Computer disappears from local network after a few hours

bjarteao

New Member
Messages
6
Location
Norway
I have a local network at home with 1 router, 5-6 computers and a few gadgets connected through WiFi.

I have a problem with one of the computers with Windows 8.1, let's call it Computer A. When I boot it, it is connectable from the other computers using its local IP address. But after a few hours it usually disappears from the network, and I'm only able to connect to it using the router's external IP and port forwarding.

By "disappears from the network", I mean that it's still connected to the router and to the internet, but none of the other units on the network is able to connect to it in any way.

Computer A can always connect to the the other computers on the network and to the internet.

The problem is solved if I reboot Computer A, so at the moment I have a scheduled task to reboot it every night. Unfortunately, sometimes it disappears from the local network after only a few hours after boot.

I have not been able to find any other solution except reboot, and I have no idea where to start debugging this issue.

Turning the firewall off on Computer A doesn't help.

I would be thrilled if anyone has any suggestions to what may cause this problem.


Below is the result of ipconfig /all on Computer A:

Code:
C:\WINDOWS\system32>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration


   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : bjarte-media2
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : getinternet.no


Wireless LAN adapter Local Area Connection* 2:


   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 3C-A9-F4-33-20-C9
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes


Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi:


   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : getinternet.no
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) Centrino(R) Ultimate-N 6300 AGN
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 3C-A9-F4-33-20-C8
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::65dd:af0c:96c5:6393%4(Preferred)
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.66.187(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 9. desember 2013 12:38:11
   Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 10. desember 2013 12:38:10
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.66.66
   DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.66.66
   DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 473737716
   DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-19-41-A4-95-EC-A8-6B-F4-E5-FA


   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 84.208.20.110
                                       84.208.20.111
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled


Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 6:


   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:5ef5:79fb:2c24:31fe:3f57:bd44(Pref
erred)
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::2c24:31fe:3f57:bd44%5(Preferred)
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
   DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 150994944
   DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-19-41-A4-95-EC-A8-6B-F4-E5-FA


   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Intel Next Unit of Computing DC3217IYE
    CPU
    Intel Core i3 3217U 1.80 GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel D33217GKE
    Memory
    8 GB Single-Channel DDR3 799MHz (10-10-10-27)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Other Info
    Network card, wireless: Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN
It could be the network adaptor shutting down to save power etc.

Have you tried adjusting the Power Options settings in the Control Panel and the Power management tab of the Intel adaptor, uncheck the one that turns off power.

If these settings have no effect you could have a problem with the hard drive.
 

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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro WMC
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home built
    CPU
    Q9650 @ 4.05 GHz
    Motherboard
    Gforce 780i SLI FTW
    Memory
    8GB Gskill DDR2 1200Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    GTX-480
    Sound Card
    Asus D2 Xonar
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HannsG
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Gskill 120GB SSD
    PSU
    Thermal Take 1000watts
    Case
    Thermal Take Xtreme
    Cooling
    9 fans air cooled
    Keyboard
    G15 logitech
    Mouse
    G9 logitech
    Internet Speed
    50mbps
Thanks for taking the time to answer.

The computer is connectable over the internet, so the network card is not turning itself off.

To be clear:

I can always connect to the computer using its internet IP (and port forwarding on my router): 84.208.151.XXX

I can only connect to the computer using its internal IP for a couple of hours after boot: 192.168.1.XXX
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Intel Next Unit of Computing DC3217IYE
    CPU
    Intel Core i3 3217U 1.80 GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel D33217GKE
    Memory
    8 GB Single-Channel DDR3 799MHz (10-10-10-27)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Other Info
    Network card, wireless: Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN
I had the same issue. Could connect to and from the machine on reboot, could browse network from machine and surf internet but couldn't connect to the machine after variable amounts of time. After turning off power management as above I haven't had the issue again.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Thanks to both of you, chev65 and cyberSAR. I have just disabled all kinds of power saving for the network card.

I just rebooted, so now I'll have to wait for a few hours to see if it works.

