computer network connection question...

[Liesje]

This is kinda ironic since I'm a computer tech, but I really only do software, hardware, and printers, not much with networking so here's a question that hopefully has a simple answer:

At my house we have SBC DSL. I've got a 4-port hub/router and 8-port hub. I'm connected into the 4-port hub/router (one of the other four is the uplink to the 8-port hub upstairs). This wasn't a problem until I sold my nice desktop and have been using my grandpa's old one until I get a new laptop. When I boot up the computer in the morning, it takes up to 15 minutes to establish a network connection. Sometimes I just do a release/renew and it works the first time and I'm good to go. other times the repair fails and I have to do it 3 or 4 times before I can get online. Or, I can just walk away, come back 15 minutes later and my AIM has signed on and it's all set. No one else has this problem. I've tried a different port on the router. Any ideas? I've never had to do this before. As I said, I don't really do anything with networking so I'm not sure if it's the NIC itself, the network properties (TCP/IP is set to obtain IP and DNS automatically), the computer's not quite legit OS, or something with the router.

 

[EvolutionMonkey]

When you say 15 minutes do you mean it hangs for 15 minutes and you can't do anything on that computer like typing ?

Give this a shot firstand see if it works, this will reset your tcp/ip stack,

go to the command line and type this and hit enter (this will only work on XP)

netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt

Restart your computer and see if that works.
It's hard to narrow it down at this point because like you said it could be a variety of things, but the easiest way to get you up and running is to do the release and renew thing but create a batch file so you don't have to type it everytime.

Open up notepad and type this:

ipconfig/release
ipconfig/renew
ipconfig/all
pause

then save it as ip.bat and put it on your desktop, remember the extension has to be .bat not .txt (also no space after the / )

Just click on it when you want your ip renewed and if it hangs, after a a few seconds just quickly shut that window and click again and again until you get an ip. This is not solving your problem but it's an easier way than typing ipconfig /release blah blah blah evertime.

To solve your problem why don't you try to connect to your router (i have to type 192.168.0.1 to get to my D-Link but yours might be different check your manual, then once your in there try to find DHCP and set a static ip address for that old computer, you will have to type in the MAC address and name of that computer and the ip you want t o give it. Try that, you won' t have to set anything on the old computers tcp/ip setting just leave it to "obtain ip address from dhcp" as usual. You might have to give a static ip to your other computers too to make this work but i do it at home and works great. The reason i did this is for security purposes so my router isn't handing out addresses, it just gives my 2 computers static ip's.

The other thing is to uninstall your network card (go to device manager and right click your network card and click 'uninstall' then restart your computer and it will reinstall it for you. Also maybe your cable could be the wrong kind, here's a small chart that will give you an idea which cable should go where:

computer to computer crossover cable
computer to hub straight through cable
hub port to hub port crossover cable
hub uplink to hub port straight through cable
computer to router uplink crossover cable
computer to switch straight through cable
computer to cable modem crossover cable
cable modem to router crossover cable
hub uplink to switch port straight through cable

Like i said it could be something else but the batch file will make it easier for you until you find the problem.

 

[Liesje]

When you say 15 minutes do you mean it hangs for 15 minutes and you can't do anything on that computer like typing ?

No, just the network connection. When I turn on the computer, I use Novell Groupwise for e-mail and it tries to connect. This computer worked fine for a week, but now it says "unable to connect to TCP/IP" when GroupWise tries to load automatically. So then I go to the Control Panel or command prompt try a release/renew of the IP address. Sometimes this works and I can get online, sometimes it says the repair operation failed and I try again 3 or 4 times before it completes, or sometimes the repair works, but I still can't connect to e-mail or load any webpages. I'm just wondering why I have to renew the IP address 1-4 times each morning when I never had to do that on my old computer which, besides different physical hardware, was configured the same way (at least to my knowledge).

I'm at work now, but I'll make that bat file tonight.