# computer connecting to two networks (one unidentified)?



## lkadlec (Apr 23, 2010)

Recently I had a problem where my desktop computer running Windows Vista could not make a wireless connection to the internet. I have a cable modem connected by Ethernet cable to a wireless router, and all other computers and devices in the house (e.g. laptop & iPod) were able to connect to my home network. My desktop could connect to my network using a wired connection (Ethernet from router to computer). All of that suggested a problem with the wireless card in my desktop. A bunch of troubleshooting was unsuccessful, so at least temporarily I was going to just stick with the wired connection. Oddly, the next day the wireless in my desktop just started working again. However, having found the wired connection to be faster, I decided maybe I would continue using that.

Everything is working fine, but I'm noticing a piece of odd behavior. So far I've seen it when the computer resumes after sleep - not sure if it happens at boot up or after any other power saving states. Anyway, when I wake my computer it makes a connection to my home network via the Ethernet card and I have both local and internet access. However, the computer *also* appears to be making (or trying to make) a *wireless* connection to "Unidentified Network." This second connection almost seems as if it doesn't completely finish connecting (or is very slow to connect). For example, if I open "Network and Sharing Center" and try to click on the "View status" link, nothing happens (while if I do so for my 'real' connection I get the status pop-up window). FYI, at this time the computer can also connect to my home network wirelessly - that is, if I unplug the Ethernet cable and then tell the computer to connect to my home wireless, it works and I have Internet.

I tried to do some searching on this, but most of the references I found to "Unidentified Network" describe situations where the computer connects to that network and this seems to lead to loss of internet connectivity. My internet connection via my regular home network is fine. I'm just wondering why my computer is trying to also connect to this other network and if there is a way to stop it from doing so. If I use device manager to disable and then enable my wireless card, the extra network goes away and doesn't come back, but when I next wake my computer it's there again. When I plug in the Ethernet cable when the computer is already on, the extra network doesn't show up. I know I could leave the wireless adapter disabled, but it doesn't seem like I should have to do that. Any input/advice is appreciated. Thanks.


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## Maz_- (Nov 4, 2008)

You dont need to go into device manager to disable anything. Are you using windows or a 3rd party utility to manage your network connections? If you are using windows simply disable the wireless service and that should fix the problem. To do this:

click on start -> click on run and type in services.msc and press enter. In the list scroll down to find Wireless zero configuration, double click on this and click on Stop and then from the dropdown list select disabled.

Maz


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## lkadlec (Apr 23, 2010)

Thanks for the information, but I have a couple of additional questions:

1) I don't actually want to turn off my wireless completely. Like I said, I know I could disable the adapter and it would stop trying to connect to this mystery network. What does disabling the wireless service do, exactly? And if I want to go back to making a wireless connection, do I just start the service again? How? Or will I still be able to right-click my network icon in the system tray and do "connect to a network"?

2) Related to #1 above, if stopping the service has the same practical affect as disabling the adapter (and I realize that may be wrong), than how is going into services any easier than going into device manager? If it's not, why is it better?

2) What I'm really trying to figure out is why my computer is trying to make this connection to this mystery network in the first place, when the only wireless network I've actually added under wireless connections is my home network, and I've set the properties of that to "connect manually."

3) I think Windows is managing my Ethernet card, but that some Dell program may be managing my wireless. I looked for "Wireless zero configuration" in services, and it's not there. The only thing I found that seems like it might be analogous is, "Dell Wireless WLAN Tray Service." The description of it is that it, "Provides automatic configuration for the 802.11 adapter using the Broadcom supplicant." Would that be the one?

Thanks!


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## Maz_- (Nov 4, 2008)

Well you should be able to just go into manage network connections and then remove the two networks from there. That would then stop your laptop from connecting to this mystery network automatically. 

You need to go into control panel, network and sharing centre, manage wireless connecitons. From there you can either right click "mystery network" click properties and untick the box that says automatically connect or just click on it and remove it. That should also stop your laptop connecting.

Maz


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## lkadlec (Apr 23, 2010)

FYI, it's my desktop, not my laptop that is having this problem. Also, the mystery network isn't normally on my networks list - as I said, the only wireless network I added was my regular home network. Clicking "view status" in the main network and sharing center doesn't work (nothing comes up), but I hadn't thought to try going to "manage wireless connections" when my computer is trying to connect to see what's there. If I go to "manage wireless connections" at any *other* time (e.g. if I've already done the disable/enable thing with my wireless card to make it stop trying to connect to the mystery network, or if I've actually connected wirelessly to my home network), it's not on the list. I'll try looking there the next time I wake my computer and see what happens.

Interestingly, the last time I put my computer to sleep I'd been using the wireless connection (to see if it seemed like it was going to be working consistently again). The Ethernet cable was unplugged. When I slept and woke the computer (Ethernet still unplugged), my computer didn't try to connect to *any* wireless network (either my home network, which it shouldn't as it's set to manual, *or* the mystery 'unidentified network'). Hmm.

