Windows 7 Loses Internet Connection but not Network Connection.

Question

Here is some basic information:

My Machine:

Custom built Intel Pentium D Machine 3.06Ghz, 4GB Ram, 3.0TB storage.

Intel  PRO/1000 PM Network Adapter.  On-Board

Windows 7 Ultimate. (All updates applied)

All Hardware has up to date drivers all around.

Environment:

Connected to a Windows Small Business Server 2003. (Wired)

The Server has been patched for Windows Vista Integration and ran Windows Vista for over a year without issue.  I have read that to use Windows 7 you need to have all of the Vista Patches applied to the SBS 2003 server.  I have done this.

My Router:

Linksys  WRT54GSV4 with Firmware 1.06.3 (Up to date)

My Problem:

It seems my internet goes down whenever it feels like.   I do not lose network connectivity.  In other words I could be streaming an audio file or movie file from my server when I lose the internet.  It just goes away.  IT seems this is more during long downloads then anything, but has been rearing its ugly head more when just browsing.  My only solution is to go into the network adapters and disable it, then re-enable it, and then I regain internet connectivity for an undetermined amount of time.  Could be 5 minutes, could be 5 hours.  It’s never the same thing twice.

I can see what it does more when downloading a larger file.  I use a download manager so I can see the status of each file being downloaded.  (This is from many locations so it’s not just one location that’s causing this problem.  It all over the board)   While downloading, I can see the download speed fluctuate    a little and then eventually goes to zero.  I can stop and then restart the download.  It will go full speed for about 30 seconds and then drop back down to zero.   Once I go in and disable and re-enable the network adapter, and I can run full speed once again without an issue for a undertermined amount of time.

All the while this is going on; I do NOT lose connectivity to my server which I basically use as a file server and domain controller.  Once I lose my internet connection, I’ll click on a connection to the server and bring up an audio file or video file and it’s just fine.  I can stream it from the server while I still can’t browse or download anything.

This tells me that the connection itself it OK, but there is something IN the connection that connects me to the internet that is faulty.  IT kind of scares me since this could be a MAJOR flaw in an important part of Windows 7.

 Have other machines on the network.  One Laptop that has Windows 7 (Same thing happens with it), another Laptop with Windows Vista (Never Happens), and Desktop with Windows Vista (Never Happens) and a Laptop with Windows XP (Never Happens).   So the ONLY machines that are having this problem are the ones with Windows 7.

What I have done:

Tried using another brand of Network Adapter.  Same thing.  No change.

Reinstalled both Windows 7 machines.   From a clean install with no other software or AV software or ANYTHING, same thing.  The exact same thing happens from a clean install to a fully loaded system.

Tried using Generic Drivers, the exact drivers, Windows 7 drivers.  – No Change

Disabled all IPV6 in the network card. – No Change.

Rebuild the IPSTACK in case it was corrupted. – No Change

Turned off IP HELPER Service – No Change

I have turned off the Power Saving Features of my Network Card so it can not be turned off.  -  No Change.

Turned off “Receive Side Scaling” in network Adapter – No Change.

Turned off “Remote Differential Compression” – No Change.

As you can see, I have tried almost everything that has been suggested to fix this problem.

I even reinstalled Windows Vista on this machine to make sure it’s not my machine.  Once Vista is on, it works flawlessly.  Once I put Windows 7 back on the system, I am back to dropping the internet over and over and over again.  Same thing with my laptop that is a much newer system.  Intel Core Due and so on...

So in my mind, this is most defiantly a Windows 7 bug that needs to be fixed.

Does anyone have any other suggestions as to what to try to fix this problem?  This is extremely annoying in that I can’t even use this machine for any reliable internet usage.  Be it browsing, e-mail or downloading.  Like I said earlier, I’m shocked to see that such a basic function of Windows 7 seems to have a MAJOR bug in it and that all past versions NEVER had this problem.

I look forward to hearing from you to see if I can come up with SOMETHING to fix this problem.

Thanks for your help!

Tom.

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"The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain." Scotty - Star Trek

Answer 1

Hello all,

To avoid confusion and to help with troubleshooting we ask that you create your own thread in the appropriate forums below. Please be sure to supply all the previous troubleshooting done and details of the issue you are facing.

Windows 7

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7network/threads

Windows Vista

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vistanetworking/threads

Windows XP

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/xpnetwork/threads

Thanks,

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Keith

Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think

Answer 2

Hi,

I was mentioning Windows update optional patch in Windows 7 list called "Intel - Network - Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connection", but I think it won't be relevant for you first because you are running 2003 and secondly because I SOLVED MY PROBLEM in another way...

I just removed Symantec Endpoint Security (SEP11 MR4 MP2) and all my problems disappeared.. Magic, no?

