Vista broadband connection problems - please help

[Graham_s]

ok I am suffering from the common problem of "limited connectivity only" and "unidentified network" when I try to connect to the internet through an ethernet cable. I can connect through the wireless but the reliability and consistency of the internet is pathetic.

I have tried all the CMD commands,
done the broadcast flag thing in the registry,
tried static IPs and DNS info, tried disabling TCP/IPv6,
tried setting the network as private,
tried updating drivers,
tried different ethernet ports in the router (which is linksys by the way, so thats probably the problem),
tried resetting the LAN info for windows firewall
tried turning it off completely and then attempt to connect
tried adjusting the duplex speed
tried disabling file and printer sharing on the network


WHY won't it let me connect through a wire but it will through wireless? I hate wireless and this is driving me criminally insane. Can anyone help?

 

[Mictlantecuhtli]

I guess you don't have other firewall applications running?

Have you checked that the adapter isn't blocked in firewall's advanced options? (Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Windows Firewall with Advanced Security)

 

[Graham_s]

I have PG2 and I have tried it with that turned off too.

I just had a go at the advanced firewall thing but didnt get it to work. I take it you meant I should enable all access to and from the computer?

 

[gbhall]

Try another ethernet cable, and if possible, borrow another router to see if the same problem occurs, that will tell you if it is hardware or settings problem. Sorry to say it could also be down to the telephone connection and/or filters, noise on the line. If you examine the router handbook, you ought to be able to find all the statistics of the router, like noise margin, attenuation etc.

 

[Mictlantecuhtli]

I just had a go at the advanced firewall thing but didnt get it to work. I take it you meant I should enable all access to and from the computer?

Not really, just that the policy isn't to block everything.

If the connection works to your router - ie. you can configure the router using the ethernet connection - then I'd say the router is to blame.

 

[Graham_s]

i can't even connect to the router, but the router is really crap, as is everything I have used that's been made by linksys. the last time I used the cable was for the whole of last year, and it was working perfectly. Also, my sister is having the same problems on her computer connecting to the router via ethernet, but as soon as a wireless network adaptor is plugged in, bing! we have internet.

So I am pretty certain it must be another irritating microsoft thing to do wtih vista, or the router is duff.

 

[gbhall]

Perhaps it is a case of having two alternative connections to the same device - one wireless, the other cabled. Likely the anwser "is one or the other NOT both at once" !!

 

[Graham_s]

would that be a problem though I have disabled and disconnected the wireless adaptor?

 

[gbhall]

Who knows? Vista is stil at the stage where not enough is known about the inner workings, but in your position, I would certainly try not just disabling, but completely removing the driver I found most problematic. Alternatively....

You do say you have tried updating the drivers, but they are worth looking at again, Vista drivers are still improving. Furthermore, The MS supplied generic drivers are somethimes better than the manufacturer-supplied ones. You could try disconnecting the device then removing all drivers, reboot, reconnect, and see what Vista makes of it. Can hardly be worse than your present situation ?

Is the linksys old, pre-Vista? Is it on the Vista-approved list of devices? if not, bin it.

 

[Graham_s]

ok, I'll give it a go. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[VMSandman]

Have you tried assigning yourself a static IP for the network that you know is not being used?

(this also sounds like a problem with the network configuration and not the broadband)

 

[Graham_s]

yes I have tried static IP addresses

still no luck with this problem. I have uninstalled and removed the wireless adaptor and the damn thing still wont connect. does anyone know where I can find this list of vista-approved devices?

 

[Graham_s]

i may have had a bit of a breakthrough. When I let Vista assign an IP address automatically, it gives it the IP address "169.254.101.199" which, as I have read from my hours and hours of searching for a solution, is an IP address that vista uses when it can't get a response from the router or something? Is that right?

Does that give anyone any clues on how to fix it?

I have tried playing with router settings and MAC address filtering and nothing has worked. I am starting to lose my marbles over this. I can't understand why connecting a cable would be more hassle than wireless...


EDIT:
It also says that DHCP is NOT enabled on my nforce network adaptor. Could this be the problem? I have entered a value in regedit to make sure that it is enabled, but it doesnt seem to have worked...

EDIT (again) :
I just noticed that it says that DHCP isn't enabled because I was trying static IP addresses (again...)

 

[gbhall]

No wonder you cannot find it, MS own site just has page not found, and otherwise sends you in circles. However there is some toolr or other at the bottom of this page http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/bb977556.aspx or here http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/dd537566.aspx There are several other links to the official MS compatibility list, all of which point to a page that has gone missing....