What have They done to my networking??? (Vista "n0tworking")

[Julian]

<sigh>

Everything was (mostly) OK until - I think - the most recent set of MS
updates (?last week - all installed OK) on this Vista HP laptop (on all the
time, rebooted maybe 1 a week... and not for a couple of days at least...)

There have been oddities but last night on returning home from a public wifi
location I couldn't connect to the internet... of course nothing had changed
on the home network (1Gb LAN - Private -to Thecus N5200 LAN port...(DHCP on)
WAN port connected to Netgear Wireless router; laptop wifi - Public -
connected to Netgear (DHCP on))

And FYI IPv6 has been off forever...

After much fiddling with settings, most of which seem to put everything back
as it was (except perh. NAT now OFF on the Netgear - thought the only reason
it was ON was because of the only "mostly OK" referred to above as that
resolved a previous problem...) everything is OK and I had internet with
*both* networks connected...

Today I return to the cafe wifi...(no reboot in between I hasten to add...)

a) Vista (still) seems unable to recognise that a change of Network
(different SSID etc. etc. etc.) should probably require new settings....but
it doesn't and connection remains stubbornly Local with the old (home) IP
address, gateway, etc.
b) "Diagnose" doesn't achieve anything useful
c) ipconfig /renew faills because Vista can't find the DHCP server... (is
there a friendlier UI method of telling Vista *just* to get new IP settings
without all the tedious and unhelpful "diagnosis"?)
c) ipconfig /all shows adapter STILL has the home IP address... disabling
and re-enabling, disconnecting/reconnecting, random *&^%ing around eventualy
brings it back to life and eventually a new IP address (and correct gateway
and DNS) obtained

Since I "moonlight" as the sysadmin for the cafe network I have also checked
the netgear settings - no problems, nothing changed...

Does *anybody* understand how vista networking is supposed to work/how it
actually works and if so can they explain all this???

....and finally, I had a bunch of network connections names, such as
"HomeNet" "HomeNet2" HomeNet3"... and last night managed to get rid of those
not in use, but today I can't find that functionality... where is it please?

and NB... Network and Sharing shows the cafe network as properly
characterised, whereas Network Connections still says "identifying" unless
manually refreshed... sheesh!

I am very, very, very - and increasingly - hacked off by this aspect of
Vista and would appreciate all assistance/commiserations...

Julian-I-am-contemplating-homicidal-stuff

 

[John]

I need the same answer.

Until Nov 07 I had no problem getting on to the free wifi at Albuquerque
Airport. In January suddenly (after Microsoft Update) I could no longer get
on.

My system hooks up to the wifi router ok because I can see other computers
in the area, but I get a DNS error if I try to access the internet. My
Windows Mobile iPAQ can get on with no problem.

The normal procedure at Albuquerque Airport is as follows: You try to
access the internet (for example msn.com) and instead you get the Airport
access page where you must agree to their terms and conditions. After
clicking "I Agree", you are redirected to the real internet. Somehow, the
latest Vista Updates have disrupted the ability to see the local Airport
access page.

Has anyone solved this problem?

 

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

We have seen some cases like this. Do you have update 933566? This post may
have help.

Can't access the Internet after ...Can't access the Internet after installed
Update ... After installed this update, you may be able to access FTP,
download and ping, but you may not be able ...
www.chicagotech.net/netforums/viewtopic.php?t=2243


--
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

 

[Julian]

I resolved some of my (network <g>) problems - I downloaded the Xirrus Wi-Fi
monitor and checked out the local area - turned out everybody was on the
same channel... reconfigured the cafe's router to an otherwise unused
channel and have not had a DHCP problem since...

The underlying issue is that Vista will say that a connection has been
made - but what it calls a "connection" remains unclear given that it
certainly hasn't received e.g. DHCP, and if it uses a default it certainly
won't find a DNS system... likewise I am fairly sure that it *used to* say a
connection had been established with a WEP device even if the key was
wrong... but that has probably been fixed by now (I hope).

ergo... update might be a coincidence - might just be new transmitters in
the vicinity...

 

[Chart]

I have the same problems with free public wi-fi in restaurants, airports,
etc. - can't connect to the internet. Vista says the connection is made to
the network, but only local. Diagnosis does absolutely nothing. I never had
this problem with XP. I'm very frustrated and as you know, MS won't answer
your questions!

 

[Julian]

Connection failure is most probably a DHCP failure, but the cause of that
failure may vary; it's not necessarily an OS problem but some changes in
Vista haven't helped (flaky IPv6 and IPv4 cohabitation for example - try
disabling IPv6 on ALL connections if not otherwise needed). Assuming then
that you have the DHCP client enabled for your wireless connection...

Any wifi monitor you can get hold of will help discriminate between channel
noise (too many networks too close together broadcasting on the same
channel) and other issues... such as, for example, certain incompatibilities
in the use of a DHCP Broadcast flag in Vista and certain routers (sorry,
can't remember the specifics) (other noise sources include microwave ovens
and domestic wireless/cordless telephones - though that may depend on region
specifics/frequency band allocation)

If you have wireless at a reliable location, e.g. at home, open a cmd window
and type "ipconfig /all |more" (|more just gives you one "window-full" at a
time - hit e.g. spacebar to get the next chunk)... make a note of especially
the IPv4 address, the Default Gateway, DHCP server and DNS addresses... If
you are happy to recofigure your home system you could set it up to be
deliberately non-standard so as to give you a better chance of spotting
changes that shouldn't but don't occur as a result of DHCP failure.

Then the next time at a problematic location repeat the above...

If the IP address is e.g. 169.xxx.xxx.xxx then Vista almost certainly didn't
get a new IP address; however it might be that your "home" subnet and
address are presently "compatible" with the new location (e.g. 255.255.255.0
and 192.168.1.x) and Vista hangs on to them thereby achieving a connection
of sorts, but probably Local only... but if the gateway address isn't set
properly you won't get internet access.

Until the channel number fix I found that though I knew my gateway address
at home was different from that at the cafe, despite being "connected" the
gateway address didn't change - that was the clue that pointed to DHCP
failure and then onto channel noise ... see if you can spot any changes that
should have but didn't occur.

HTH

Julian