ETA - Tried what you suggested. Was working with a wired connection, left Ethernet plugged in, put computer to sleep and woke computer. When it woke up it automatically connected to my home network, as usual, using the LAN connection. It additionally connected to the "unidentified network" using wireless. Whatever it is, it is listed as a "public" network, and my wireless connects to it with "limited connectivity." Interestingly, if I pull up the network map, it's not there. I tried going to "manage wireless networks," but the only thing there is my home network. I'm starting to wonder if this "unidentified network" is even a real thing.


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## Maz_- (Nov 4, 2008)

Well do you really need the wireless connection on the desktop when you are most likely to be using the Ethernet connection? I would just go into adapter settings and disable the wireless adapter at this point. If thats not an option let me know and we can do some more troubleshooting..

Maz


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## lkadlec (Apr 23, 2010)

Replying to myself with another brief update - it seems that this weird wireless issue may be a quirk related to sleep. I tried making a wired connection and then restarting my computer. When I sleep and wake my computer tries to connect to the mystery 'unidentified' wireless network, but when I restarted (i.e. shut down all the way and start back up) it connected to my home network via LAN and there was no sign of the other network.

I'm kind of baffled.


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## Acuta73 (Mar 17, 2008)

Funny thing. My HTPC was seeing an "unidentified network" with a strong signal (open), too. I just opted for my Homegroup and it was happy with that. My Android doesn't see this mysterious "unidentified network".

Yet another W7 WiFi issue, or maybe a WPA issue?


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## lkadlec (Apr 23, 2010)

Maz_- said:


> Well do you really need the wireless connection on the desktop when you are most likely to be using the Ethernet connection? I would just go into adapter settings and disable the wireless adapter at this point. If thats not an option let me know and we can do some more troubleshooting..
> 
> Maz


Oh...I could totally do that. If I decide that I'm going with the Ethernet connection I don't really need the wireless. As I said in my initial post, I could leave the wireless adapter disabled. I was just hoping for some insight into *why* this was happening, and wondering if there might be an easy fix that didn't involve turning the adapter off.


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## lkadlec (Apr 23, 2010)

In reply to the other poster (sorry, can't see your name right now, and for some reason the board put my reply to you down here):

I have Vista on my desktop.  Also, it's not that my computer "sees" an unidentified network. It's that it automatically connects to it (while it makes a wired connection to my home network). If I disable my wireless adapter to make the unidentified network connection go away, and then look at available wireless networks to connect to, there isn't one just called "unidentified." The whole thing is just weird.


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## Acuta73 (Mar 17, 2008)

D-Link N router? Mine's a DIR-655...


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## Maz_- (Nov 4, 2008)

Ok lets try something then.

1. Uninstall your WLAN adapter drivers and then reinstall it, then check to see if there is an update for this adapter.

2. Try to see if there is a router firmware update for "your" wireless router and check the following:

3. Go to Start - Search Box - TYPE "msconfig" - Hit Enter - Services Tab - Click the ceck next to ##Id_String1.6844f930_1628_4223_b5cc_5bb94b879762##Apple Computer, INC - Hit OK and Restart your computer.

4. Reset your tcp/ip stack using the following commands.

netsh int ip reset c:\resetlog.txt
netsh int ip reset resetlog.txt

You need to click on start -> in run box type in cmd, press enter. Then type in those 2 commands and restart your pc.

If any of above dont work unplug your ethernet connection and once you are connected to the mystrery network, do an ipconfig and post the results here.

Maz


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## lkadlec (Apr 23, 2010)

Thanks for the additional suggestions. I'm reluctant to go through the trouble of uninstalling and reinstalling my adapter/adapter drivers, given that the presence of the mystery network doesn't actually seem to cause any problems with my connecting to the internet. 

I was really just hoping that this was something other people had seen and there was some basic explanation/fix/workaround. If I decide to go back to using the wireless connection (as it's now working again), the issue isn't there in the first place. If I decide to stick with the wired connection for this computer, I can either disable the wireless adapter (as you suggested) or deal with the issue as it comes up (which seems to be only when the computer wakes from sleep).

That said, in response to the rest of your post:

1) Based on all the searching I have done, I have the latest drivers for both my Ethernet and wireless cards, and the latest firmware for my router.

2) If I run msconfig and go to the services tab, the entry you list (#3 in your last post) is not there. What is it, by the way? I don't have an Apple computer, so what Apple service am I looking for and why would it be related to my Dell wireless card connecting to an apparently non-existent network.

3) I do know how to run command line prompts. Is it worth doing the stack reset even if I don't (or can't) do the preceding steps?

4) Regarding your last suggestion, if my ethernet is not plugged in when I resume from sleep, I don't actually connect to the mystery network. It only happens if the cable is plugged in. I guess I could sleep and wake with the ethernet plugged in, then unplug the ethernet, and then run ipconfig. The one difficulty is that sometimes the connection to that mystery network either doesn't complete, or gets dropped.

Thanks again for the help!


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## lkadlec (Apr 23, 2010)

Acuta73 said:


> D-Link N router? Mine's a DIR-655...


