Network Configuration Window Freezes When USB NDIS Internet Connection Sharing and Ethernet Port Are Used Simultaneously

Current Setup:

Asrock Extreme 4 Z77 mobo with built-in Broadcom NetLink (TM) Gigabit Ethernet.  Windows 8 Pro. Intel i5-3570k (using onboard Intel 4000 HD Graphics).  RAID0- 2 OCZ Vertex 4's.  

I will refer to this setup as my tower.

The Ethernet port works fine by itself.  When I use wired tethering with my Android phone (Droid 4 running on 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich), it works fine when nothing is connected into the Ethernet port in the mobo.  

The issue arises when I try to connect both simultaneously.  The network configuration window in windows basically freezes and I cannot really navigate it without a ~60 second delay at best.  

I would like to be able to accept the internet from my Android via a USB tether and either bridge the connection or use the internet connection sharing service to route traffic through the unused Ethernet port on the mobo (either to another computer/xbox or more desirably a switch/router to spread to the entire home network).  I have extensively researched the issue of Windows 8 become slow and unresponsive when I attempt to do this and I have not found anyone with the exact problem.  I am able to do both the MAC bridge miniport (bridge 2 connections) and Internet Connection Sharing though a Windows Vista (home premium) Laptop I have. The difference between the laptop and the tower I am try to do this on is the laptop has a WIFI and Ethernet connection while the tower only has the on-board Ethernet. 

Do I have all the necessary equipment to accomplish this, or do I need to buy a PCIe WIFI card?  If so could I get away with just getting a USB WIFI dongle?

Any help would be very appreciated. 

November 19th, 2012 2:26pm

Hi,

I suggest you try to update the drivers of Ethernet and Android Tethering port, then test again. It should be a driver issue.

Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
November 21st, 2012 8:08am

I have tried that and it does not help the problem. I have the most recent Broadcom drivers installed from Asrock's website, and windows claims that the remote NDIS internect connection sharing driver is up to date (despite it being dated as 2006.)  I don't know what other drivers to install or where to get them.  It baffles me because I didn't have to install anything special on Windows Vista for this to work.

-Kevin

November 21st, 2012 4:47pm

Hi,

In fact, the hang issue is very hard to troubleshoot. To narrow down the issue, You could try to stop two services for a test. One is Network Location Awareness, the other one is Network List. This will tell us whether you have drive compatibility issue with the two service. This is just my assumption.

Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
November 22nd, 2012 6:52am

I am having a similar problem but with or without any other connection enabled than android usb tethering. even control panel hangs when usb tethering is enabled. any other application works just fine. am on windows 8.1
January 4th, 2014 7:11pm

I fixed it by switching to the other Microsoft Corporation NDIS driver:

Remote NDIS Internet Sharing Device -> Remote NDIS Compatible Device


Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
February 14th, 2014 9:19am

I have the same issue.
How did you switch the NDIS Driver?
March 2nd, 2014 12:35pm

I had the same problem and came here by searching.

Per Rosengren's method solved the problem, but he didn't say how to do it, so I'll try to explain step-by-step for anyone that may venture here.

  1. Open Device Manager (right click on Computer > Manage > on the left side, under System Tools choose Device Manager)
  2. Choose the problematic device in Network Adapters (for me it's called HTC Remote NDIS based device)
  3. Right click on it and choose Update Driver Software...
  4. Click Browse my computer for driver software
  5. Click Let me pick from a list of device drivers
  6. Uncheck the box Show compatible hardware
  7. For the manufacturer, choose Microsoft Corporation
  8. Now you will have two options:
    - Remote NDIS based Internet Sharing Device
    - Remote NDIS Compatible Device
    I chose the second one and it solved the problem, but if it doesn't work you could try the other one. In my case, the driver that was being used was neither of these, but a special driver from Android SDK ADT bundle.
  9. Pick one and click Next. If a dialog comes up, confirm by clicking Yes.
  10. Wait a few seconds for the connection to restart. If it doesn't work, try disabling and reenabling USB tethering on the phone, or reconnect the USB cable.

I should also note that I'm using a custom Android ROM on HTC Wildfire S (unofficial Cyanogenmod). If you have a stock ROM with HTC Sense, maybe this method may not work and you'll need a proprietary HTC driver.



  • Proposed as answer by Daedalus777 Monday, April 28, 2014 8:14 PM
  • Edited by Daedalus777 Monday, April 28, 2014 8:17 PM
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
April 28th, 2014 8:14pm

I had the same problem and came here by searching.

Per Rosengren's method solved the problem, but he didn't say how to do it, so I'll try to explain step-by-step for anyone that may venture here.

  1. Open Device Manager (right click on Computer > Manage > on the left side, under System Tools choose Device Manager)
  2. Choose the problematic device in Network Adapters (for me it's called HTC Remote NDIS based device)
  3. Right click on it and choose Update Driver Software...
  4. Click Browse my computer for driver software
  5. Click Let me pick from a list of device drivers
  6. Uncheck the box Show compatible hardware
  7. For the manufacturer, choose Microsoft Corporation
  8. Now you will have two options:
    - Remote NDIS based Internet Sharing Device
    - Remote NDIS Compatible Device
    I chose the second one and it solved the problem, but if it doesn't work you could try the other one. In my case, the driver that was being used was neither of these, but a special driver from Android SDK ADT bundle.
  9. Pick one and click Next. If a dialog comes up, confirm by clicking Yes.
  10. Wait a few seconds for the connection to restart. If it doesn't work, try disabling and reenabling USB tethering on the phone, or reconnect the USB cable.

I should also note that I'm using a custom Android ROM on HTC Wildfire S (unofficial Cyanogenmod). If you have a stock ROM with HTC Sense, maybe this method may not work and you'll need a proprietary HTC driver.



  • Proposed as answer by Daedalus777 Monday, April 28, 2014 8:14 PM
  • Edited by Daedalus777 Monday, April 28, 2014 8:17 PM
April 28th, 2014 8:14pm

By golly, it worked! Thank you so much, people, I thought there was something wrong with my hardware and was going to send it in.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
May 25th, 2014 5:29pm

Thank you very much for this fix. I was pulling my hair out wondering why my pc's network pages would completely lock up until I pulled the USB cable out.

Btw, this fix works for Samsung Galaxy S4 and Windows 7

August 18th, 2014 8:55pm

Many thanx....

I'm also on CyanogenMod and getting random limited connectivity with WiFi tether so swithched to USB and got this problem crop up.... Hmmm I wonder if my Broadcom wifi adapter needs a driver change even tho I have the very latest one installed....?

I thought it had to be a driver issue and I learnt to day how when you uncheck the 'Show list of compatible hardware' it brings up the choices of drivers that we already have available inside the system... beats me why they have that box selected by default

Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
May 3rd, 2015 6:40am

It works for me too. I am using Xiaomi Mi3
May 6th, 2015 3:45pm

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

Other recent topics Other recent topics