Cannot change active network from public to home in Windows 7
Hello, I have just installed Windows 7 RC 7100. I have a netgear fa311 network card, which it did not automatically install. I manually installed the drivbers and now it has identified my home network as a "Public network" so I can not connect to the internet. I can't seem to find any way to change this to the "Home network". Can anyone help please?
May 18th, 2009 1:25pm

Hi. I have the same issue with my newly installed win7rc 710064bit system. I have home network with few xp and linuxmachines and theyre routed to internet trough Homeline adsl2+ modem/router.Other machines gets to internet but my win7 machine (intel core2 6700, Asus P5K mobo with integrated Atheros L1 gigabit ethernet controller) sees only my network as public and this somehow prevents it to connect to internet. It shows that the connection to router is ok but from there its disconnected.win7 gets ip from dchp server(themodems lanside) but it still issomehow "dead". Any ideas how to change the setting to "home" from "public". I tried alsoput fixed ip on win7 but it didnt help on this. Driver failure or something?
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May 18th, 2009 1:42pm

Hi again. This is update to my previous reply:I upgraded the Atheros driver from their website (via xp machine and usbstick) and no change.Also tried with another ethernetcontoller, 3Com 3C905B-TX, with no status change.My networking status is still unidentified network(public) and the internet connection is disabled. I also tested to change it trough homegroup tool and still no change. I think that next im going to change systems moboto AMD based solution and check is there any change... This is not good, at all...
May 18th, 2009 4:37pm

If you run 'ipconfig' in a command window, what IPv4 address does it display for your Ethernet adapter?
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May 26th, 2009 12:36pm

If your network does _not_ show up as 'Unidentified', you can change the category of the network via Network and Sharing Center. Click on the network icon in the tray and select 'Open Network and Sharing Center' from the flyout UI. Your active network will be displayed. Look for the 'Public network' text next to the network's icon, and click on it (it is a link). That will launch a dialog that will let you pick the category for the network.
May 26th, 2009 7:33pm

If you run 'ipconfig' in a command window, what IPv4 address does it display for your Ethernet adapter?
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May 26th, 2009 7:36pm

Hello, Tried that! The"Public network" text is not a link!! Not here on this pc anyway! The ip address I have is 169.254.172.117 with a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0
May 26th, 2009 9:21pm

The IP address indicates that your PC could not obtain an actual IP address from your router. This will cause your network to be 'Unidentified' and default to 'Public network'.You may be experiencing an issue with the network adapter drivers, or with the router.Can you collect some logs that can help us narrow down your issue?Steps:1. Disconnect your Ethernet cable from the adapter2. Run an elevated command window (cmd.exe)2. In the command window, run netsh trace start AddressAcquisition capture=yes3. Reconnect your Ethernet cable to the adapter and wait for a couple of minutes4. In the command window, run netsh trace stopThe last step will print out the location of the CAB file - it will be named NetTrace.cab. Can you please email that CAB file to darene.lewis at microsoft.com?
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May 27th, 2009 8:22pm

The IP address indicates that your PC could not obtain an actual IP address from your router. This will cause your network to be 'Unidentified' and default to 'Public network'. The above assumes that the network adapter will be assigned an IP address via DHCP. It's quite often the case that people run purely local networks using non-routable, static IPs manually assigned to each PC. I have the same problem with Windows 7 as described above and as described in thesimilar thread at http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7itpronetworking/thread/4fd9d3e8-8b1b-4a55-9190-2a61410aff6aI have a several computers in my home office. Each has two enet ports, as is typical with modern motherboards, but for now I'm using only one enet port on each computer. I have a simple network where each computer has a static IP assigned to the enet port, such as 172.16.1.30, 172.16.1.31, 172.16.1.32 and so on, using a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 for each. Each is a member of the OFFICE workgroup. The computers are the usual mix of XP x64, Windows Server 2008 x64 (my favorite to date when configured for use as a desktop system), and Vista x64.The enet cables from all the machines are plugged into an inexpensive, but very fast, 10/100/1000 D-Link switch/hub.Whenever I need Internet connectivity I'll plug in a USB WiFi adapter and bang.. there's Internet.It all works great on all the machines except those running Windows 7, where it cannot be configured in a sensible way.With Windows 7 it reports the enet connection as "Unidentified network" as a "Public network" and the "Public Network" bit cannot be clicked to change to Home Network or Work Network. Nothing works. I've even tried the secpol.msc alteration mentioned in the thread URL given above. I'd sure appreciate any tips.Two other comments:First comment: Why run static IPs?1. For a small number of computers thisis easier than setting up one of the machines as a DHCP server, which then has to be kept turned on all the time (hey guys... that's not green!).2. This can be made safer for inexpert network admins than sharingthe same segment of assigned IP addresses assigned by an Internet router used as a DHCP server. Not perfect, I grant, but in some ways easier for a novice to keep the purely local segment seperated from Internet.3. Using static IPs allows you to use a fast, inexpensive switch like the D-Link for gigabit speeds. Nice to see those big files get copied instantaneously. I guess the switch could "learn" the dynamically assigned DHCP IP addresses, but this way I know it happens for sure.4. Can always use the known IP addresses for debugging connectivityusing ping. Call me old fashioned, but it sure is nice to ping a real IP without having tofigure outhow Windows is resolving machine names.Second comment: This is how to send Windows 7 down the path of VistaWhy do I have eight machines in my home office? I'm the lead documentation writer for a company that sells a few hundred thousand copies a year of very sophisticated software. My colleagues and I decided that the next revision of doc would be based on Windows 7, so I went ahead and started building the environment to support all that writing with hundreds of examples, screenshots and the like. If guys like me find Windows 7 more of an obstacle to our work than a benefit, people are just going to stick with XP or, if they've already broken their teeth on it, Vista. There's also the humble impact of having a few hundred thousand sets of documentation continuing on into 2010 *not* using Windows 7 but continuing with XP...Microsoft has got to give people a reason to move to Windows 7 and unnecessary annoyances with obvious, typical situations like hooking up a handful of machines into a local network is one of them. The Homegroup thing is commendable but it is Dead On Arrival for many people because they simply will not or cannot move to Windows 7 on all their machines at the same time. For that matter, the Homegroup thing needs a Home Network setting and that should be trivial to accomplish with static IPs as well as dynamically assigned IPs. It's not.It's commendable that Windows 7 is a bit faster. But people already have far more processing speed in their CPUs than they can use, so that's not going to be enough to make the sale.Incredibly stupid and unreliable networking has been a hallmark of Windows for too many years. Please, Microsoft, please, just redirect all the droneswhoseem to think thatsuperficial prettification is the way to a better Windows and move some resources into the banal but critical task of wiring up a bunch of variedWindows computers into a simple network that comes up all the time where machines can see each other without fail and files can be copied to and fro.
May 27th, 2009 10:29pm