Nope. Mine is from Cisco.


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## Maz_- (Nov 4, 2008)

You should be able to just do the stack reset, as it is a standalone step. 

That is a startup program that shows up in windows 7 apparently from the research that i have done. It seems that windows 7 does have its own little problems when it comes to wifi. 

The reason i asked for the ipconfig, was to see, what on earth is your pc connecting to. It might help us locate where it getting an ip address from etc.

Maz


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## lkadlec (Apr 23, 2010)

Maz_- said:


> You should be able to just do the stack reset, as it is a standalone step.
> 
> That is a startup program that shows up in windows 7 apparently from the research that i have done. It seems that windows 7 does have its own little problems when it comes to wifi.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the additional information. 

I am running Vista on my desktop (as I said in my original post :smile, so I guess I wouldn't expect to see that Apple program, whatever it is. 

Some of the research I did did suggest that Windows 7 has some wi-fi-related glitches, so I get where you were coming from. I even found an article on the "Windows 7 Unidentified Network," which noted that sometimes Windows 7 states that it has detected an unidentified network, but that it's actually just your own (the user's) wireless network. Their 'fix' was to disable and the enable the wireless card. Another article, IIRC, noted issues with wireless when resuming from sleep (though I don't know if that was specifically Windows 7 related), but didn't have an explanation/solution.

I knew why you asked for the ipconfig - I think that was a great idea. I was just noting that if I'm actually connected via the Ethernet cable and unplug it, the mystery network doesn't appear. My computer doesn't actually connect to anything at that point (my own wireless network is currently set to manual), and there is no "unidentified network" on the list of available ones. I'm starting to wonder if this is related to the Windows 7 issue I mentioned in the beginning, where somehow that network is actually my own network that's not being seen properly (but only when the computer connects to the network via Ethernet while resuming from sleep).

Anyway, thanks again for all of the help. Given everything that we've discussed, would you run the stack reset? I'm leaning toward just running an ipconfig the next time the mystery network shows up. Should I do ipconfig -all?


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## Maz_- (Nov 4, 2008)

Leave the stack reset for now.

Yes you would just run ipconfig /all in command prompt. My guess is that the mystery network is indeed your wireless network but some reason it doesn like it, why is dont know but we will get to it slowly. 

Maz


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## lkadlec (Apr 23, 2010)

Okay, so I put the computer to sleep and woke it up with the Ethernet cable plugged in, and it did the "make wired connection to home network, and meanwhile 'connect' wirelessly to unidentified network." I then unplugged my Ethernet cable so that I was only connected to the mystery network. It took a bit to be able to do the ipconfig, because the connection to the mystery network comes and goes (the connection is lost and my computer has to 'identify' the network again, etc.)

So, I'm copying and pasting the ipconfig results first from after the mystery network was 'identified' (as 'unidentified network'), and then from after I connected to my actual home wireless network. Note: 1)The connection to the mystery network is always local only, no internet, and 2) When I am "connected" to the mystery unidentified network and I then right-click on my network icon in the system tray and click "Connect to a network," none of the networks that actually show up are listed as "connected." I then select my actual home network, and once I'm connected to it the mystery connection goes away. I'm wondering if there is some glitch that causes my wireless adapter to make a phantom connection to my home wireless when I connect using a wired connection (but only when I resume after sleep). Anyway:

ipconfig with only the limited access connection to the "unidentified" network:

C:\Users\Lisa>ipconfig /all
Windows IP Configuration
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Lisa-PC
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Dell Wireless 1505 Draft 802.11n WLAN Mini-Card
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-24-2B-E3-52-51
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration IPv4 Address. . : 169.254.8.194(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 8.8.8.8
208.67.220.220
4.2.2.1
8.8.4.4
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : msns.wb.ptd.net
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82567LF-2 Gigabit Network Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-24-E8-11-E0-A5
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 6:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.msns.wb.ptd.net
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 7:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-00-54-55-4E-01
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 11:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.msns.wb.ptd.net
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 12:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #3
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

And ipconfig with genuine connection to my home wireless network:

C:\Users\Lisa>ipconfig /all
Windows IP Configuration
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Lisa-PC
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Dell Wireless 1505 Draft 802.11n WLAN Mini-Card
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-24-2B-E3-52-51
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration IPv4 Address. . : 169.254.8.194(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 8.8.8.8
208.67.220.220
4.2.2.1
 8.8.4.4
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : msns.wb.ptd.net
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) 82567LF-2 Gigabit Network Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-24-E8-11-E0-A5
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 6:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.msns.wb.ptd.net
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 7:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-00-54-55-4E-01
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 11:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.msns.wb.ptd.net
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 12:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #3
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes


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## 2xg (Aug 5, 2009)

Hi lkadlec,

From the Vista computer please try the following recommendations:

1) Disable IP Helper Service: Click on Start and type *services.msc* and press enter.
Scroll down to the IP Helper service, and Stop or Disable the service.

2.) Disable IPV6, here's a guide.

