Regaining Internet (not LAN) after standby/internet lock/ screensaver

After I put my machine in standby, or turn on the Zonealarm internet lock, or simply go AFK for awhile and let the machine go into screensaver, when I come back, no Internet connection can be made.

The LAN works fine as I can ping my router and other machines. I can access the router's config via Firefox. Other computers connect to the Internet just fine.

*ip renew does nothing
*ip release/renew does nothing
*Windows "repair internet connection" does nothing
*Clearing IE temp files/cookies/etc does nothing


There is a LAN connection but it seems that for whatever reason, either my router is refusing service to my desktop or my desktop refuses to ask my router for directions. Only a reboot fixes the problem.

Any help, suggestions, etc, appreciated.

 

Wow, that is interesting. Can you TRACERT to internet destinations through the router by IP or does it just drop dead at the router? If the trace goes beyond your router, you could try connecting to a website directly by IP address--that would rule out a potential DNS issue. Does the problem replicate if you borrow the direct internet connection feeding the router? (Or is it a modem/router combo where borrowing the connection isn't an option?)

 

Hmm, good thoughts, I did not even consider doing a trace or trying to ping a website.

Connecting directly to the internet would be an option, but I'm slightly wary about doing this. Despite not having any real knowledge about how my Actiontec's firewall features stack up against a software firewall, I feel safer when connected thru it. Is this just unfounded paranoia? Or am I justified in feeling a little hesitant to troubleshoot using this method?

Edit: FWIW, I have the following services turned off:

Fast User Switching Compatibility
Remote Access Connection Manager
Remote Access Auto Connection Manager
Remote Desktop Help Session Manager


Didn't even think of this until now. I will try turning those on and see if the problem persists. Strangely, my money's on "Fast User Switching".

 

If you don't feel comfortable with your computer bald to the internet, I can understand because there's always risk. If it was my computer and I was both fully patched and running ZoneAlarm, I probably wouldn't feel too bad about it--especially just for a few seconds for a test. ZoneAlarm is made by Check Point, which is a really good firewall product with a good reputation. To play it safe, you could do some hardening like disabling file sharing, stopping the server service, stopping Terminal Services, etc. It's your call as to whether you are willing to accept associated risks. I can understand being nervous.

Another thought would be to bring the PC up in Safe Mode with network support and then force it into standby (if you can do that in Safe Mode--never tried) to see if the issue replicates. That might rule out some type of application conflict or configuration problem--but since you can communicate with the other workstations on your network, I'd doubt that as a cause.

One last idea: Is the NIC device driver the latest and greatest? (Grasping at straws)

 

Hmm, continued thanks, more good stuff to think about. A couple of times last night, I was unable to reproduce this issue, then, after a period of mere network inactivity (no standby, no internet lock, no screensaver, heck not even a hard disk spindown) I lost the connection again. Same deal... nothing worked. I made up a random IP address (no idea whether it existed or not) and tried to TRACERT. It went 1 hop past the router then terminated. Since I don't know if it was a valid IP and the message was "destination unreachable" I don't know how good a test that was. But it did seem to show that I was getting past the router.

Next time it happens I was going to try flushing the DNS cache. However I think Windows XP already does this when you select "repair connection".

The NIC driver is definitely the "latest", although it's just a Dell onboard NIC so I don't know whether I'd say "the greatest". It's just really odd that it only happens after inactivity, system suspend, etc, when the whole rest of the network appears to work fine.

I will probably eventually try the direct-to-Internet connection but I would rather feel I have exhausted other avenues first. Is there any chance that something random like, say, reloading Windows Explorer, might perversely have something to do with it? Or perhaps stop and restart one of the network services?

 

Making up an IP address probably isn't the best route to go for a test address -- the address may not be in use, it may be behind a firewall, the owner might be dropping ICMP traffic, etc. What you might want to do is an NSLOOKUP of a website (that's not dropping ICMP traffic) from the functioning computer, write down the IP, and then trace to it from the other computer. You could then trace to it from the functioning computer and compare the routes.

Another thought would be to, do an "IPCONFIG /ALL" on both computers and see if they are utilizing the same DNS server. Are you able to hit websites if you browse directly by IP address and not DNS name?

 

Something else I thought of: Have you tried moving the computer's patch cable to a different port on the switch to rule out an intermittently bad port on the router's built-in switch?

 

Too bad Yeeha has not been back to give us an update. I think I am having the same problem.

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=167431

Unfortunately, the suggestions you made only seem vaguely familiar, like stuff I use to muck around with back in the mid 90's.