Problem with network connection

I have a problem connecting to the network with my tethered desktop. Here is the setup:

ATT DSL300 > Modem > Netgear router
Desktop tethered to router with ethernet cable
2 laptops and 1 tablet running on WiFi

The laptops and the tablet connect instantly. But the desktop often needs appr. 2 minutes to connect and sometimes it comes back with "No IP address". I have tried static and dynamic IP address settings in the router - same result.

Often I need to reboot to get any connection at all. What good is a 15 second boot time if you have to wait forever for the connection.

I am not very good at networking questions. So any useful advice would be welcome.

I can't really help Wolfgang but a couple of thoughts for you, have you tried a different Ethernet cable also have you tried a different port on the router with the cable. I was thinking maybe one or the other may be going flaky.

Those are my thoughts, don't know if they're any good or not. :)

Thanks for the answers. I did reset the devices a few times and the devices are up-to-date (as far as I can tell). Will try another port on the router.

If nothing helps, I'll buy a WiFi dongle for the desktop.

chev65 said:

ATT DSL300 > Modem > Netgear router

Are there two modems here?

No. only one modem. The ATT DSL3000 was supposed to describe the line speed. Sorry for the confusion.

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
C:\Windows\system32>ipconfig/all
Windows IP Configuration
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : whs-PC
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom NetLink (TM) Gigabit Ethernet
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : D4-BE-D9-8C-C0-25
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::cd09:ecc4:1e13:7a55%12(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.4(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, December 09, 2012 10:18:48 AM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, December 09, 2012 10:28:22 PM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 299155161
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-16-7A-72-5F-D4-BE-D9-8C-C0-25
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled
Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : DW1501 Wireless-N WLAN Half-Mini Card
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 64-27-37-02-63-41
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Ethernet adapter VirtualBox Host-Only Network:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : VirtualBox Host-Only Ethernet Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 08-00-27-00-78-3B
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::b810:6205:31ee:13ea%19(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.56.1(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 487063591
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-16-7A-72-5F-D4-BE-D9-8C-C0-25
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : fec0:0:0:ffff::1%1
fec0:0:0:ffff::2%1
fec0:0:0:ffff::3%1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled
Tunnel adapter isatap.{27C2C257-D3FD-4DAF-AA8A-9314CCCDA226}:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 9:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft 6to4 Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Tunnel adapter isatap.{1EBD70AC-D024-4826-A08D-1E424E7181AA}:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #3
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Tunnel adapter isatap.{A6C315C9-AD25-44A4-803C-4DCAED751A2B}:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #4
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
C:\Windows\system32>

vBox connections are in fact disabled. But I think I will get rid of vBox alltogether. I suspected that to be the cause since a long time. Only did not yet want to get rid of my Windows 8 which runs in vBox.