I keep loosing my LAN Network connection

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sno-twister · #1 Post by **sno-twister** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 5:30 pm

This is an ongoing problem that I have tried to resolve myself with mixed results. I have 3 PC's and my A30 laptop connected on my LAN. All are running either Windows XP Home or XP Pro. For some unknown reason I keep loosing the ability to connect to the other computers on the network. There is no rhyme or reason that I can find for this.

All are set to share a printer which is connected directly to one of the PC's.

I can ping all the computers on the network from any computer location.

When viewing My Network Places>View Workgroup Computers not all are shown.

All are on the same "WORKGROUP" and have unique names for each computer.

The problem seems to be most prevelant on the computer with the printer attached, but not exclusive to it.

I upgraded to Norton Systemworks 2006 in early Janurary. This it seems to be when the issues started. (Any known issues here?)

I tried enable and disable of Windows XP Firewall, with no help

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks

morgie · #2 Post by **morgie** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 5:43 pm

Ok, this sounds like a familiar problem caused by Norton Personal Firewall - I'm not sure if this is included in NSW though. If I have the wrong end of the stick sorry, but this may be worth trying,.....(it's from memory, so screens/options may be slightly different)....

Open up Norton SystemWorks (or Internet Security) and click on "Personal Firewall". Next I think you have to select "Network" or something similar. There should be a "Network Wizzard" tab, or button - select this. Get it to automatically detect your network settings and you should be good - it needs to know the range of IP's to trust to allow access.

WarlordTim · #3 Post by **WarlordTim** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 6:15 pm

If you're running Windows XP Service Pack 2, the built-in Windows firewall can also sink the Windows Networking. I'd look at that also, in addition to the Norton Firewall (if it came in your Systemworks bundle).

sno-twister · #4 Post by **sno-twister** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 6:27 pm

Thanks for the replies. Yes all have SP2 installed. My version of NSW 2006 (standard) did not come with a firewall. I guess I'll remove NSW and see if the problem goes away, and the reinstall it.

sno-twister · #5 Post by **sno-twister** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 4:27 pm

Well, I did a reinstall of NSW 2006 and that did not help. I have also tried two different NIC cards, different cables, different router ports with the same result. Windows Firewall is disabled on all PC's. It is almost as though this computers network connection "times out". I can ping all the PC's on the network and then go to "view workgroup computers" and they are all there. After a while of sitting idle, this one PC drops the network connection. There are other issues as well related to file sharing, but I want to solve the connection problem first.

#6 Post by **Kyocera** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 6:03 pm

Have you tried resetting your router (i'm assuming you are using a router or a switch for connectivity). Check the subnet masks and default gateways too . Do an ipconfig /all from a command promt and make sure they are all in the same subnet. You could also ping each other with a switch t >ping 192.168.1.2 -t and let it run for a while you may see some timeouts which would indicate a faulty nic, or switch/router.

#7 Post by **GomJabbar** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 6:36 pm

Try entering your TCP/IP settings manually (IP address/ subnet mask, DNS addresses, etc.). Look at what the settings are when you have a good connection, and use these. I have found this to stabilize connections for me in the past. Of course this only works well in a static environment like your home. Also be aware that the IP addresses have to be unique for each computer or device connected to your network. Just change the last three digits for each computer (i.e. 100, 101, 102, 103, etc.)

BTW, with Access Connections you can set up different profiles for different locations. That way you have the TCP/IP settings set dynamically when you are on the road.

sno-twister · #8 Post by **sno-twister** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 7:29 pm

I have previously tried setting the TCP/IP settings manually as well as resetting the router. Really the best way to describe what is happening to this one computer only is that it "times out" on a network connection. I can ping the other computers form the problem computer. Re-establish the network and then after some idle time it will lose the network connection and yet still be able to connect to the internet.

#9 Post by **GomJabbar** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 7:37 pm

It may be some sort of Power Management setting. Maybe your computer is powering down the card when it is idle for a certain period of time.

I keep loosing my LAN Network connection

I keep loosing my LAN Network connection

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