Can't connect to internet, Windows reports: "no internet conne

[Click Beetle DX]

Hello, all.

I recently installed Windows 7 (for the first time) on my laptop, and spent a day and a half tailoring it to suit my needs. Today I decided, "OK, it's time to get online and start downloading some essential programs," only to be blocked at every turn.

I have 3 different ways to connect:

Dial-up connection

Wi-fi

Tethered connection to my cell phone

None of them work.

When I use the dial-up connection, it calls in and successfully connects, only to have Windows report, "No internet connection."

When I try wi-fi connection or tethered cell phone connection, it connects to the network but reports, "No network connection."

This is ridiculous, especially as I have XP installed on another partition and it connects to the internet 100% of the time with no problems, using all 3 of the above methods. I'm using a Lenovo Thinkpad and have all the correct drivers installed from Lenovo's website, specifically the 64-bit Windows 7 drivers.

If I can't connect to the internet I can't get any work done, so I'll have to stick to XP and have Windows 7 installed purely as a novelty.

Any help appreciated, thanks.

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Try it hardwired to the Wi-Fi router with an Ethernet cable. If this works okay it means the onboard NIC has good drivers and the Network protocols are okay, and maybe only the Wi-Fi adapter in the laptop is hosed. If it doesn't work it might be the Networking protocols are tangled, but I doubt it, I'll bet the hardwire will work.

Another possibility is permissions. Are you using an administrator account or standard?

Also, sometimes the Wi-Fi is easily turned off from the keyboard, try toggling the key combination ( F-keys or FN+F keys ) and look for Wi-Fi on and off notification.

Lots of possibilities, you just need to sort through them.

EDIT: typo

Edited February 2, 2014 by CharlotteTheHarlot

[bphlpt]

I hate to even suggest this, but if nothing else you might just want to reinstall. Then check to make sure that you can get online before you do any "tailoring". You should be able to. If nothing else, then you will know for sure that it is the fault of your "tailoring", which means it should be something that you will be able to fix.

[i'm sure Charlotte missed the part of your post where you explained that all three of the connection methods work, on the same laptop, with the same hardware, just a different partition running XP, so I don't think it is a hardware issue, but it wouldn't hurt to try the Ethernet cable connection anyway, since you very well might have "tailored" something that messed everything else up but left that alone.]

I'm betting it's likely either a permission or service that you "tailored", assuming that you didn't do any actual removing of any components. If you did do any removals, then I would strongly suggest again to just start over with the full install and get used to the way that Win7 is different from XP before you start "tailoring".

Cheers and Regards

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

Oh, by Dial-Up he meant Ethernet? Okay, I didn't understand that.

Another idea is to boot in safe mode with networking with Ethernet cable into router, then try something simple like Windows Update from Start > All Programs.

He mentioned ISP, so he may have an unnecessary extra layer of confusion ( ISP's do this, making a lot of people think they need to login before their is "an Internet" available ).

Please describe the topology here. Is it Cable/FIOS/DSL modem to Wi-Fi Router to laptop?

[Click Beetle DX]

I did a little more research whilst waiting for replies here, and it seems that quite a few people have experienced this same problem.

However none of the suggestions I've followed have helped to resolve the problem on my end. Nor have I really seen anyone else reporting success, except in one instance: where the problem was caused by a bug in McAfee. I have never used McAfee, and never will. So that is irrelevant to my situation.

And it's gotten even more frustrating today.

This evening when I tried tethering my cell phone to the computer via USB cable to use my 4G data plan, not only was the connection successful but Windows reported "network connection" instead of "no network connection" as it had been doing. I was then able to view websites, download files, etc. However this ability only lasted for about a half hour, before, without warning, the "no network connection" message appeared yet again, and no additional data was sent/received.

I rebooted the computer, the "no network connection" message appeared again when I tethered my phone. Rebooted again, was able to send/receive data when I tethered my phone. But, once again, only for a certain period of time (a little over an hour).

The same thing happened with my dial-up internet connection. One try out of a dozen, I was able to send/receive data. But only for a while.

