Windows 7 keeps loosing network connection during inactivity

W

WoodiE

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 28, 2003
Messages
231
I have a Windows 7 machine that after maybe 30-40mins of inactivity will lose it's network connection. When I switch back to the machine via my KVM I see an icon in the system tray showing it's "Identifiying" the network and after about 30 seconds or so it will find it and connect w/o issue.

How can I stop this from happening so that it always remains connected?

What I've done so far:
  • disabled sleep mode
  • disabled hybrid sleep
  • disabled Hibernate
  • disabled hard drive power off
  • went to the network properties for the adapter and unchecked "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power"

Any suggestions how to stop the machine losing it's connection to the network?
 
No, it is not wireless. It's a desktop computer using an on-board NIC.
 
Who's your ISP? Comcast likes to throttle, even if it's not bittorrent. And by throttle, it goes dead.

ETA: reread the OP, seems like Win 7 doesn't like playing with that KVM switch. My sentiments toward Comcast currently isn't the best. Only if I can get some FIOS in my area.

Alot of people were having trouble with KVMs during beta and RC, I guess Microsoft hasn't done away with the bugs yet.
 
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Are you using the default Win7 drivers for the NIC? If so, try the manufacturer's.
 
Is this an nforce based board? Some of the recent drivers are having issues with win7 and dumping network connectivity. It could be your issue.
 
i had similar issues, disabling the power saving feature on the nic fixed it.
 
I've been having similar issues on a G31 board that seems to only have started after upgrading to Win7. I am using Realtek's drivers though... I'll look into the power saving crap, thanks for the info on that everyone.
 
crazyassazian said:
Who's your ISP? Comcast likes to throttle, even if it's not bittorrent. And by throttle, it goes dead.

ETA: reread the OP, seems like Win 7 doesn't like playing with that KVM switch. My sentiments toward Comcast currently isn't the best. Only if I can get some FIOS in my area.

Alot of people were having trouble with KVMs during beta and RC, I guess Microsoft hasn't done away with the bugs yet.
Click to expand...

This computer is in a domain with multiple T1 connections. As for the KVM, I don't see what a keyboard and mouse has anything to do with the network card going to sleep during inactivity - please explain.


omega-x said:
i had similar issues, disabling the power saving feature on the nic fixed it.
Click to expand...

Yup that already ("went to the network properties for the adapter and unchecked "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power""). I'm going to try to download NIC drivers from HP and see if that makes any difference at all.
 
Hmm... what about the event log, does it say anything about devices or network services starting and stopping? Details and when they happen might tell you something. Also, you might try running an infinite ping from the command line to see what happens and when. Possibly from that computer and from another computer to that one as well.

Are you running a software firewall that might "smartly" block connections when it senses that the computer is not in use?

Although the power-saving might be the first place to check, it might be worth a try to play with the power-saving modes for the whole computer, because they affect a number of things that are far from obvious.

I use KVMs too. The only problem I've had even close to this is low power modes somehow cutting the 5v needed to run the unit reliably, but that probably doesn't relate to your situation (unless you're using WOL).

PS. Some newer routers have power saving features that could be shutting down interfaces not in use.... just a thought. The router could also be going bad... might watch to see if the router (or whatever device it is) is periodically failing/restarting.
 
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go into advanced tab under the NIC config and change "speed & duplex" to "100 Mbps full duplex"

Windows 7 fucks up the auto-negotiation with a lot of different routers and switches, so you need to set the speed you want manually.
 
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