XPPro keeps losing network connection

[Steve]

I've been having this problem for about a week now. There are two
computers on the LAN at home that are experiencing this.

Periodically, sometimes every 5-10 minutes, sometimes every 45
minutes, or hour or two, a WinXP machine seems to "lose" it's network
connection.

I typically see two variations on this:


1) The machine will simply have no network abaility at all. ipconfig
reveals an IP in the 192.168.xxx.xxx range. When this happens nothing
network related will work, I cannot even access my local Perforce
server (which is running on the same computer.)

2) ipconfig will reveal an IP in the 169.254.xxx.xxx range.
Previously, the machine would have been in the 192.168.0.xxx range
having received it's IP through the routers DHCP mechanism. I
understand the 169.254.xxx.xxx range is part of the automatic private
IP addressing feature. I don't understand why all of a sudden winXP
"loses" it's perfectly normal ip address and switches to this.


Sometimes when I notice the network connection has died, and ipconfig
still reports my 192.168.x.x IP address, I can then run ipconfig
/release to release my IP, but when I run ipconfig /renew, I get this
message "An error occured while renewing interface Network Bridge
(Network Bridge) : No connection could be nade because the target
machine actively refused it.


Now for the details:

-When it happens, sometimes unplugging the router and plugging it back
in will cause the computer to behave properly again, and it's 192....
IP address is restored.
-I first noticed this when using the D-Link DI-514 wireless router
with both computers connected to it via the wired ports (wireless was
for a tivo)
-I have since returned the D-Link router for unrelated reasons, and
have setup a Netgear RP614v2 wired router (no wireless). I have the
same problems with
this router. Thet netgear routers firmware is 5.13 (which is old, but
I'm waiting to see if this is a windows problem before getting into
firmware upgrades)
-My main computer that is having these problems is using a year old
WinXP Pro install with SP1, and all but 1 security update (the latest,
haven't bothered
until I get this sorted out)
-I have recently done a fresh install on a new 160GB drive (using
removable drive bays), and have similar problems on the fresh install.
-The other computer at home is also a fresh install of WinXP pro on a
new 160GB drive.
-Both new installs have all of the latest critical updates, but do not
have all of the WinXP fluff updates (Media player 9, etc...)


In the Network Connections folder, I see the following: (entries are
in the format -Name - Status - Device Name)

==LAN or High-SPeed Internet==
-1394 COnnection 2 - Enabled - 1394 Net Adapter #2

==Network Bridge==
-1394 COnnection - Enabled, Bridged - 1394 Net Adapter
-Network Bridge( Network Bridge ) - Enabled - MAC Bridge Miniport
-Local Area Connection - Enabled, Bridged - Intel(R) Pro/1000 CT
Nework Cnnection


Both systems are running ZoneAlarm. I disabled ZA's "launch on
startup" feature on one machine, shutdown, restarted, and still had
the same problem.
Zonealarm has 192.168.0.0/255.255.255.0 as a trusted zone.


Both systems are setup to use automatic IP assignment via DHCP. The
router is configured to perform DHCP.


I have also run the Network Diagnostics from Help & Support, and
everything reports as "passed" when my machine is connected. Once I
lose my connection, the diagnostic reports FAILED for a network
adapter identified as [00000011] MAC Bridge Miniport and lists FAILED
for the DNSServerSearchOrder inside it.



Does anyone have any suggestions or advice?

 

[Michael D. Alligood]

disable and remove the bridges.

--
Best of luck!

Michael D. Alligood
MCSA, MCP, CCNA, A+,
Network+, i-Net+, CIW A, CIW CI

I've been having this problem for about a week now. There are two
computers on the LAN at home that are experiencing this.

Periodically, sometimes every 5-10 minutes, sometimes every 45
minutes, or hour or two, a WinXP machine seems to "lose" it's network
connection.

I typically see two variations on this:


1) The machine will simply have no network abaility at all. ipconfig
reveals an IP in the 192.168.xxx.xxx range. When this happens nothing
network related will work, I cannot even access my local Perforce
server (which is running on the same computer.)