For those of you who have the same piece of software installed, try to remove it. I chose to install AVIRA (Free at http://www.free-av.com/) eventhough I believe that SEP is a better product.

Cheers and good luck if your are in a different case.

Answer 3

Hi guys,

I'm basically in the same situation here, LAN=OK but WAN=KO. Indeed, it use to be ok for me yesterday but after selecting the optional installation of the new Intel pro driver set, I went to this issue too. Don't know whether it's really related or not but I definitely suspect it. Just to give some directions, do you have this update too?? Check in Windows Update then update history. On my side I got the following (in French but still valid I guess, anyhow I put some Translation Notes (TN) behing key text)

Intel - Network - Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connection

Date d'installation : ‎07/‎12/‎2009 00:11

État de l'installation : Réussite (==> TN: Success)

Type de mise à jour : Facultatif (==> TN: Optional)

Intel Network software update released in December, 2007

Plus d'informations :

http://winqual.microsoft.com/support/?driverid=20137957

Aide et support :

http://support.microsoft.com/select/?target=hub

Any idea??

I'm trying to get the original E100B325.sys file back from the CD but I didn't locate it so far.

Good luck, I will keep an eye on this post.

Regards.

Answer 4

Hello Azeez,

Thanks for your response.

But that’s the odd part.  This happens all over the board.   Normal Mode and Safe Mode.

To be clear, nothing locks up at all.  Not any browser I tried, not my e-mail, not anything.  Everything continues to run as it should and I NEVER get any lock-ups.

It’s just that it seems like the source to the internet just goes away.  And it’s ONLY the internet.   When it happens, I can still browse my local network and still get to my files and such.  But anything dealing with the internet is lost.

Then if I disable and then re-enable my network connection, I get the Internet back for however long it wants me to stay connected.  But through ALL of this, I can still see my local network and shared files over the network, and even other machines.

And the tricky part of ALL of this is that I will be running two machines side by side.  One Windows Vista, and one Windows 7.   When the Windows 7 loses Internet connectivity, I’ll quick check the internet connectivity on the Windows Vista Machine and it’s still running like it should.  It’s just ANYTHING with Windows 7 on it.  My Windows Vista and Windows XP machines are all still working correctly but my two WIndows 7 machines always have this problem.

Like I said in my original post, this has GOT to be a Windows 7 problem.  I have searched all over the internet and have noticed MANY people having the same issue with all types of different hardware.

I work in the Computer Industry for 30+ years now.  So I know my way around a computer, and my way around the Windows OS.  Been playing around with it since Windows 286.  And I can safely say that this is NOT a hardware issue.  This is something that Microsoft added to Windows 7 that was not in previous versions that’s causing the issue.

What scares me the most is that this problem is not really noticed unless you download larger files of data.  If I’m just doing casual browsing it hardly ever seems like it goes down.  Or at least anything out of the normal website time out and so on.  And we all know that could be Internet traffic, and who can tell for sure.  So casual browsers of the internet might not even notice this problem but still have it.

If I wait around long enough, whatever it is that is killing my Internet connection comes back on its own.  But that could take sometimes an hour or two.  I found this out by accident since the one time I was having the issue I got called away from my computer and when I came back about 45 minutes later and I was able to browse and download again without having to reset my network card.  I only reset the card because it’s fast and does the trick right away.

To that being said, I think this is a larger problem and is just not being noticed since only users who download larger files and not just burst downloads are going to notice this.

It’s confusing to say the least since you never get any errors and nothing shows up in the event viewer or anything.  It just stops working so right now it’s like a needle in a haystack.

Tom.

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"The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain." Scotty - Star Trek

Answer 5

Hi Tom,

Thank you for using Microsoft Windows Forum.

First, temporarily disable security software and firewall settings and check if the Internet Connection drops.

Later, I’d suggest you to boot into safe mode with networking and check if you’re able to browse the internet normally without any browser lock ups.

Safe mode with networking starts Windows in safe mode and includes the network drivers and services needed to access the Internet or other computers on your network.

The Advanced Boot Options screen lets you start Windows in advanced troubleshooting modes. You can access the menu by turning on your computer and pressing the F8 key before Windows starts.

Refer the link below for more details:

Advanced startup options (including safe mode)

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Advanced-startup-options-including-safe-mode

Select the "Safe mode with Networking" option from the available options.

Let us know if you’re able to browse the internet without any browser lock-ups and problems in safe mode with networking. And we shall proceed with further troubleshooting.

Also see, To reset the TCP/IP stack go to this article and either click on "Fix it for me" or follow the instructions to fix it yourself: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/299357

Hope it helped

Azeez Nadeem - Microsoft Support