I still have to say I find this solution weird, if it works. I cannot wrap my head around how power savings would be able to turn off the network card in such a way that it only affects the local network and not connection to the internet.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Intel Next Unit of Computing DC3217IYE
    CPU
    Intel Core i3 3217U 1.80 GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel D33217GKE
    Memory
    8 GB Single-Channel DDR3 799MHz (10-10-10-27)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Other Info
    Network card, wireless: Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN
I still have to say I find this solution weird, if it works. I cannot wrap my head around how power savings would be able to turn off the network card in such a way that it only affects the local network and not connection to the internet.

I know what you mean. Really not sure why but I was going nuts and figured I would try it and it worked. That machine was on a wireless nic so that may be a little different than your situation.

Wishing you luck.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
It didn't help to disable power saving, unfortunately.

I'll give it another couple of days to see if anyone else have any suggestions, and then I'll reinstall Windows. I'm guessing it is some weird setting on the computer that I have accidentally changed, since none of my other Windows 8.1 computers have this issue.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Intel Next Unit of Computing DC3217IYE
    CPU
    Intel Core i3 3217U 1.80 GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel D33217GKE
    Memory
    8 GB Single-Channel DDR3 799MHz (10-10-10-27)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Other Info
    Network card, wireless: Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN
bjarteao, did you ever figure this out? I'm having the same problem. Windows 8.1 computer disappearing from the network (of mostly windows 7 and Vista computers) after anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. Disabling power saving had no effect. Rebooting fixes the issue (temporarily).
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
Does it happen when the remote computer uses 100% cpu or close? Could be it drops the connection because of it, and then that in turn screws everything up because computers think they are still networked (but in reality they're not) and Windows won't allow the connection again because of it.

It's a working theory of mine with evidence to support (but not proven/thoroughly tested yet.)

You could play around with setting which computer is the master browser, as in making one of your machines always it as long as it's on.

Info: Specifying Browser Computers

More info: How to Determine the Master Browser in a Windows Workgroup | Scottie?s Tech.Info
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    7601.18247.x86fre.win7sp1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self-built Intel based
    CPU
    Pentium D 925 3.0 GHz socket 775, Presler @ ~ 3.2 GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel DQ965MT
    Memory
    Hyundai 2 GB DDR2 @ 333 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS DirectCU II HD7790-DC2OC-2GD5 Radeon HD 7790 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5
    Sound Card
    MOTU Traveler firewire interface
    Hard Drives
    1 Seagate Barracuda SATA II system/boot drive 80 GB, 2 Western Digital hdds - 1 is SATA II Caviar Black 1 TB attached to card (assorted media, page, temp), other is SATA I 420 GB (games, media, downloads)
    PSU
    Thermaltake 450W
    Cooling
    stock Gateway cooling, extra large fan in rear of case
    Keyboard
    Alienware/Microsoft Internet kb
    Mouse
    Logitech M510
    Internet Speed
    Optimum Online, fast for US
    Browser
    Pale Moon
    Antivirus
    Kaspersky integrated into ZoneAlarm+Antivirus
bjarteao, did you ever figure this out? I'm having the same problem. Windows 8.1 computer disappearing from the network (of mostly windows 7 and Vista computers) after anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. Disabling power saving had no effect. Rebooting fixes the issue (temporarily).

You could try turning off the other power opttions via the power option settings in the Control Panel.
 

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  • Power Options TURN OFF SAVE POWER.PNG
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    10.2 KB · Views: 758

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro WMC
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home built
    CPU
    Q9650 @ 4.05 GHz
    Motherboard
    Gforce 780i SLI FTW
    Memory
    8GB Gskill DDR2 1200Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    GTX-480
    Sound Card
    Asus D2 Xonar
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HannsG
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Gskill 120GB SSD
    PSU
    Thermal Take 1000watts
    Case
    Thermal Take Xtreme
    Cooling
    9 fans air cooled
    Keyboard
    G15 logitech
    Mouse
    G9 logitech
    Internet Speed
    50mbps
Thanks for the reply, MasterChief. I don't think it's a "100% cpu" issue but I'm not sure. Will try to keep an eye on that.

Interesting regarding your "master browser" suggestion ... I will also take a look at that.