Go to Device Manager, Network Adapters, disable the card, wait and then enable again. It should all work immdiately. Worked for me
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May 28th, 2009 1:37am

Go to Device Manager, Network Adapters, disable the card, wait and then enable again. It should all work immdiately. Worked for me
May 28th, 2009 1:37am

I think we are dealing with a problem that actually goes back to the introduction of the Windows Vista code base.What I have noticedin all versions of windows released since then is thatNIC card connected to a residential gateway device always get setup asthe home network. Thesecond NIC card where you actually want to have the Home or Work setting seemsto get ignoredand becomesthe "Unidentified Network." At least this situation was still correctible until the release of Windows 7 RC1. A theory I have is that Microsoftis probably trying to fix another problem I have noticed when one goes in and corrects the network designations is that the settingsmay not always stick where youwant them to be.Take for example,doing something as simple as enabling printer sharing, your settings may revert back to your intial setup values without you knowing it.I have found that I have always needed to go back in and double check my settings each time I neededtochange something related to the network. My hope is that someone atMicrosoft can realize what is really happeningwith network detection and get it right.How hard can it be to have Windows reverve the network assignments on initial setup?
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May 28th, 2009 10:12am

Hello, Thanks for your input. I tried that, but it still does not work.
May 28th, 2009 5:33pm

Eller - 1. Is your network card connected directly to the router or via a switch? 2. Are there other PCs also connected to the same router which work fine? 3. If you are dual-booting, can you boot to the OS where you have Internet access and provide the results of 'ipconfig /all'?
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May 28th, 2009 8:19pm

Hello Darene, 1. via a 3COM office hub. 2. Yes and through the same hub! 3. Not dual booting! Same setup worked with win 7 beta.
May 29th, 2009 12:52am

Eller,I took a look at the traces you shared and it shows that your PC attempted to acquire an IP address via DHCP (DHCP Discover packet was sent), but no responses were received. The trace also shows that there were no incoming packets of any kind. This seems to look like a driver issue. I'm following up with other folks here to see if there are any known issues with the NETGEAR FA311, but in the meanwhile could you try using a different Ethernet NIC if possible?
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May 29th, 2009 1:39am

Also what if you plug the NIC directly into the router (bypassing the hub)? Can you provide the driver name, date and version information as well? You can retrieve the date and version by running Device Manager (devmgmt.msc), right-clicking on your network adapter and selecting Properties. Then select the 'Driver' tab and note the information displayed. Next click on 'Driver Details' and note the driver filenames that are listed along with file version information.Please share the collected information.
May 29th, 2009 2:00am

