The problem was that the network adapter, Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC for me, did connect to the Livebox, but it didn’t detect the Internet connection.
Because the problem occurred on both XP & Vista, I knew it was my onboard network adapter that was faulty. & while googling for it, I found it was a recurrent problem with many NICs.
But as you’ve noticed, it’s a real pain having to do that each time I start my PC.. :(
What I needed was a script that auto-resets the network adapter every time I start my PC…. & here it is. I’ll start with the easiest.
The Network Shell
Run Command Prompt (cmd) & type the following to enable/disable the network adapter.
netsh interface set interface name="Local Area Connection" admin=DISABLED
netsh interface set interface name="Local Area Connection" admin=ENABLED
& if you want to run it on startup, copy the above in a txt & save it as *.bat & put a shortcut to that file on your startup folder (Start Menu –> Startup).
More info about Netsh.exe on Microsoft here & here.
DevCon
The alternative to the above is the very powerful DevCon CLI version of Device Manager. The procedure is lengthier since you’ll need to download DevCon first – download here & then copy DevCon.exe to C:\Windows\System32 so that you can access it from cmd.
Next is to fire up cmd & then type the following:
devcon hwdis =net
For me, the first one (Realtek) is the network adapter I’m using. I note down one of its IDs & now to enable/disable my network adapter I just type the following:
devcon disable PCI\VEN_10EC
devcon enable PCI\VEN_10EC
Similarly, just copy the above 2 commands to a *.bat & copy it to the Startup folder.
There’s a third way of doing it with the uber-powerful Windows PowerShell – but why bother to go such lengths, if you already have two simple commands! For now enjoy auto-resetting your network adapter! :)
Update:
I’ve encountered a slight snag while using the above 2 scripts on startup… my PC boots up too fast! & it boots faster than the Orange Livebox, so actually it resets the network adapter even before the connection is made – meaning the hack is useless. But I’ve got the solution.
So if you have a very fast PC, you’ll need to download Startup Delayer. Remove the bat shortcut from the Startup folder & then configure Startup Delayer to run the bat file 30-60s after startup. That’s it! :P
PS. I’ve been blogshoted by Kurt Avish - CarrotMadMan6 On Blogshot With Kurt!!
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lol, thnks for the tip...but I dont get all these problems *angel*
btw, hope orange doesnt suck anymore :P
i power it off.. then power it ON... thats it. lol..
kidding. I dont get prob with my livebox. It runs smoothly. just when there's major "regieonal downtime", then i get internet probs.. but apart from that.. myT is quite cool..
@Yashvin
Orange is starting to suck less now... :P
@s4ndeep
Yeah, unlike a few years ago, My.T is now very reliable, except for the general downtime now & then. :)
Well the performance of myT is nice right now well in my region... but maybe their Support is not so good... One of my relatives living in rose hill installed myT... She keeps getting loads of probs... Line decourager tout... :(
@#€|!0$
RH? I would have thought it would have been better there... or else the network is saturated with too many users.
Hopefully i dnt get these problems. Nice posts and tips however.
Thanks a lot for the netsh commands to reset the nic. Been looking for a solution to a similar problem! This will fix things for me!
Many thanks!
@Anonymous
You are welcome! :P
Is your RealTek adaptor an onboard one? Are you connected on WiFi or RJ45?
I had the onboard RealTek and it gave me the creeps with my XP desktop. I just ended up disconnecting everything and adding a WiFi card on my PC and things started to turn out well. My fiancée's laptop is equiped with Vista and it connected smoothly by itself.
Anyways, thanks for the tip, might need it someday!
@Sachin
No, it's the onboard LAN (RJ45) found on my Gigabyte motherboard.
Speaking of the WiFi, I heard that the new Orange liveboxes have really crap WiFi range... :S
Actually no, the Liveboxes are quite good in terms of hotspotting and WiFi range, I've installed 2 of them over here at some family's and friend's places. One of them was in a >150m² house with a pc on the first floor at nearly 25m from the box and we had full access. You should try it, just to see the difference. Setting up is really easy, you just have to click the black button underneath the box and then use the WPA code to get connected.
@Sachin
Thanks for the tip! Although I prefer LAN coz the livebox is next to my PC, I'll give WiFi a try! :P
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