Windows 7 just seems to magically decide on its own when it feels like allowing me internet access, and for how long. I rebooted under XP and tried tethering & dial-up internet on the SAME computer, using the SAME hardware, and everything worked 100% the first time, every time. Just as it always does. So this definitely is a problem specific to Windows 7.

To clarify:

I never said anything about an ethernet connection. I have no such connection here.

My connection options are:

1). Dial-up internet
2). Tethered USB connection to my cell phone
3). Wi-fi (though only when I am at a restaurant, etc.)

The hardware all works 100% fine. Because XP uses it with no trouble.
Windows 7 has the correct drivers for 64-bit, straight from Lenovo's website.
The cell phone drivers are current, from Samsung's website.

The fact that I can now get intermittent network connections leads me to believe it is in fact a hardware problem at all, nor a driver problem -- but rather something "quirky" or "buggy" about Windows 7 and the manner in which it handles these connections.

I am not going to reinstall the operating system because that would teach me nothing. Even if a reinstall fixed the problem, it may crop up again later (as it has for other people), and then I'd be right back where I started. Better I learn how to fix it now, through trial and error. Plus I do love a challenge.

Edited February 2, 2014 by Click Beetle DX

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

More clarification is needed about what you mean by 1) Dial-Up.I have no idea what this means in this context. Please explain details like wiring, ISP, software.

I understand 2), it means you have a cell plan but apparently no broadband into the home.

I assume 3) means it is only operational away from home.

The two most likely things here is permissions or authentication, or a combination of both. Windows 7 will be a tough customer in both cases. You didn't mention whether you are using standard or an admin account in Win7, and this could be the singular problem.

One quick test to make sure that Win7 and the network components are all sound is to go somewhere ( a friend? ) and plug an Ethernet cable straight in, boot into safe mode with networking and test Windows Update as described above. Don't try anything fancy yet like USB tethering, just the basics. If the network connection is fine and you get Windows Updates then move on to debugging the authentication or permissions issue while running in normal mode.

I don't know why Win7 would drop the connection after a period of time, but this might be narrowed down by checking out the event viewer ( you might want to first archive and then clear all the existing event logs to make it easier to sift through the eleventy thousand other events though ). Note, this step I would try in both a standard and then admin account and look for differences in events. When the connection drops, you will want to jump in and see the event logs ASAP.

[jaclaz]

@Click Beetle Dx

There is still some difficulties in understanding the setup you have.

What do you exactly mean by "Dial-up"?

Do you have an actual modem inside that machine?

Do you have an actual modem (external and connected through a serial cable or USB)? (either analogic or ISDN)

Or, like anyone else nowadays you have a Lan card (Ethernet) with an Ethernet cable connecting the PC to a DSL router/modem ?

Please let's leave alone for the moment the USB tethering to your cellphone, which is the hardest to trouble shoot usually and the Wi-Fi, since you seemingly have not a local Wi-Fi at home (or where you normally are when posting).

Describe with as much detail as you can the hardware involved in what you call "dial up internet".

jaclaz

[Click Beetle DX]

The dial-up connection is the standard phone line plugging into my laptop's built-in 56k modem. It dials out and connects (I can hear it doing so), and the connection with my ISP is successful. But no data is sent/received. Windows reports the dial-up account as "connected," but on the next line it says, "no internet connection."

I visited a friend this evening, to try the ethernet cable suggestion. For whatever reason he wasn't comfortable with me doing a direct connect (I didn't argue), so I connected to his network via wi-fi instead. To my surprise the connection worked, and at full speed. But here's the curious thing: while I was able to view websites and download files through all the web browsers I had installed, Windows Update could not use the connection to download updates. It could connect to load a list of available updates, and allowed me to choose from them, but after I made my choices and it reported the download was beginning, all traffic from svchost ceased. This also happened when I tried to update a few non-Microsoft applications. Figured it might be my firewall, closed the firewall, no change. Rebooted after disabling the firewall on startup, no change.

I rebooted the machine under XP and accessed Windows Update on my friend's wi-fi connection. Selected a trivial XP update to test, it was downloaded and installed successfully.

So... I don't know what's going on.