To add to this issue this evening I was having router issues with my range booster. I reset it through it's online controls and in the process changed it from wireless channel 11 to wireless channel 3 since there are multiple home networks in my area that I can detect and I wanted to test for possible interference. The moment I restarted windows refused to allow me to connect to the internet via my network saying it was now a public network despite the fact that all settings were the same it was now just broadcasting on a different wireless channel. Try as I might I could find no option or setting to make windows recognize the network as the home network and attempting network troubleshooting diagnostics only returned results of "windows could not identify any problems" and after running the homegroup troubleshooter it even offered to switch it from a public to home network, which I accepted yet the change never happened. After I changed it back to wireless channel 11 the problem went away and it immediately recognized it as the home network again. To test this and see if the issue could be worked around I went as far as deleting all my saved networks and reconfiguring them all from scratch yet it never asked me to identify any network as home or public and seemed to "remember" my previous choices despite the fact that I deleted my network settings. I admit I did not try it in safe mode though which might have an impact. I can confirm though as a vista user that changing the broadcast channel of a router or extender with vista did not cause this to happen. Also while my network was set to public it would not allow connection to the internet by any traditional method (mmo, web browser, im client) oddly torrent applications and my desktop gadgets continued to function with no problems at all. Even going so far as disabling windows firewall and all my anti virus etc I still could not connect to any webpage via browsing so long as it identified the network as "public".
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May 29th, 2009 5:10am

Just to add to this discussion. I am having similar issues with my Windows 7 RC connecting to a wired network. I'm running it on a laptop and the wireless adapter finds and connects with no issues to my router. However I use my system in a docking station and prefer to have it connected using a cable. I do get the lovely Unidentified network/public network message for my local connection. I have tried an update on the NIC and I have tried to disable the wireless and connect just with the wired to no avail.
May 29th, 2009 5:24am

Hello Darene, I get the same result if I connect straight into the router! Driver details are:- netfa31x.inf fa31xnd5.sys The driver is not digitally signed so no date or version info is available.
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May 29th, 2009 11:56am

Hello Darene, Any ideas where I can get suitable drivers for a Compaq Netelligent PCI 10/100TX nic? I have instelled this and Win 7 doesn't have any native drivers for this card!
May 29th, 2009 6:12pm

This is definitely a driver issue. I'm having the same issue with this same NIC. DevMan says the driver is installed correctly (and it installed like normal, reading Netgear FA311). It does not pick up DHCP. Setting to static IP has no effect. The Local Area Connection Status page shows packets being sent but none received. Other workstations in the same LAN cannot reach it (Destination Unreachable in a PING). Darene, do we have a solution yet?
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June 3rd, 2009 4:46am

I am also having an issue similar to this. I am also using the FA311 (I think that's the MN it's the netgear Gig NIC - will update when I get home). I have my onboard 10/100 NIC as the internet facing (through switch/firewall) NIC, the FA311 I have connected to my server machine which has the same NIC via a x-over cable. IP's are static (10.0.0.1 and 10.0.0.2) and have added a route to my persistent route table. No matter how many times I try I can not change that network to a private or work network. I use this connection to xfer files over a gigabit connection (large files at least 2gb+) since it would be much faster. Tried all the suggestions stated in this thread except using an old driver which I will try this evening. More info: This is the Windows 7 x64 I do dual boot into XP Pro x64 and this was verified to work in that OS and in XP Pro x32.
June 4th, 2009 10:42pm

Hello Darene, Well, I have now given up on my previos two nics. This is obviously a driver issue as I have now installed a 3Com and everything works fine! If you want me to do any future driver testing for these cards just drop me an email. Thanks for all your input guys.
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June 11th, 2009 11:48am

I actually solved my issue with my NIC. The nic is actually a Netgear GA311 Gigabit NIC. Windows for some reason installed a Realtek Family 10/100 driver for it. I didn't notice until I tried to update the driver. Everytime I uninstalled the Realtek Driver, windows would go out and automatically download the realtek driver again. Needed nimble mouse skills to get it to cancel before the driver was downloaded. Once I got the correct drivers installed, the NIC worked great. I just had to add the persisitent route again and make sure that when I xfer the files I am going through the 10.0.0.x ip and not the 192.168.1.x. BUT, I still can not change the network from a public network. I would like to have more control over what a network is designated as but since I can work around that it doesn't bother me as much.
June 24th, 2009 8:54pm

The network card drivers are irrelevant in this case - if they were a problem you wouldn't have a network at all. I have a real solution to CHANGE PUBLIC NETWORK to a HOME or WORK NETWORK . I had the same problem. I don't know if the thought behind it was to treat dynamic networks as hostile environments, or whether the documentation that stated "First time joining a network - you can select HOME, WORK OR PUBLIC " actually meant first of ALL networks & not per adapter, but anyway: DISABLE ALL NETWORK ADAPTERS ENABLE THE ADAPTER THAT'S ONLY SHOWING UP THE UNCHANGEABLE PUBLIC NETWORK IN THE NETWORK AND SHARING CENTER, SELECT "CHOOSE HOMEGROUP AND SHARING OPTIONS" CLICK ON "WHAT IS THIS LOCATION?" SELECT HOME/WORK RE-ENABLE ALL OTHER ADAPTERS this sorted out my frustrations & now I can continue to live another day. windows 7 (x64)
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October 1st, 2009 8:42pm

Reckless_Dane is close to the money. It all goes south because the IP address and gateway are not correct. This gives the unidentified nonsense because that is exactly what it is. Set the IPv4 address manually with the gateway and primary DNS as your router address. Voila', you can now "identify" your network and may profit and pleasure be the result.
October 15th, 2009 1:53pm

