Laptop doesn't reconnect to Network after travel

  • Thread starter Thread starter Diam Mom
  • Start date Start date
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Diam Mom

XP Pro on desktop & XP Home on laptop. Set up network.
Worked fine. The laptop goes away and comes back home
and sometimes will get the correct IP address assigned to
it but most times NOT. The IP address isn't anything
near what it should be, like 264.365.664.0 So, network
does not recognize it. Tried setting the IP address
instead of automatically select but I don't know what DNS
# to put. Reboot (of both) sometimes works but rarely.
Redoing the network sometimes works but shouldn't be
necessary each time the laptop comes back home. What are
we doing wrong?
 
If you want to assign your computers static IP addresses
but are worried about the DNS settings here is what you
can do.

Go to the desktop computer and bring up the command prompt
by going to Start- Run- then type is CMD and press OK. At
the command prompt type ipconfig /all . This will return
all of the configuration information on your network
adapter as it is provided by the DHCP server. Under DNS
servers you should see the IP addresses of your primary
and secondary DNS servers listed. Use these addresses when
you assign your static IP to the notebook.

Hope this helps. I have other suggestions if you need them
also.

Jay
 
Thanks Jay for the tip... I ran the ipconfig on my
desktop that is the host computer. I received that Dhcp
was NOT enabled. Does this need to be enabled for a home
network using ethernet and hub? I also received that
there is no Primary DNX suffix.

When I set up the networking, I let it 'choose what is
best' in the wizard. Once we establish the network and
it is working properly, things run smoothly from boot up
to boot up. It is when the laptop is physically
disconnected by the ethernet cable and then reconnected
that we have the problem.

Do we need to 'disconnect from the network' some other
way before the laptop is disconnected physically?
 
Tell me exactly what hardware you have running in your network. From what I
understand you have one desktop, one notebook, a hub (what is the make and
model), and some type of Cable or DSL modem (what is the make and model, and
how is it connected ie. USB or ethernet) ? When you say your desktop is the
host, does that mean you have your desktop connected directly to the Cable
or DSL modem via USB then you are using ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) to
share that connection to the notebook? Or do you have the Cable or DSL modem
connected to the hub. The reason I ask is that if you have a Cable or DSL
modem it is best to have some type of hardware broadband router in place
with DHCP enabled to assign IP addresses to the two computers to share the
internet connection. If you will give me the specifications on your hardware
I can make further recommendations.

I will check back.

Jay
 
Hey Jay,
Thanks for the willingness to help. The desktop is
hooked up to the internet via dial-up connection. It is
not always online. The laptop connects through the
desktop modem when it is at 'home'. The desktop shares
the internet with the laptop. When the laptop is away
from 'home' it connects directly to the internet by its
modem. We have ethernet cables connected to NetGear
ethernet Hub model # EN 104tp. We do not have broadband
capabilities here, only phone lines.

I reran the network setup wizard again yesterday and
things were working fine. Rebooted this morning and
everything was NOT working. Went into safe mode and
removed all the MAC BRIDGE miniports from both computers
from the device driver and reran the network wizard
again. It is working at the moment. Something
interesting I found when running ipconfig on the laptop
after things are working this time. There is a Lease
obtained and Lease expires. The date of setting up the
network appears in lease obtained and a week later date
appears in the lease expired.

I ran ipconfig on both computers after this succesful
time. I have that info if that is helpful.

When it does not work... it "appears" that the laptop IP
address is something it has obtained elsewhere and the
subnet mask is 255.255.255.255. The same as what I
receive on the desktop from the Internet server.

Thanks again.
-----Original Message-----
Tell me exactly what hardware you have running in your network. From what I
understand you have one desktop, one notebook, a hub (what is the make and
model), and some type of Cable or DSL modem (what is the make and model, and
how is it connected ie. USB or ethernet) ? When you say your desktop is the
host, does that mean you have your desktop connected directly to the Cable
or DSL modem via USB then you are using ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) to
share that connection to the notebook? Or do you have the Cable or DSL modem
connected to the hub. The reason I ask is that if you have a Cable or DSL
modem it is best to have some type of hardware broadband router in place
with DHCP enabled to assign IP addresses to the two computers to share the
internet connection. If you will give me the
Click to expand...
specifications on your hardware
 
that Netgear hub is a 10MPS 4 port hub that has an uplink port.
If your connecting to the hub make sure the uplink port is
depressed,(there should be a simple diagram to the right on the front
where the cat5 goes; usually when the switch is on it's an uplink,
which causes a crossover connection)
which would cause your computer not to connect to the network. Make
sure your cat5 isn't connect to port 4
Or disable the uplink
Hey Jay,
Thanks for the willingness to help. The desktop is
hooked up to the internet via dial-up connection. It is
not always online. The laptop connects through the
desktop modem when it is at 'home'. The desktop shares
the internet with the laptop. When the laptop is away
from 'home' it connects directly to the internet by its
modem. We have ethernet cables connected to NetGear
ethernet Hub model # EN 104tp. We do not have broadband
capabilities here, only phone lines.

I reran the network setup wizard again yesterday and
things were working fine. Rebooted this morning and
everything was NOT working. Went into safe mode and
removed all the MAC BRIDGE miniports from both computers
from the device driver and reran the network wizard
again. It is working at the moment. Something
interesting I found when running ipconfig on the laptop
after things are working this time. There is a Lease
obtained and Lease expires. The date of setting up the
network appears in lease obtained and a week later date
appears in the lease expired.

I ran ipconfig on both computers after this succesful
time. I have that info if that is helpful.

When it does not work... it "appears" that the laptop IP
address is something it has obtained elsewhere and the
subnet mask is 255.255.255.255. The same as what I
receive on the desktop from the Internet server.

Thanks again.
specifications on your hardware
Click to expand...

Linux -- a network in a box

Eric
 
Thanks for the tip. Before I received your info, I had
changed the laptop from port 4 to port 2 after we wiped
all the bridges out from the system and before we redid
the network. (The desktop is in port 3) The uplink
button was NOT pushed in, NOT activated, not uplinked.
Things seem to be working well at the moment. Even
unplugged the laptop and then replugged it, while on
network connection, and it reconnected to the network.
Now, we will see if it works when the laptop connects to
the internet via its own modem...
 
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