only get to in the evenings) and, as I said, the
problem is intermittant. I'll try to get there tonight and run ipconfig /all on the various pcs
connected to their LAN. I did that last night, but of course I didn't write down the results. As
I recall, the addresses were 192.168.1.10x, but I don't remember all of the other details. The
"dead" connection that I mentioned in my original post is really dead (although it's plain to me
that whoever set it up intended that there be Internet access) -- the led on the RJ-45 socket is
not on and ipconfig doesn't give any response on that machine.

 

[Lem]

I have a situation where sometimes -- but not always -- I get the
"Limited or No Connectivity" warning. Sometimes I can fix this by using
the "repair" connection button; smetimes it takes a power cycle; and
sometimes it takes a shutdown and wait for some period of time before
trying again.

I understand that a corrupt winsock and/or TCP/IP stack can cause this
message to occur, but I would have guessed that this sort of corruption
would cause a permanent problem -- not one that comes and goes. Before
I repair winsock, either with netsh winsock reset catalog or one of the
various winsock repair tools (which will then probably require
reinstallation of various apps), does the intermittent nature of this
error suggest that something other than a corrupt winsock and/or TCP/IP
stack? Should I start looking for problems with the cabling or the DHCP
server itself?

The "problem" pc has WinXPpro sp2. I haven't ever had to remove malware

from this PC (apparently one of the causes of a corrupt winsock). The

last time I got the warning, I restarted in safe mode and scanned with
the following and found no problems other than a few tracking cookies:
Norton a/v 2004 with uptodate defs; Spybot S&D latest version with
uptodate defs; and Ad-Aware latest version with uptodate defs.

The error occurs on a wired LAN (which has 2 other PCs that don't seem
to have connectivity problems and a third pc that seems to be on a dead
LAN connection) [this is in a small office -- not where I work -- that
has "limited or no" tech support; the LAN was installed several years
ago solely to share DSL access; as I recall, it uses a switch plus a PC
running some unknown application --WinRoute or WinGate??]

FWIW, at the same time the "problem" PC is connected via its on-board
NIC to the LAN, it also is connected via a Linksys WPC54g pci card
running in ad-hoc mode to a wireless printer (with built-in print
server). No connectivity problem has ever been observed when connecting
to a wireless (infrastructure) LAN via the WPC54g (i.e., away from the
LAN where the above problem happens).

Lem,

The literal reason for "Limited or no connectivity" is that your computer is
setup for automatic address assignment, but it's not getting service from a DHCP
server. It's instead assigning itself an address, using APIPA:
<http://support.microsoft.com/?id=220874>

Lets start by looking at output from "ipconfig /all" on all computers. Read
this article, and linked articles, please:
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/troubleshooting-network-neighborhood.html#AskingForHelp>

OK. For what they're worth, following are the ipconfig /all reports from
all the computers on the LAN. Of course, the "limited or no
connectivity" problem did not occur tonight, so I'm not sure what, if
anything, this info will reveal. I guess I'll have to wait for the next
time the problem happens and do an ipconfig then. In summary, there are
4 computers: two that don't seem to have any problems, one that's on a
dead connection, and the laptop in question that has the intermittent
DHCP failure.

PC A; WinXP; seems to work OK with no problems:
Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : DFY5JZ61
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network
Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-11-11-E4-00-86
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.3
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, August 02, 2005
8:18:34 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, August 02, 2005
9:18:34 PM
**********************************************************************
PC B; Win ME; seems to work OK with no problems: (sorry -- this output
doesn't seem complete -- unless the fact that the "node type" is
"broadcast" has something to do with it. More likely, I didn't copy
everything)
Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . : DARIEN OFFICE
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
Node Type . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
NetBIOS Scope ID. . . . . . :
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . : No
NetBIOS Resolution Uses DNS : No

0 Ethernet adapter :

Description . . . . . . . . : CNet PRO200WL PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter

Physical Address. . . . . . : 00-80-AD-82-1B-D9
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
*****************************************************************
PC C; Win XP; dead connection -- LED is off at RJ-45 connector

Windows IP Configuration

**********************************************************************
"problem" pc; WinXPpro sp2; working tonight. I also have the WinXP
"automatic network diagnostic" output for the laptop, but that's an HTML
page, so I won't post it here unless you specifically ask for it.

Windows IP Configuration

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

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/100 SP Mobile
Combo Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-03-47-69-67-F5
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.104
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, August 02, 2005
8:52:29 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, August 02, 2005
9:52:29 PM

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Wireless-G Notebook Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-06-25-42-CB-0E
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration IP Address. . . : 169.254.173.4
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :