Unexpected "Unidentified Network - " on Ethernet connection (Tried many solutions)

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SneakyBam

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Jul 5, 2017
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Hello.

Normally, I would be looking around for other forums on the topic, but I am pretty sure that I've tried all of the previous solutions I could find online, so I'm posting this on the forum myself. It is my first time doing this so please bear with me. I have tried to include as much information as would be necessary. Thanks in advance for any help.

So the issue started out of the blue one morning (before which the cable connection worked perfectly) when I realized the ethernet connection said "unidentified network". A quick windows troubleshoot says that "Ethernet doesn't have a valid IP configuration".

The system runs Windows 10 by the way. The system information are pasted below:
OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Home
Version 10.0.14393 Build 14393
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name DESKTOP-6CH7AD8
System Manufacturer Acer
System Model Aspire TC-705
System Type x64-based PC
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4790 CPU @ 3.60GHz, 3601 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. P11-B4, 2015-06-11
SMBIOS Version 2.8
Embedded Controller Version 255.255
BIOS Mode UEFI
BaseBoard Manufacturer Acer
Platform Role Desktop
Secure Boot State On
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale Canada
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "10.0.14393.206"
User Name DESKTOP-6CH7AD8\burnb
Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time

The ethernet adapter is Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller. My desktop is the only device using the ethernet.

The router model is hitron CGNM-2250 and the modem is an ARRIS model TM602G.

My internet service provider is Shaw. I was wondering if this issue possibly has anything to do with them.

Here is a list of some of the things I have tried which have not worked:
-Resetting router/modem
-Restarting computer
-Checking the cable, and the NIC in terms of hardware. I am quite certain the issue is not hardware related, since the cable or the NIC could not have broken overnight
-Reinstalling the drivers by uninstalling and restarting the computer.
-Changing the ethernet card's properties (specifically "speed and duplex" from auto-configuration to each of the settings individually to see if any of them worked and none did)
-Reseting the NIC.
-I tried to ipconfig/ release and renew, but the renew command takes quite a while to complete, and once it does finally complete it says "An error occurred while renewing interface Ethernet : unable to contact your DHCP server. Request has timed out."

Here is an ipconfig /all:
Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : DESKTOP-6CH7AD8
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : hitronhub.home

Ethernet adapter Ethernet:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : D8-CB-8A-A1-F6-47
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration IPv4 Address. . : 169.254.126.83(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 8.8.8.8
8.8.4.4
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Wireless LAN adapter Local Area Connection* 2:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 2A-C2-DD-D6-A7-35
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : hitronhub.home
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek 8821AE Wireless LAN 802.11ac PCI-E NIC
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 28-C2-DD-D6-A7-35
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.10(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : July 5, 2017 12:59:15 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : July 12, 2017 12:59:14 PM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Bluetooth Network Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 28-C2-DD-D6-A7-34
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

The issue has been there for a few days and it's really frustrating me not to have my ethernet connection as a gamer. Thanks
 
Solution
B
Unless you are paying for two completely separate internet connections you cant use 2 cable modems.
Possible that the TM602G is only for phone connection.

On the vast majority of routers you cant use WAN and LAN interchangeability, it is one or the other.

Frankly the best thing you can do is keep the TM602G, ditch the hitron and get your own traditional router. That will eliminate a lot of your issues.
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Ralston18

Ralston18

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ipconfig /all is showing that you have a wireless network connection via the IP address (DHCP) of 192.168.0.10.

See if you have either accidentally enabled your wireless adapter and/or the built in ethernet adapter on your computer.

And NICs/cables can "break" overnight. Does not take much to cause a failure - just one more thermal cycle can do in some device or some simple movement vibration cause a cable termination/plug to lose connectivity.

Try another known working ethernet cable between your Realtek Ethernet adapter and router.
 
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SneakyBam

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I only activated the wireless adpater since I needed to access the internet. I disabled the WiFi adapter whenever I wanted to see whether or not the ethernet worked.

I was also not aware that NICs and cables can break overnight so pardon my ignorance.

I managed to get my hands on another ethernet cable that definitely worked with the other laptops at home and I connected it between the internal ethernet adapter and the router, but still no luck. I'm getting "unidentified network" again.

Sorry for the late reply.
 
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boosted1g

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Jun 12, 2013
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Try setting up a static IP address on your ethernet adapter to see if that works. This will help determine if issue is just with getting DHCP from router or if there is something more.

Bassed on your wifi IP I would try the address of 192.168.0.250, subnet of 255.255.255.0 and gateway of 192.168.0.1
 
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SneakyBam

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I set up the static IP with the parameters you gave: The ethernet status briefly said "Identifying..." and then after like 10 seconds it went back to unidentified network. I set up a static DNS as well with 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 alternate but still no luck.

Do I need to somehow disable DHCP in addition to setting up the static IP, or does setting up the static IP automatically disable the DHCP?
 
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Ralston18

Ralston18

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No. Assigning a static IP does not disable DHCP. But you can cause confusion with respect to the IP addresses that are being used.

First:

Does the following line diagram match your physical network connections?

ISP (Shaw) --- coax ----> TM602G ---- ethernet cable ----->[WAN port] Hitron Router [LAN port] ----ethernet cable ---->PC

along with wireless connections via the Hitron Router.

Does the following link provide the User Guide matching your Hitron Router?

https://www.midco.com/contentassets/21f126b6721648ae910ae0af1328e9ff/CGNM_2250_modem_user_guide

Only one router on your network should be providing DHCP addresses to connected devices.

On the designated router you set its' IP and subnet mask - but the default values are recommended. (Which appears to be the current configuration with respect to your Hitron router; i.e. 192.168.0.1 (subnet mask 255.255.255.0).

The router also has a preset range of IP addresses to use for DHCP IP provisions. Static IP assignments are made within the router by selecting a to be static IP outside of the available DHCP address range and reserving that static IP for the assigned device via the device's MAC.

Suggest that you disable the wireless adapter on your desktop and focus on restoring network/internet connectivity via wired (ethernet).

Your desktop's wireless adapter may be attempting to connect to some other wireless device.

The objective being to get everything working wired and use the resulting configuration information as a guide to setting up the wireless configuration.

And please post "ipconfig /all" again.

 
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SneakyBam

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The line diagram does not quite match the connections I had. The coax cable from Shaw actually splits into 2 cables: one of them goes into the modem (TM602G) while the other one goes directly into the Hitron Router, which meant that I did not need an ethernet cable between the modem and the router, so I only used an ethernet cable to connect the router to the PC and this configuration worked. What I just described would like a little something like this: (I named the configurations for clarity of communication):

Configuration (1):
ISP (Shaw) --- main coax --- coax branch 1 ---> TM602G
I----------- coax branch 2 ---> Hitron Router --- ethernet cable ---> PC

Also, with the coax branches, would it make any positive difference if I connected the PC to the modem instead of the router. Like this:

Configuration (2):
ISP (Shaw) --- main coax --- coax branch 1 ---> Hitron Router
I----------- coax branch 2 ---> TM602G --- ethernet cable ---> PC

The Hitron Router, by the way, only has 4 "ethernet" ports so I assumed each port can perform either as a WAN or a LAN port as described in the User Guide you posted which indeed matches with the Hitron Router.

I'm not sure how exactly I can "designate" a router to provide the DHCP addresses. I disabled the Wireless adapter.

Here is the new ipconfig/all:

C:\WINDOWS\system32>ipconfig/all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : DESKTOP-6CH7AD8
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Ethernet:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : D8-CB-8A-A1-F6-47
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.250(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 8.8.8.8
8.8.4.4
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled
 
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boosted1g

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Unless you are paying for two completely separate internet connections you cant use 2 cable modems.
Possible that the TM602G is only for phone connection.

On the vast majority of routers you cant use WAN and LAN interchangeability, it is one or the other.

Frankly the best thing you can do is keep the TM602G, ditch the hitron and get your own traditional router. That will eliminate a lot of your issues.
 
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Solution
Ralston18

Ralston18

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Following boosted1g suggestion your set up would be:

IPS ---coax---> [coax connector]TM602G [WAN port]-----ethernet cable ----->[WAN port] Router [LAN port(s)]------> wired devices plus ~~~~> wireless devices.

Go online and look for "home network" images and diagrams as reference sources.

Will also add the suggestion that you look for and download the User Guide/Manuals for the router(s). The documents should also show the required connectivity and provide the corresponding configuration settings via Administrative access.

The User Guides/Manuals will also provide step-by-step instruction to help you physically set-up and adminstratively configure the route to meet your requirements.

Get one wired device working then a second. Next configure for wireless devices in the same manner.

Sketch out the "plan" and keep notes on the configuration settings that you use. Do not use the default admin login and passwords. Commonly found online and in User documentation. Using those defaults will leave your network vulnerable so be sure to change them and write them down. (You can always do a full factory reset if you forget the login and/or password. But then you mostly have to start all over again....)
 
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SneakyBam

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Jul 5, 2017
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Thank you both very much for your answers. It seems that I have made a mistake in calling the Arris a modem since, as boosted1g suspected, the Arris is for phone and the only internet related thing was the Hitron modem/router. It turned out the issue was much simpler to fix, as a simple refresh of the Hitron from Shaw did it and now the ethernet is back up again.
 
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