"Jeff" <j***@naol.com> wrote in message
news:%23WNlyibAHHA.204@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>I have a Windows XP home wireless network based on a router with WPA
>encryption.  Works great except for losing the internet about once a week
>or so requiring either rebooting of that PC or "repair" of the network
>connection on that PC.
>
> Without being a expert I am guessing it must be because the PC cannot
> renew the lease.  I've looked at everything I can think of but cannot find
> where the problem lies. I believe I have all the IP addresses listed as
> trusted in my Zone Alarm firewall.
>
> It's getting annoying, especially for my wife's PC because she is anyway
> computer phobic. What should  look for?  Is there a problem with
> lengthening the lease period (assuming that is the problem) to at least
> reduce the frequency of the interruptions?
>
> Help!
>
> Jeff
>

"Jeff" <j***@naol.com> wrote in message
news:%23WNlyibAHHA.204@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>I have a Windows XP home wireless network based on a router with WPA
>encryption.  Works great except for losing the internet about once a week
>or so requiring either rebooting of that PC or "repair" of the network
>connection on that PC.
>
> Without being a expert I am guessing it must be because the PC cannot
> renew the lease.  I've looked at everything I can think of but cannot find
> where the problem lies. I believe I have all the IP addresses listed as
> trusted in my Zone Alarm firewall.
>
> It's getting annoying, especially for my wife's PC because she is anyway
> computer phobic. What should  look for?  Is there a problem with
> lengthening the lease period (assuming that is the problem) to at least
> reduce the frequency of the interruptions?
>
> Help!
>
> Jeff
>

> I have a Windows XP home wireless network based on a router with WPA
> encryption.  Works great except for losing the internet about once a week or
> so requiring either rebooting of that PC or "repair" of the network
> connection on that PC.
>
> Without being a expert I am guessing it must be because the PC cannot renew
> the lease.  I've looked at everything I can think of but cannot find where
> the problem lies. I believe I have all the IP addresses listed as trusted in
> my Zone Alarm firewall.
>
> It's getting annoying, especially for my wife's PC because she is anyway
> computer phobic. What should  look for?  Is there a problem with lengthening
> the lease period (assuming that is the problem) to at least reduce the
> frequency of the interruptions?
>
> Help!
>
> Jeff
>
>

> Jeff wrote:
>> I have a Windows XP home wireless network based on a router with WPA
>> encryption.  Works great except for losing the internet about once a
>> week or so requiring either rebooting of that PC or "repair" of the
>> network connection on that PC.
>>
>> Without being a expert I am guessing it must be because the PC
>> cannot renew the lease.  I've looked at everything I can think of
>> but cannot find where the problem lies. I believe I have all the IP
>> addresses listed as trusted in my Zone Alarm firewall.
>>
>> It's getting annoying, especially for my wife's PC because she is
>> anyway computer phobic. What should  look for?  Is there a problem
>> with lengthening the lease period (assuming that is the problem) to
>> at least reduce the frequency of the interruptions?

> Lem wrote:
>> Jeff wrote:
>>> I have a Windows XP home wireless network based on a router with WPA
>>> encryption.  Works great except for losing the internet about once a
>>> week or so requiring either rebooting of that PC or "repair" of the
>>> network connection on that PC.
>>>
>>> Without being a expert I am guessing it must be because the PC
>>> cannot renew the lease.  I've looked at everything I can think of
>>> but cannot find where the problem lies. I believe I have all the IP
>>> addresses listed as trusted in my Zone Alarm firewall.
>>>
>>> It's getting annoying, especially for my wife's PC because she is
>>> anyway computer phobic. What should  look for?  Is there a problem
>>> with lengthening the lease period (assuming that is the problem) to
>>> at least reduce the frequency of the interruptions?
>
> Thank you for taking the time to help.
> My coments are intersperced to avoid repetition.
>
>> Does it happen with any predictability, that is, around the same time
>> or following a particular event?
>
> Not really but mainly because I have not kept exact track.  Happens every
> week or two. Maybe not really at regular interval but I cannot be sure.
>
>> Are you sure that you are losing connectivity with your router rather
>> than connectivity with your ISP (see Jack's suggestion to temporarily
>> go wired to rule out problems with wireless interference, etc.).
>
> Not sure at all what is causing it.  Unfotunately because of the distances
> involved, a wired connection is not really possible. I do not think it is my
> ISP (Cox cable) because sometimes it is one PC that drops its internet
> access while access is fine on the others and other times it is another and
> vice versa.
>
>> It's not at all uncommon for an ISP to drop your connection randomly.
>> Does
>> your router have a "keep alive" or "re-connect if connection lost"
>> feature, and if so, is it activated?
>
> I have not seen that, but as I mentioned the router remains connected and
> only one of 2 wireless PCs loses its connection at a time.  This started
> when I replaced my router (now it's a Trendnet TEW 432 BRP) and my settings
> might have a configuration error though all works fine except for the
> intermittent problem mentioned above.
>
>> I doubt that your problem is DHCP lease renewal, but if you want to be
>> sure, assign static IPs to your PCs (statically assign the same IPs
>> that are now being assigned automatically by DHCP so that you don't have
>> to
>> mess with your firewall settings).
>
> I think you are right.  It was just an uneducated guess because of the
> intermittent nature.
>
> Jeff
>
>

