Every time I turn on my new laptop, the WiFi claims there is no Internet Access but there actually is, and I have to go into command prompt and run ipconfig /release ipconfig /renew every time to make it work again. What does this mean? How do I fix it?
when you first connect to the wifi and it says that there is no internet access, what ip address are you getting? is it 192.168.*.*, or is it 169.254.*.*? when you're having problems with networking, you need to first check if you're getting an expected IP address, then you need to try to ping your gateway, then you should try to ping a DNS server or two, and then you should try an NSLOOKUP on some domain name. each step indicates a leg in the network you're able to negotiate.
Also, how are you getting your internet service? Cable or DSL Modem and a wireless router or ?????
The internet access check involves a few things - not just getting an IP address. If you're getting an IP and you can ping your router, that's good - at least DHCP is working. However, internet access also involves DNS working, so DNS is checked when your network connection comes up to see if your PC can find a few well-known hosts on the internet - if it cannot, you get "no internet access" (you'll also see this if you have an authenticating proxy, because Windows can't authenticate to it, but that's another explanation for another day). What you might want to do, when it's not working, is to open a command prompt, and type the command nslookup www . google . com (obviously remove the spaces in the URL - I've put them here because the forum software insists on URL'ing the content if I do not). Copy the output to notepad, and then "fix" your connection with an ipconfig/release / ipconfig/renew. Run the nslookup command again, and paste that output into notepad. I think you'll find they're different.
When it says no internet access on the wifi, i tried nslookup Google and the DNS request timed out.
it timed out all 4 times it requested a DNS. After /releasing and /renewing the nslookup was successful. What does this mean? I also noticed after /releasing and /renewing the default gateway and DNS servers changed.
Post the output here and I'll tell you. Sounds like your router is giving you a bogus IP for DNS though.
ipconfig before releasing and renewing:
ipconfig after releasing and renewing:
nslookup before releasing and renewing: Imageshack - nslookupb4.png
nslookup after releasing and renewing: Imageshack - nslookupaft.png
Check your network card for Alternate Configuration settings. This is in your network cards Properties -> IPv4 -> Alternate Configuration tab
This could explain why your automatically changing IP's settings. You can also be having problems with the DHCP service of your router. It is responsible for assigning you your IP address. Once you have an IP address it is recorded in DNS along with the hostname of your computer.The nslookup command will relate your name and IP.
If you just set the IP as static you should be OK.
ip -
192.168.0.108
mask -
255.255.255.0
gateway -
192.168.0.1
dns -
I always recommend setting the ISP's dns here if possible but you can use the default gateway - 192.168.0.1
Long term you may need a router firmware upgrade or rule out the network card and the router.
Nick
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