Windows 7 and loss of Internet connection

Anonymous
2009-10-30T23:58:23+00:00

In our home office we have a desktop system running Windows 7 as well as an iMac.  Both are connected to Apple's Time Capsule, which serves as a router as well as a backup hard drive for the iMac. (our Internet connection is cable-Internet, by the way.)

Ever since upgrading from Windows Vista to Windows 7, the Windows 7 desktop is encountering frequent Internet connection errors.  It generally loses the Internet connection several times per day.

Today is the worst manifestation we have seen thus far (since upgrading to Windows 7 last week).  We generally only have an Internet connection for about 2-3 minutes, then it is lost and must be repaired.

We go into Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center > Troubleshoot Problems > Internet Connections

We allow Windows 7 to automatically diagnose and repair the problem.

Each and every time it goes through the steps of diagnosing and repairing, it ends up "resetting the local area connection adapter."

At the end of the process -- after everything has been repaired -- we get the following report:

"Default gateway is not available - fixed."

What steps do we need to take to permanently solve this problem?

By the way, the iMac is NOT experiencing any Internet connection problems whatsoever.

Thanks in advance!

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Internet and connectivity

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Anonymous
2009-11-09T19:53:05+00:00

I don't know what you are using to assign addresses, so I am assuming it is a router of some sort. You will need to go to the manufacturers site, look at the manual and find out how to limit the DHCP address scope. I changed mine to limit the assigning of DHCP addresses to 192.168.1.200 through 192.168.1.250. Your router may use the 10. subnet, so your addresses may be different, depends on the router manufacturer, or if you use a DHCP server, the scope set with the DHCP server. That gives me 50 IP addresses for any guests that may want to use wired or wireless connections, and should be more than enough. This allows me to assign 192.168.1.1 through 192.168.1.199 to a device and not have to worry about the DHCP server trying to use one that is assigned permanently to a device (Printer, switch, PC, Server, Virtual Server, etc).

Once you have that setup in your router, you will now need to assign a static ip to your PC. This is all done from the network adapter.

From the start menu:

Control Panel

Network and Internet

Network and Sharing Center

On the right hand pane of Network and Sharing Center

Change adapter settings

Double Click your network adapter

Select the "Details" radio button

Write down the following lines:

Connection Specific DNS (May or may not exist, depends on provider)

IPv4 Subnet

IPv4 Default Gateway

IPv4 DNS Servers

Once you have written those down, you can close that box.

You should be back at the "Local Area Connection Status" box.

Choose the "Properties" radio button.

Select the "Internet Protocol version 4 (TCP/IPv4)", which will be in a blue box when selected. 

Now select the "Properties" radio button

The "Internet Protocol version 4 (TCP/IPv4) Properties" box should have popped up. If so:

Select the following:

"Use the following IP address"

In the IP address box, enter an IP address. Example: 192.168.1.20

Press the tab, the subnet should fill in automatically, if not, enter the value from "IPv4 Subnet" you wrote down from the above step. Examp,e: 255.255.255.0

In the dafult gateway, enter the value from the steps above. Example: 192.168.1.254

Now to move on to the next 2 boxes, DNS Servers. You may have only 1 DNS server entry from the DNS entry you wrote down from above.

Enter the DNS servers you notes above.

If there was "Connection Specific DNS" entry or entries, do the following (If not skip the "Connection Specific DNS" sections:

Select the "Advanced" radio button.

The "Additional TCP/IP Settings" windows should open

Select the "DNS" tab

If there is more than 1 "Connection Specific DNS" entry, do the following:

Select the "Append DNS suffixes (in order):"

Select "Add..."

In the "Domain suffix", enter the first Connection Specific DNS entry.

Select the "Add" radio button.

Add all the DNS Specific suffixes you wrote down. You can only enter one at a time.

When finished sleect the "OK" radio button

If you only have 1 entry in "Connection Specific DNS":

In the box labeled "DNS suffix for this connection", type in the entry you noted above for the "Connection Specific DNS".

When finished sleect the "OK" radio button

Check the "validate settings upon exit" box.

Select the "OK" radio button.

Select the "Close" radio button

You should see the 'Windows Network Diagnostics" open, and check for any problems. Hopefully all is well and it states "Troubleshooting could not identify the problem", and choose "Close the Troubleshooter".

Close any additional boxes or pop-ups that are open, and check and make sure allis connecting. If not, go back and verify any steps. the most common are the IP addresses and gateways.

Good luck. Post back if it resolves the issue.

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  1. Anonymous
    2010-02-09T19:41:20+00:00

    Wow, whatever made you think of THIS? I'm still reluctant, I spent the better part of two days trying to get a connection and get rid of that darn "unidentified public network no internet access" before FINALLY giving up and doing a whole reinstall of XP and ALL my programs, preferences and updates, (yet another whole night waiting for all to download). I suspect that this might end up being a temporary fix anyway. Beyond that, ALL the other machines in my office are working with IPv6 checked as enabled! (Dell Optiplex 745 less than a year old 2GB RAM, 1TB WD Caviar HDD, Broadcom NIC all drivers and firmware with latest and greatest)

    Please post and let us know if this fix holds for more than a couple days. I truly WANT to upgrade to 7, but I will wait until I am SURE that this issue has been resolved once and for all!

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-02-21T07:16:16+00:00

    0

    ''I bought a new compaq laptop about 5 days ago, and i've had problems with internet connection and windows 7.I finally found teh answer, and now i have no problems with my internet.If you have a linksys router(mine is wrt110) is not fully compatible with windows 7.All you have to do is: *open network and sharing,click change adapter settings, click on the connection you are using,hit properties an unclick TCp/IPv6 and problem solved, at least for me anyway.Hope it helps''*Yup, its been 11 days and my internet still works, i dont have those awful ''unedintified network, no internet access" problems. At times it goes off but after 2 seconds it connects back up without me having to do anything. I still like xp better thou

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  3. Anonymous
    2010-03-05T00:13:21+00:00

    A few days ago, I though let me reinstal my computer, i deleted all my software and OS, and reinstal it again with the "newest and updated" software, and now i got the same problem as you guys noticed! AND I'M DRIVING NUTSSSSS!!

    The last 4 hours i'm searching me to death to solve this problem! but cant find how to fix! al the options above doesn't work!

    Ive got the striker 2 extreme (nForce 790i ULTRA SLI) With NVidia networking version 73.13.

    Almost every 5 minutes my disconection is gone! and when i try to fix it with the problem fixer, it said "default gateway not available"!

    and anybody knows when the new software is available? and what to do now, withoud getting this problem! help help.....

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  4. Anonymous
    2010-03-16T07:59:40+00:00

    Oops, didn't mean to click propose as answer.

    I have had the same problem. Am running Win 7 Ultimate 64 with Nvidia M59SLIS5 and Athlon x2 5200

    Tried a bunch of things and nothing worked. Over time the Gateway got lost faster and faster. Was resetting every 3-5 mins in the end.

    Then decided to plug both network ports into my router. M59SLI has 2 network ports.

    Has been running now for 2 days with no problem :-)

    Anyone else tried this?

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