"Lem" <lem***@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:uB0SF4fAHHA.204@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> Jeff wrote:
>> Lem wrote:
>>> Jeff wrote:
>>>> I have a Windows XP home wireless network based on a router with WPA
>>>> encryption.  Works great except for losing the internet about once a
>>>> week or so requiring either rebooting of that PC or "repair" of the
>>>> network connection on that PC.
>>>>
>>>> Without being a expert I am guessing it must be because the PC
>>>> cannot renew the lease.  I've looked at everything I can think of
>>>> but cannot find where the problem lies. I believe I have all the IP
>>>> addresses listed as trusted in my Zone Alarm firewall.
>>>>
>>>> It's getting annoying, especially for my wife's PC because she is
>>>> anyway computer phobic. What should  look for?  Is there a problem
>>>> with lengthening the lease period (assuming that is the problem) to
>>>> at least reduce the frequency of the interruptions?
>>
>> Thank you for taking the time to help.
>> My coments are intersperced to avoid repetition.
>>
>>> Does it happen with any predictability, that is, around the same time
>>> or following a particular event?
>>
>> Not really but mainly because I have not kept exact track.  Happens every
>> week or two. Maybe not really at regular interval but I cannot be sure.
>>
>>> Are you sure that you are losing connectivity with your router rather
>>> than connectivity with your ISP (see Jack's suggestion to temporarily
>>> go wired to rule out problems with wireless interference, etc.).
>>
>> Not sure at all what is causing it.  Unfotunately because of the
>> distances involved, a wired connection is not really possible. I do not
>> think it is my ISP (Cox cable) because sometimes it is one PC that drops
>> its internet access while access is fine on the others and other times it
>> is another and vice versa.
>>
>>> It's not at all uncommon for an ISP to drop your connection randomly.
>>> Does
>>> your router have a "keep alive" or "re-connect if connection lost"
>>> feature, and if so, is it activated?
>>
>> I have not seen that, but as I mentioned the router remains connected and
>> only one of 2 wireless PCs loses its connection at a time.  This started
>> when I replaced my router (now it's a Trendnet TEW 432 BRP) and my
>> settings might have a configuration error though all works fine except
>> for the intermittent problem mentioned above.
>>
>>> I doubt that your problem is DHCP lease renewal, but if you want to be
>>> sure, assign static IPs to your PCs (statically assign the same IPs
>>> that are now being assigned automatically by DHCP so that you don't have
>>> to
>>> mess with your firewall settings).
>>
>> I think you are right.  It was just an uneducated guess because of the
>> intermittent nature.
>>
>> Jeff
> Well, based on MVP Malke's "First Question Of Troubleshooting: what
> changed between the time things worked and the time they didn't," and your
> observation that "This started when I replaced my router (now it's a
> Trendnet TEW 432 BRP),"  I would suspect that there's something wrong with
> your router hardware.  You *might* want to see if there's any updated
> firmware for this model, although before you update the firmware you
> probably ought to check out any Trendnet support forums you can find.
> Based on the fact that the system works OK most of the time, I wouldn't
> think that it's a configuration issue.
>
> Alternatively, your comment that you can't temporarily try wired
> connections suggests that between sheer distance and whatever structure is
> between your computers and the router, you may be at the edge of the
> performance envelope for this inexpensive router.
>
> Sorry I don't have any more specific advice for you.
>
> --
> Lem   MS MVP -- Networking
>
> To the moon and back with 64 Kbits of RAM and 512 Kbits of ROM.
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer

