LAN problems - Limited or No Connectivity

[kidpokeher]

I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about computers but when it comes to network related issues I'm a noob so bear with me.

I used to have direct cable connections from my two computers into a wireless router (so the wireless wasn't really necessary at the time.) In my new house, both computers are now connected wirelessly to the same router. I also have a cat-5 cable connecting the two computers together. Here is what I'm noticing:

1) File transfers between the two computers are horribly slow over wireless. I tried copying about 700MB of files between the two and it was going to take 90+ min. Once I disabled the wireless connection, the files transferred over the LAN in about 4-5min.

2) I always get "Limited or No Connectivity" error icon in the system tray for the LAN (even when I set the properties to NOT notify me of this). The connection seems fine as evidenced above. When I check the properties, it says "This problem occurred because the network did not assign a network address to this computer." When I click Repair, it says it is unable to renew the IP address. When I look at the network connection details, it gives me a physical address, IP address, and subnet mask but no Default Gateway, DNS Server, or WINS server.

I'm just trying to figure out if this needs to be set up a different way. It'd be nice to have LAN speeds through the wireless or at least configure the computer so it transfers files through the LAN as opposed to the wireless if possible since the speed is so much quicker.

[SamIAm]

What are your IP settings? (e.g. Are you on DHCP or static IP?)

What's the security for the router like? (Is it filtering somehow, like MAC based?)

[djrion]

1. What wireless are you running? G or the old standard which I beleive is B

2. Open a cmd prompt and type in ipconfig/all. This should tell you your DG, DNS, etc.

[buckslayer80]

The limited or no connectivity problem can often be helped by decreasing the lease time for IP addresses on your router. I also noticed that when you start getting these errors power cycling your router usually helps.

[kidpokeher]

I'm using a Netgear 802.11B router (the adapter is wireless G).
Dchp Enabled - Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled - Yes
I believe the Autoconfiguration IP Address changes on the Ethernet NIC each time the computer is restarted.
I do have a MAC based access list set up on the router. In other words, only certain MAC addresses are allowed to connect.

No subnet Mask or Default Gateway listed for Ethernet.
DNS servers are listed for the wireless. Nothing for Ethernet.
Connection-specific DNS Suffix lists my cable co for wireless. Nothing for Ethernet.
Lease appears to be renewed on a weekly basis.

Does that help?

[Our House]

Setting a static IP address always helped whenever I got this on my home network.

[ohgeetee]

"Setting a static IP address always helped whenever I got this on my home network. "

not a solution.

it sounds like your wireless connection is crappy. the antennae on the router are directional, make sure they arent pointed to the ceiling or floor.

[buckslayer80]

Have you tried reapiring the wireless connection yet?

Is your gateway correct for the wireless connection? Just post a screenshot of your ipconfig /all. You may be missing something.

[kidpokeher]

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : new
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : sc.charter.com

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8169/8110 Family Gigabit
Ethernet NIC
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-11-09-D4-B5-70
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration IP Address. . . : 169.254.10.240
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection 2:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : sc.charter.com
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NETGEAR WG111v2 54Mbps Wireless USB
2.0 Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-14-6C-6C-34-4D
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.4
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.2
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.2
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 24.197.97.132
24.197.97.134
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, March 11, 2007 1:15:48 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, March 18, 2007 1:15:48 PM


I think you're right about the (crappy) wireless connection. Since I'm using an 802.1B router and an 802.1B wireless card in the other computer, I believe my wireless speed maxes at 11Mbps. Even though the signal strength was listed as "good" and the speed was indicated as 11Mbps, I was able to get an improvement in speed once I moved the router enough so the signal strength got to "excellent" (even though speed remains at 11Mbps).

Is there a way to set up Windows so that communication and file transfers between the two computers are done over the local area connection instead of being transferred over wireless?

[buckslayer80]

Your ethernet connection has no outside connection. Do you have it connected directly to the router? I'm still trying to figure out what you want to do.