3) Disable the DHCP Broadcast Flag: 
Windows Vista cannot obtain an IP address from certain routers or from certain non-Microsoft DHCP servers

==================
Still no go? Assign Static or Manual IP.

Please update us.


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## lkadlec (Apr 23, 2010)

2xg said:


> Hi lkadlec,
> 
> From the Vista computer please try the following recommendations:
> 
> ...


Thanks for the suggestions, but those appear to all be things that are recommended when you have a wireless connection that is local only with no internet. 

If I actually connect to my home wireless from the Vista computer in question, my connection is fine. I have both local and internet access and everything works normally. I did have one instance where it wasn't working and I switched to a wired connection, and that is what led me to observe the issue described in this post.

What I'm seeing is that I can make a *wired* connection to my home network (i.e. ethernet cables from cable modem to router and from router to computer), and everything is fine. However, if I put the computer to sleep, when I wake the computer the wired connection is re-established automatically, but my wireless adapter appears to simultaneously be connecting to some mystery "unidentified network." It is *that* connection that is always local only, and we're trying to figure out what the mystery network is. If I restart or start after the computer was shut down, I don't see this (just the wired connection occurs). If I am using a wireless connection and the ethernet is not plugged in, I don't see this (when I wake there are no connections, as my home wireless network is currently set for manual connection, and when I click to connect there are no unidentified networks shown. I select my home network and everything goes fine from there.


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## 2xg (Aug 5, 2009)

I thougth it's a wireless issue bec this doesn't look right at all to me. Sorry if I misunderstood.


> Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:
> Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
> Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Dell Wireless 1505 Draft 802.11n WLAN Mini-Card
> Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-24-2B-E3-52-51
> ...


I don't know if it has been advised or you've done it yourself to Disable any Power Savings Mode of the problematic Network Adapter. You may do this from Device Manager, and locate the problematic Network Adapter.

Also, you might want to try changing the Interface Metric on the Network Adapter by following this guide. This usually helps when there's a conflict on the LAN and Wireless if if they are being used at the same time.

Please let us know.


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## lkadlec (Apr 23, 2010)

No problem. Thanks for trying to help.

When I first set up a home wireless network, I had the recurring problem that when I woke the computer from sleep and connected to the network, I had local access only. That's actually why I recognized the steps you suggested. That problem was actually solved by disabling the power saving (unchecking the box to allow the computer to turn off the device to save power).

After reading your reply, out of curiosity I wirelessly connected to my home network again and re-ran ipconfig, and the section you quoted in your last message is a little bit different this time. In particular, some of the entries that were missing before have entries now. I'm not sure why, as in both cases I was successfully connected to my home wireless network with full internet access. Anyway, here's the new version:

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : msns.wb.ptd.net
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Dell Wireless 1505 Draft 802.11n WLAN Mini-Card
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-24-2B-E3-52-51
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.114(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, February 01, 2011 9:00:41 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, February 02, 2011 9:00:40 PM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 8.8.8.8
208.67.220.220
4.2.2.1
8.8.4.4

Does this look any better?

FYI, I have also turned off IPv6 (as part of previous wireless issue troubleshooting) and manually configured my wireless adapter to use the listed DNS servers (from my previous router which had a DNS glitch).

Anyway, as I said, I can connect to my home network *either* through my wireless adapter or my ethernet adapter. As another person suggested, if I'm going to consistently use the wired connection for my desktop I could disable the wireless adapter, which will of course stop it from connecting to the mystery network. I just thought that it shouldn't be doing that in the first place.

The Interface Metric thing sounds like it might be helpful, though I'm a bit confused by what the value for it should be. Also, it's still unclear what this "unidentified network" even is, though so far money seems to be on my actual network.


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## Maz_- (Nov 4, 2008)

At this point i would be really inclined to reinstall your wireless network card drivers and then update it again. Even with the genuine connection to your home network you are still getting a valid ip address. Its got be your home wireless network and vista is being good at what it does best, be weird!!

Maz


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## lkadlec (Apr 23, 2010)

One question and one "interesting thing," and then the main response to your post:

Question: You say "Even with the genuine connection to your home network you are still getting a valid ip address," and I'm not sure what you mean. The ipconfig I ran was done after I removed the ethernet cable, so I was only connected (sort of) to the mystery network. When I make a wireless connection to my network, the mystery network connection goes away, if it was there at the time. In any case, I agree that this thing is probably just my own network. 

Interesting thing: I went back to device manager and pulled up the properties for my wireless card. In the list of properties on the advanced tab, there is an entry for "Disable Upon Wired Connect," and the value is set to "disabled" (which would suggest to me that is shouldn't be doing anything when I have a wired connection?).

Anyway, if I were going to "reinstall my wireless network card drivers and then update again," as you suggest, how would I go about that (step by step)? I think I know the basic idea (actually 'uninstall' the adapter, restart Windows so it can install whatever drive it wants, re-run the .exe for the update?), but it's something I've never done before and I like to know exactly what I'm doing.

