Wireless card IP and DNS is getting reset

[jonathanztaub]

I recently bought a D-Link dsl-2640b wireless router with built in
modem and have a Windows XP.
It is currently configured properly and I am able to access the
internet without any problem using *wired* access.
The problem is with wireless access and I think I found a clue.
It appears that I cannot access the *internet* with the wireless card.
When shutting it off and connecting using *wired* access, I have no
problem.
Now here is the thing - when I disconnect the wire and activate my
wireless card again, I'm able to access the internet for a few minutes
before internet access dies. I am still able to connect to the router
wirelessly though.
I can repeat this process again and again.

Running ipconfig /all when I have *wired* access or immediately when I
switch to wireless I get the following:

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless
3945ABG Network Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-18-DE-09-C4-D4
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 76.250.11.178
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 76.250.11.178
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 68.94.156.1
69.227.255.30

Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, January 27, 2008
16:51:26
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, January 27, 2008
16:51:56

After a few minutes of being connected wirelessly, it changes to:

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless
3945ABG Network Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-18-DE-09-C4-D4
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.2
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 128.9.0.107
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, January 27, 2008
16:54:53
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, January 27, 2008
16:55:03

I have no idea where this DNS ip address is coming from. I tried
manually setting the values for the wireless card but it doesn't work.
The weird thing is, that aside from the DNS, it actually looks like it
has the correct gateway and DHCP server (the router 192.168.1.1). When
connecting successfully, only the DHCP (router) IP makes sense but the
default gateway is 76.250.11.178 (machine ip) which still works.

Weird!

Has anybody else encoutered such a thing?
I have a Sony Vaio VGN-fe790 laptop if it helps.

 

[kony]

I recently bought a D-Link dsl-2640b wireless router with built in
modem and have a Windows XP.
It is currently configured properly and I am able to access the
internet without any problem using *wired* access.
The problem is with wireless access and I think I found a clue.
It appears that I cannot access the *internet* with the wireless card.
When shutting it off and connecting using *wired* access, I have no
problem.
Now here is the thing - when I disconnect the wire and activate my
wireless card again, I'm able to access the internet for a few minutes
before internet access dies. I am still able to connect to the router
wirelessly though.

I suspect you have a weak signal that is dropping the
connection. Try changing the default channel used for
wireless on the router, and if the laptop is not very near
the router, move it there temporarily to retry it.

I can repeat this process again and again.

Running ipconfig /all when I have *wired* access or immediately when I
switch to wireless I get the following:

The numbers below look wrong, is it possible these are not
the numbers when you have wired access working? I will
point out below what looks wrong.

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless
3945ABG Network Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-18-DE-09-C4-D4
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 76.250.11.178

This IP address looks wrong, that is a routable address
which should be reserved for internet use. IOW, I think
your router is configured not to be routing, your system was
getting acess direct from the modem.

The IP # should instead be in the 192.168.1.n range. Check
your wireless router settings and consult the manual for a
basic setup.

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 76.250.11.178

This is also wrong, the default gateway will be 192.168.1.1,
the same as the DHCP server because it is the same device
doing both, same LAN address.

DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 68.94.156.1
69.227.255.30

Lease Obtained. . . : Sunday, January 27, 2008 16:51:26
Lease Expires . . . . : Sunday, January 27, 2008 16:51:56

After a few minutes of being connected wirelessly, it changes to:

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless
3945ABG Network Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-18-DE-09-C4-D4
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.2
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 128.9.0.107
Lease Obtained. . . : Sunday, January 27, 2008 16:54:53
Lease Expires . . . : Sunday, January 27, 2008 16:55:03

I have no idea where this DNS ip address is coming from.

Your router is assigned (through DHCP from your ISP's
router) it's WAN IP number and given the DNS server IP #.
If you suspect the DNS IP number is invalid then do a simple
test next time:

Go to command prompt and type "ping yahoo.com"
If you get a response back, your DNS server IP number is ok.
If you don't get a response back, next type "ping
66.94.234.13". This is one of the IP #s resolved to
Yahoo.com through DNS, so if the ping yahoo doesn't work but
pinging the IP number does, it suggests your lack of
connectivity is due to the wrong DNS IP number.

Your router might allow manually entering the IP number
instead of getting it through DHCP from the ISP. If it
does, this is one thing you could try, substituting the
other DNS numbers from the two examples above. Note that if
this works and someday your ISP changes to different DNS
server IP numbers, you would lose connectivity again to
domain names until the number is changed to the new IP #.

I tried
manually setting the values for the wireless card but it doesn't work.
The weird thing is, that aside from the DNS, it actually looks like it
has the correct gateway and DHCP server (the router 192.168.1.1). When
connecting successfully, only the DHCP (router) IP makes sense but the
default gateway is 76.250.11.178 (machine ip) which still works.

Weird!

Has anybody else encoutered such a thing?
I have a Sony Vaio VGN-fe790 laptop if it helps.

