possible solution to question mark on network map
I just may have found the answer to this issue. While doing some research on this problem earlier, I came across a thread on the Cisco website which talks about configuration of network adapters. I have a small office set up with a six station network where each machine is connected into one central network switch and then to a gateway. I have been having a problem with the damned "? on the map" issue for months now and I've seen every kind of configuration you can imagine... sometimes some machines will show up, then other times they won't show up, sometimes a connection is solid, sometimes it's broken by the ? Usually, the machines that are not in the network map will show up at the bottom of the window where it says that they "cannot be placed into the map" even though they are obviously recognized on the network. Now to the fix that has worked for me...
keep in mind i am describing the fix as it applies to a "Local Area Connection" using a Realtek PCIe Family Controller. I am only a novice at this stuff and this is my own opinion. I do not accept any liability for changes that you make in your system. I do think that you will find similar control buttons in a "Wireless Network Connection" as well, as the steps I will describe here all look pretty similar to ones i've seen on other types of network adapters previously.
In the settings of your network adapter ( network and sharing Center> Change adapter settings>double click the active connection>click properties>click configure button>from the tabs along the top of the window select the 2nd one named "advanced">go down to the property named "Priority and VLAN". The usual default setting is to show "Priority and VLAN" as enabled. Change this setting to "Priority enabled" (ie essentially, the VLAN will become disabled.) Select "OK" and then find your way back out to the top. I have since changed all of my machines to this setting and it instantly corrected the network mapping problem and no more question marks since!
Now for the theory behind this explanation: With this setting (VLAN) disabled, all machines have equal status with the network switch (or your router) and there is no control over load balancing across the network. It's kindof like the wild west, in that its every man for himself. Every computer piles out whatever data it has to send, and the router or switch deals with it as it comes. The VLAN setting, meaning "virtual LAN," allows the system to automatically create virtual sub-networks based on historical patterns of information flow among the devices on your network. This helps to minimize bottlenecks from within the network. While this is important on a large network with many busy machines, on a small office or home network it really is unnecessary, as you're very unlikely to have large data flows on multiple machines simultaneously. This also helps to explain why the network map problem seems to change over time, as many people have commented that the map changes, and looks right sometimes and wrong at others. This suggests to me that they are seeing examples of the virtual LAN function at work, changing the configurations and pathways depending upon activity on the network...
I hope that this solution works as well for you as it did for me!
