NIC card failing

A clarification. When the NIC card is failing. the system looks like it is connected to the network, but I cannot access the network or the internet.

Microsoft has been having so many problems with Network situations they have posted a sticky on the Microsoft Community site.  You might look it over to see if it will help.  

You can't respond to the thread directly but any info you can gain would be helpful here.

answers.microsoft.com/.../f121306e-fab5-411d-833f-e4490ecb8b5c

Are you sure this is a hardware problem and not software, or could it be your ISP timing your connection out?   Do other devices on your network have a similar problem? When was last time you rebooted the router/modem?

Exactly how are you connecting to the network? Are you using the onboard NIC hardwired through the  Ethernet jack to a router/modem or are you using WiFi?

Did you install the latest Win 10 drivers for the onboard NIC and/or WiFi card?

For starters, go into Device Manager and look for the Network adapter entry for either the onboard NIC or the WiF card, whichever you're using. Double-click it and then click the Power Management tab. Uncheck the box "Allow PC to turn off...".

If you're using WiFi, then go to the Win 10 Power Options screen. Identify the currently used power plan and click the link to change its settings. On next screen click the link for Advanced options. Look in the list at left for settings related to WiFi. Set Power Savings to Minimum. Be sure to save the change to the power plan if prompted.

Reboot when you're done and see if this helps...

BTW: The onboard NIC cannot be replaced unless you get a new motherboard, but you could install and add-in PCI-e NIC card. If this is a WiFi problem, the existing add-in WiFi card can be easily replaced.

Thank you for your response Ron. I think I have addressed your questions below.

 Are you sure this is a hardware problem and not software, or could it be your ISP timing your connection out? Do other devices on your network have a similar problem? When was last time you rebooted the router/modem?

 The thing is I do not know if it is a software or hardware problem. I have two laptops that never have this problem, and our TV can stream for hours with no problems. The laptops were upgraded to Windows 10 and Office 365 during the same week I upgraded my desktop. I am sure the problem is not my ISP timing me out, the modem, or my router. I reboot the modem and router at least once a week, and I last checked the router for new firmware a few days ago. Also, my wireless printer has no connection problems. The problem is isolated to my Dell XPS8700 desktop. I apologize for not stating so in my query.

 Exactly how are you connecting to the network? Are you using the onboard NIC hardwired through the Ethernet jack to a router/modem or are you using WiFi?

 Did you install the latest Win 10 drivers for the onboard NIC and/or WiFi card?

 I am using WIFI to connect. The card is a Dell Wireless 1703 802.11b/g/n (2.4Ghz).

 Months ago when the problem first occurred I upgraded the driver for the PCi card. This was also after upgrading to Windows 10.

 For starters, go into Device Manager and look for the Network adapter entry for either the onboard NIC or the WiF card, whichever you're using. Double-click it and then click the Power Management tab. Uncheck the box "Allow PC to turn off...".

 On the Power Management the “Allow PC to turn off...” is unchecked.

 If you're using WiFi, then go to the Win 10 Power Options screen. Identify the currently used power plan and click the link to change its settings. On next screen click the link for Advanced options. Look in the list at left for settings related to WiFi. Set Power Savings to Minimum. Be sure to save the change to the power plan if prompted.

 As for power options, the Wireless Adapter Setting is for “Maximum Performance”, and the PCi Express power management is OFF.

    *****

I call this a NIC problem because I first got around it by resetting the NIC card. Prior to this problem occurring I knew very little about the wireless hardware. This has been an education, but I still do not know much.

Bob

One more thingy...

Any chance you can turn off WiFi and hard wire the PC from its Ethernet port directly to the router? That might be the easiest fix, assuming you don't need miles of Ethernet cable and holes in walls to reach the router...

The commands you used reset your network connection.

If nothing else on your network is having this problem, at least that narrows things down to this PC. When the WiFi stops responding, do mouse and keyboard still work?

Did you check out the link that Saltgrass posted for Win 10 problems with internet connections?

Is this the driver you installed for the WiFi card? 

Is this PC farther from the router than other devices on your network, or is something blocking its signal?  Can you move the router closer to this PC - at least for a test?