Edited February 3, 2014 by Click Beetle DX

[Tripredacus]

All this and no network troubleshooting?

Can you ping google.com?

Can you ping 173.194.117.6?

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

The dial-up connection is the standard phone line plugging into my laptop's built-in 56k modem. It dials out and connects (I can hear it doing so), and the connection with my ISP is successful. But no data is sent/received. Windows reports the dial-up account as "connected," but on the next line it says, "no internet connection."

I visited a friend this evening, to try the ethernet cable suggestion. For whatever reason he wasn't comfortable with me doing a direct connect (I didn't argue), so I connected to his network via wi-fi instead. To my surprise the connection worked, and at full speed. But here's the curious thing: while I was able to view websites and download files through all the web browsers I had installed, Windows Update could not use the connection to download updates. It could connect to load a list of available updates, and allowed me to choose from them, but after I made my choices and it reported the download was beginning, all traffic from svchost ceased. This also happened when I tried to update a few non-Microsoft applications. Figured it might be my firewall, closed the firewall, no change. Rebooted after disabling the firewall on startup, no change.

I rebooted the machine under XP and accessed Windows Update on my friend's wi-fi connection. Selected a trivial XP update to test, it was downloaded and installed successfully.

So... I don't know what's going on.

I hope you don't pay for that ISP dial-up. I know it's off-topic, and the ISP is not specified but can you explain why you don't get a physical line from them? I mean like Cable/FIOS? It is cheaper than most dial-up payments and there is no login or authentication to deal with. They supply a modem whose Internet "jack" is plain old TCP/IP. Now the problem I see is that when your computer showed "no Internet" after you signed in to the ISP on the dial-up modem, that is still ambiguous information for purposes of debugging, because the client software you used would need to open a TCP/IP connection that is using a visible "network adapter" that Windows and Windows programs ( like web browsers ) can "see" and utilize. As stated, we don't know what the ISP is and what it purports to provide once you "log in". I can imagine any number of proprietary arrangements that are only usable from the ISP client software window. Note, this is not how AOL or Earthlink worked, their clients installed a network adapter ( software ) that was generic TCP/IP and any Windows software that spoke TCP/IP used it just fine. RECOMMENDATION: ( I'm serious ) get a broadband line into the house, get a WI-FI router and plug that into the broadband modem, then use Ethernet cable or Wi-Fi for all devices. You will solve all your problems at once and add good security as well. Also, I'd pull that modem from the laptop, it is wasting power every time the computer is on, and money every time you dial-in ( if it is not removable, oh well ). And the same goes for tethering ( which is often not even legal and it wouldn't surprise me if the carrier times it out intentionally ). Please don't take this the wrong way, but neither of these ( Dial-up or Cellular ) appear to be good ideas for laptop Internet.

Now about the Windows 7 vs Windows XP. I still see no mention of using administrator or standard account. All the symptoms so far do not rule out a permissions problem, perhaps a policy of some sort ( not allowed to install updates, or any number of restrictions ). I would say that you should now try to enable the built-in Administrator account and immediately test Windows Updates but again at your friend's house using the cable. But read on first ...

Let me explain this in detail ( and you should attempt to relay this information to your friend because his understanding is BACKWARDS ) ...

When you plug your laptop into his router with the Ethernet cable you are having the most minimal effect on his "network" that you possibly can. In fact you were doing him a huge favor. Here's why. If his Wi-Fi had a passphrase ( and he should have one or else he really knows nothing ) then he probably gave you that passphrase or typed it in directly in order for you to use the Wi-Fi. Ask him to guess where that passphrase now exists? Yes, on your laptop and it is trivial to recover. Also, if he happened to also use MAC whitelisting, then he also had to add your laptop MAC to his security "Allow" list. So his "whatever reason" to not use the wire was actually self-defeating because he modified his security posture rather than hand you an Ethernet cable. The only real risk he had from using a cable is if you were a sneaky blackhat who was silently running some Network tools to gather info of his other connected devices, and even this is not straightforward since most routers require peer to peer features to be positively enabled in the firmware. In truth, the only risk of using the Ethernet cable was to you, and only if his network was already compromised by external bad guys or if one of his devices was compromised and acting like a 'bot or itself scanning for new clients to affect. I suggest you politely let him know he needs to brush up on Router security and concepts.

