repost - Intermittent DHCP failure?

[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; sometimes 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 requir
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).

Following are ipconfig /all dumps from the 4 pcs on the LAN. Naturally,
the problem didn't occur when I did this, but perhaps there's some
information that can shed light on it:

PC A; WinXP sp2; 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:

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
IP Address. . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.2
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
Primary WINS Server . . . . :
Secondary WINS Server . . . :
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . : 08 03 05 11:16:07 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . : 08 04 05 12:16:07 AM

1 Ethernet adapter :

Description . . . . . . . . : PPP Adapter.
Physical Address. . . . . . : 44-45-53-54-00-00
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . :
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
Primary WINS Server . . . . :
Secondary WINS Server . . . :
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . :
Lease Expires . . . . . . . :
*****************************************************************
PC C; Win XP sp2; 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 . . . . . . . . . :

 

[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; sometimes 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 requir
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).

Following are ipconfig /all dumps from the 4 pcs on the LAN. Naturally,
the problem didn't occur when I did this, but perhaps there's some
information that can shed light on it:

"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 . . . . . . . . . :

Lem,

When you get the "Limited or No Connectivity" warning, how do you know which LAN
it applies to? If you have a computer with 2 network adapters, and one is an
ad-hoc network (with no DHCP server), that's set to use DHCP anyway, that could
be causing the warning.

Try manually setting the ip address on the Laptop Wireless-G Notebook Adapter,
and on the wireless printer. Don't use DHCP unless there's a reasonable
possibility that it will be used properly. APIPA is like insurance, you can use
it but you shouldn't unless you really need to.

 

[Peter Adler]

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; sometimes 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 requir
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).

Following are ipconfig /all dumps from the 4 pcs on the LAN. Naturally,
the problem didn't occur when I did this, but perhaps there's some
information that can shed light on it:

"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 . . . . . . . . . :

Lem,

When you get the "Limited or No Connectivity" warning, how do you know which LAN
it applies to? If you have a computer with 2 network adapters, and one is an
ad-hoc network (with no DHCP server), that's set to use DHCP anyway, that could
be causing the warning.

Try manually setting the ip address on the Laptop Wireless-G Notebook Adapter,
and on the wireless printer. Don't use DHCP unless there's a reasonable
possibility that it will be used properly. APIPA is like insurance, you can use
it but you shouldn't unless you really need to.

Chuck:
The warning appears in the system notification area next to the symbol that
indicates that the wireless connection is active and connected. Moreover, Internet
connectivity is lost when the warning is displayed. It's pretty clear that the LAN
with the problem is the ethernet connection that ultimately goes to the Internet,
and not the wireless connection that goes to the printer.

With respect to setting fixed IP addresses for the printer and the notebook adapter,
will this cause problems when the laptop is used in a (different)
infrastructure-mode wireless network, where DHCP is enabled? In other words, in a
network that does have a DHCP server, can you have some nodes that have fixed IP
addresses -- as long as they are in the same subnet and you're reasonably sure that
they won't duplicate an address assigned by the DHCP server? That is, when picking
fixed IP addresses for the printer and the wireless adapter, I should probably make
sure that they are not likely to be duplicated either by the DHCP server on the
ethernet network in the office or by the DHCP server on the wireless network at
home.

 

[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; sometimes 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 requir
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).

Following are ipconfig /all dumps from the 4 pcs on the LAN. Naturally,
the problem didn't occur when I did this, but perhaps there's some
information that can shed light on it:

"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 . . . . . . . . . :

Lem,

When you get the "Limited or No Connectivity" warning, how do you know which LAN
it applies to? If you have a computer with 2 network adapters, and one is an
ad-hoc network (with no DHCP server), that's set to use DHCP anyway, that could
be causing the warning.

Try manually setting the ip address on the Laptop Wireless-G Notebook Adapter,
and on the wireless printer. Don't use DHCP unless there's a reasonable
possibility that it will be used properly. APIPA is like insurance, you can use
it but you shouldn't unless you really need to.

