Since my Windows XP install has been misbehaving lately, I have been experimenting with using Windows 7 as my primary operating system. I’m doing this as I’ve had a play with the public beta of Windows 7 and I like it, it’s a massive improvement on Windows Vista, and because being an early adopter of Windows XP worked out very well for me.
I did have one rather problematic issue. My wireless router would been randomly become unavailable for wireless connected devices, and I could not connect to the Wireless Basic config webpage via my main PC which has a wired connect to the router. A reboot of router would resolve the problem, but only temporarily.
After a bit of investigation I discovered that the problems was with Internet Protocol Version 6. IPv6 is enabled by default in Windows 7 however a lot of older routers, such as my Linksys WRT54G, do not support it. To prevent this issue I need to disable IPv6 in Windows 7. I suspect this will be a common problem for people moving from Windows XP to Windows 7 so I’ve including a quick how-to guide below.
How to disable IPv6 in windows 7.
Open up the Network and Sharing Center (via the item on the task bar or the control panel)
Under View your active networks click on Local Area Connection.
Click on the Properties button
Untick Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6) and then click OK.
This will disable IPv6 and therefore resolve any IPv6 related router problems.
Update
Very popular post this, so I’ve added some extra information.
This post was written for people migrating from Windows XP to Windows 7, however the advice above should also work for Windows Vista as it also supports IPv6.
If you continue to have problems check for other devices on your network (Laptops, etc) that may use IPv6 and disable it on them too, if this doesn’t work then check out the Router Manufacturer’s Website. (e.g. WRT54G)
Does this work with motorola 3347 wireless.. or is it ok with windows 7
thanks
Not sure, trying disabling IPv6 to see if it solves your problem.
I’ve been trying to solve this issue – many thanks.
Hehe, wow, ive been trying to get my WRT54GL to work with W7, and I stumbled upon this.. Hope it’ll work!
I tried this (and I have a WRT54G router) and this unfortunately did not correct the problem.
VERY helpful. Many thanks — you just saved me from buying a new router!
I have a WRT54G router and when I try to connect to the internet with my Windows 7 laptop it asks me for a Security Key. I have no idea what that is. Will the disable above skip that question?
that is your internet password
Liz: Unlikely, as I believe it’s coming from the router itself. If you can connect to the router’s configuration page, go to Wireless > Wireless Security. There should be a key you can enter in there
@Liz Yeah, sounds like you needs to set the router up, try the following link if you are stuck.
http://www.linksysbycisco.com/US/en/support/WRT54G/download
Teeheeeheeee you have a pink theme on your pc.
It’s not Pink, it’s sort of light red.
when I open network and sharing center, I don’t have a house icon between my computer and the internet. I have an X.
Under view active networks, it says I am not connected to a network, which, I believe is the whole problem in the first place
help!
Thanks! I have been having the same issue w/ my WRT54g. I am running the newest dd-wrt firmware and my wireless would keep dropping off. I undid all the power mngmnt on Win 7 on the desktop and it didn’t stop. I will try this!!
Thank U. Will try this one right away!
It worked – Thanks!!
Post updated with some extra info.
this does not work with netgear routers. just thought you should know!
Hi Glen,
Thanks a lot for sharing this information. You just saved me from returning my new laptop (I thought it’s something wrong with the wireless card).
Many thanks,
Ciprian
Please note that in my case, disabling IPv6 was not enough (it was better but still locking up the router after a while). I also had to do the following:
- disable UPnP on the Linksys WRT54G wireless router (Universal Plug and Play protocols to communicate with other media servers devices)
Possible explanation:
- Linksys WRT54G wireless router is UPnP capable (feature enabled by default)
- Windows 7 Professional comes with Media Center which is UPnP based. Apparently, as soon as you start it, it constantly tries to look for UPnP capable devices and “communicate” (in my case it was more like flooding the router with packets causing the lockups).
For the brave … a different path ~ flashing the router and add support for IPv6:
NOTE: Of course, you lose any warranty when/if doing this.
http://opensystems.wordpress.com/2006/06/01/linksys-wrt54g-ipv6-howto/
http://www.research.earthlink.net/ipv6/
Hope this helps.
Found this website by accident. Was searching for sometime and will try this when I get home tonight. I was suspecting that the router itself was the cause.
This worked fine with my rather old SparkLan router WX6615GT.
I got the message “connected” but was still unable to enter Internet.
When I unticked ipV6 and restarted everything was working.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Hi,
I appreciate the advice, but in my case it didn’t work. I have a new lap top and a new wireless router (linksys wrt320n). In my case, the internet connection often drops and some web sites load particularly slowly (e.g., maps.google.com). My lap top’s tech support and the linksys tech support have not been able to resolve the issue. I’m at my wits end with this. Any further advice would be appreciated.