I also wonder if it may be related to "selective suspend" being enabled. I disabled it a few minutes ago and so far so good, but I won't know for sure for a few hours. I will reply again then and will try your suggestions if disabling selective suspend doesn't fix the issue.

Thanks again!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
Thanks Chev65 ... wireless adapter setting is already on Maximum Performance.

Not just the network adaptor but any one of those settings could cause problems like the hard disk power saver.

I've seen this type of problem when the hard drive was going bad as well.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro WMC
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home built
    CPU
    Q9650 @ 4.05 GHz
    Motherboard
    Gforce 780i SLI FTW
    Memory
    8GB Gskill DDR2 1200Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    GTX-480
    Sound Card
    Asus D2 Xonar
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HannsG
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    Gskill 120GB SSD
    PSU
    Thermal Take 1000watts
    Case
    Thermal Take Xtreme
    Cooling
    9 fans air cooled
    Keyboard
    G15 logitech
    Mouse
    G9 logitech
    Internet Speed
    50mbps
I never figured out how to solve the issue. I got around the problem by using ethernet cable instead of WiFi on the affected computer.

@MasterChief: It might be that the computer uses 100 % CPU. The computer is a tiny Intel NUC computer, so it doesn't take much work before the CPU is going full speed. If that is the problem, do you have any solution for it?

I didn't understand the part you wrote about setting the "master browser". All the other computers on the network can connect to each other, so I guess the failing computer isn't the master browser.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Intel Next Unit of Computing DC3217IYE
    CPU
    Intel Core i3 3217U 1.80 GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel D33217GKE
    Memory
    8 GB Single-Channel DDR3 799MHz (10-10-10-27)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Other Info
    Network card, wireless: Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN
By the way, I did actually reinstall Windows 8.1 as well, and didn't help either.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Intel Next Unit of Computing DC3217IYE
    CPU
    Intel Core i3 3217U 1.80 GHz
    Motherboard
    Intel D33217GKE
    Memory
    8 GB Single-Channel DDR3 799MHz (10-10-10-27)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000
    Other Info
    Network card, wireless: Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN
Hi all: Thanks again for all of the suggestions ... I wanted to update this thread with my "solution". Unfortunately, nothing worked (and I did try all of the above suggestions including disabling selective suspend for all possible devices). So I finally caved and, like bjarteao, connected the computer via ethernet rather than wi-fi and now it works perfectly.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
By the way, I did actually reinstall Windows 8.1 as well, and didn't help either.

Because this is a router problem:/ I have same issue after I replaced old router with new one. Since then I have to turn off and on this router every morning because two tablet and laptop (both with Windows 8.1) can't see each other and my NAS server in local network. Also mouse and keyboard sharing app is failing. Mousewithoutborderserror.jpg

I'm searching and searching and still no solution :/ I've also made a hard reset and fresh config for router but still the same. Any given other network: works flawlessly even when I try to use my phone as a router.

Will let you know if anything gona change! :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
Hi there
remember also in some cases a PC in Auto update might re-boot itself after installing updates and lose some config settings. I tend to switch off Automatic updates and run these manually every so often. A computer that re-boots on a LAN doesn't automatically have the same IP address - especially if your router uses (as most do by defaualt) DHCP.

Some routers / network settings also can "Lease" an IP address for a fixed time so if there's no activity on that machine it's dropped from the LAN. (Most home users don't normally enable those settings).

Cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Linux Centos 7, W8.1, W7, W2K3 Server W10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1 X LG 40 inch TV
    Hard Drives
    SSD's * 3 (Samsung 840 series) 250 GB
    2 X 3 TB sata
    5 X 1 TB sata
    Internet Speed
    0.12 GB/s (120Mb/s)
Can you assign a specific IP on your router?
 

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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro Prieview x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    MacBook Pro Core2Duo
    CPU
    T7600
    Memory
    3
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon X1600
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Internal
    Screen Resolution
    1440 x 800
    Hard Drives
    40GB
    Keyboard
    Apple
    Mouse
    Apple
    Internet Speed
    Varies
    Browser
    Various
    Antivirus
    Defender
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