Chuck:
The warning appears in the system notification area next to the symbol that
indicates that the wireless connection is active and connected. Moreover, Internet
connectivity is lost when the warning is displayed. It's pretty clear that the LAN
with the problem is the ethernet connection that ultimately goes to the Internet,
and not the wireless connection that goes to the printer.

With respect to setting fixed IP addresses for the printer and the notebook adapter,
will this cause problems when the laptop is used in a (different)
infrastructure-mode wireless network, where DHCP is enabled? In other words, in a
network that does have a DHCP server, can you have some nodes that have fixed IP
addresses -- as long as they are in the same subnet and you're reasonably sure that
they won't duplicate an address assigned by the DHCP server? That is, when picking
fixed IP addresses for the printer and the wireless adapter, I should probably make
sure that they are not likely to be duplicated either by the DHCP server on the
ethernet network in the office or by the DHCP server on the wireless network at
home.

Peter,

Are you Lem?

Fortunately, you CAN have DHCP when available, and a fixed ip address (not
APIPA) when not. The Alternate setting will take care of you, and avoid the
APIPA notice.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/have-laptop-will-travel.html#IP>

So do you have any idea when you're losing connectivity? Maybe get PingPlotter
(free) from <http://www.pingplotter.com/>, and set it up to ping the printer,
and the router (192.168.1.254) simultaneously. See if there's a pattern.

 

[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; sometimes 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 requir
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).

Following are ipconfig /all dumps from the 4 pcs on the LAN. Naturally,
the problem didn't occur when I did this, but perhaps there's some
information that can shed light on it:


<SNIP>

"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 . . . . . . . . . :


Lem,

When you get the "Limited or No Connectivity" warning, how do you know which LAN
it applies to? If you have a computer with 2 network adapters, and one is an
ad-hoc network (with no DHCP server), that's set to use DHCP anyway, that could
be causing the warning.

Try manually setting the ip address on the Laptop Wireless-G Notebook Adapter,
and on the wireless printer. Don't use DHCP unless there's a reasonable
possibility that it will be used properly. APIPA is like insurance, you can use
it but you shouldn't unless you really need to.

Chuck:
The warning appears in the system notification area next to the symbol that
indicates that the wireless connection is active and connected. Moreover, Internet
connectivity is lost when the warning is displayed. It's pretty clear that the LAN
with the problem is the ethernet connection that ultimately goes to the Internet,
and not the wireless connection that goes to the printer.

With respect to setting fixed IP addresses for the printer and the notebook adapter,
will this cause problems when the laptop is used in a (different)
infrastructure-mode wireless network, where DHCP is enabled? In other words, in a
network that does have a DHCP server, can you have some nodes that have fixed IP
addresses -- as long as they are in the same subnet and you're reasonably sure that
they won't duplicate an address assigned by the DHCP server? That is, when picking
fixed IP addresses for the printer and the wireless adapter, I should probably make
sure that they are not likely to be duplicated either by the DHCP server on the
ethernet network in the office or by the DHCP server on the wireless network at
home.

Peter,

Are you Lem?

Fortunately, you CAN have DHCP when available, and a fixed ip address (not
APIPA) when not. The Alternate setting will take care of you, and avoid the
APIPA notice.
<http://nitecruzr.blogspot.com/2005/05/have-laptop-will-travel.html#IP>

So do you have any idea when you're losing connectivity? Maybe get PingPlotter
(free) from <http://www.pingplotter.com/>, and set it up to ping the printer,
and the router (192.168.1.254) simultaneously. See if there's a pattern.

That's what happens when you're using an old e-mail client where you have to change
identity manually. Oh well, another round of spam at my regular email address.

I'll try ping plotter. The whole thing is made more difficult because this is my wife's
laptop, so if I'm to get any sort of diagnostic info I'll have to set things up to run
pretty automatically.