I had the same issue with this network business, Had joined my computer to a domain (this was done on setup) and then went to another business unit within our network but on a different subnet and it picked it up as a "unidentified public network" and would not let me change anything, didnt matter what i did, to add to that the network adaptor was not showing in the list of network adaptors so i could disable or re-enable, i did ipconfig and it just showed some worldly address starting with 169. As soon as i got back to the office it starting working again like normal, This was really frustrating for me as we have multiple work groups in our domain that sit on different network, Please shed some light, btw i have done all that stuff suggested above it did not work and no its not a network driver issue.
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November 9th, 2009 10:37pm

Reckless_Dane has the workaround for me... I did this and it worked... All I wanted was to be able to make this "unidentified network" into a "Home" network so I could use the homegroup and this did the trick. One note... the line: 4. CLICK ON "WHAT IS THIS LOCATION" said "What is this Network" on my Win 7 But otherwise, it worked. It's still unidentified but it is now a home network. I should note that I had done the suggestion from another thread to set my unidentified networks as "changable" Something like: Run secpol.msc Select Network List Manager Policies Set Unidentified network policies to "user can change location" and the location to "private" By the way... There is no router on my network. It's a simple lan cable between two computers. This seems like a major oversight.
December 1st, 2009 10:32am

Ah just Genius bro!! Damn that bugged me, everytime i went in public i had to switch my sharing options since one nic was wireless which was for my internet and the other one was for wired file sharing with my other desktop computer so my options had to be on for file sharing so i could share files between my computers.. THANX!
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December 5th, 2009 9:11am

Reckless_Dane, I tried to do this but, after I selected the Home network in your step 5, It told me that it could not connect to a Home network and remained unidentified. I'm having this same problem connecting via wireless, however it works fine when hardwired? help?
December 10th, 2009 2:03am

Im having a similiar problem, i have a wired and wireless connections if i have both connections enabled i have LAN traffic but no WAN traffic i can see everything on my domain network but cant ping the default gateway. If i disable the wired connection i have no problems at all? strange very strange!!!! help?
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December 30th, 2009 2:40pm

connect them both and post "route print" hereand "IPCONFIG /all" here
December 30th, 2009 6:36pm

i have not heard the term route print but here is the ipconfig /all Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7600] Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. C:\Users\MATT.OILWELL>ipconfig /all Windows IP Configuration Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : oilwell16 Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : oilwell.domain.local Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : oilwell.domain.local Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : oilwell.domain.local Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-24-8C-7D-E8-3B DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.61(Preferred) Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, December 30, 2009 6:25:51 PM Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, February 06, 2146 12:54:20 AM Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1 DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.4 DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.4 192.168.0.1 Primary WINS Server . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.4 NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection 2: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 06-21-00-C2-C5-95 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : oilwell.domain.local Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Atheros 802.11 a/b/g/n Dualband Wireless Network Module Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-21-00-C2-C5-95 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::9544:4b17:dd:3181%11(Preferred) IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.63(Preferred) Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, December 30, 2009 7:23:37 AM Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, February 06, 2146 12:54:20 AM Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1 DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.4 DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 184557824 DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-12-77-7F-B5-00-24-8C-7D-E8-3B DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.4 192.168.0.1 Primary WINS Server . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.4 NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled Tunnel adapter isatap.oilwell.domain.local: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : oilwell.domain.local Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Tunnel adapter isatap.{60847213-5DCE-46B3-AD84-C96C59B1E418}: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2 Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes C:\Users\MATT.OILWELL>
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December 31st, 2009 5:29am

C:\Users\MATT.OILWELL>route print =========================================================================== Interface List 13...00 24 8c 7d e8 3b ......Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller 12...06 21 00 c2 c5 95 ......Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter 11...00 21 00 c2 c5 95 ......Atheros 802.11 a/b/g/n Dualband Wireless Network M odule 1...........................Software Loopback Interface 1 15...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 Microsoft ISATAP Adapter 16...00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2 =========================================================================== IPv4 Route Table =========================================================================== Active Routes: Network Destination Netmask Gateway Interface Metric 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.0.1 192.168.0.63 25 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.0.1 192.168.0.61 10 127.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 On-link 127.0.0.1 306 127.0.0.1 255.255.255.255 On-link 127.0.0.1 306 127.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 127.0.0.1 306 169.254.0.0 255.255.0.0 On-link 192.168.0.61 286 169.254.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 192.168.0.61 266 192.168.0.0 255.255.255.0 On-link 192.168.0.63 281 192.168.0.0 255.255.255.0 On-link 192.168.0.61 266 192.168.0.61 255.255.255.255 On-link 192.168.0.61 266 192.168.0.63 255.255.255.255 On-link 192.168.0.63 281 192.168.0.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 192.168.0.63 281 192.168.0.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 192.168.0.61 266 224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 On-link 127.0.0.1 306 224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 On-link 192.168.0.63 281 224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 On-link 192.168.0.61 266 255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 127.0.0.1 306 255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 192.168.0.63 281 255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 192.168.0.61 266 =========================================================================== Persistent Routes: None IPv6 Route Table =========================================================================== Active Routes: If Metric Network Destination Gateway 1 306 ::1/128 On-link 11 281 fe80::/64 On-link 11 281 fe80::9544:4b17:dd:3181/128 On-link 1 306 ff00::/8 On-link 11 281 ff00::/8 On-link =========================================================================== Persistent Routes: None
December 31st, 2009 5:30am

