FrankO said:
With no regularity,rhyme, nor reason the twin monitor icon indicating the
internet connection is connected comes and goes. I am not sure if it
affects connectivity or not but wonder why the connection icon is either
there or not. When the icon shows up there is and internet connection
present in Network Connection window.
Is there anything beside checking the box to show icon when connected I
need to do?
It was the combination of the software for the WRT54GS and the WPC54GS. Once
both of these were uninstalled things started working as they should and a
whole lot smoother. Another culprit found and dealt with. There is software
often installed by your ISP called Motive Smartbridge that monitors and
sends info back to you ISP. I found all the files and entries in the
registry and removed all of the ones referencing Motive or Motive
Smartbridge. I also ran msconfig and unselected the startup for Motive
Smartbridge.
I also found that UPnP & SSDP would cause the icons in the Systray to not
properly load. Turn both features off, due to not needed to connect to the
router.
Problem: What does the 'Universal Plug and Play' option in do? Should I
instruct Windows to install it?
Possible Solution: Don't bother with it. It has no real use yet... here's a
run-down:
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) is a new standard for network devices (and
networked computers). It actually has nothing to do with what most people
think of as Plug and Play (or Pray). UPnP allows networked devices to
identify themselves and their services across a network without the usual
necessity of client computers loading hardware drivers. The idea is that any
computer that supports UPnP would be able to use a device on the same
network without installing drivers for that specific device. That's just one
example. UPnP has other features as well. Basically, UPnP is available (as
you have noticed) but there is no reason to enable it. There are very few
(actually I don't think there are any) devices that even support the
standard yet. The version of UPnP that comes with Windows doesn't even
support all the features that are defined in the UPnP specification...
Here's some more info if you're interested:
»support.microsoft.com/kb/q262458/
»
www.upnp.org/
I found that just "Stopping" those services isn't enough, they were back
after rebooting. To permanently halt UPnP & SSDP, go into msconfig/services
and uncheck UPnP & SSDP which disables them for good. This can be reversed
if you really need the services UPnP & SSDP.
I hope this helps others having the same problem.
