Like many PC users and avid gamers, last week I purchased and installed Windows 7. This new operating system from Microsoft was supposed to have fixed many of the stability problems encountered with Vista.
Within minutes of upgrading my Vista 64-bit version of Windows to Windows 7, I started losing my connection to the Internet approximately 30-60 minutes. For no apparent reason, my computer which was attached to the Internet via a D-Link Gamerlounge router would drop it’s connection while the other computer running Windows XP hooked up to the very same router enjoyed uninterrupted Internet service.
I would get the following message when I hovered over the Internet/Network: the default gateway is not available. Each time I would right click on the connection icon and select the “Troubleshoot Options” it would eventually repair the problem and reconnect to the Internet.
Here’s a possible fix I found for this on the Sevenforums.com forums:
Press the Start Button.
Select the Control Panel.
Under Network and Internet select View Network Status and Tasks.
In the View your Connections section, click on Your Local Area Connection which will bring up a new window.
Click on Properties.
Uncheck the box on the same line as Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6).
Click Ok, then click Close.
Welcome back to uninterrupted connection to the Internet!
-Wolfshead
Update: A few days after posting this article I started getting disconnections again. I noticed that it was during large file downloads. I had purchased an album on iTunes and during the course of the download my internet connection was getting dropped. I have found an additional fix that has seemingly solved the problem. Go to your network adapter click on properties, then click on configure. You should see an advanced tab now; scroll down till you see the property receive side scaling. Now on the left side you’ll see a value box, make sure it is set to disabled for this property. Hope this helps!
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I don’t understand why IPv6 would cause this, it has it’s own routing information and thus it’s own gateway. Is your router trying to make a 6to4 tunnel or something?
Thanks! My comp did the same thing, really annoying. Hope this works.
Very strange. Had no idea Win7 had this problem. I’m glad I haven’t upgraded yet because if bugs like this are lurking about, it makes me wonder what else there is.
Thanks for the heads up anyway. Gonna bookmark this page in case I ever encounter the problem!
Umm.. I have a better fix for you
How about not UPGRADING and doing a fresh install?
Problem solved, upgrades are for the LOSS
For most people upgrading is the only real practical solution. Why pay extra money for the full version of Windows 7 when you can purchase the upgrade version for cheaper? In these hard economic times people don’t have the money for that extravagance.
At least this is a fix (been working flawlessly for me) that will help a lot of people.
Thanks bro, I’ve had similar issues. Getting disconnected for no reason after 1min-30min of internet time.
Was getting your message or a message that windows did not know what the issue was.
After turning off iPv6 I’ve been on for about one hour and it’s still doing pretty well.
-Thanks
At work we’re just now upgrading the place to Vista.
We have to disable IPv6 on all machines in order to allow them full network access.
Just goes to show that Windows 6.1 isn’t really that different than 6.0 after all, doesn’t it? (Seriously, go into your “About” section and you’ll find Win 7 is 6.1 — Vista is 6.0. Win7 is simply a marketing name to try to differentiate it from Vista.)
Okay… it’s MUCH better on the machines I’ve monkeyed around with it on, but to still have that basic problem carrying over. . . . /sigh. I’m still planning on getting a new pc soon and will most definitely have Win7 on it when I do.
Try changing the Power Management settings under Configure in the network properties to stop the computer turning off the connection..
I have done this and my connection doesnt drop at all now…
Weird ass problem, and it’s not from upgrading. I’ve had this issue on 3 different installs of Windows 7.
If I am downloading files, AND decide to watch a video, or even a youtube video at the same time…. Windows 7 drops the gateway and you have to reset the adapter to get it back.
Makes no damned sense. Turning off IP v6 does not fix it. Trying the power management and receive scaling now, but nvidia doesn’t seem to want to turn off receive side scaling.
Disabling Receive Side Scaling (RSS) seems to have helped my situation also.
Same problem with me. I have an Asus P5K SE and it uses intel’s P35 chipset, not nvidia…. It happens mostly when streaming video from pc to PS3 player…. My on board network card is Atheros L1 Gigabit Ethernet
Tryed everything posted, (Ipv6, RSS,…) nothing worked, so I decided to install the network card driver for Windows Vista available in the motherboard’s website.
It seems to have worked.
So don´t trust Windows 7 driver for your network. Try the manufacture’s website.