The network card drivers are irrelevant in this case - if they were a problem you wouldn't have a network at all. I have a real solution to CHANGE PUBLIC NETWORK to a HOME or WORK NETWORK . I had the same problem. I don't know if the thought behind it was to treat dynamic networks as hostile environments, or whether the documentation that stated "First time joining a network - you can select HOME, WORK OR PUBLIC " actually meant first of ALL networks & not per adapter, but anyway: DISABLE ALL NETWORK ADAPTERS ENABLE THE ADAPTER THAT'S ONLY SHOWING UP THE UNCHANGEABLE PUBLIC NETWORK IN THE NETWORK AND SHARING CENTER, SELECT "CHOOSE HOMEGROUP AND SHARING OPTIONS" CLICK ON "WHAT IS THIS LOCATION?" SELECT HOME/WORK RE-ENABLE ALL OTHER ADAPTERS this sorted out my frustrations & now I can continue to live another day. windows 7 (x64) I agree and have similar feelings with Reckless_Dane. Who cares if my network driver is out of date? I want the ability to switch to a home group. I used the above directions but there were no "Choose Homegroup and Sharing Options" to click on so i clicked on "See also" "HomeGroup" and it let me change to the home group finally. Windows 7 X64
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January 18th, 2010 10:33pm

Hello, I have looked at the different solutions and will try them when I get home. I have a similar problem, some observations may shed a light. We have a brand new E-Machines laptop with Windows 7 x64. It connected directly to our home wifi. After one day the wifi stopped working. Still works well with a Lan cable. The odd thing is that when I scan for networks I find all my neighbours wifi-s from down the street, but not our own. Our wifi works well from one Vista laptop, from my Asus eee Linux PC and from my Nokia Cell phone. But not from the new Windows 7 machine. The interesting part here is that it seems to be some kind of combination of wireless router/router settings and Windows 7, since I can see other routers. This could be the reason why not all people experience this. My router is a DLink 301 with WPA2 setting. I have tried to change the settings on the router, but it doesn't seem to help. I will see tonight if anything from this page will help me. /Thorsten
February 1st, 2010 2:03pm

This worked for me.
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February 8th, 2010 7:24pm

DISABLE ALL NETWORK ADAPTERS ENABLE THE ADAPTER THAT'S ONLY SHOWING UP THE UNCHANGEABLE PUBLIC NETWORK IN THE NETWORK AND SHARING CENTER, SELECT "CHOOSE HOMEGROUP AND SHARING OPTIONS" CLICK ON "WHAT IS THIS LOCATION?" SELECT HOME/WORK RE-ENABLE ALL OTHER ADAPTERS this works. im going to reboot and it should still be working Since the 286
April 1st, 2010 4:10am

Reckless_Dane got me on the right track but it did not work for me... maybe for others it works. What finally did work for me was this: Control Panel --> Device Manager -->Network Adapters Right Click on your WiFi Adapter (mine was Atheros) and choose UNINSTALL Leave the "delete driver" box UNCHECKED Once the wifi adapter is gone, right click on "Network Adapters" and choose scan for hardware changes. It will re-find your adapter. Now go connect to the wireless network of your choice and in the network and sharing center the words "Public Network" should be a clickable link that you can then change to Home Work etc. If this works for anyone else please vote as the answer as trying this first could have saved me many headaches.
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April 21st, 2010 1:17am

cyndi1976's solution was the only one that worked for me and it was, relatively, easy. THANKS!
June 14th, 2010 5:19am

it is the problem of the gateway service..so you have to take LAN connection properties button .Then you have to select TCP(IPV4) ,from there you can put default gateway address or you can select the automatic ip address selection.the the system will automatically change settings and you can access the network.
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June 26th, 2010 2:03am

Thank you so much cyndi1976 - After 5 hours of trying your solution worked!!!
October 5th, 2010 10:53pm

Managed to fix this problem quite easily in the end so I thought I'd add the fix that worked for me here. I had the same problem when connecting my Win7 pc directly to my router as I was trying to change the channel on my wireless configuration which requires an ethernet connection. While wireless connections were fine and network devices connecting via Homeplugs worked without issue, any of my Windows 7 machines connecting via ethernet would be listed as unidentified (public) with no internet access. I checked my IP address with the wired connection and saw it ended in .25 (Preferred). Normal IP range for my network is from .65 and above. From the Network and Sharing area I checked the LAN settings link and checked in the TCP/IP 4 settings for my connection and saw it was hard-coded to use this .25 address, not something I set manually myself. Changing this to use DHCP (obtain automatically both IP address and DNS) changed my IP address to one above x.x.x.65 straight away and now in the sharing center I was straight away connected to Home Network with internet access. No other configuration was required. So maybe worth checking this first if you have any unidentified network issues, perhaps Windows 7 is simply quarantining any new network connections to public by default.
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November 13th, 2010 4:56pm

