network connection

[LocalHero]

Greetings - I've been having problems with my main PC losing connection
to the network and internet.

It is wired to a router.

Other computers wired and wi-fi to the router have no problem.

Switching the cable to another socket on the router doesn't solve it.

Changing the cable from the router to the main PC doesn't solve it.

So I'm deducing it may be the network connection on the PC.

This is actually an onboard feature on the motherboard.

If I purchase a pci network card and plug it in, will Windows 7 Pro
just use it, or will I have to disable the onboard connector - and if
so, how?

Many thanks



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[John Williamson]

Greetings - I've been having problems with my main PC losing connection
to the network and internet.

It is wired to a router.

Other computers wired and wi-fi to the router have no problem.

Switching the cable to another socket on the router doesn't solve it.

Changing the cable from the router to the main PC doesn't solve it.

So I'm deducing it may be the network connection on the PC.

This is actually an onboard feature on the motherboard.

If I purchase a pci network card and plug it in, will Windows 7 Pro
just use it, or will I have to disable the onboard connector - and if
so, how?

You'll probably get a driver CD with the card, after following the
instructions, it will show up as an available connection. If you're
lucky, it'll Just Work (tm)

The onboard ethernet can normally be disabled via a BIOS option, but if
you select the PCI interface as default in Network and Sharing, then you
won't need to. Windows will normally use any available networking system
without prompting.

 

[Paul]

Greetings - I've been having problems with my main PC losing connection
to the network and internet.

It is wired to a router.

Other computers wired and wi-fi to the router have no problem.

Switching the cable to another socket on the router doesn't solve it.

Changing the cable from the router to the main PC doesn't solve it.

So I'm deducing it may be the network connection on the PC.

This is actually an onboard feature on the motherboard.

If I purchase a pci network card and plug it in, will Windows 7 Pro
just use it, or will I have to disable the onboard connector - and if
so, how?

Many thanks

You should be able to just use it.

With regard to the onboard NIC, perhaps you could read the part
number off it, put the part number into Google, and see if
anyone else has seen your problem.

It could still be an anomaly in your setup, rather than an actual
hardware flaw. If this was a Wifi problem, I'd be in full agreement
to try more hardware. But if this is a wired connection, there's got
to be more to the story. If you find the exact same thing happening,
when the new NIC is present, then you'll know it's a setup problem.
(Like, maybe a DNS problem of some sort.) And it doesn't hurt to
have a spare NIC around (for when a lightning storm blows out
one of your regular ports).

In terms of chip brands, I like Intel or Marvell for NIC chips on the
PCI NIC card. I have a RealTek RTL8169SC that, while it works, isn't
the best NIC I ever bought.

The last time I visited a couple big box stores, there really wasn't
anything to see - the shabby collection of NICs they used to have, were
gone. So it's really hard to predict what you'll find at retail now.
At one time, you could be assured there would be a "barrel of NICs"
with things like 8139s on them. Which, at $10 a shot, were worth it
just for test purposes. Even if the chip wasn't really that good
(no buffer ring, fixed buffers of some sort).

You'd probably have a better selection of NICs, if you had a PCI
Express x1 slot to use. For PCI, that's a declining market, so
you won't find as much interest in them at retail. That's why
I ended up with the 8169 - no competition.

Without reading any of the reviews, here's an example of an Intel
NIC. $31. Being OEM, there's no driver CD, but you can get the
drivers off the Intel download site. And the customer reviews
of the NIC, should have a reference to that topic (of where
to get a driver, and what driver to use). I'd rather try an
Intel chip, than that RealTek I bought.

"PWLA8391GT"
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106121

The first few reviews mention it "just works" with Windows 7 anyway.
So no need to go looking for drivers. Bonus!

Paul

 

[Ken1943]

Greetings - I've been having problems with my main PC losing connection
to the network and internet.

It is wired to a router.

Other computers wired and wi-fi to the router have no problem.

Switching the cable to another socket on the router doesn't solve it.

Changing the cable from the router to the main PC doesn't solve it.

So I'm deducing it may be the network connection on the PC.

This is actually an onboard feature on the motherboard.

If I purchase a pci network card and plug it in, will Windows 7 Pro
just use it, or will I have to disable the onboard connector - and if
so, how?

Many thanks

The network stack could be corrupted. Google > Windows 7 reset network
stack < should turn up something on resetting it.


KenW

 

[Ken1943]

Thanks, just tried that - no change.

The last things I can think of is uninstall in device manager, reboot
and let windows reinstall the drivers. Check the driver version and see
if there is a update at the manf. of the mobo and manf. of the nic site.

The other thing is if you allow windows to install drivers and you got a
bad driver from them. In the search box type > update device drivers <
and Change device installations settings. Make sure that the setting in
never install drivers from windows update. If you did get a bad driver
update, you will have to get a new driver and then from device manager,
use the remove the driver.

Although they can go bad, I have never had it happen.


KenW

 

[Char Jackson]

Greetings - I've been having problems with my main PC losing connection
to the network and internet.

First things first. The "and internet" part above is irrelevant. All that
matters at this point is whether you have a stable connection to your
router. I would start with a continuous ping and see what that shows you.

Open a Command Prompt and type "ping -t <IP address of router>".

You should get a response to every ping request, and the timing should be
very stable since it's a wired connection. Look for timeouts and spikes in
latency.

It is wired to a router.

Other computers wired and wi-fi to the router have no problem.

Switching the cable to another socket on the router doesn't solve it.

Changing the cable from the router to the main PC doesn't solve it.

So I'm deducing it may be the network connection on the PC.

That's possible, but it's extremely rare.

This is actually an onboard feature on the motherboard.

If I purchase a pci network card and plug it in, will Windows 7 Pro
just use it, or will I have to disable the onboard connector - and if
so, how?

You can add a second (or third or ...) NIC without disabling the onboard
NIC, but I'm skeptical at this point that that's the problem. Do some
testing first.

Besides the simple ping test described above, an IP address conflict will
exhibit the behavior you described. I'd rule that out, as well, before
throwing hardware at it.

 

[Bob I]

Greetings - I've been having problems with my main PC losing connection
to the network and internet.

It is wired to a router.

Other computers wired and wi-fi to the router have no problem.

Switching the cable to another socket on the router doesn't solve it.

Changing the cable from the router to the main PC doesn't solve it.

So I'm deducing it may be the network connection on the PC.

This is actually an onboard feature on the motherboard.

If I purchase a pci network card and plug it in, will Windows 7 Pro
just use it, or will I have to disable the onboard connector - and if
so, how?

Many thanks

Is the computer turning it off to save power? Look in Device Manager,
network adapter, properties, Power Management.

 

[LocalHero]

Sorry folks - been away for a while - will start going through your
suggestions.


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