Andrew
I thought this may be the solution but I can’t get past 1st base.
I have a new laptop and have got my old 3 Com wireless router out. When I open up ‘View your basic network information and set up connections’ in Windows 7 I have no active networks and there in lies my problem. I can’t use the new laptop with the old wired ADSL router either as my ISP tells me that that too is not compatible with Windows 7!!
Same problem as jim.
I am suck at the first step! There is no house, or park bench, etc. for a network. Only a large red X. Is there an alternative way to access Local Area Connection?
you saved my life today with a client . thanks dog
Thanks!!!
Thanks Ciprian, the disable UPnP and TCP/IPv6 fixed the problem I had with a Windows 7 netbook and my Verizon Fios Dlink DI-624.
Hi Guys…not sure whether you are still monitoring this subject or not but I have certainly found that there are routers out there that are not compatible with Windows 7 (at least 64bit)
For instance, the Linksys BEFSX41 will not work with W7. I disabled all of TCPIPv6 functions, even disabled UPnP functions in the router. I disabled the firewalls on the computer (Windows and McFee), tried the settings of automatically getting IP address and static, disabled the router’s DHCP and even tried to put the computer on the outside of the router DHCP address. I even tried to put the computer on the routers activated DMZ trying to bypass the router entirely, Also tried different DNS settings…All unsuccessful.
The error message is always “Windows cannot communicate with the device resource (primary DNSServer).
The curious thing is that it was working successfully for a couple of weeks before a power-out. But I did a fresh setup of W7 and still had the same result.
Another curious thing is that if I change some of the network card’s properties such as Flow control (turning on and off) the internet seems to work momentarily until I try and open a browser.
I connected the computer straight into the cable modem and got instant access!
Did an IPCONFIG /ALL and noted the settings for TCP/IP. Tried these in W7 to no avail.
I updated the router to the latest firmware.
So, the only thing I can deduce is that W7 is incompatible with this router.
I tried on several other older routers with the same results. I am not sure whether other versions of W7 will be different (this is professional) or not. Has anyone discovered the secret to getting older routers to work?
Regards
Don
Sorry Don, I have no idea.
I just got a laptop (compaq presario CQ62) and i’ve tried to connect to the internet. i’ve bought a router, have a modem thats connected to another computer in my house and the internet works fine on that computer but when i try to connect my laptop to the internet from my router, it doesnt work. it says it’s connected but it says “no internet access” and i cant figure out how to fix it. when i look at the network connections, i have my computer picture making a line to the middle picture which is a house with the router’s name under it, then i have a gray line with a big red X going from that picture to the last picture which is a gray globe which says internet. under that section the access type says “no internet access. someone please help!
i disable TCPIPv6 like in the article above but when i put in cd it still comes up not compatible, any other ideas?
More data. Running my laptop booted into Ubuntu 10.10 I was able to get a good consistent connection with my Linksys/Cisco WRT110 wireless router. Booting THE SAME laptop to Windows 7 and I could not get a working connection. Sometimes it would get a LIMITED connection which could not see the internet.
Unsetting most of the network options on Windows 7 (including ip6 support) seemed to solve the problem.
Today a different laptop (Sony) had the same connect problem. Unset the ip6 option and still did not work… for a while. While I was opening the network configuration windows to further study the problem, I noticed that behind my back the system HAD finally established a good solid working connection.
Windows 7 certainly brings some issues to the table – ubuntu just worked.
Well at least we have a working solution; Use ubuntu
Thanks
Was having serious trouble getting my new win 7 laptop to work with my WRT54G (v7) router, and tech support at Linksys suggested compatibility problem and asked me to buy a new E-series router! But I’m glad I did a bit of searches online and found this suggestion. And this is what I did – [1] Disabled IPv6 as suggested here, and [2] Disabled UPnP on my Linksys router thru http://192.168.1.1/Manage.htm (administration section). I am now able to get connected to wireless internet via my router, and the network hasn’t been dropping at all, nor on my 2 other laptops sharing the same network.
Mine worked after disabling IPv6 and restarting… Saved me a new router purchase
Thanks a lot for the tip! Was planning to either ditch my router or ditch my computer
Following six weeks of problems with continual disconnections everytime I used the internet – four BT outreach engineers’ visits, a new cable being fitted from my house to the exchange, countless phonecalls to my phone provider (plusnet) who were unfailingly helpful and patient with me as I grew more and more frustrated – a wonderful young man mentioned possible issue with Windows 7 and the router so I googled and found this solution. Thank you SO much.
Mine isnt even recognized by my computer. I cant even connect. Going to try this.
Thank you soooo much! It worked like a charm!