Losing internet connections
I have a problem I would like some help with. I have 3 Dell laptops all with Win XP pro and all on the same wireless network. Two of the 3 stay connected to the internet 100% of the time and the third loses connectivity about every 12 hours and I get the 10055 loopback error. When I reboot, the internet is fine. (Obviously not the router because 2 of the 3 work fine all the time).Recently I bought and installed a new wireless printer on one of the laptops that never dropped the internet before. Now that laptop is also dropping the internet about every 12 hours while the 3rd one is still fine.In an effort to understand the problem I ran Msinfo32 and compared the components->network->protocol files and noticed that on the two that drop the internet the only difference I can see is that MSAFD NetBios tcp/ip settings have "Supports Guaranteed Bandwidth" set to NO. The one that works fine has "Supports Guaranteed Bandwidth" set to YES.Then I did a system restore on the one that I installed the wireless printer on. I restored prior to printer installation and checked MSinfo32 and found "Supports Guaranteed Bandwith" was set to YES and the computer no longer drops the internet. (After installing the new printer the "Supports Guaranteed Bandwith" was set to NO).I have run the Winsock Fixit which did not work.From this I believe that I need to set "Supports Guaranteed Bandwidth" to YES on the laptop that was never dropping the internet but is now since the printer install. How do I do that? or is there another possible scenario that fits this data. 1 person needs an answerI do too
July 27th, 2010 5:35pm

HiI assume that you have a Wireless Router.It is Not clear to me what installing a Wireless Printer on a laptop means.A Wireless Printer should communicate directly with the Wireless Router, and act as a Network printer.If the Laptop has to communicate with the Router for the Internet and it communicates (Ad-Hoc) directly with the Printer it kind of getting confused. Jack-MVP Windows Networking. WWW.EZLAN.NET
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
July 28th, 2010 2:32am

Sorry I confused you. I meant the printer came with an install CD to facilitate setting the computer up (drivers) and to make it easy to set the WEP key and MAC address for use on the wireless network. Somehow during the installation process I believe some of the MSAFD Netbios TCP/IP settings were changed. This is not running in an ad-hoc mode; it is working with a wireless router (Netgear). It is not a router problem because other computers are working flawlessly on the wireless network.As evidence of the corruption if I do a restore on the computer before the printer install I see different settings for MSAFD Netbios TCP/IP when I look at Msinfo32 protocol. When I do a restore the computer stays connected to the internet 100% of the time. When I go back to the settings after the printer was installed the I get a winsock catalog error (10055) about every 12 hours which requires me to re-boot once I have lost internet connection.I did talk to Brother (the printer mfg) support and they confirmed it is possible their software corrupted the settings. I'm trying to figure out how to set them back to what they should be.An alternative proposed by Brother is to restore to the settings that were working and install the printer as a usb printer and forget the wireless.
July 28th, 2010 3:29am

HiI am not familiar with your model per-se but I have a Brother Network printer, beside the Wireless it has Network interface too.If your printyer has it too, may be you can configure it as a Network Printer with a wire.As for WIN XP.If you cannot stabilize, it and you still have the original CD.Win XP can do install repair so that it refreshes the whole OS and leave the applications and data as is.----------Boot from the CD and skip the first screen of the console repair as though you want a new install.To new install will detect the current installation and would offer repair (Press R ).If you choose Repair it actually reinstall the whole OS on the same partition without touching the Applications, and Data (takes 30 min or more depending on the computer's hardware). Jack-MVP Windows Networking. WWW.EZLAN.NET
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
July 28th, 2010 6:49am

This topic is archived. No further replies will be accepted.

Other recent topics Other recent topics