Finally, given that everything is (at least at the moment) actually working - I can make a wired connection, I can make a wireless connection, in both cases the connection is both local and internet, and given that this seems to be just a weird Vista/sleep glitch (again, the 'problem' only occurs when I am both resuming from sleep and using a wired connection), I am kind of inclined to do nothing, on the chance that problems could occur in the uninstalling and reinstalling of my wireless adapter. And I could always go back to the idea of disabling the wireless adapter if I'm going to be using the wired connection. Thoughts/advice?

Also, thanks again for following along with the troubleshooting of my rather bizarre problem.


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## Maz_- (Nov 4, 2008)

Sorry i meant "invalid ip address". 169 is a apipa ip address, which indiciates that an ip address hasnt been allocated to your pc.

1. To your question, yes you can enable that option and it will then disable your wireless when you have ethernet connection (this might be a good idea).

2. To reinstall the drivers, you just do what you suggested. In device, right click the WiFi adapter and click on uninstall, reboot pc, and then use windows to download the drivers and then update this. 

3. you may also want to try 2xg;s suggestion, which i didnt think of (thanks 2xg).

If all this doesnt work, i would just disable the wifi on pc. Its not going to stop you from using your pc afterall.

Maz


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## lkadlec (Apr 23, 2010)

Just to be completely clear:

1) If the "Disable Upon Wired Connect" property has it's value set to "disabled," that means that the functionality that would disable the wireless adapter is disabled, and not that the adapter will be disabled? The wording of this is kind of confusing.

2) Re: reinstalling my wireless adapter - I was thinking that when I uninstall it and then restart my PC that Windows would automatically reinstall it, but you are saying that I need to "use windows to download the drivers." So do I have to do a completely separate step after the reboot in order to get whatever would be the default driver? I'm confused now.

3) Which suggestion from 2xg? The interface metric thing? I'm still uncertain about what values I ought to use if I do that.

Thanks.


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## Maz_- (Nov 4, 2008)

1. You will need to set the value to enabled, which would then disable your wifi card when its cabled in.

2. After you have uninstalled it, windows may prompt you saying it has found a new device, in which case you will need to download the drivers and install them. 

If windows doesnt find it, then you go into device manager, right click the unknown device and click on reinstall. Then it will give you two options you select the one thats says lets windows search automatically. Before you uninstall right down the make of wifi card from device manager. This will make it easy for you find the drivers if needed.

3. Use this table ti enter the correct metric number. Link speed is your connection speed to internet.

Link Speed
Metric

Greater than 200 Mb
10

Greater than 80 Mb, and less than or equal to 200 Mb
20

Greater than 20 Mb, and less than or equal to 80 Mb
25

Greater than 4 Mb, and less than or equal to 20 Mb
30

Greater than 500 Kb, and less than or equal to 4 Mb
40

Less than or equal to 500 Kb
50

Maz


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## lkadlec (Apr 23, 2010)

Thanks for the additional information. Apologies, but I still have some questions regarding the uninstall/reinstall process.

Regarding drivers for my wireless adapter, it is actually a Dell-branded adapter, and multiple searches on-line have not turned up the drivers. The only place they seem to be is Dell's website, and the only driver on Dell's site is the most recent one (which I think may actually be the one that came with my computer - when I look in the .zip files on the resource CD that came with my machine, there is a file with the same name as the one currently available on the Dell website).

The driver in question is available from the Dell website as an "Update Package for Microsoft Windows," which seems to be its own little installation program, and as a standard .exe file (zipped).

So...I uninstall the adapter and restart my computer. You say that if Windows says it found a new device, I then need to download and install the drivers. Does Windows just tell me it found the device and let me move on, and then I just run the driver installation file I have on my computer? 

And if Windows doesn't find a new device, and I do the right-click and reinstall, do I really want to have Windows search automatically for the driver, when I have the driver file on my computer? Is there some way to just run the driver installation?

Sorry if these are stupid questions, but I know that sometimes Windows gets to a point where it asks you to do something/make a choice, and if you don't do it correctly things get screwed up. I'm just trying to figure out what Windows will ask me and what the answer should be, as well as whether there is some point at which I can just run my driver program.

In the meantime, I think I may try enabling that "disable on wired connection" and see if that does the trick. However, I'd really like to learn how to uninstall/reinstall my network adapters anyway, so the information will be useful in either case.

Thanks so much!


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## lkadlec (Apr 23, 2010)

So a quick update - changing that setting to "enabled" had no effect on the mystery network thing. 

As I've said before, if after waking the computer from sleep I manually disable the wireless card - either via device manager or using Network and Sharing Center and then "manage network connections" (which I think is actually faster than going into the device manager) - the mystery network goes away. Apparently, however, enabling the "disable upon wired connection" property doesn't do it. I'm wondering if that might be because there is a slight delay upon waking from sleep while the wired connection is properly established, and the adapter starts making the bogus connection to the ghost network before windows/my computer realizes the wired connection is there? Just a guess.