2) ipconfig will reveal an IP in the 169.254.xxx.xxx range.
Previously, the machine would have been in the 192.168.0.xxx range
having received it's IP through the routers DHCP mechanism. I
understand the 169.254.xxx.xxx range is part of the automatic private
IP addressing feature. I don't understand why all of a sudden winXP
"loses" it's perfectly normal ip address and switches to this.


Sometimes when I notice the network connection has died, and ipconfig
still reports my 192.168.x.x IP address, I can then run ipconfig
/release to release my IP, but when I run ipconfig /renew, I get this
message "An error occured while renewing interface Network Bridge
(Network Bridge) : No connection could be nade because the target
machine actively refused it.


Now for the details:

-When it happens, sometimes unplugging the router and plugging it back
in will cause the computer to behave properly again, and it's 192....
IP address is restored.
-I first noticed this when using the D-Link DI-514 wireless router
with both computers connected to it via the wired ports (wireless was
for a tivo)
-I have since returned the D-Link router for unrelated reasons, and
have setup a Netgear RP614v2 wired router (no wireless). I have the
same problems with
this router. Thet netgear routers firmware is 5.13 (which is old, but
I'm waiting to see if this is a windows problem before getting into
firmware upgrades)
-My main computer that is having these problems is using a year old
WinXP Pro install with SP1, and all but 1 security update (the latest,
haven't bothered
until I get this sorted out)
-I have recently done a fresh install on a new 160GB drive (using
removable drive bays), and have similar problems on the fresh install.
-The other computer at home is also a fresh install of WinXP pro on a
new 160GB drive.
-Both new installs have all of the latest critical updates, but do not
have all of the WinXP fluff updates (Media player 9, etc...)


In the Network Connections folder, I see the following: (entries are
in the format -Name - Status - Device Name)

==LAN or High-SPeed Internet==
-1394 COnnection 2 - Enabled - 1394 Net Adapter #2

==Network Bridge==
-1394 COnnection - Enabled, Bridged - 1394 Net Adapter
-Network Bridge( Network Bridge ) - Enabled - MAC Bridge Miniport
-Local Area Connection - Enabled, Bridged - Intel(R) Pro/1000 CT
Nework Cnnection


Both systems are running ZoneAlarm. I disabled ZA's "launch on
startup" feature on one machine, shutdown, restarted, and still had
the same problem.
Zonealarm has 192.168.0.0/255.255.255.0 as a trusted zone.


Both systems are setup to use automatic IP assignment via DHCP. The
router is configured to perform DHCP.


I have also run the Network Diagnostics from Help & Support, and
everything reports as "passed" when my machine is connected. Once I
lose my connection, the diagnostic reports FAILED for a network
adapter identified as [00000011] MAC Bridge Miniport and lists FAILED
for the DNSServerSearchOrder inside it.



Does anyone have any suggestions or advice?

 

[Steve]

Ok, I've disabled and removed the bridge. After a restart, I
unfortunately had to go through the windows activation process over
the phone (sigh). So far, windows has lost internet access twice. I
was going to give it some time to see if it is a persistent problem
again, but I'm positive I still have the same problem.

This time, when it lost connection, I tried pinging the router
(192.168.0.1) and the connection seemed fine. That being the case, I
used IE to connecto to the router configuration page. I can establish
that connection just fine.

Whoops, spoke too soon.

I just tried a different page on the router, and failed. pinging the
router fails now also. I unplugged the router, and plugged it back
in. ipconfig now shows me with a 169.254.xxx.xxx ip addr.

Any other suggestions? This is rather frustrating.

 

[Michael D. Alligood]

are you using Internet Connection Sharing, by chance?

--
Best of luck!

Michael D. Alligood
MCSA, MCP, CCNA, A+,
Network+, i-Net+, CIW A, CIW CI

 

[Steve]

No, ICS is not in use. I found a great site with posts from people
with similar problems. I have reduced the MTU size in the router
config and flashed the router to a very specific firmwre version and
for some reason, that *seems* to be doing the trick. Today will be
the real test.