I was having similar issues. I was showing a HOME and PUBLIC NETWORK connection under my Ethernet adapter (non wireless). I was over looking something the whole time. Check to see that under Local Area Connection ---> IPV 4 (TCP/IP4) doesn't have a different Default Gateway listed. I had a static IP default gateway listed and I have Obtain IP automatically checked off. I selected Use Following IP Address and removed it. The Public Network disappeared. I discovered this issue cause I was not able to Connect to a Home Group, just create a new one. Maybe this is something that others can check as well in the future. I think Win7 is the best OS so far. XP was awesome, Win7 knocked it out of the park for me. :) G
February 24th, 2011 2:41pm

to clarify what the last poster did..is what i did to fix the problem. - right click the wifi icon on the bottom right corner - click open wireless and network (something like that) - change adapter settings (on left side) - right click the wireless network adapter and click properties - highlight internet protocol version 4 and click properties - make sure everything is checked on obtain automatically - click on advanced and make sure DHCP is enabled (which I think was the main - problem on why my wifi identifeid my internet as a public and wouldntt let me change it.
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March 6th, 2011 9:20am

I have had and resolved a similar problem—the same one cited in other replies—installing a Netgear WN2000RPT repeater between my WiFi modem (Thomson, TWG870) and a laptop (running Windows XP Pro) and a desktop (with Windows 7), both on a LAN. The laptop installation went well when instructions were followed, but the desktop connected only as far as the repeater, not to the WiFi modem and the internet. Note that the desktop could read the internet via a 1 or 2 bar—unreliable—connection directly to the WiFi modem but not through the repeater. The Windows 7 Network and Sharing Center labeled the direct connection “HOME NETWORK” and the one to the repeater an UNIDENTIFIED CONNECTION, Public Connection, specifying that it did not provide internet access. After numerous attempts to resolve this impasse a new idea was prompted by a NetGear helpline suggestion that I link the desktop and the repeater by Ethernet cable. I reset the repeater to its default configuration, connected it to the desktop by Ethernet cable, then opened its set-up screen on the desktop and reconfigured the repeater exactly as it had been configured previously from the laptop. Eureka! The result was “Connection” to the repeater with Internet access. The Windows 7 Network and Sharing Center, under “View Your Active Networks,” identifies the active network by the WiFi modem name (SSID) and labels it a Home Network. To the right is further definition: Access Type: “Internet,” HomeGroup: “Joined,” and Connections: (after a 4 bar symbol) “Wireless Network Connection” below which is the repeater SSID. So the modem/router provides the network name and the repeater is recognized as part of the wireless network connection that makes the internet access possible.
July 13th, 2011 4:16pm

My daughter had this problem. I tried a bunch of suggestions from this thread and it ended up being Mcaffee firewall. had to uninstall because could not turn off successfully.
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August 23rd, 2011 1:57am

The best way to change an Unidentified network to private or home network is to restore windows to earlier settings using system restore function and then again connect to your wireless or Lan network. But when doing so select Home network.
August 28th, 2011 9:20am

I don't know if this will help but it worked for me. I added WPA-2 Personal sercurity with a passkey and it seemed to correct the problem. it seems unsecured networks are treated as public. I don't know why it works, but tryed 100's of differnt things and this is the only way to get it work. Hope it works for you
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October 7th, 2011 7:15pm

Did you ever find a solution to this? I'm supposed to run a demo and decided to try directly connecting Windows 7 with XP using a crossover cable and static IP addresses. But this little network comes up as "unidentified" and hence "public". As you point out, setting the security policy to allow the user to change that designation can be changed but makes no difference: no "link" to change the actual setting becomes enabled. Setting security policy to force unidentified networks to be treated as private also has zero effect. And without "network discovery" the "network" is useless. I'll probably have to drag my entire network infrastructure to the demo (router etc). Too bad the demo isn't for Microsoft or I'd make sure to bring the cross over cable and spend an hour or so fussing with it on screen for their benefit. Hmm, maybe this audience would appreciate a bit of that. Give them something to think about RE MS.
December 2nd, 2011 6:09pm

I was having the same problem. I was unable to change public network to work or home. I tried changing the setup in Network and Sharing Center but nothing I did helped. What finally did it was resetting my firewall settings to default. ( I use McAfee Security Center) I had not made any changes to the firewall settings prior to the problem but resetting them to default definately did the trick.
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January 16th, 2012 11:14am

After scurrying all over the maze that Windows 7's Network and Sharing Center enters into for a few hours today with some occasional backing out into the Web, I finally smelled cheese somewhere in this thread. Oh and was it ever good! Been aged over a couple years now. The fine cheesemaker's screen name is Reckless_Dane. (Gus Hansen??) His cheese posted into the thread on 2009-10-01. Bravo Dane! Thanks for the delicacy!
January 31st, 2012 7:03pm

