Member Avatar for cbgaloot

I have a computer at work that intermittently loses network connection to another computer.

These two communicate constantly, and I get calls at all hours of the night when they lose comms.

Is there a piece of software that I could install that would regularly check the connection then fix it if it has crashed?


Also
Is there a way to manually restore network comms without rebooting?


Thanks in advance.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by DimaYasny

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As pointed out, the right approach is to gather evidence and fix the root cause rather than just masking the symptom. Start by logging when the loss occurs so you can tell whether it is a physical/link problem, a DHCP/name-resolution issue, or an application crash. A small watchdog script can both log outages and attempt a soft recovery so you have data before taking further steps.

Example Windows batch (run as a scheduled task or from a service wrapper). Edit target and logfile to suit the environment:

@echo off
set target=192.168.1.100
set logfile=C:\netwatch.log

:loop
echo %date% %time% - ping %target% >> %logfile%
ping -n 1 %target% >nul
if errorlevel 1 (
  echo %date% %time% - ping FAILED >> %logfile%
  echo %date% %time% - attempting soft-repair >> %logfile%
  ipconfig /release >> %logfile% 2>&1
  ipconfig /renew  >> %logfile% 2>&1
  rem If Device Manager disable/enable is needed, use devcon (Microsoft utility) here
)
ping -n 11 127.0.0.1 >nul
goto loop

Manual restores that avoid a full reboot: (1) disable/enable the network adapter in Device Manager (or script this with Microsofts devcon utility), (2) run ipconfig /release then ipconfig /renew for DHCP, and (3) clear ARP cache with arp -d if stale ARP entries are suspected. These are safer than rebooting and quick to try. If the machine uses a static address, skip release/renew and toggle the adapter instead.

Key troubleshooting checks to collect next: verify link LEDs and swap the cable/port; check switch logs; look for duplex/speed mismatches and force 100Mbps/full if needed; update NIC drivers; check for duplicate IP addresses (ARP noise or DHCP conflicts); and capture packets (Wireshark) during a failure to see whether traffic stops at layer 2, 3, or higher. The watchdog log above will help correlate outages with other events and point to whether hardware, driver, or network equipment requires replacement or firmware updates.

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Member Avatar for cbgaloot

A little more info, since I saw other people being chewed on for too little info. :)

The PC is a Dell desktop running Win 2K, Standard TCP/IP network.

Not sure what else could be useful.

Member Avatar for DimaYasny

the way to go would be to troubleshoot why the network disconnects, and not how to work around that.

what exactly happens when those two loose connectivity? are they connected over a crossover cable/switch/router+internet/etc?

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