It's also occurred to me that there is one other solution to this whole thing - and that is to just ignore the unidentified network. Do you think that there is any danger to my computer from my wireless network connecting to this "unidentified" thing? I'm thinking that since it is a limited connection (local only) and since our best bet is that it's actually my own home wireless, that it's probably not a big deal. Why didn't I say/think of this sooner, you might ask? Well, as you might guess, I like to understand what's going on with my machine, if I can. In fact I kind of have to work on drawing the line between useful research and spending too much time on something that isn't really an issue. :smile:

And I very much appreciate the people here who help others work through the weird stuff that their computers do.


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## 2xg (Aug 5, 2009)

I don't see any mention of you have disabled any Power Savings Mode of both your Wired and Wireless Network Adapters from Device Manager. 

From this guide, please hop on to Step 6 - To Disable or Enable the "Allow this device to wake the computer" Option for a Device. this shd work for both Windows 7 and Vista.

Have you done the Metric Interface? The best guide to follow is this one => Change the interface metric on a network adapter | Windows Reference. Please give it a shot bec. it might help.

See if that helps, if not please post back.


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## lkadlec (Apr 23, 2010)

You did ask about disabling Power Savings Mode for the wireless adapter, and as I said, I've already done that. I've actually done it for both my wireless and ethernet adapters (for other reasons, quite some time ago). I disabled the option to allow the computer to power down the device for my wireless adapter because originally whenever I woke the computer from sleep my wireless connection would be "local only," and disabling power savings is what solved that problem (see my post #22, in response to your post #21). I also have previously disabled the options to allow my adapters to wake my computer (though I'm not sure how that is relevant to my current issue, as my computer isn't experiencing unexpected wake-ups).

I have not done the Metric Interface. Honestly, I'm still a little confused about it. I read the guide, and the table for the "correct metric number" as Maz put it, but I'm uncertain. Let me make sure I understand, and then I'll try it when I get home:

Both of my adapters (Local Area Connection and Wireless) will have some default metric setting to start with? Based on the guide, I assume that "Automatic Metric" is checked by default (though I don't know whether there is also a default interface metric number and/or where it comes from)? So I am supposed to follow the guide (which *was* clear, in terms of the steps - it's the concept I'm a little fuzzy on), uncheck "Automatic Metric" and give my adapters specific numbers, so that the number for my ethernet adapter is lower than the number for my wireless adapter - thus causing it to be preferably used to make a connection when the ethernet cable is plugged in? Is that correct? Should I be manually setting the Interface Metric for both adapters (with the ethernet getting the smaller number)? Also, the numbers in the table go by tens from 10 to 50, but the article states that the range of valid values is from 1-9999. I just have the basic/entry level cable internet service, which is around 1Mb, so it looks like my value should be between 40 and 50. Given that, would I for example set my wireless to 45 and my ethernet to 40 (or something like that)? Also, those numbers are listed as being for Windows XP. Should I be using them if I am running Vista?

Sorry for all the questions, but I want to make sure I'm doing this correctly. Also, if it doesn't help and I want to change things back, do I just re-check "Automatic Metric" without worrying about the "Interface Metric" box?

Thanks!


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## lkadlec (Apr 23, 2010)

Replying to myself to add that upon closer inspection, the guide you linked appears to go with a different version of Windows, as the steps don't quite match. If I do the first few steps in the guide, it says to "right click on the adapter you want to change" and click properties, then in the general tab select "Internet Protocol TCP/IP" and click "Properties," and then click the Advanced button.

However, when I right click my adapter and select Properties, the window that comes up doesn't have a general tab. Instead, it has a "Networking" tab, and *that* has both IPv4 and IPv6 (not just TCP/IP) among other entries on a list (that looks like a more complicated version of the list the guide shows under the general tab). From *there* I can select one of those (e.g. IPv4) and click on a Properties button, and *that* seems to take me to the place where if I select Advanced I can change the metric.

Should I do that? And if so, do I need to change it for IPv4 *and* IPv6? Should I just have IPv6 disabled anyway (it is on my wireless but not, I don't think, on my ethernet).


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## 2xg (Aug 5, 2009)

That's correct, it should be almost the same as XP and manually enter the Metric.


> However, when I right click my adapter and select Properties, the window that comes up doesn't have a general tab. Instead, it has a "Networking" tab, and *that* has both IPv4 and IPv6 (not just TCP/IP) among other entries on a list (that looks like a more complicated version of the list the guide shows under the general tab). From *there* I can select one of those (e.g. IPv4) and click on a Properties button, and *that* seems to take me to the place where if I select Advanced I can change the metric.


Let's enable IPV6, but do not apply the Metric, only to IPV4.


> Should I do that? And if so, do I need to change it for IPv4 *and* IPv6? Should I just have IPv6 disabled anyway (it is on my wireless but not, I don't think, on my ethernet).


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## lkadlec (Apr 23, 2010)

2xg said:


> That's correct, it should be almost the same as XP and manually enter the Metric.
> 
> Let's enable IPV6, but do not apply the Metric, only to IPV4.


