Member Avatar for khryssta

I have a home network consisting of 1 wired PC running XP and 3 wireless laptops each running a different OS (1 Mac running OS X, 2 PCs - 1 XP and 1 Vista) connected through a Linksys WRT54G2 router and high speed cable through Comcast. When only the wired PC, the Mac and the laptop running XP are on the network everything is fine and I have not had the connection drop anytime during the month that I've had the router. However, I get intermittent connection drops (ranging anywhere from every 5 minutes to several days) when the laptop running Vista is also on the network (its a Lenovo). It not only knocks out the wireless connection throughout my home network, but also the wired connection so that the only way I can get my internet connection back is to power cycling the router. The thing is that to my knowledge that laptop does not have connection issues on the local university network. I have tried changing the channel the router is broadcasting on several times in case it was interference from the neighbors' networks, I've reset the router to factory defaults and set up the home network from scratch again, I've upgraded the firmware for the router, I've cloned the MAC address, and calling Linksys was an absolute waste of time. Anyone have any ideas on what I can try next?

  • 5 Contributors
  • 4 Replies
  • 198 Views
  • 2 Weeks Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by gakoop

Dani AI

Generated

— the pattern you describe (one Vista laptop joining the network and the entire LAN becoming unreachable until the router is power‑cycled) strongly points to either a router crash triggered by unusual traffic or a misbehaving Windows network stack on that laptop. A few focused diagnostics will narrow it down faster than random setting changes.

First, reproduce and gather evidence. From a wired PC run a continuous ping to the router (default gateway) so you have timestamps of the drop. On the Vista laptop, capture the moment it joins: run a quick process/connection snapshot and keep a live capture if possible. Useful commands to run as Administrator and save the output:

ipconfig /all
arp -a > C:\arp.txt
netstat -anob > C:\netstat.txt
netsh int ip reset C:\resetlog.txt
netsh winsock reset
ipconfig /flushdns

If the router becomes unresponsive even when the Vista machine is the only wireless client, the router is likely crashing. Enable any system log or syslog on the Linksys and watch for repeated ARP/DHCP or flooding events at the moment of failure.

On the laptop side, temporarily disable extras that can flood a network: Internet Connection Sharing, virtual adapters (VMware/VirtualBox), Bonjour/mDNS, VPN clients and third‑party firewalls. Update or try an older wireless driver (or test with a USB Wi‑Fi dongle). If you can, boot the Lenovo from a Linux live USB and repeat the test — if the router stays stable under Linux the culprit is almost certainly Windows/software on the laptop; if it still kills the router, suspect hardware-level broadcasts or a NIC firmware issue.

If packet capture shows ARP storms, an avalanche of DHCP requests, or thousands of ephemeral TCP connections, collect those logs and either swap the router to test or report the capture to Linksys. As and have noted, this kind of problem can be caused by IP/DHCP conflicts, driver bugs or background services; targeted logs and the wired-vs-wireless test will tell which.

Recommended Answers

All 4 Replies

Member Avatar for LabASSistant

can you set the vista laptop to a static IP outside your dhcp assigned range and try it?

Member Avatar for Catalana

will that work?

commented: it will work +7
Member Avatar for sudhiom

Hi
you go to internet explorer and go tools go iternet option and go connections go lan setting in that box you can find proxy sever disabal it

Member Avatar for gakoop

I have a home network consisting of 1 wired PC running XP and 3 wireless laptops each running a different OS (1 Mac running OS X, 2 PCs - 1 XP and 1 Vista) connected through a Linksys WRT54G2 router and high speed cable through Comcast. When only the wired PC, the Mac and the laptop running XP are on the network everything is fine and I have not had the connection drop anytime during the month that I've had the router. However, I get intermittent connection drops (ranging anywhere from every 5 minutes to several days) when the laptop running Vista is also on the network (its a Lenovo). It not only knocks out the wireless connection throughout my home network, but also the wired connection so that the only way I can get my internet connection back is to power cycling the router. The thing is that to my knowledge that laptop does not have connection issues on the local university network. I have tried changing the channel the router is broadcasting on several times in case it was interference from the neighbors' networks, I've reset the router to factory defaults and set up the home network from scratch again, I've upgraded the firmware for the router, I've cloned the MAC address, and calling Linksys was an absolute waste of time. Anyone have any ideas on what I can try next?

I have a very similar problem. I have one laptop that consistently knocks out the connection on all of my other computers and a range expander when I turn it on or sign back in to Windows. The problem typically resolves itself after about 5-10 minutes. I’ve tried fixing it by performing the steps you mentioned and I even purchased a new Linksys Wireless N router and still have the problem. My laptop is an HP 6910p. I’ve tried running it under Windows XP and Windows Vista. I have the same problem with both operating systems. If you have any luck figuring this out please let me know.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.