I was having similar issues. I was showing a HOME and PUBLIC NETWORK connection under my Ethernet adapter (non wireless). I was over looking something the whole time. Check to see that under Local Area Connection ---> IPV 4 (TCP/IP4) doesn't have a different Default Gateway listed. I had a static IP default gateway listed and I have Obtain IP automatically checked off. I selected Use Following IP Address and removed it. The Public Network disappeared. I discovered this issue cause I was not able to Connect to a Home Group, just create a new one. Maybe this is something that others can check as well in the future. I think Win7 is the best OS so far. XP was awesome, Win7 knocked it out of the park for me. :) G OK. Can anyone please tell me exactly how to make change to TCP/IP of the Local Area Network? I have exact "Home" and "Public" network and my Win 7x64 does not boot up connecting to the internet automatically. Only way to do is to go to Network and Sharing Center, click Change Adapter Settings, "Disable" and then "Enable" the LAN adapter. The "Publich" network disappears, and system connected to the Internet. Well, I go to the network adapter (Ethernet LAN = in my case it Intel 82566DC Gigabit Network), right click "Property" For Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6) and also Version 4, all set "Obtain and IPv6 or IPv4 address automatically", so is obtain DNS server address automatically too.
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February 10th, 2012 9:51pm

suprisingly i had this very same issue with my dads computer and found that what windows was telling me was bogus info no big surprise there anyhow it was stuck on public network here is what i did that worked needless to say before this i did a lot that did not work / i removed the cat 5 cable which was coming from a switch and hooked up a known good cable directly to one of the open ports in the back of the router instant solution acheived and the internet was available and he was on the home network without doing anything else
February 29th, 2012 9:53pm

Thanks So much!! worked like a charm :)
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March 21st, 2012 6:47pm

May 24 2012 12:31~12:35 win7U5 sp1 Hello Darene Lewis I am attemping upload an trace.etl to you , how might I please? Julie L. HUANG
May 24th, 2012 12:35am

May 24 2012 12:31~12:35 win7U5 sp1 Hello Darene Lewis I am attemping upload an trace.etl to you , how might I please? juliejj77@hotmail.com Julie L. HUANG
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May 24th, 2012 12:36am

May 24 2012 15:18 win7U5 sp1 Hello Mr. Darene.Lewis, How may I send the trace.etl *.epub to you by insert ? Julie L. HUANG
May 24th, 2012 3:18am

May 24 2012 15:18 win7U5 sp1 Hello Mr. Darene.Lewis, How may I send the trace.etl *.epub to you by insert ? Juliejj77@hotmail.com Julie L. HUANG
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May 24th, 2012 3:19am

May 24 2012 17:52 win7U5 sp1 Hello Mr. Lewis, The Ethernet Adapter Local Area Connection : IPV4_169.254.4.245by time 17:54 Julie L. HUANG
May 24th, 2012 5:54am

May 24 2012 17:52 win7U5 sp1 Hello Mr. Lewis, The Ethernet Adapter Local Area Connection : IPV4_169.254.4.245by time 17:54 juliejj77@hotmail.comJulie L. HUANG
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May 24th, 2012 5:56am

May 24 2012 17:58 win7U5 sp1 Hello Rick- M Have you tried to restore your earlier time backup for the "Unidentified Network" ? I have you r same question as well experience the LOCAL area Connection with Modern sneakingly by WHOM ? change to wireless connection that checking by "netsh" command. Closed WLAN them all however, LAN set well later, "Unidentified Network" keep solid as my condition right now. Have you test: cmd \ secpol.msc \networking policy ? Julie L. HUANG
May 24th, 2012 6:03am

May 24 2012 17:58 win7U5 sp1 Hello Rick- M Have you tried to restore your earlier time backup for the "Unidentified Network" ? I have you r same question as well experience the LOCAL area Connection with Modern sneakingly by WHOM ? change to wireless connection that checking by "netsh" command. Closed WLAN them all however, LAN set well later, "Unidentified Network" keep solid as my condition right now. Have you test: cmd \ secpol.msc \networking policy ? Juliejj77@hotmail.comJulie L. HUANG
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
May 24th, 2012 6:04am

