hello
the title of the thread is the lovely message I get on my PC (cable to the modem), and I cannot go online though my connection works fine (= this message!!!)
please... HELP !!!!
Try this simple idea first and see if it works for ya:
click start; programs, accessories, then right click on command prompt and select run as administrator. Then type ipconfig /release. Once the adapter releases; then type ipconfig /renew. IF that does nothing for ya; I would then do a power cycle of your network equipment which will reset them. Unplug the power cord to both the modem and router(if you have a separate router); then wait about a minute or so then plug the modem back in first and let that boot; then plug the router back in and let that boot. Try one or both of these and see if they help ya. If not post back and we can go from there.
Here's what I got at renew :
An error occured while renewing interface local area connection : unable to cotact your DHCP server. Request has timed out.
Have you tried the power cycle yet to reset the modem etc.? If not i would give that a shot and see what happens. if that does nothing; post back again and we can continue to try and resolve the problem. Also; one other thing; I might also try and contact your ISP and see if they had or are having any issues that may prevent being connected properly.
Going out for the evening so I kill everything and will see how it goes tomorrow.
Will post back here whatever happens.
Thanks for your help !
You plug your PC directly into your ISP's modem via ethernet cable? No router in between?
As you point out, you're obviously connected to the Internet so you MUST have an IP address.
When a router is involved (e.g. 192.168.1.1), it normally acts as a DHCP server and assigns your PC an IP address of something like 192.168.1.2. You can tell this by running a Command Prompt and entering IPCONFIG. This will display a bunch of things, but if you scroll back to the "Ethernet local area connection" you would see both your IPV4 address as well as the router's address (from the LAN perspective of your PC) shown as the "Default Gateway". The actual external IP address assigned to your modem by the ISP's DHCP server is hidden from this view, although it can be revealed by doing a WHOAMI (say from Google) from a browser window once you're connected to the Internet.
If a router is NOT involved, then your modem serves as the direct portal between your PC and your ISP, where the true DHCP server lives. Again, doing IPCONFIG from a command prompt should reveal your PC's IP address as well as your ISP's server as the "Default Gateway". You MUST have an IP address and there MUST be a default gateway, if you're getting to the Internet. These would normally be assigned automatically, if your TCPIP configuration is set as "obtain address automatically".
To double-check your TCPIP configuration, click on the Start button, and enter "network connections" in the "search programs and files" field (all without the surrounding quotes, of course). You should now see a presentation where your wired ethernet adapter is shown as "local area connection". Right-click on it and select "Properties" to get the Properties dialog window.
On the Networking tab of the Properties dialog, select the "Internet protocol version 4" item, and then push the Properties button to get the TCP/IPv4 window. You should then see "obtain an IP address automatically" checked, as well as the "obtain DNS server address automatically" checked.
Yes? Or do you have some manual settings set where it should show "obtain automatically"? Or what
the power cycle did it... THKS matts
but you're right dsperber I fear I did not look at this correctly : I connect via ethernet but through a Netgear Pack 2 XAV5401 (XAVB5401) - CPL
this has worked fine since I installed my PC (early september this year) and yesterday all the lights showed as they should have...
I wonder whether anybody is familiar with these ??
could it be that it needs a reset after a number of weeks ?
this could very well have been the problem...
The plot thickens...
Those Netgear XAV5401 gizmos are "ethernet over powerline" adapters which facilitate providing a "wired ethernet" connectivity to a remote location in your house, using the copper power wiring running through your walls as if it were ethernet cable. But those devices themselves are not your modem, nor are they a router. They are simply "extension boxes" to make it seem like you have a very long ethernet cable running from wherever your true modem/router lives at some place in your home and where the first gizmo is plugged in, to whatever other location in your home the second gizmo is located at, even though you don't really have that one long ethernet cable in actuality.
So, you STILL must have a true modem (and possibly router) somewhere in your home, into which the first of your pair of XAV5401 gizmos plugs into the wall. And you have these two gizmos communicating to each other over the copper power wire in your walls. And then at the remote end where the second gizmo is plugged it, you have your PC plugged into that second gizmo. Voila... wired connectivity from PC to your modem/router.
So, as all of these devices are electrical and subject to power surges/outages and other electrical disruptions, that's why it's really always the right course of diagnostic action to at least try power re-cycling all of them to OFF (and then back on ONE AT A TIME), as a reasonable and sensible first course of action to try and overcome anomalies and other malfunctions.
You power them all down, and then start powering them back on starting from the modem end. Wait till all the modem lights stabilize, and then power up the next connected device (say a router, or perhaps the first XAV5401 gizmo plugged in near the modem)... and again, wait for its lights to stabilize. In the case of the XAV5401 one of its lights will not yet be on until the second gizmo in the pair (at the remote end of the house) is also powered on and stabilized.
Etc., etc., with the PC finally being powered on LAST. Very often this power recycling of everything will magically clear all of your mysterious symptoms... like magic.
Anyway, ethernet-over-powerline adapters are a bit touchy. Generally they shouldn't go through surge-suppressors or extension cords or power-strips, but rather should be directly plugged into wall sockets. This gives them best-possible access to the copper power wiring in your walls. Same with going through a home circuit-breaker box (as most copper power lines do, eventually). You'll get better performance if you're lucky enough to find wall sockets that happen to be on the same copper wire run in the walls, before passing through a circuit breaker box. That way the copper wire in the walls is truly just like a single run of ethernet cable, magically faciliated through the pair of ethernet-over-powerline gizmos.
So, if you run IPCONFIG in a command prompt, do you now see a valid "default gateway" IP address as well as a valid "IPv4" IP address for your PC? No more error messages?
Excellent.
well, thanks a lot :)
this is the best explanation I ever got of my set up !
I only have a modem - well, it's what they call a BOX here, but I guess that's what it is, gives me net and phone
I was somewhat rough with powering everything back as I had simply cut power to the whole room (from the main electrical board) and switched it back on this morning.... and my connection is fine !!!!
when I run IPCONFIG I get all kind of stuff which means nothing to me
just curious about the Tunnel adapter isatap.... media disconnected.... is that ok ?
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