Windows 10: Dell Laptop suddenly not communicating with DHCP

I have had a Dell M4500 since 2011 and it has performed rock solid until yesterday when it would not connect to the network. I get the same problem with Ethernet, the built-in wireless and even my Verizon Jetpack - no network or internet connection. I tried all of the usual things like cold reboot, disable and re-enable adapter, etc. I even deleted both Ethernet and wireless adapters and had Win 10 reinstall them. I then tried the following commands on the command line, run as administrator, to reset the TCP/IP stack:

netsh winsock reset catalog
netsh int ipv4 reset reset.log
netsh int tcp set heuristics disabled

netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled
netsh int tcp set global rss=enabled

No joy. Then I tried these commands that others suggested:

ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew

Still no joy. However, after resetting the TCP/IP stack I am now able to enter manual settings and connect to the network here at the office. The DHCP server (SonicWall NSA 250 M wireless-N) does not have the laptop listed in the connections of course and the start bar ethernet icon shows "identifying . . ." still.

Oh, I should mention that all other 11 computers on the network can connect to the Ethernet just fine. Everyone's phone and another laptop I brought in to test with can all connect to the wireless fine. Further, when I took my laptop home to test it on that network there, I had the same problems. Any ideas?

This is my maiden voyage on this forum. I hope I have given enough information. Thank you for any help.

:)

 

Dell Laptop suddenly not functioning

Hi,

Here is a link with suggestions to help make your Windows 10 PC run faster such as checking your memory and memory usage & disabling unnecessary start up programs.
The tips are listed in order, so start with the first one, see if that fixes the problem, and then continue to the next one if it doesn’t:

Tips to improve PC performance in Windows 10.

Your response is highly appreciated.

 

Dell Laptop suddenly not functioning

Dell Laptop has functioned normally/perfectly for a number of years.

Suddenly failed to open Outlook or Google Chrome.

Have AVG installed: ran virus check, found nothing. Installed Malwarebytes: took about 5 hrs to install. Ran that: one possible nasty found, dealt with.

Now opening Chrome but takes about 30 mins to load with very slow responses after opening.

Outlook will still not load.

 

Well, I figured out the problem and fixed it all at the same time. You would NEVER guess what the problem was.

Wait for it . . .

The Battery!

Yes, just on a whim I removed the battery with the power cord connected and suddenly it connected to the wireless. I then tested it on a wired connection and it worked. I next put the battery in my identical laptop and it was able to get a valid IP address by DHCP, but could not gain internet access. I did some further analysis by switching the battery from one laptop to the other. The one with the “good” battery or no battery at all always connected via DHCP. The one with the “bad” battery had intermittent problems no matter which laptop I used.

So, battery issues can be very strange indeed.

Dr. R