Unidentified Network

[MikeEwins]

I am encountering a bizarre situation with our wired media server. The ethernet network works fine until it doesn't, resulting in an `Unidentified Network` and refuses to connect. I've tried resetting the network, repairing Windows 10, and even buying a new network card to install in one of the bays. None of these have worked and both network adapters result in the same thing: Unidentified Network.

This has happened once before, and I purchased the network card because of it. Before I was able to install it, however, the network finally started working again all was magically happy once more. So I kept the extra card for this situation in case it ever got wonky again and here we are.

I would appreciate any pointers on what could be causing this and any possible remedies.

 

[Kshipper]

Open the command window with Admin privileges and try these commands one by one:

netsh winsock reset
netsh int ip reset

You will likely have to reboot after those first two

In the event this is an IP conflict problem and you are not static routing try these 3 next:

Ipconfig /release
Ipconfig /renew
Ipconfig /flushdns

If you still have a problem consider the network cord might have an issue and/or the switch or router. I have seen all of these be an issue including overheating network equipment. I have also seen infected devices (not necessarily your Win10 machine but other devices) on the same network cause this issue hence the reason it comes and goes.

You didn't say but if there are other devices on this network, are they are fine? No issues when the Win10 rig is having issues?

 

[MikeEwins]

Thank you for the suggestions @Kshipper and pardon the confusion as "network reset" included all those commands and more.

One consideration is indeed the cable. I am using a coupler which I have had problems with in the past. However, the issue there was downgrading from 1G to 100mb/s connection speed and nothing like this where the network essentially flakes out altogether. Of course, there is also a coupler in the wall so that occurs anyways.

I am wondering if it's a board-related issue. It's a little older, an MSI x470 Gaming Pro. I have disabled the onboard LAN, and after a reboot (which resulted in a DRIVER POWER BSOD 🙄) I am able to see the network again with the card that I purchased and installed yesterday.

If it flakes out again, I will see if doing a single non-coupled cable is a factor.

That stated, I would like to explore the infected device theory. How do I know if this is a further factor/consideration? This is always a worry of mine so want to ensure proper diligence towards this.

EDIT: yes this is the only machine on the network that is having issues like this.

Thank you again for any time/assistance.

 

[MikeEwins]

(I posted a reply to this but it appears to still be in moderation)
The interesting aspect is that this also occurs with my WiFi connections. Essentially things seem to work well but when there is a good amount of traffic to the server (streaming via Plex), it cuts out and gets into this really weird state.

We started out w/ WiFi but then I moved it to wire. The wire exhibited the same weird behavior so I bought a new card to rule out any hardware issues.

I should also state that I have updated all drivers and firmware on the motherboard.

 

[MikeEwins]

FWIW I see now that the 1Gps connection is reporting 100Mb/s so it may be due to the coupler I am using. I am going to buy some legit cable and see if that fixes this issue.

 

[Kshipper]

That's a good idea. To get this machine up to 1Gbps. Some more diagnostics we can do> Open the CMD window again and ping the gateway or a website endlessly. Type> ping 192.168.01 -t

the 192.168.0.1 should be your actual gateway IP (not my example). if you are not sure what it is type> ipconfig to see it.

This should ping the gateway and you want a connection that is close to 1ms and unbroken. If you are on wireless. expect to see a lost packet once in a while and little higher latency than 1ms. If you get a lot of lost packets this would indicate a spotty/unstable connection.

If you want to test by pinging a website type> ping www.google.com -t

Again, you want an unbroken connection here with ping times around 30ms

To address the infected machine issue you simply disconnect all other devices or shut them down. Observer the ping test in progress. Does the connection suddenly improve? Once you have a rock-solid connection turn devices on one at a time. I have had Visa M/C Debit machines that interfere with a network so badly that the computers can't surf the web normally. This has happened more than once so I am wise to resource-grabbing devices on the same network.

