I have a relatively new dell comp running xp home which has developed a
slight problem of losing it's connection to the network after a few days. 
I've tried everything that I can think of to figure this out/fix it, but
nothing really seems to work except for resetting.  as this computer is my
boss's he's getting a little pissed when he comes in and it's not working. 
my current theory is that when the dhcp lease expires, it's not being
renewed, but I can't really tell if that's it.  I can't get the connection to
repair itself without resetting everything.  replugging the cable doesn't
work, and nothing internally seems to either.  sombody help?

if i'm not mistaken:

your internet service provider should be able
to provide technical assistance, since the lease renewal
is a date regarding internet services and
stored in the properties of the router...

there are no costs associated about
a lease renewal. it is simply a date that
is regularly updated automatically....

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zarq42 wrote:
What kind of network connection are you talking about?  If the computer
is connected directly to a DSL or Cable modem, you ought to seriously
consider getting a router (wireless or not, it's up to you) even if this
is the only computer that will be using this ISP connection.  Not only
will the router provide a firewall (NAT and SPI are in almost every SOHO
router these days), but most SOHO routers have a "keep alive" feature
that will automatically reconnect to the ISP if the signal drops for any
reason.

Zarq42,

Where is your boss' PC getting its IP address from?  There must be a DHCP
server that is issuing it.  It could be a domain server, a wireless router
with DHCP services turned on, etc.

Next, is it the only PC using that particular DHCP server?  If not, then
there might be other PCs not renewing.  If this is not the case, has the PC
ever worked?  If so, what has been changed since the time it worked and now?
In my opinion you need to find out first if there is more than one DHCP
server and if so, are they setup correctly? If you add a router to your
network with DHCP services it might conflict with the current DHCP server.

Have you tried a new network card and new Ethernet cable?

There are some other things you could try if these don't lead you to fix
your problem.  You might as a last attempt try to repair the operating
system (is it XP Home?).  Are you on a peer network or domain network?  I
would consider upgrading to XP Pro, Service Pack 2.

Hope this gives you some ideas to start troubleshooting and isolating the
problem further.

-PGL

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okay, thanks for responding,
we are a small business way out in the sticks, and thus are running a
satellite connection.  There are, depending on how many I'm using, between, 7
and 9 computers, along with a couple of preipheral things, running off of the
satellite router, which is suppling the dhcp and ip addresses.  Everything
runs through a hub, which works fine.  The computer in question is the only
one which has this problem.  Every other computer, macs and pcs, runs fine,
and maintains connectivity.   I've switched out the cable one this one once
already, because the old one got eaten by the dog, literally, but  the new
cable seems to work fine.  This problem existed before the cable switch, as
well.

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