internet and LAN access problem - please help

[Adam]

Well that shows it's not connecting to the router. Are you sure the
patch cable you use to connect the machine is OK? Tried another cable?

Yes, the cables are fine. My system can see the other PCs now.
Here's what I noticed and did to fix the home network access ...
I noticed that the IP addresses are not in range of the trusted zone.
First I noticed this on the problem system. Then,
I noticed this on the working system that I used to post as well.
I figured that one possible source of this problem is ... wireless.
So, I disabled Wireless Network Connection on the problem system,
which is the only source of wireless networking. Then,
I shutdown EVERYTHING (all PCs, router, DSL modem).
After waiting for several minutes, I restarted the devices one-by-one.
After making sure that the IP addresses are all in range,
I notice that there is no longer a yellow ! by the Network icon. Yay!
And, I can see other PCs on the network.

However, I still "cannot" browse the internet on the problem system.

Update ...

Running "ipconfig" in command prompt on problem system shows ...

Windows IP Configuration

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . :
fe80::1807:blah-blah-not-shown
IPv4 Address . . . . . . . . :
192.168.blah-blah-not-shown
Subnet mask . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . :
192.168.blah-blah-not-shown

This rest of "ipconfig" output is not shown.

 

[Adam]

Yes, the cables are fine. My system can see the other PCs now.
Here's what I noticed and did to fix the home network access ...
I noticed that the IP addresses are not in range of the trusted zone.
First I noticed this on the problem system. Then,
I noticed this on the working system that I used to post as well.
I figured that one possible source of this problem is ... wireless.
So, I disabled Wireless Network Connection on the problem system,
which is the only source of wireless networking. Then,
I shutdown EVERYTHING (all PCs, router, DSL modem).
After waiting for several minutes, I restarted the devices one-by-one.
After making sure that the IP addresses are all in range,
<snip>
I can see other PCs on the network.

However, I still "cannot" browse the internet on the problem system.

Update ...

Running "ipconfig" in command prompt on problem system shows ...

Windows IP Configuration

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . :
fe80::1807:blah-blah-not-shown
IPv4 Address . . . . . . . . :
192.168.blah-blah-not-shown
Subnet mask . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . :
192.168.blah-blah-not-shown

This rest of "ipconfig" output is not shown.

Spoke too soon. The yellow ! by the Network icon on the taskbar is back.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Device Manager => Network adapters =>
Atheros AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter Properties says ...
"This device is working properly."

This is one of the least useful messages Windows provides.

It means only that Windows doesn't see a problem with the driver
software, and has nothing to do with the state of the hardware.

 

[Char Jackson]

No, the problem system does not have internet access either.
ZoneAlarm firewall is setup to allow only a certain IP range in
the trusted zone. This may be the problem since
doing "Diagnose Connection Problems" in Internet Explorer on
problem system shows the following problem ...
"Local Area Connection doesn't have a valid IP configuration"

At least three important details were provided here: the presence of
ZoneAlarm, which I suspect is kicking your butt, the fact that the
problem PC doesn't have Internet access, and the name of the interface
that's complaining (Local Area Connection, in other words the wired
network connection).

How do I find out which network interface is complaining?

It's your wired network interface, the one called Local Network
Connection.

Running "ipconfig" in command prompt on problem system shows ...

Autoconfiguration IPv4 Address . : 169.254.86.63
Subnet mask . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . :

As someone else said, the problem PC was not able to communicate with
your router's DHCP server when this happened. The primary keys/clues
are the 169.254.x.x IP address and the 255.255.0.0 netmask.

It doesn't look like the problem system was assigned a valid IP address.

Oops, just saw a later post where the DHCP address assignment issue
was resolved, but it still looks like ZoneAlarm may be the culprit.

 

[Char Jackson]

Yes, the cables are fine. My system can see the other PCs now.
Here's what I noticed and did to fix the home network access ...
I noticed that the IP addresses are not in range of the trusted zone.
First I noticed this on the problem system. Then,
I noticed this on the working system that I used to post as well.
I figured that one possible source of this problem is ... wireless.

Any explanation of why you turned to the wireless as the problem? I
don't see the connection. (No pun intended.)

So, I disabled Wireless Network Connection on the problem system,
which is the only source of wireless networking. Then,
I shutdown EVERYTHING (all PCs, router, DSL modem).
After waiting for several minutes, I restarted the devices one-by-one.
After making sure that the IP addresses are all in range,
I notice that there is no longer a yellow ! by the Network icon. Yay!
And, I can see other PCs on the network.

However, I still "cannot" browse the internet on the problem system.

You can see the other PC's on the network and they can see the problem
PC, but the problem PC still can't access the Internet? Can the
problem PC ping and/or access the router? I assume it can, and I
assume ZoneAlarm is still misconfigured.

Update ...

Running "ipconfig" in command prompt on problem system shows ...

Windows IP Configuration

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . :
fe80::1807:blah-blah-not-shown
IPv4 Address . . . . . . . . :
192.168.blah-blah-not-shown
Subnet mask . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . :
192.168.blah-blah-not-shown

This rest of "ipconfig" output is not shown.