 

[MikeEwins]

So a bit of an update here. I got the single cable and plugged it directly between the machine and the router gets 1Gbs on the card that was getting 100Mb/s on w/ the coupler. So, it appears that the coupler is the culprit here. Now to climb through the ceiling and fight with wire management... again. 😅

I appreciate the insight/suggestion/advice @Kshipper ... I was not able to ping my router (I believe I turned off that feature and am too lazy to dig for it ATM). However, pinging Google is 19-21ms w/o any drops.

It would be nice to rule out infected equipment but you never know. 🤞

Anyways, I will continue to update here.

 

[Kshipper]

Ok. If you get 1Gbps without the coupler, then that does indicate a problem there. You need all 8 wires to achieve 1Gbps, and if only one wire is damaged it will drop back to 100Mbps (100Mbps only needs 4 wires).

The ping time to Google without any drops and running under 30ms suggests that there isn't anything on the network that is interfering at the time of testing. It doesn't speak to the available bandwidth but it does indicate some low-level connection there with the Internet.

I suggest repeating the ping test to Google when the media server starts acting up. Changing the coupler or perhaps laying a whole new cat5 network cable is a good idea in the meantime. =)

 

[MikeEwins]

I have this issue still open in my "open issues" tab group and it looks like after a month now things seem better. Or, at least, it's to the point that I am willing to brag about it working online, and tempt fate with my "success" otherwise. 😬

Looks like the direct cabling + removing the coupler was the answer here. 👍

Happy new year out there to @Kshipper and all. 🎉

 

[MikeEwins]

Well, sort of surprising here, but the network for us just crapped out again. This is after 3 months of perfect operation with the wired setup and just about a half hour ago it failed with the same problem "Unidentified network."

Tried a network reset and a reboot, but this does not work. The only way to get our network back on this machine is to use a wireless adapter. Very perplexing and concerning. I am open to any further thoughts around this ginormous technical riddle.

 

[Kshipper]

I don't know if there is a switch in use anywhere but that is one aspect to look for (replacement, or elimination), and of course, routers act up too since they are often a modem/router/switch and access point all-in-one device. Is your router supplied by your ISP? Consider putting your ISP-supplied router in 'Bridge Mode' and just setting up your own router.

 

[MikeEwins]

Router has been in use for a few years now and is ours. No switch. I did have a rule on there to assign IP address based on the MAC address. The address is outside of the address range of the DHCP server on the router. Anyways leaving everything as-is overnight magically corrected and the server can find the network again with a new IP address assigned 🤷‍♂️

 

[Kshipper]

It could be a worn-out router then or a heat issue with the router if it self-corrected after a long time.

 

[MikeEwins]

Hm I thought it might be something related to this so I tried plugging into different ports on the router without much luck. It is acting as if it's having IP address collision problems (not not entirely sure about this). It would also seem if the router is worn out it would not take 3 months to demonstrate this. 🤔 It's like the card becomes unusable for 8 hours and then magically starts working again. Keep in mind that this is an external card that I purchased because I thought the internal chipset might be having issues. They are both doing the same thing, it turns out.

 

[Kshipper]

If the router itself is worn out it would indeed do this (not just one port, but any port). I find with heat issues on routers or switches they work right up until the point where they don't work and they will magically start working again after they cool down. Sometimes I have to restart a router that has overheated but it won't function correctly until it has cooled down too. I have seen this in the field as recently as last month. I am not thinking it's the card in the computer, but anything is possible.

 

[MikeEwins]

OK, I can almost buy this, and can entertain this a bit further. Seems like it would happen more than every 3 months, though. And other devices would suffer this too, correct? This is the only machine that is experiencing this problem on our network and we have several lines connected to this router.

 

[Kshipper]

Ohhh just this machine. I see. Well, then my thinking would be wrong then. If you have a different device to stick on the network cable when it is "doing it" then you will have eliminated the cable too. I recently had a machine that would not connect and I had to turn IPV6 off for it to work correctly. On a different job, a machine with the same problem stopped working altogether when I turned off IPV6. The 2nd machine's problem was a slightly loose CAT5 cable at the network card.

 

[MikeEwins]

Yes, that is a good point. I will try connecting a laptop to verify next time. I should have thought of that. 🤦‍♂️ See you in 3 months or so 😬