Leave all setttings on the laptop to auto/DHCP.
Check the router configuration. Had you previously set up
something more elaborate than a generic setup? Was this
router new or secondhand (so someone else might've changed
some settings)? Generally a router starts with default
settings that should work unless your ISP specifies you need
to change something. I suggest using the factory defaults
reset button and other basic config steps as outlined in the
manual.

I am assuming you have PPOE enabled on the router and have
NOT installed any software that came from your ISP. If you
had, get rid of that software. Likewise with software that
comes with the router you should not need this assuming that
by "wired" access you mean connected by ethernet cable to
the router's integral switch, not connected by USB. If you
are connecting by USB, try ethernet instead.

 

[jonathanztaub]

I know - this thing is weird.
The 192.168.1.* should be the correct setting.
I did not install any software nor did I make any special adjustments
to the router.
Pretty much straight configuration.

I'll try messing with the router settings and hopefully will come up
with something.

 

[jonathanztaub]

I know - this thing is weird.
The 192.168.1.* should be the correct setting.
I did not install any software nor did I make any special adjustments
to the router.
Pretty much straight configuration.

I'll try messing with the router settings and hopefully will come up
with something.

By the way, I forgot to mention that it is not a wireless reception
problem as my computer now happens to be a few inches away from the
router and I never have a problem of accessing the router wirelessly.
Also, when I have the "correct looking" settings, nothing works
including pinging the correct DNS server.

 

[DAZ]

By the way, I forgot to mention that it is not a wireless reception
problem as my computer now happens to be a few inches away from the
router and I never have a problem of accessing the router wirelessly.
Also, when I have the "correct looking" settings, nothing works
including pinging the correct DNS server.

Check in your router that you have NAT enabled.
Some DNS servers do not respond to ping.

 

[Mike Walsh]

You need to change the TCP/IP properties on the PC. Set the default gateway to 192.168.1.1 (under the advanced tab). Set the DNS servers to 68.94.156.1 and 69.227.255.30
Instead of specifying the DNS servers on the PC, you can obtain DNS server address automatically on the PC and specify the DNS server address on the router (the preferred method). While you are in the router you should enable encryption and set the lease time to a longer time e.g. 5 days.

 

[kony]

You need to change the TCP/IP properties on the PC.
Set the default gateway to 192.168.1.1 (under the advanced tab).
Set the DNS servers to 68.94.156.1 and 69.227.255.30
Instead of specifying the DNS servers on the PC, you can obtain
DNS server address automatically on the PC and specify the DNS
server address on the router (the preferred method). While you
are in the router you should enable encryption and set the lease
time to a longer time e.g. 5 days.

While it is certainly possible to have it work manually
setting gateway and DNS server addresses on the computer and
DNS server address on the router, these are not necessary
today. When the router is working properly it will get the
DNS IP # automatically and pass it along as well as
assigning the gateway IP. Everything set to auto/DHCP
should work unless there is another conflicting setting on
the client or router, or there is a bug in the router
firmware.

The encryption should NOT be used until the connection is
100% working, otherwise it will just add more undue
complexity at this point. On the other hand, it would
potentially leave the wifi network open to outsiders if it
is left running without any security in place so either
enabling that, disabling the wifi on the router, or removing
the antenna from the router to castrate it's effective range
could be done to provide some security, then that undone
when another attempt is made to get it working... then after
it is completely working, THEN set up the encryption and
other security features permanently.

 

[jonathanztaub]

You need to change the TCP/IP properties on the PC. Set the default gateway to 192.168.1.1 (under the advanced tab). Set the DNS servers to 68.94.156.1 and 69.227.255.30
Instead of specifying the DNS servers on the PC, you can obtain DNS serveraddress automatically on the PC and specify the DNS server address on the router (the preferred method). While you are in the router you should enable encryption and set the lease time to a longer time e.g. 5 days.

I already did that but it had no effect. Running ipconfig showed the
newly inserted values but the problem still persisted.
I would rather having the router pick up the correct values
automatically and having my computer pick it up.
D-Link customer support is quite bad though I hope to make my way to
level III support - hopefully somebody there will actually be
knowledgable and not blame it on a faulty router hardware.

 

[jonathanztaub]

I already did that but it had no effect. Running ipconfig showed the
newly inserted values but the problem still persisted.
I would rather having the router pick up the correct values
automatically and having my computer pick it up.
D-Link customer support is quite bad though I hope to make my way to
level III support - hopefully somebody there will actually be
knowledgable and not blame it on a faulty router hardware.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Tried more stuff but to no avail.
I finally decided to give up on this and not satisfy my curiousity.
I bought a 2Wire 2701hg-b wireless router with built in modem and got
the whole thing working in a few minutes.
I don't know what the problem was: hardware in combination of software
and incompatibility between modem and ISP provider.
I'll never know.