Have you played with the settings for the WiFi card in Device Manager and/or the router settings? The default Win 10 settings for WiFi in my Dell laptop with Dell's driver were terrible and it would drop out regularly. So I did some tests with some different settings and changed the channel used by the router and PC to one that's less crowded. NOTE: You will have to change the channel settings for other devices on your network, if you change the router's channel settings.  

While it's possible the WiFi card is failing, I'd be inclined toward software at this point. Did you upgrade to Win 10 "on top" of Win 7 or did you do a clean install of Win 10? If you did it "on top", it's possible the upgrade wasn't perfect and that created this problem.

So you might want to consider a clean install of Win 10. Yes, it's time consuming and you have to make sure all personal files are backed up on external media first, and you'll have to reinstall all your software, etc. so make sure you have the installation disks and product keys.. And there's no promise that will fix the problem.

But if you buy a new WiFi card or a USB WiFi dongle and still have the same issues, you'll have spent the $ and may end up having to reinstall Win 10 on this desktop anyway...

If nothing else on your network is having this problem, at least that narrows things down to this PC. When the WiFi stops responding, do mouse and keyboard still work?

When the failure happens, the PC works fine, except that I cannot get to the network. If I check the connection, it says it is connected, but cannot access online.

Is this the driver you installed for the WiFi card?

Yes, that is the driver I installed.

Is this PC farther from the router than other devices on your network...

The router sits about 2ft above the PC. My wife's laptop is about 60 feet away and it has no problem.

    ******

 Today I reseated the PCi mini card after cleaning the contacts. But it did not fix the problem. Since then I ordered an Intel Advanced-N 6235 WLAN Bluetooth half mini card. It should be here by Tuesday. Will let you know how it works out. I would rather spend the few $ and replace the card than spend the time basically wiping my PC and reinstalling everything. Already did that with one of my laptops when the hard drive crashed. Don’t want to do it to my desktop unless absolutely necessary. It has a lot more software on it than the laptop had.

 Bob

Any chance you can turn off WiFi and hard wire the PC from its Ethernet port directly to the router? That might be the easiest fix, assuming you don't need miles of Ethernet cable and holes in walls to reach the router...

 How do I turn off the WIFI other than tell it not to automatically connect? Is there anything else I must do after hard wiring the PC to the router other than plugging in the cable?

Bob

Open Device Manager and expand the list under Network Adapters. Double-click the entry for the WiFi card. Set it to "Disabled", close Device Manager, and reboot. (The option to disable it may be on the Drivers tab in the WiFi entry for Win 10.)

After that, you'll have to run the Win 10 Network wizard so Windows configures itself to use the NIC.

After doing all that I lost the network to all my PCs, printer, and TV. I actually lost the router to the WIFI. I could connect with an Ethernet cable, but that is not a workable solution. Also, when I was hard wire connected to the network with one of the PCs, I could not see anything else on the network, and no other PC could see me.

I had to reset my router back to factory defaults, and then install it as if I was installing a new router.

I have received my new PCi network adapter. When the problem occurs again, I will install it.

The new PCi adapter is an Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235 6235ANHMW Wlan Bluetooth 4.0 Half MINI Card 802.11 a/b/g/n Dual-band 300 Mbps. Can you tell me which driver I should install for that board in my Dell XPS8700. I have an Intel driver downloaded, but it seems there ought to be a Dell driver for the board also, since Intel boards are used in other Dell machines.

Thanks,

Bob

Can I assume all devices on the network (Ethernet and WiFi) are working again and no dropped connections now that the XPS 8700 is hard wired?

If the new WiFi card needs a driver, it would have come on a disk or at least with a link to download it from the Intel site. There's nothing else you'd need to install from Dell.

Keep in mind that the driver for the new card probably won't work with the old WiFi card. So don't install the new driver unless/until you decide to swap cards. Otherwise, it's unlikely the old card will work if you install a different driver.

The XPS8700 is not hardwired. I couldn’t get the network to work with it hardwired. I am back to wireless with all machines.

I ordered the new card from Amazon.com and all I got was the card itself.

If you installed the new card, installed the Intel driver, and everything is working correctly, you don't need to do anything else.

If you installed the new card, installed the Intel driver, and everything is working correctly, you don't need to do anything else.