Start Free Trial

asked on

1 laptop can't get onto internet, the other can

Hi- Please see this question:
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/28371661/one-laptop-reaches-internet-the-other-doesn't.html

I thought it had been answered because this didn't happen for almost a week, but it has happened again.

More info: That laptop can still send and receive email, although the wireless icon shows no internet access. Cannot get onto any websites.

-One of the checks you can do is ping 8.8.8.8 when the internet doesn't work and let me know whether the ping goes through or not. YES, 8.8.8.8 GOES THROUGH

-try resetting the NIC with netsh commands as administrator
netsh int ip reset
netsh winsock reset
DID THIS-DID NOT TRY UPDATING THE NIC CARD, WILL TRY THAT NOW

- check to see if your wireless adapter still has an IP- YES , IT IS 192.168.X.X. i CAN PING THE DEFAULT GATEWAY, AND CAN GET INTO THE ROUTER. EVERYTHING LOOKS OK ON THE ROUTER.

-I would suggest trying to run ipconfig /flushdns. If that doesn't work check the router to see if it stores an ARP cache then flush it.
Also check the host file for wierd entries. Could also be a virus. HAVEN'T DONE THIS, NOT SURE HOW TO CHECK THE ARP CACHE, BUT WILL TRY THE DNS FLUSH. WILL FIGURE OUT HOW TO CHECK THE HOST FILE.

I'll let you know what comes of updating the NIC, flushing the cache and checking the host file. Thanks.

ASKER

ok-hosts file is just the default, he doesn't have a ton of programs installed if that means anything to you, DNS flush done, no difference, NIC is on latest and best driver, I disabled and enabled the wireless connection, no change.

We're going to reboot the router now, so that he can get back to work.

Any suggestions here will be done when his internet goes out again.

Thanks in advance for all your suggestions!

what is the router/modem model number.

ASKER

Technicolor gateway model tc8305c.

Please check if firewall blocks.

User generated image

ASKER

Here are the firewall settings, they are set to standard.

User generated image

What i am suspecting that you may have any antivirus or firewall setting that blocking it as suspecious access.

Which Antivirus you are using.

ASKER

He uses AVG free version.

Disable AVG and check
if not then Go to Start-->All programs-->Accessories-->System Tools-->Security center.Swith Off Avg firewall and check

ASKER

ok, thanks. I'll have to wait until his connection goes away again. Could it be an issue with the modem?

ASKER

By the way, this all seemed to start upon accidental installation of start.imminent.com. He never uses that as the search engine, but I haven't been able to completely get rid of it, even after using malware removal and removing from registry files.

Hi, you can try using Malwarebytes. Download it for free at http://www.malwarebytes.org, it has a free version. Once installed, update it to the latest database, and then run a quick and full scan. Quarantine anything it finds.

ASKER

That's what I used. It found it, but didn't delete it all. I'm going to try Hitman Pro today sometime. Thanks for the advice, though!

ASKER

Hi- His connection went down, we disabled AVG, and it didn't help. We had to reboot the router.

Check to make sure you dont have a proxy configured under IE settings.

ASKER

Thanks- we are using Firefox and/or Chrome. That wouldn't affect it, would it?

Yeah it would. Had an incident last week like this. Could ping and telnet to Internet but could not http browse. I could telnet to port 80 though. Turned out to be the proxy setting in IE. chrome and Firefox worked after I removed that setting.

If you can ping 8.8.8.8 but not brows the internet, you have a problem with DNS.

You can also try to ping 'google.com'. If it does not work, there is definitely a DNS problem.

Check if the user has configured DNS servers, instead of using those given by DHCP.
Also, as a test, you can configure 8.8.8.8 as DNS server, and try again.

ASKER

OK, thanks to all. Next time it goes out I'll do some work again. (I'll check IE today). The DNS servers are set obtain DNS servers automatically.

The start.imminent.com malware has to be manually removed from IE, Firefox, and Chrome individually or you get a self reinfecting problem each time you switch browsers. Did you do that?
And, since it is installed when some other piece of junkware is installed, did you uninstall the other things it came with?

ASKER

I'm unsure, and so is he, what it came with. He was trying to install firefox calendar, and he says he said no to any other installation.. so as I wasn't there, I'm not sure where it came from.

I'll go in and uninstall it from all browsers, and go through his installed programs with him to uninstall anything he's not using. Thanks for the advice!

ASKER

Then I guess I'll run malwarebytes again.

Try Roguekiller; its a standalone removal tool that gets a new version about twice a week: http://www.adlice.com/softwares/roguekiller/

The download links look like old fallout shelter symbo;s and are about halfway down the page. Save it then run.

ASKER

ok, thanks!

ASKER

Hi- I checked, and there's no proxy set on IE. More info- today I had my laptop set on wireless, and the same thing happened, I had to reboot the router.

Have you yet run RogueKiller?

ASKER

I did yesterday. I went into all browsers and made sure iminent wasn't there, ran roguekiller, went into all tabs and deleted anything it found, then opened firefox, clicked on new tab, and it was the iminent search tool. That thing is hard to kill!

ASKER

By the way, I don't have that on my laptop, so I guess it wasn't the cause of the issue. I have to assume now it's the router? (I guess I'm not assuming too strongly, since it ended in a question mark).

Routers often need a reboot and the easiest way is to unplug the power for a few seconds. I have one I use for working on client's PC's and have to do it about once every two weeks.

Look in Firefox's preferences for the existence of a plug-in/addon and/or whether it changed your home page.

ASKER

This router needs a reboot once a day, sometimes more. That seems extreme. I have checked the add-ons, nothing there.

Try TDSSKiller; but, click the Change button and add the Detect TDLFS Filesystem option before scanning: https://support.kaspersky.com/viruses/disinfection/5350#block1

ASKER

ok, thanks, will do.

ASKER

Do you think the router has a problem with this constant rebooting?

If it doesn't get better after we disinfect the one PC, then the router has a problem.

ASKER

I ran TDSSKiller; and, I clicked the Change button and added the Detect TDLFS Filesystem option before scanning. It found no threats.

Try using a wired connection as a test without a reboot. If it works OK, I'd call the router/modem as the likliest culprit.

ASKER

Hi- I did that a few weeks ago (I think I mentioned it in the first experts-exchange question, but there's a lot of material).

The internet went down on his machine only. I took the ethernet cord from my laptop(known good, as mine was just working), plugged it into his and rebooted the laptop (not the modem). When it came back up, it did not have internet access.

We unplugged the Ethernet cable, rebooted the modem and it had access wirelessly again.

I could try it again, if you want to give me testing to do while it's down? Thanks for staying with this, it's so frustrating. :)

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

membership

This solution is only available to members.

To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.

Start Free Trial

ASKER

Thanks so much for your help. I've already done the first two things. I think we'll just assume it's the modem and go from there. I'll put this very long question to rest!

ASKER

Thanks for sticking to it and letting me know what the problem is!