> Sometimes when you don't know where the problem is, it's helpful to
> know where it's not. I would suggest going the static route for a
> couple of weeks and seeing if things change. Based on what you've
> posted my gut says it's the router.
>
>
> "Lem" <lem***@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:uB0SF4fAHHA.204@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>> Jeff wrote:
>>> Lem wrote:
>>>> Jeff wrote:
>>>>> I have a Windows XP home wireless network based on a router with
>>>>> WPA encryption.  Works great except for losing the internet about
>>>>> once a week or so requiring either rebooting of that PC or
>>>>> "repair" of the network connection on that PC.
>>>>>
>>>>> Without being a expert I am guessing it must be because the PC
>>>>> cannot renew the lease.  I've looked at everything I can think of
>>>>> but cannot find where the problem lies. I believe I have all the
>>>>> IP addresses listed as trusted in my Zone Alarm firewall.
>>>>>
>>>>> It's getting annoying, especially for my wife's PC because she is
>>>>> anyway computer phobic. What should  look for?  Is there a problem
>>>>> with lengthening the lease period (assuming that is the problem)
>>>>> to at least reduce the frequency of the interruptions?
>>>
>>> Thank you for taking the time to help.
>>> My coments are intersperced to avoid repetition.
>>>
>>>> Does it happen with any predictability, that is, around the same
>>>> time or following a particular event?
>>>
>>> Not really but mainly because I have not kept exact track.  Happens
>>> every week or two. Maybe not really at regular interval but I
>>> cannot be sure.
>>>> Are you sure that you are losing connectivity with your router
>>>> rather than connectivity with your ISP (see Jack's suggestion to
>>>> temporarily go wired to rule out problems with wireless interference,
>>>> etc.).
>>>
>>> Not sure at all what is causing it.  Unfotunately because of the
>>> distances involved, a wired connection is not really possible. I do
>>> not think it is my ISP (Cox cable) because sometimes it is one PC
>>> that drops its internet access while access is fine on the others
>>> and other times it is another and vice versa.
>>>
>>>> It's not at all uncommon for an ISP to drop your connection
>>>> randomly. Does
>>>> your router have a "keep alive" or "re-connect if connection lost"
>>>> feature, and if so, is it activated?
>>>
>>> I have not seen that, but as I mentioned the router remains
>>> connected and only one of 2 wireless PCs loses its connection at a
>>> time.  This started when I replaced my router (now it's a Trendnet
>>> TEW 432 BRP) and my settings might have a configuration error
>>> though all works fine except for the intermittent problem mentioned
>>> above.
>>>> I doubt that your problem is DHCP lease renewal, but if you want
>>>> to be sure, assign static IPs to your PCs (statically assign the
>>>> same IPs that are now being assigned automatically by DHCP so that you
>>>> don't have to
>>>> mess with your firewall settings).
>>>
>>> I think you are right.  It was just an uneducated guess because of
>>> the intermittent nature.
>>>
>>> Jeff
>> Well, based on MVP Malke's "First Question Of Troubleshooting: what
>> changed between the time things worked and the time they didn't,"
>> and your observation that "This started when I replaced my router
>> (now it's a Trendnet TEW 432 BRP),"  I would suspect that there's
>> something wrong with your router hardware.  You *might* want to see
>> if there's any updated firmware for this model, although before you
>> update the firmware you probably ought to check out any Trendnet
>> support forums you can find. Based on the fact that the system works
>> OK most of the time, I wouldn't think that it's a configuration
>> issue. Alternatively, your comment that you can't temporarily try wired
>> connections suggests that between sheer distance and whatever
>> structure is between your computers and the router, you may be at
>> the edge of the performance envelope for this inexpensive router.
>>
>> Sorry I don't have any more specific advice for you.
>>
>> --
>> Lem   MS MVP -- Networking
>>
>> To the moon and back with 64 Kbits of RAM and 512 Kbits of ROM.
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer