Vista Ultimate 32 SP1: problem w/unidentified network + ICS

  • Thread starter Thread starter axelm
  • Start date Start date
A

axelm

Vista machine is:
AMD X2 4000 - 3 GB RAM - Asrock AliveNF6G-VSTA Nvidia based chipset - 2 x
320GB SATA2 in RAID0 - dual NIC.

Network connection is
cablemodem <-> Vista NIC1 <-> ICS <-> Vista NIC2 <-> 10/100 switch <-> rest
of my home network which is composed of 4 more machines (3 XP SP3 and 1 Vista
Ultimate 32 T61 laptop). There is a Trendnet TEW-611BRP wireless router
connected to my Ethernet switch which is providing 802.11 Super G to the rest
of the house. I am not using the wifi router as gateway to the internet
because a lightning screwed up the WAN port. It is only an Ethernet to 802.11
bridge.

I have the same problem many people are having: unidentified network which
goes back to Public mode after rebooting the machine. Another problem I have
is that if I turn on network discovery, it will open the RPC port on the
firewall´s WAN connection.

I can share files locally by explicitly doing \\machinename\sharename, but
the network workgroup is not browseable.

I have also added the LLTD client on the XP machines so I could see the
network map. Nice feature, it works really well.

I need help getting rid of the Unidentified network so I can:
- avoid having to reset it to private mode after each reboot
- rename it to something like "LAN". I renamed the public adapter as WAN to
make it easier to remember what cable goes where if I have to reconnect.

I have disabled IPv6 by adding a DWORD DisabledComponents=0xFF in the
registry entry for the tcpip service. This got rid of all the tunnel adapters
and the tuxedo device. I don't like binding extra protocols to the internet
NIC. It´s just a matter of time until someone finds an exploit in MS's IPV6
stack or Tuxedo and the machine is compromised. I am sticking to IPv4 only,
my ISP only supports it, and the extra IPv6 Tuxedo would be useful for
uTorrent but I prefer to play it safe for the time being.

I used to have Fedora 8 installed on this machine and it worked fine 24x7.
No problems at all. Vista is just so full of wizards and automatic stuff that
it is frustrating for advanced users. I appreciate the help from the wizard
but sometimes it is just frustrating.

Using ICS on Vista is just temporary. I will eventually keep this Vista
machine as desktop only and install Fedora or Centos on an older PC and use
that as home server/gateway/router/firewall/backup, but in the meantime I
just can´t have the Unidentified network going back to public mode after each
reboot because it ruins the firewall settings.

Can't I just disable this automatic network location manager and configure
the firewall myself?

BTW, how do I set up port forwarding with ICS?

Here´s my ipconfig:
Windows IP Configuration

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

Ethernet adapter Nvidia Onboard:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-19-66-1E-08-09
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Realtek PCI:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast
Ethernet NIC
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-50-FC-2B-BE-D3
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 190.16.25.212(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : miércoles, 23 de julio de 2008 09:34:23
a.m.
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : miércoles, 23 de julio de 2008 02:40:40
p.m.
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 1.1.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 172.20.2.12
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 200.49.130.30
200.49.130.31
200.49.130.34
172.20.2.12
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled
 
This is the current ipconfig /all report. I don't know why the previous
report appears with default gateway 1.1.1.1 on the WAN NIC.

Windows IP Configuration

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

Ethernet adapter Nvidia Onboard:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-19-66-1E-08-09
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Realtek PCI:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast
Ethernet NIC
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-50-FC-2B-BE-D3
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 190.16.25.212(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : miércoles, 23 de julio de 2008
10:35:35 a.m.
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : miércoles, 23 de julio de 2008
08:10:03 p.m.
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 190.16.25.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 172.20.2.12
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 200.49.130.30
200.49.130.31
200.49.130.34
172.20.2.12
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled
 
you really have a bad configuration here.

your best solution is to purchase a new router and use that as your
edge device. the fact that what you have is known to be damaged
means it isn't something worth trouble shooting.

There is a Trendnet TEW-611BRP wireless router
connected to my Ethernet switch which is providing 802.11 Super G to the rest
of the house. I am not using the wifi router as gateway to the internet
because a lightning screwed up the WAN port. It is only an Ethernet to 802.11
bridge.
Click to expand...
--

Barb Bowman
MS-MVP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/meetexperts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/
http://digitalmediaphile.wordpress.com
 
Barb,

Thanks for your input. I have thought about getting a new edge device, but
the Trendnet pre-MIMO router has great coverage and I already have matching
wifi cards with the same Atheros Velocity chipset. Too bad I lost the WAN
port in a thunderstorm, which BTW also killed 2 DVD players and an OpenBSD
box.

The Trendnet device is still useful as an Ethernet-Wifi bridge. I used it
for more than a year when my home network had a Linux firewall/router/server
and XP Clients. Now I am moving my main desktop from XP to Vista, but this
Unidentified network problem disconnects the rest of the machine from the
Internet every time I reboot.

I don't mind resetting it, but sometimes I travel for several weeks and my
wife and kids will not have Internet if there is a power failure or a Windows
Update+reboot.

Are you saying that the unidentified network problem would disappear if I
get rid of the Trendnet device? Is there any document explaining how the
network identification system works, or do I have to sniff the Ethernet
packets to see what's going on?

Thanks again,
Axel
 
running sniffer would help. you could certainly give your family
peace of mind by buying a new router. there are/were alot of Super G
routers out there based on the same chipset. I know D-Link and ZyXEL
had some. But I also suspect that a newer N router with an Atheros
chipset would be backward compatible and give you something to use
in the future.

Barb,

Thanks for your input. I have thought about getting a new edge device, but
the Trendnet pre-MIMO router has great coverage and I already have matching
wifi cards with the same Atheros Velocity chipset. Too bad I lost the WAN
port in a thunderstorm, which BTW also killed 2 DVD players and an OpenBSD
box.

The Trendnet device is still useful as an Ethernet-Wifi bridge. I used it
for more than a year when my home network had a Linux firewall/router/server
and XP Clients. Now I am moving my main desktop from XP to Vista, but this
Unidentified network problem disconnects the rest of the machine from the
Internet every time I reboot.

I don't mind resetting it, but sometimes I travel for several weeks and my
wife and kids will not have Internet if there is a power failure or a Windows
Update+reboot.

Are you saying that the unidentified network problem would disappear if I
get rid of the Trendnet device? Is there any document explaining how the
network identification system works, or do I have to sniff the Ethernet
packets to see what's going on?

Thanks again,
Axel
Click to expand...
--

Barb Bowman
MS-MVP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/meetexperts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/
http://digitalmediaphile.wordpress.com
 
I have also tried swapping NICs. Now the WAN is on the Nvidia onboard card,
and LAN on the Realtek 8139 card. It makes absolutely no difference.

I also set primary dns suffix to mshome.net to both machines and it also
makes no diff.

I guess the only solution is to disable MS firewall and use some other FW
product.

Isn't there a way to manually set the network identification? This is a
desktop machine, it is not roaming laptop. There HAS to be a way to disable
the "autolearn location" feature.
 
when connected to the cable modem with the other NIC unbridged and
disconnected, do you still see this issue?

you could probably search technet or MSDN for the info you
requested.

not sure why you are resisting getting a router. ICS is a poor
substitute.

I have also tried swapping NICs. Now the WAN is on the Nvidia onboard card,
and LAN on the Realtek 8139 card. It makes absolutely no difference.

I also set primary dns suffix to mshome.net to both machines and it also
makes no diff.

I guess the only solution is to disable MS firewall and use some other FW
product.

Isn't there a way to manually set the network identification? This is a
desktop machine, it is not roaming laptop. There HAS to be a way to disable
the "autolearn location" feature.
Click to expand...
--

Barb Bowman
MS-MVP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/meetexperts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/
http://digitalmediaphile.wordpress.com
 
Barb,

Even with the WAN NIC disabled I still see the problem. If I disable/enable
the LAN NIC, it identifies the network as "Network", and then after two
seconds it says "identifying" and then "Unidentified network".

I will move back to a Fedora9 or CentOS router/firewall device during August
because I am not comfortable with this network location problem. I have
looked all over the place for a solution to no avail.

Vista as a desktop solution is very nice. There are some apps that don't
work and some hardware that I will need to replace due to the lack of
drivers, but I am happy with it. It is refreshing to have a new desktop, I
was really getting tired of XP, which is very stable after so many years.

Regards
 
I suspect that if you used a hardware router that you would not have
this issue.

I personally see ICS as a temporary solution to be used when there
are no other options. But I don't see it as a long term topology in
anyone's home.

I will move back to a Fedora9 or CentOS router/firewall device during August
because I am not comfortable with this network location problem. I have
looked all over the place for a solution to no avail.
Click to expand...
--

Barb Bowman
MS-MVP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/meetexperts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/
http://digitalmediaphile.wordpress.com
 
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