Have to Disable/Enable to regain connectivity

I have a Lenovo T400 with Vista and an Intel 82567 Gigabit Card. when I leave for lunch I put the machine into sleep mode and lock it up. Then when I return I will reconnect everything (via cable which was the same as before) back to the same network and I will have to disable/enable the connection to get internet connectivity back. It says it is connected to the network but not the Internet. What would cause this and how can I fix it?

 

Short dhcp lease time

When you connect to the network, your computer gets an IP address from the dhcp server on your network. This lease time can be whatever your network admin wants it to be.

If he sets it short--common in networks where people connect and disconnect all the time--your computer's ip address goes back into a "pool" of available addresses after period of disuse.

Your computer does not know it's ip address has been given to someone else when you reconnect and tries to use network resources, but cannot because now you have two machines on the same network with the same ip address.

Disabling and re-enabling results in a request for a new ip address

 

That sounds good but I this network is setup static. I have my own IP address. Not only that but when I had my Gateway here (laptop before this) that never happened.

 

To paraphrase Burt Gummer, "I feel I was denied critical need-to-know information."

OK, let's back up.

What do you mean--exactly. You physically disconnect the computer from...a docking station? A network cable? Or you just put it to sleep and lock the office.

 

My apologies.

From the Top: I come to work and connect (first start-up of the day) my notebook to the cat 6 network. I have a static ip assigned from the gateway. I use this same ip everyday. When I go to lunch I disconnect the notebook from the cat 6 cable (no dock) and put it into sleep mode (via Vista) and lock it up in my tool box. When I return from lunch I take it back out of the tool box and reconnect it to my cat 6 network. I then wake it up from sleep mode and log back into windows. It will not connect to my network again until I disable then re-enable the wired connection device. My old notebook would not do this and it would be disconnected for the same amount of time. I don't think this is a lease time issue from the gateway. I do believe it has to do with my T400.

 

OK, first off.

One is not assigned a STATIC ip address from the gateway. You can RESERVE an ip address for a specific machine (based on MAC address), but that is not the same thing.

Do you know how to assign a static ip address in the network adapter's properies (along with dns info)? I would be curious if this repeats when the adapter is truly set up as a static ip address.

If you assign a static ip address directly on your machine and the problem recurs, it could be the adapter not waking up properly (power issue), perhaps driver, or perhaps malfunctioning. Then check the power settings on the adapter in device manager and set it do disable power management.

If the problem does not happen with the static assigned address, I am still leaning toward a lease-time issue.

 

My wording was vague. To be specific, I have a Static IP. The gateway is configured with all Static IP addresses and NO DHCP. This is not to be confused with a dynamically assigned static IP address. The gateway does not assign me with the same IP everyday. I have configured my notebook with my Static IP address.

I can not access this gateway as I do not have administrative privileges.

I have checked the adapters settings and have turned off the power save feature. My first issue was when my notebook went idle (screen saver) it would disconnect (by shutting off the adapter) from the network. I am not sure about the driver.

Like stated before, this did not happen with my old notebook. It also does not happen for my fellow co-workers that also disconnect their computers and put them away for lunch.

 

Can you run the thinkpad update...that will update all of your drivers, as well as the lenovo-specific software utilities that may be causing interference.

I love the thinkpads, but I have alway hated the extra software they add on. Some people can't live without this stuff. I don't consider it bloatware like some crap other OEMs put on because most of it has a legitimate use, but it can get in the way of normal window functions

 

I have updated the driver of the network card itself and retested today. That did not fix the issue. Looking more closely I see that it is in fact connecting to the gateway (with my IP) but it can not connect to the internet. Possible DNS problem? I will run the thinkpad update this evening. Thanks.

 

when you set the static ip, did you also set dns static?

I'd say flush the dns cache, but that's no better than doing what you are doing.

You say you are connected to the gateway, but not the internet....how do you know? Can you ping the gateway? Can you ping an internet IP? Internet URL?

