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Solve : Dropped off network and cannot connect (unidentified network)?

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Hi all,

I've searched and searched and searched and can't find a solution, so here goes...

We use a Netcomm modem/router in our office and have all computers hardwired in (we're not using wireless, it's next to useless for some reason). Yesterday "something" happened in our office whereby all computers (5 of us) dropped off the net. I have no idea what exactly happened as I was out at the time, but on returning I just turned the router off and on and everyone got back on the net... except me.

The only thing I know that changed that day was that about an hour or two before everyone dropped off I logged into the router to set it to stop beaming wireless out. I've since reversed that but still I cannot connect.

I bring my own laptop to work (running Win 7 Pro) and just plug in an ethernet cable, and it's always worked perfectly until now. My computer can see that it's connected to a network of some type, but just labels it as "unidentified network" and also says "no INTERNET access". Interestingly, I can see other computers on the network when they're turned on (and they're PROPERLY connected to the named office network and have full net access).

So far I've tried the following:

  • All combinations of turning everything off and on - computer, router, I LEFT the router off overnight just in case the extra time fluked a solution... all no good;
  • I've tried to do the ipconfig /release and /renew but as I cannot properly connect to the network it always fails - the /release part seems to work (although I'm not 100% sure of what the results mean tbh) but the renew fails;
  • Uninstalling the network adapter and reinstalling using Windows 7 installation method, and also using the driver downloaded from Realtek;
  • All Windows updates are updated;
  • I've been into the device settings and there doesn't appear to be any IRQ conflict with other hardware that I can tell - but again this is starting to get beyond my level of tech understanding. Regardless, there were no icons to show any problems.
  • I've tried different cables also, it appears to just be my computer that won't talk to the router properly, every other computer and cable is fine;

The network card I have is a Realtek RTL8168(P)/8111(P) Family PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC (NDIS 6.20) - I'm not sure what it all means, but that's what's in the device list.

I can access the router easily from other computers, but I don't know enough about how they work to know if that's causing the problem. Can anyone tell me why my laptop won't talk to the router correctly anymore? Any and all help very MUCH appreciated.

Thanks,
MarkIt would be great if you could go into command prompt and type ipconfig /all then post the results here. A simple disabling and enabling of your NIC may help too.Hi Transfusion, yep I've tried disable and re-enable, forgot to mention it though. Obviously it wasn't successful.

ipconfig /all is below...
I ran it with the LAN cable plugged in, but with the WLAN off. Just in case it helps, I'm still getting the "unidentified network" wording when it tries to connect, and when I view the network I can see the other few computers on it - no net access though.

Another thing I just realised, I can connect intermitantly using the WLAN, and have printed to a printer on the network. Not sure if that changes anything or not. As mentioned previously though, the WLAN is almost useless for some reason so we never use it (that's another problem for another day).

Cheers.
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C:\>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : R2D2
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8168C(P)/8111C(P) Family PCI-E
Gigabit Ethernet NIC (NDIS 6.20)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection 2:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-21-5D-AE-09-F7
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) WiFi Link 5100 AGN
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-21-5D-AE-09-F6
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.{FA22ED7E-A655-4A83-88E9-499A94D77A7D}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 12:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.{AB055CD5-05F5-4555-86C9-0E52A7EB98ED}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #3
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.{5D378CE8-BB28-4E86-8630-59145FC1E699}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #5
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

C:\>
This part got my eye:

Quote
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8168C(P)/8111C(P) Family PCI-E
Gigabit Ethernet NIC (NDIS 6.20)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
There is no MAC address. It could possibly be a driver error. Assign a MAC address to your computer like this:
http://www.windowsreference.com/networking/how-to-change-mac-address-in-windows-registry/
and try to reconnect. Does your computer show up as a client in your router settings page? When you connect with WiFi, does the internet work properly?Hi again - your comments on having no MAC address led me to the right place - it works!!

The link you provided actually didn't allow me to assign a MAC address, the address for the hardware oddly wasn't actually listed in the registry location so I couldn't do anything.

But, I did find this link...
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itpronetworking/thread/697bf48c-a226-4315-8875-2bbeddf16db2/

The short of it is: Select Control Panel->device Manage->Network Adapter->Adv.->Network Address, put some values in the text box

I put in values 000011112222 (I think it needs 12 numbers right...) anyway, it now works fantastically!

Thanks for the help - you are a legend among legends!!


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