Now having said that, the problem is the extra layers of complexity that you are starting from in all these cases. Wi-Fi adds extra variables ( like Wheel of Fortune with 5 letters unknown versus 20 letters unknown ). The Wi-Fi introduces hardware and software and authentication to the usual networking and permissions issues. It is easier to debug one or two issues than a dozen of them.

Anyway, if I had that laptop here, in less than a minute I would enable and login to the Administrator account, pop the Ethernet cable in, watch for network status, test WU or just type a URL in the START > SEARCH box and most likely see it work fine. Then I would wait like an hour ( touching nothing ) and keep trying. No timeout, no drop? I would proceed to create a new standard user account and repeat from there. That works okay? The the account you use was altered. BUT ... There is no way given the available info to do anything but really guess. But if I had to I would suggest that your account has been altered somehow compared to a standard or admin account. this might happen from an antivirus package or any number of "helpful" programs protecting you from the Internet. Once again, that is just a WAG at the moment.

BTW, the main reason for that simple but precise test above is to rule out hardware issues, heating, drivers, and non-default software settings. If I see the connection survive uninterrupted in that virgin admin account with a simple cable then I rule them all out and then move to try to locate the guilty party ( comparing the event logs for the successful admin versus failed normal account ). Note that since Windows XP is said to work perfectly on this identical hardware, that appears to rule out hardware issues ( at least electronically, the laptop is physically sound ) but not necessarily heating, or especially power-saving bugs I mean features. Also, drivers remain a possibility, even if they say they're fine for Windows 7. It's way too soon to discuss it, but long before re-installing Windows comes simply re-installing the drivers.

Just to recap, there are specific debugging steps I would do if I had that laptop. Most obviously using the admin account and then a new standard user account. However, the circumstances you are operating under with either dial-up or tethering introduce too many other variables, which will mask the clarity and purpose of those suggestions. Once again, please don't take offense at any of this, none is meant. Finally, are you sure that the Windows 7 copy is still genuine? IIRC, they had a timeout or something to do with Windows Updates that throttled copies that became de-activated. Are you by ancy chance running a trial version and are near the expiration or something? Just asking.

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

I should mention that Activation is normally not an issue on a laptop because it is usually a pre-activated OEM version that uses a number in the BIOS as proof of being the correct computer. This could be an issue however if someone manually changed their key to the one on the sticker for some reason, or if they re-installed Windows from a different source ( instead of the OEM version included on a partition ). Not suggesting this is the case, just mentioning them as possibilities that would disrupt business-as-usual.

[submix8c]

@Charlotte

I recently installed Windows 7 (for the first time) on my laptop

Not an OEM? Sounds much like the XP was the OEM Install.

Of course, the OP is not providing - the Model of Lenovo, only claiming the "correct x64 drivers". I have seen some lappies with modem being non-removable. re: The Windows 7 - What exactly is the source of this "x64"? I've found mention of "laptop", "desktop" (Compaq 5WV270?), and "Omnibook 900B" from past posts, but nothing more specific.

[Click Beetle DX]

OK, I've found (and fixed) the problem.

I had replaced the HOSTS file ( c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts ) with a custom one, over 2MB in size, that serves to block ads. And I disabled DNS Client in services.msc, so my system wouldn't run sluggishly or hang as a result of this large file. I've had the same setup going in XP for as long as I can remember, and it works very well.

Windows 7, however, didn't like it at all when I did this.

I restored the original settings, and now the internet is working.

Edited February 6, 2014 by Click Beetle DX

[submix8c]

This says you are mistaken in disabling DNS Client in ANY case -

http://www.blackviper.com/windows-services/dns-client/

A relatively well-respected info resource, BTW...

[CharlotteTheHarlot]

RE: DNS Client

I'm guessing it has something to do with his ISP or his cellular provider, maybe a requirement for some reason, but who knows.

Glad you figured it out Click Beetle DX. :

Still wondering why you are stuck with either of those for Internet access, are you way out in the sticks maybe?