"Limited or no connectivity" problem

[Randy Brook]

Win XP Home, dLink cable modem and dLink wireless router. Dell desktop
connected via Ethernet to router. One other machine connected via
wireless. That machine works fine.

This problem just started last week on the wired desktop. All of a
sudden, I'm seeing a "Limited or no connectivity" error message on the
system tray.

If I plug the desktop cable directly into the cable modem, it acquires
an IP address as well as DNS info, and connects to the internet
normally.

The desktop IP properties are set to acquire an IP address
automatically, and this is working when connected to the cable modem.

Other things I've tried:

1. For testing, I connected a laptop to the router via the same
Ethernet cable the desktop was using. The laptop works fine this way,
as it does with a wireless connection.

2. I've tried swapping cables. I don't see anything blocked on the
router.

3. I've powered down the modem, router, and desktop several times.

4. I don't see any odd settings on the router.

5. I've looked at other threads. One mentioned the "Limited or no
connectivity" problem, but said rebooting the router fixed it. It
didn't for me. Also, since a laptop will work correctly on a wired
connection to this router, I think that means the router is ok.

6. I've seen this problem reported elsewhere, but those reports refer
to a problem when SP2 was first installed. This doesn't apply here.
Also, as I said, the problem is only with connecting to the router,
not to the cable modem.

7. AVG 8 was running on this desktop when this started. I uninstalled
AVG and installed the free McAfee from Comcast. This made no
difference, as I expected since the Ethernet connection worked
normally when directly connected to the cable modem.. Similarly, I've
tried with Windows Firewall enabled and disabled.

8. One thing I did not try was giving the desktop a fixed IP address.
At the time of my testing the problem, it was the only PC connected
directly or by wireless, so there shouldn't have been any address
conflict.

9. I did not notice if SP3 had recently been installed. (This is a
friend's home network.) But again, the reported SP problem would block
any Ethernet connection, not just one to a router.

I'm baffled by this inconsistent behavior. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[Robert L. \(MS-MVP\)]

Have you checked if there is a new driver or firmware for the NIC and
router? Or this search result may help.
Troubleshooting limited or no connectivity
"This connection has limited or no connectivity. " "You might not be
able to access the Internet or some network resources" ...
www.chicagotech.net/troubleshooting/noconnectivity.htm


--
Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on
http://www.ChicagoTech.net
How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on
http://www.HowToNetworking.com

 

[Randy Brook]

No new drivers available. In any case, this seems unlikely as the
problem because: (1) Tthe router works fine with other computers, both
wired and wireless. (2) The problem computer works with a direct
connection to the cable modem and worked fine with the router until a
week or so ago.

I haven't yet tried one of the suggestions on the link you gave,
although I did see it before. It's Update for Windows XP Service Pack
2 (KB884020). The reason I didn't try it is that it's a 2004 fix for a
Win XP problem caused by SP2. I imagine that if this fix had been
needed, the problem computer wouldn't have had any internet connection
before. But I will try it.

Thanks.