Okay. Apply metric to IPv4 but not IPv6. When you say "That's correct, it should be almost the same as XP and manually enter the Metric," are you referring to my interpretation of the Vista version vs. XP, or are you saying the rest of what I wrote was correct? Based on my previous post (#31), is my understanding of what's going on and what I should do correct? Am I supposed to manually put in numbers for both adapters? Do my suggested metric numbers seem reasonable? 

Thanks again!


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## Tony_2007 (Jan 17, 2011)

Change the metric on both adapters so they are not automatic. Make the metric for the ethernet adapter lower than the metric for the wireless.

Please post results.


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## 2xg (Aug 5, 2009)

I second...Thanks Tony.


> Change the metric on both adapters so they are not automatic. Make the metric for the ethernet adapter lower than the metric for the wireless.


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## lkadlec (Apr 23, 2010)

Okay. Did the metric thing. Changed the metric for the IPv4 for both ethernet and wireless to manual. Set ethernet metric to 40 and wireless metric to 45 (based on the guidelines in the guide and posted by Maz). Double-checked that I could make a good internet connection with each (wireless and wired) - both were fine. Made a wired connection - all good. Put the computer to sleep and then woke it up with the ethernet cable plugged in. Problem still there - wireless still appears to be making a limited connectivity connection to the mystery unidentified network, even though my ethernet card is connecting to my home network.

I did notice one other thing. To do the metric settings, the guide has you run ncpa.cpl, which takes you to a network connections window (control panel -> network and internet -> network connections). When my computer resumes from sleep and the mystery network is there, I see it if I mouse over the network icon in my system tray, and also in Network and Sharing Center. However, if I open the "Network Connections" window (e.g. via ncpa.cpl), *that* tells me that my Wireless card is *not connected*. Huh?

ETA: I guess that last bit may not mean much, as Network Connections does give me the option to "diagnose" the connection (even though it is "not connected") and if I click on that it tells me there is limited connectivity and offers troubleshooting steps.


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## Maz_- (Nov 4, 2008)

Ok now that you have tried the metric change and its not fixed the problem. How about the reinstall of drivers? 

Windows may just prompt you that it has found new hardware and let you proceed with the driver installation. Refer to this guide see if it helps: Installing - How to Manually Install Device Driver Guide

Maz


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## lkadlec (Apr 23, 2010)

I think the only thing left to try seems to be reinstalling the drivers. I'm just trying to decide if it is worth the trouble, as opposed to just a) ignoring the mystery network (which seems unlikely to be dangerous), b) doing the disable/enable thing w/ my wireless adapter when the mystery network comes up, and/or c) just disabling my wireless adapter on my desktop (especially since my cable modem and router will always live on the same computer desk as my computer). 

Part of my problem is that I'm still unsure about exactly how the process (reinstall) will work. For example, you say that Windows *may* just tell me that it's found new hardware, but it may not. The article you linked me to seems to be written for situations where the device is already installed with a driver, and you want to install a new one (e.g. update). There is a link to another article for just installing drivers generally, which seems more relevant as it applies to drivers for "new devices," which I assume my wireless adapter will be if I uninstall it. Under Windows 2000/XP (note there is no entry for Vista), it says the following (numbers added by me for reference):

"When a new device is installed in your computer windows will automatically detect it. 

1. Windows will either find a driver for the device and install one on its own or it will ask you for drivers for it.

2. Cancel this, grab the manufacturers disk, and put it in your CD/DVD drive. It should auto start and then show a list of install options. Simply click install to install the device drivers, at the end a reboot would be required. After this reboot the device should be operational.

3. If the manufactures disk doesn't have an auto run program and just simply provides the drivers on the disk, then you must not cancel the screen when it asks you to install the drivers. Instead click next. You can now do it two ways, let windows install the device automatically, or if you know where the drivers are you can select them manually. Windows recommends the first option and I agree, this should be used first, and if it doesn't succeed use the second option and browse the CD for the driver."

Back to me:
As I said before (post #28), I have two versions of the drivers for my card - one is this "Update Package" thing and one is just a .exe of zipped files. In the example above, would I cancel out of the Windows utility (as per #2) and run the Update Package? Don't cancel, and direct Windows to the .exe file? And what if Windows *doesn't* tell me it found new hardware? You gave some instructions for that in your post #27, but do I really want Windows to "search automatically" when 1) I have the driver file already, and 2) extensive internet searching with my adapter name doesn't find anything but links to a bunch of Dell websites?

I'm honestly lost.


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## Maz_- (Nov 4, 2008)

Just uninstall the drivers, restart and run your .exe file to install the drivers, regardless of what windows does. There are so many ways of doing this, just keep it simple. forget what windows does, you just uninstall it from device manager and reinstall it. thats it and it should be fine.

Maz


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## lkadlec (Apr 23, 2010)

So it wasn't actually so simple.

I uninstalled my wireless adapter. When I clicked uninstall, I got a pop-up box warning me I was about to uninstall it (well, duh!), and there was a check box (default un-checked) asking if I wanted to delete the driver software for this device. Since I was planning to reinstall the driver from scratch, I checked the box. 