Hello, Tried that! The"Public network" text is not a link!! Not here on this pc anyway! The ip address I have is 169.254.172.117 with a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0 May 25 2012 23:03 win7Ultimate update from HomeP LicenseID_5_ sys pack1 May 26 2012 10:18 ~ 10:28 win7U5 sp1 May 26 2012 11:21 ~ 11:29 win7U5 sp1 May 28 2012 04:10 ~ 04:43 Win7U5 sp1 Hello Mr. Darene Lewis and Ellerdch, Remember you have emailed the *.etl file to Darene Lewis . May I know how you did that from here , the technet.microsoft fourum please? I have been asked same IPV4 Question from him. However, there is not found attach way from this perusal. They are either image , html or appliance software model. No option for *.etl sending . TO modify the Networks , some next places maybe need pay attentions first ... 0) Connection via WLAN or LAN; Router or Modern or else 1) Network Share Center \ chose home and network option 2) Anti_Virus FireWall's Inbound:Outbound settings 3) Microsoft Computer \ services settings 4) Dos Administrator \ netsh ? settings 4.1) Powershell \ settings << Dos cmd , why? 5) Search \ secpol.msc settings 6->) Why the default network ISP giving connection retainnedly reserving at MULTIPLE NETWORK which is under the search now. May 26 2012 10:48 win7U sp1 May 26 2012 11:09~11:14 win 7 U sp1 Multi_monitor performance on Win 8 only , if my PC has been taken Authority to do so, then the System Security has been ruded. PASSWORD attentions included : ANTI_virus Tool, Microsoft FireWall, HDD password, Windows logon Password, Usual Appliances Password Protection such as Lenovo's CSS etc... Ref: cc722518.aspx_file by Microsoft ------------------------------ This article described how a server configure its up to five IPs from the NT Server. My PC client has been merged by NT as its Client . Since my PC now connecting internet THROUGH Multiple Network. It is either using my ISP authority on Win 8 for multi_monitor or playing NT server . It just treat me as one of its clients. How can I fix this , try hard Julie by yourself? "Advance IP Address nowhere to find [as it is for Server parameter], this is for NT server to configue the IP intranet more than one address to access different servers at routine situations. Ref:cc451515(v=WS.10).aspx_files Microsoft ---------------------------- Multiple network adapters 2 out of 2 rated this helpful Updated: January 21, 2005 Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2 quato "The cluster adapter handles client-to-cluster traffic using the virtual IP address. However host-to- host traffic within the same cluster is not possible on this adapter because the MAC address for each host in a particular cluster is the same. For more information, see Address Resolution Protocol (ARP)." FIFS is the basic law here in the INTERNET world. Since the IPV6 has not be able to work to identify each of us except Client join to Domain own personal IP from NIC. Some Domain like Best domain, FatCow simple issue CLuster called it to us. That is why My client PCs has been unnoticed connected as Multiple Network by Servers. 7) The Authority abuse accident under monitoring by Anti_Virus Company 8) others find at later ... Blue Oisou Julie L. HUANG
May 25th, 2012 11:03am

Hello, Tried that! The"Public network" text is not a link!! Not here on this pc anyway! The ip address I have is 169.254.172.117 with a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0 May 25 2012 23:03 win7Ultimate update from HomeP LicenseID_5_ sys pack1 May 26 2012 10:18 ~ 10:28 win7U5 sp1 May 26 2012 11:21 ~ 11:29 win7U5 sp1c Hello Mr. Darene Lewis and Ellerdch, Remember you have emailed the *.etl file to Darene Lewis . May I know how you did that from here , the technet.microsoft fourum please? I have been asked same IPV4 Question from him. However, there is not found attach way from this perusal. They are either image , html or appliance software model. No option for *.etl sending . TO modify the Networks , some next places maybe need pay attentions first ... 0) Connection via WLAN or LAN; Router or Modern or else 1) Network Share Center \ chose home and network option 2) Anti_Virus FireWall's Inbound:Outbound settings 3) Microsoft Computer \ services settings 4) Dos Administrator \ netsh ? settings 5) Search \ secpol.msc settings 6->) Why the default network ISP giving connection retainnedly reserving at MULTIPLE NETWORK which is under the search now. May 26 2012 10:48 win7U sp1 May 26 2012 11:09~11:14 win 7 U sp1 Multi_monitor performance on Win 8 only , if my PC has been taken Authority to do so, then the System Security has been ruded. PASSWORD attentions included : ANTI_virus Tool, Microsoft FireWall, HDD password, Windows logon Password, Usual Appliances Password Protection such as Lenovo's CSS etc... Ref: cc722518.aspx_file by Microsoft ------------------------------ This article described how a server configure its up to five IPs from the NT Server. My PC client has been merged by NT as its Client . Since my PC now connecting internet THROUGH Multiple Network. It is either using my ISP authority on Win 8 for multi_monitor or playing NT server . It just treat me as one of its clients. How can I fix this , try hard Julie by yourself? "Advance IP Address nowhere to find [as it is for Server parameter], this is for NT server to configue the IP intranet more than one address to access different servers at routine situations. Ref:cc451515(v=WS.10).aspx_files Microsoft ---------------------------- Multiple network adapters 2 out of 2 rated this helpful Updated: January 21, 2005 Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2 quato "The cluster adapter handles client-to-cluster traffic using the virtual IP address. However host-to- host traffic within the same cluster is not possible on this adapter because the MAC address for each host in a particular cluster is the same. For more information, see Address Resolution Protocol (ARP)." FIFS is the basic law here in the INTERNET world. Since the IPV6 has not be able to work to identify each of us except Client join to Domain own personal IP from NIC. Some Domain like Best domain, FatCow simple issue CLuster called it to us. That is why My client PCs has been unnoticed connected as Multiple Network by Servers. 7) others at later found ... Blue Oisou Julie L. HUANG
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May 25th, 2012 11:04am

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