 

I am using a static dns as well. I am connected to the gateway and not the internet. I can connect and communicate with other networked computers on the same gateway but cannot reach out to the interrnet.

 

let's flush the cache and see what happens--maybe it is corrupt

do another ipconfig, but this time

ipconfig /flushdns

 

That seemed to fix the problem (atleast for the moment). I'll have to give it a good check tomorrow when i roll out to lunch. Thanks for the help.

 

Nope that didn't work. I still have some issues. What do you think?

 

I think I wish I was there so I could actually see what is going on.

Seeing as how your colleagues are doing the same thing, can you get one of them to do it in your office so we can rule out the network?

 

yes. I have and I am sure this is related to this computer and not the network.

 

Go to Network Sharing Center and disable your wireless connection (under manage network connections)

See if somehow the wireless is causing an issue as your computer tries to be connected to two different networks

 

try going into device manager going into the properties of your nic, then go to the power management tab and uncheck allow the computer to turn off this device to save power, I think this is a vista issue with waking up from sleep

gl

 

gerryf19: I will try that today.

ID10Terror: That was the first thing I tried.

 

tried with wireless turned off...no good.

 

does anyone have a clue???

 

did you ever have a colleague attach his or her laptop and see if the problem repeats?

I'd probably image the laptop and then reinstall windows from scratch at this point....I've had some weird things that just aren't explainable go away with a reinstall.

If it works, you're good to go....if not, just restore the image and you are back to your current state.

 

if you can, post:

your computers internal IP (or reserved range),
gateway (router, first hop to an external subnet),
if you can ping 74.125.45.100 (google.com),
in command prompt, `route print > c:\routes.txt' (copy it out of c:\routes.txt)

 

my ip: 172.16.4.218
gate: 172.16.4.254
can not ping 74.125.45.100
route print:

===========================================================================
Interface List
14 ...00 22 fa 43 ac d0 ...... Intel(R) WiFi Link 5100 AGN
12 ...00 24 7e 10 d7 6e ...... Intel(R) 82567LM Gigabit Network Connection
1 ........................... Software Loopback Interface 1
15 ...02 00 54 55 4e 01 ...... Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
17 ...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 isatap.{DA18C3FF-4558-4420-94A9-60ED58BC6107}
13 ...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 6TO4 Adapter
16 ...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 isatap.{DD64D233-AF34-41F7-BA3D-80C3B185D2AA}
===========================================================================

IPv4 Route Table
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
Network Destination Netmask Gateway Interface Metric
0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 172.16.4.254 172.16.4.218 20
127.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 On-link 127.0.0.1 306
127.0.0.1 255.255.255.255 On-link 127.0.0.1 306
127.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 127.0.0.1 306
169.254.0.0 255.255.0.0 On-link 172.16.4.218 296
169.254.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 172.16.4.218 276
172.16.4.0 255.255.255.0 On-link 172.16.4.218 276
172.16.4.218 255.255.255.255 On-link 172.16.4.218 276
172.16.4.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 172.16.4.218 276
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 On-link 127.0.0.1 306
224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 On-link 172.16.4.218 276
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 127.0.0.1 306
255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 172.16.4.218 276
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes:
Network Address Netmask Gateway Address Metric
169.254.0.0 255.255.0.0 192.168.0.106 1
===========================================================================

IPv6 Route Table
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
If Metric Network Destination Gateway
1 306 ::1/128 On-link
12 276 fe80::/64 On-link
12 276 fe80::886f:b4ff:af4d:33dd/128
On-link
1 306 ff00::/8 On-link
12 276 ff00::/8 On-link
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes:
None

 

Disable your wireless

start, in the search box, type
CMD
< enter >

type
route -f
< enter >

(this will clear all your routing tables--especially that persisten route...)

Reboot

Make a difference?

 

that didn't work

 

I got nothing.....I'dprobably image the drive, reinstall, and see if it repeats--if it does, it has to be some sort of bizarre hardware glitch