L
Limatho
I'm facing a nasty problem with my wireless network adapter for which
I haven't found an answer in any newsgroup so far.
So I'm desperately in need of a windows networking expert ...
The problem is that the wireless adapter works fine for a while but
Eventually it stops working. The Network Connection (in the system tray)
then shows "Wireless connection not available". The time it takes to stop
responding varies from 10 minutes up to a several hours.
Usually I have to reboot to get it working again. In a few cases
disabling/enabling the wireless device helps; however if this action fails
then XP hangs when trying to reboot (i.e. at least for a minute; I don't
have the patience to wait longer).
The configuration:
My computer is running Windows XP Pro, and is connected via a Linksys
wireless USB network adapter (WUSB11) to a server PC running Windows 2003
Server. I'm using this server PC to access the internet. The server is using
DHCP so the only thing I do is adding the server PC's IP address as a
gateway in my TCP/IP properties. Further I have an on-board NIC that has a
wired connection via a switch to another PC (so I'm on 2 workgroups).
I'm trying to debug this problem now for a while and I've noticed the following;
each time the connection drops two events show up in the event viewer:
First event ID: 8033 (The browser has forced an election on network
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{ED992D75- 15CC-4141-815E-BE9E1F848A9A} because a master
browser was stopped.)
After 5 seconds another event ID appears: 4202 (The system detected that
network adapter \DEVICE\TCPIP_{ED992D75-15CC-4141- 815E-BE9E1F848A9A} 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.).
So my basic questions are: why does this 4202 event follows the 8033 one ?
And how do I prevent it ?
Below are some things I already did to solve the problem.
I'm not really able to prevent browser service actions, because I do not own
the server PC. My guess is that because other PC's are joining the wireless
network there is obviously a need to elect a new master browser. Also IMHO
this event is not an error, just "regular" browser service architecture.
- Also I'm not (yet) convinced that the WLAN adapter is causing the problem (I
do have the latest firmware), because I also tried another brand WLAN adapter
that causes the same problem (at least the same behavior; I don't know if
the same events did show up).
- My wireless connection varies from "Poor" to "Very good", depending where I
locate my PC. But even with a "Very good" connection the problem exists.
- The problem also occurs on a clean Windows XP SP1 installation.
And on a clean Windows 2000 Pro SP4 installation ...
- It doesn't matter if I use a USB v1 or v2 port.
- It doesn't matter if I use static IP addresses i.s.o. DHCP.
- There is a thread on experts-exchange.com that looks similar to this problem
however it is not wireless ... so maybe I'd had the same problem on a wired
Network.
I appreciate any help ...
I haven't found an answer in any newsgroup so far.
So I'm desperately in need of a windows networking expert ...
The problem is that the wireless adapter works fine for a while but
Eventually it stops working. The Network Connection (in the system tray)
then shows "Wireless connection not available". The time it takes to stop
responding varies from 10 minutes up to a several hours.
Usually I have to reboot to get it working again. In a few cases
disabling/enabling the wireless device helps; however if this action fails
then XP hangs when trying to reboot (i.e. at least for a minute; I don't
have the patience to wait longer).
The configuration:
My computer is running Windows XP Pro, and is connected via a Linksys
wireless USB network adapter (WUSB11) to a server PC running Windows 2003
Server. I'm using this server PC to access the internet. The server is using
DHCP so the only thing I do is adding the server PC's IP address as a
gateway in my TCP/IP properties. Further I have an on-board NIC that has a
wired connection via a switch to another PC (so I'm on 2 workgroups).
I'm trying to debug this problem now for a while and I've noticed the following;
each time the connection drops two events show up in the event viewer:
First event ID: 8033 (The browser has forced an election on network
\Device\NetBT_Tcpip_{ED992D75- 15CC-4141-815E-BE9E1F848A9A} because a master
browser was stopped.)
After 5 seconds another event ID appears: 4202 (The system detected that
network adapter \DEVICE\TCPIP_{ED992D75-15CC-4141- 815E-BE9E1F848A9A} 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.).
So my basic questions are: why does this 4202 event follows the 8033 one ?
And how do I prevent it ?
Below are some things I already did to solve the problem.
I'm not really able to prevent browser service actions, because I do not own
the server PC. My guess is that because other PC's are joining the wireless
network there is obviously a need to elect a new master browser. Also IMHO
this event is not an error, just "regular" browser service architecture.
- Also I'm not (yet) convinced that the WLAN adapter is causing the problem (I
do have the latest firmware), because I also tried another brand WLAN adapter
that causes the same problem (at least the same behavior; I don't know if
the same events did show up).
- My wireless connection varies from "Poor" to "Very good", depending where I
locate my PC. But even with a "Very good" connection the problem exists.
- The problem also occurs on a clean Windows XP SP1 installation.
And on a clean Windows 2000 Pro SP4 installation ...
- It doesn't matter if I use a USB v1 or v2 port.
- It doesn't matter if I use static IP addresses i.s.o. DHCP.
- There is a thread on experts-exchange.com that looks similar to this problem
however it is not wireless ... so maybe I'd had the same problem on a wired
Network.
I appreciate any help ...