Unidentified Network, Limited or No Connectivity (For Vista and XP)

Its been a while since i last post regarding troubleshooting steps. I’ve noticed that my post regarding the Unidentified network got quite a hit since i posted it. So i will elaborate more regarding these problem; Unidentified Network(in Vista) or Limited or No Connectivity(in XP).

Please bare in mind that my previous post is only for certain type of modems while in this post, i will explain what is the possible cause of the problem either in Win XP or Win Vista.

There are a few troubleshooting steps that you can try if you are encountering any of this problem. First of all, the reason for this issue is because your PC are unable to communicate with the modem, hence it cannot get any IP address from the modem at all. The problem could lies on these 3 things:-

• Faulty Network Cable
• Network Card(NIC) issue
• Modem Issue

So to check on this issue further you can try the steps below:-

1. First try to check you network cable, try to unplug and replug the cable from both end, the modem and the pc. Since the cause of this issue is because modem unable to communicate with PC there is a chance that your network cable/LAN cable or Ethernet cable is faulty. You can also try to disable and enable back your local area connection.

For XP-> go to your control panel -> click under network connection -> right click on Local Area Connection and disable it -> right click again to enable it back.

For Vista-> go to your network and sharing center-> click under manage network connection located on the left hand side -> right click on Local Area Connection and disable it -> right click again to enable it back

You can also test it with a different pc(if you got), if using the same cable on different pc still get the same error, it could be due to your cable it self.

2. (Please make sure you remember on your login password before proceed) You can try to do a hard reset on the modem/router itself. Normally, at the back of the modem you can find a tiny hole says Reset. You need to find a pin or paper clip and press and hold for around 10 to 15 secs. Once you had done the hard reset, try again to plug to the PC and check whether the issue resolve or not. If it is resolved, you need to configure your modem/router again.

3. If the first 2 troubleshooting steps doesn’t work, you can try to check on the Local area connection whether its been hardcoded or not. If it has been hardcoded with a different ip address(different than your modem/router ip add), you need to change it to obtain an ip address automatically. If it has not been hardcoded with any ip address, you can try to manually key in the ip address(make sure you already know the default gateway and the ip address of the modem/router before manually key in).

For XP -> go to control panel again -> click under network connection -> right click on Local Area Connection and click on properties -> highlight the internet protocol TCP/IP-> click the properties button -> You can see the IP address and DNS address here -> once done click on OK and it will close the page -> click OK again to close the LAN properties -> Disable and enable back your Local area connection.

For Vista -> Open the Network and Sharing Center -> click under manage network connection -> right click on Local area connection and click on properties -> highlight the internet protocol version 4 -> click on properties button -> you should see your ip address and dns address here -> once done click on OK and it will close the page -> click OK again to close the LAN properties -> Disable and enable back your Local area connection.

Normally this troubleshooting should be able to resolve your issue but if still the same problem:-

4. Try to check your NIC (Network Card) whether its working properly or not. You can try to reinstall the NIC driver.

For XP -> you need the driver cd

For Vista -> you can just uninstall it first and reboot your pc, Vista should be able to install the driver automatically.

5. If the NIC is working properly, please check on your modem/router.

As you can see, for this issue, it is best if you have a second computer to test since there are possibilities that problem can either come from PC or the modem itself. If you have a different PC, and it working properly on that PC, clearly we can say its a PC issue. One thing that i need to stress out here is, these problem is not cause from your ISP. Please remember that. Most of the technical issue regarding the internet connection came from the PC or modem itself.

Hope that my guide here can help people who use the google button often. Feel free to drop a comment if you have anything to ask. On my next post, i will be posting about the POP3 Email common issues.