I did the uninstall and restarted my computer. Windows did find the device and it tried to install it, but failed (presumably there isn't a default Windows driver?). 

I then navigated to the Update Package version of the driver and double-clicked. It started running, then gave me an error message that version of the driver was already installed and the software/package doesn't support reinstalling the same version (or something along those lines). Except it *wasn't* installed. If I went to device manager, my adapter was there, but with the yellow icon with the exclamation point.

I also had the plain .exe version of the driver file on my computer, so I tried that next. It started to self-extract, then gave me an error message saying that part of what it needed was on another disc (or something to that effect). Except there *was* no disc, just the .exe file downloaded from the Dell website. At that point I found myself a) sort of remembering that happening when I updated my driver in the first place (which led, IIRC, to me using the Update Package version instead), and b) dealing with just the outcome that had made me reluctant to uninstall and reinstall the adapter in the first place - a so-called "easy" procedure leaving me worse off than I'd been before (i.e. with a completely non-functional device, as opposed to one that was behaving in an odd but not really detrimental way). 

However, I also had the Dell Drivers and Utilities CD that came with my computer. I decided to try that. I put it in, and it installed some sort of Dell Utilities program, which then opened up a window from which I could navigate to a "Drivers" pane. Both the previous version and the latest version of my wireless card adapter drivers were listed. I clicked on the first version and the utilities program installed it for me. I figured I'd go with the initial driver first, especially since the Update Package was telling me the newer one was already there even after I'd uninstalled the adapter.

After restarting my computer, my wireless card was up and running again (though I did have to re-run the utility that connects the computer to my wireless network). According to the description of the updated driver, it "Fixes speaker noise problem caused by Wireless LAN RF demodulation. Adds additional country support." Neither of those seems critical, especially since I had never noticed speaker noise in the first place. Thus the plan is to test for the original issue (pseudo-connection to weird unidentified network) with the uninstalled and reinstalled adapter using the earlier driver first and go from there.


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## lkadlec (Apr 23, 2010)

Okay, so I am tentatively reporting success. I made a wired connection to my home network, put the computer to sleep and woke it, and the mystery network didn't show up. I have to go back to work now, so I will do the sleep thing again, see what happens when I get home, and report back.


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## lkadlec (Apr 23, 2010)

So far so good. I'm not entirely sure if it was reinstalling the drivers or re-running the Cisco utility that sets up the connection between the computer and the router (or both), but as of now I've put the computer to sleep a couple of times with the ethernet connected, and when it resumed it made the wired connection but *didn't* also make the weird limited wireless connection to the unknown network. Hopefully that will continue.

Thanks to all for the help.


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## Maz_- (Nov 4, 2008)

Reinstalling drivers is relatively simple as long as you have the correct drivers file. So as soon as you found the dell utility disc (well done for holdiong onto the disc), it becomes fairly straight forward but anyways..glad the problem is solved.

Maz


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## lkadlec (Apr 23, 2010)

Maz_- said:


> Reinstalling drivers is relatively simple as long as you have the correct drivers file. So as soon as you found the dell utility disc (well done for holdiong onto the disc), it becomes fairly straight forward but anyways..glad the problem is solved.


I understand what you're saying, but I *did* have the right file to begin with, as far as I know. The Update Package with the driver I'd been using before I uninstalled the adapter was a working file. I'd successfully used it before to install that very same driver! However, even though I'd uninstalled the adapter and it's driver, and restarted my computer, and even though my computer rediscovered my adapter as a new device, when I went to reinstall the driver (from a working file I'd used before), Windows told me it was already installed. Which it wasn't. That, to me, doesn't seem like a "didn't have the right driver file" problem. I sounds like somehow the uninstall wasn't complete, or something. What am I missing?


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## Maz_- (Nov 4, 2008)

Not sure what happened there mate but lets just leave it there and monitor the original problem.

Maz


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## lkadlec (Apr 23, 2010)

Fair enough. My point was just that reinstalling isn't necessarily simple even if you do have the right files. :smile: So far so good as far as the original issue goes - haven't seen the mystery network yet.


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## lkadlec (Apr 23, 2010)

So the problem has returned! 

After uninstalling and reinstalling my wireless adapter, the problem went away for almost a week. 

However, today it resurfaced. Interestingly, it happened when my computer was trying to make a wired connection but could only make a limited connection (local only) via the plugged in ethernet cable (because my cable modem had dropped its connection and needed to be power-cycled). While it was making that connection, it seemed as if the wireless adapter then "kicked in" and also tried to connect, but again it was connecting to the mystery "unidentified network." Having tried all the suggested fixes, including the complete re-installation of my wireless adapter, I'm frankly inclined to just disable my wireless adapter (either as needed, as a way to ditch the bizarre connection to "unidentified" if/when it happens, or more long term to avoid the issue altogether.


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## Maz_- (Nov 4, 2008)

Sounds like a good idea to me as lets be honest we have tried alot of things and to be fair its not something that is stopping you from connecting to an internet etc. I would just disable it.

Maz


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