FYI, there's no need to hide your local IP addresses. They are of no
use to anyone outside of your LAN.

 

[Adam]

Any explanation of why you turned to the wireless as the problem?
I don't see the connection. (No pun intended.)

It was just a hunch since my other systems were suddenly
being assigned out-of-range IP addresses.
There may have been some contention between
the problem system first attaching to some unknown wireless network.
And then, when I needed to attach it to the wired home network,
which has certain IP address requirements, the problem system had
to either lose it's out-of-range IP address or not have wired network access.

Also, it was a way to simplify the problem by elimination.

You can see the other PC's on the network and they can see the problem
PC, but the problem PC still can't access the Internet? Can the
problem PC ping and/or access the router? I assume it can, and I
assume ZoneAlarm is still misconfigured.

Yes, you're right. After more changes to ZoneAlarm,
I now have internet access. Yay!!

 

[Adam]

At least three important details were provided here: the presence of
ZoneAlarm, which I suspect is kicking your butt, the fact that the
problem PC doesn't have Internet access, and the name of the interface
that's complaining (Local Area Connection, in other words the wired
network connection).



It's your wired network interface, the one called Local Network
Connection.


As someone else said, the problem PC was not able to communicate with
your router's DHCP server when this happened. The primary keys/clues
are the 169.254.x.x IP address and the 255.255.0.0 netmask.


Oops, just saw a later post where the DHCP address assignment issue
was resolved, but it still looks like ZoneAlarm may be the culprit.

Regarding ZoneAlarm, it's a love-hate relationship.

Thanks to EVERYONE for being so helpful.

 

[Char Jackson]

It was just a hunch since my other systems were suddenly
being assigned out-of-range IP addresses.
There may have been some contention between
the problem system first attaching to some unknown wireless network.
And then, when I needed to attach it to the wired home network,
which has certain IP address requirements, the problem system had
to either lose it's out-of-range IP address or not have wired network access.

FYI, each interface gets its own IP address separately from any
others, so it's entirely possible and legitimate that one interface
could have an IP address in one network while another interface can
have an IP address in a completely different network. It's even
possible for a single interface to have multiple IP addresses,
regardless of whether those IP addresses are in the same network or in
different networks. Lots of flexibility there.

Yes, you're right. After more changes to ZoneAlarm,
I now have internet access. Yay!!

Excellent! Congrats on sticking with it to the end, and especially for
letting us know of your success.

 

[charlie]

Castanets?

Actually, there is likely no need for it.
Most Win 7 systems do just fine without the wi fi "enhancements" added
by the OEMs.

 

[Gordon]

Regarding ZoneAlarm, it's a love-hate relationship.

Thanks to EVERYONE for being so helpful.

Glad you have it sorted.
BTW, if you are behind a NATS router and have Windows firewall running,
there is absolutely NO NEED to use anything like Zonealarm....

 

[Adam]

Glad you have it sorted.
BTW, if you are behind a NATS router and have Windows firewall running,
there is absolutely NO NEED to use anything like Zonealarm....

Thanks, that's good to know. But, sometimes it's not easy to
remember which system needs ZA and which system does not.
So, I just install on all that will allow.

 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

BTW, if you are behind a NATS router and have Windows firewall
running, there is absolutely NO NEED to use anything like
Zonealarm....

Except that IIRC, by default the Windows firewall does not provide
outbound filtering so Zonealarm still provides benefit.

--
Zaphod

Arthur Dent, speaking to Trillian about Zaphod:
"So, two heads is what does it for a girl?"
"...Anything else he's got two of?"

 

[Seth]

Except that IIRC, by default the Windows firewall does not provide
outbound filtering so Zonealarm still provides benefit.

The firewall that comes with Windows 7 (and Vista) provides outbound as
well. Run wf.msc to see it.

Or are you saying it's just not "on" by default?

 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

The firewall that comes with Windows 7 (and Vista) provides outbound
as well. Run wf.msc to see it.

Or are you saying it's just not "on" by default?

Not on by default was my intent, yes. I've also heard it isn't
particularly friendly to configure, but never having felt the need to
enable it I can't really say.

 

[Seth]

Not on by default was my intent, yes. I've also heard it isn't
particularly friendly to configure, but never having felt the need to
enable it I can't really say.

It can be a bit intimidating to configure but it is quite powerful and does
a very good job. My current company, while we're still on XP with a 3rd
party firewall, using the built-in firewall on Windows 7 (I'm engineering
the new desktop currently) is a major contender (and this is for 140,000
machines, 90% laptops in 240 countries).

 

[Ken Blake]

Except that IIRC, by default the Windows firewall does not provide
outbound filtering so Zonealarm still provides benefit.

I used to believe that and say much the same thing myself, and back in
those days, I recommended ZA over the Windows firewall for exactly
that reason.

But I've more recently become convinced that outward protection is
just an illusion. Once one of the nasties gets into your computer, it
can essentially do whatever it wants, including circumventing the
firewall. So the extra protection provided by a firewall that monitors
outbound traffic is more apparent than real.