Question "Windows could not automatically detect this network's proxy settings" ?

[gijsbartman]

I just completely reset my pc, and booted from USB. When setting up I noticed I couldn't connect to internet (neither WiFi nor ethernet) but I didn't think anything of it and just continued by clicking on 'I don't have internet'. After setting everything up I wanted to download the usual files but my internet still didn't work. When troubleshooting the adapter it says 'Your computer appears to be correctly configured, but the device or resource (www.microsoft.com) is not responding.', and the Windows Network Diagnostics says
" Windows could not automatically detect this network's proxy settings "

I have tried every troubleshooting option available (to my knowledge) and I'm just lost at this point. DHCP is enabled, IP address is obtained automatically, DNS server address is obtained automatically, I have restarted my pc serveral times, I have reset my network settings several times, I have checked for driver updates, I have disabled the device for 60 seconds, I have uninstalled the device, proxy is set to Automatically detect settings, VPN is disabled, I have reset proxy settings with netsh, I have manually tried to configure DNS, I have checked my date and time, I have checked for windows updates, I have disabled IPv6, I have flushed my DNS cache, I even made a windows 10 boot drive to try to boot from there. Not a single thing did anything.

My home network is set up like this, I have a router on the ground floor which has a cable running to the first floor where it goes into another router, and finally this router has a cable that runs to my computer. WiFi works on both routers on all my other devices. My pc also worked on WiFi for a brief period, and I noticed the signal strength was really poor (in all other cases signal strength was full). Making me believe it would have been connected to the router on the ground floor. So my conclusion is, it probably has something to do with my router on the first floor.
But this still wouldn't make any sense because my other devices can connect to it. Also I can just as easily visit both router's admin pages (not sure what you call it but they're on 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.1.2).

And to top it all off, it can't have anything to do with the router on the first floor because everything was working before I reset my pc.
So... if anyone has any clue what could be going wrong. Please let me know.

 

[RealBeast]

Did you go through the step where you setup the network and selected private or public? Go to your network control panel and check the network settings form your ethernet adapter. I assume that the router on the second floor is set up simply as an access point and the all routing is done from the first floor. Is the Workgroup on the new computer the same as the others, default "Workgroup?"

 

[Ralston18]

And I will add the suggestion to run "ipconfig /all" (without quotes) on your computer and post the results herein. You should be able to copy and paste the results with no need to retype everything.

Make and model routers?

 

[gijsbartman]

Did you go through the step where you setup the network and selected private or public?

I don't think I did, but I did change it to private just now.

I assume that the router on the second floor is set up simply as an access point and the all routing is done from the first floor.

Correct.

Is the Workgroup on the new computer the same as the others, default "Workgroup?"

It is. it's in capitals though, but there was no way to not type in caps so that's probably right.

 

[gijsbartman]

Make and model routers?

On ground floor is Zyxel DX5401-B1 and on first floor is ZTE h369a.
Edit: the ZTE h369a services LED is orange, indicating one or more services aren't working. Could it be my router after all?

And I will add the suggestion to run "ipconfig /all" (without quotes) on your computer and post the results herein. You should be able to copy and paste the results with no need to retype everything.

I honestly don't see anything wrong here, but maybe you have a better eye for that.

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Bartmanner
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : home

Ethernet adapter Ethernet:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : home
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GbE Family Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-D8-61-A2-F5-2F
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::1890:aecd:3089:6c9d%13(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.117(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, 25 January 2024 09:50:06
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Friday, 26 January 2024 09:50:05
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 100718689
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-2D-43-64-C2-00-D8-61-A2-F5-2F
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : fe80::36da:b7ff:fedf:9168%13
192.168.1.1
fe80::36da:b7ff:fedf:9168%13
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Wireless LAN adapter WiFi:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : home
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 54-14-F3-81-92-1E
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Local Area Connection* 1:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 54-14-F3-81-92-1F
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Local Area Connection* 10:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapter #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 56-14-F3-81-92-1E
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

 

[Ralston18]

As I understand the network thus far it appears that you have two routers with DHCP enabled. Only one router should be providing DHCP IP addresses.

Connection path being the following line diagram where ----> represents an Ethernet cable:

ISP === (coax, DSL, fiber) ===> Modem ---->[WAN Port] Zyxel Router [LAN Port] ----> [LAN Port] ZTE Router Wifi Access Point ~~~~> Wireless network devices

With other Router LAN ports -----> Wired network devices.

Feel free to edit and correct my line diagram as necessary.

According to the ipconfig results the host computer (Bartmanner) is currently assigned the DHCP IP address of 192.168.1.117 via a router with an IP address of 192.168.1.1 (subnet mask being 255.255.255.0) Lease time is only 24 hours but that should not really make a difference. Hopefully the lease time can be increased later.

Only one router should be providing DHCP IP addresses to network devices. I would expect that the Zyxel router would be the router/gateway to do so.

Thus the modem (if actually a modem/router) and the ZTE router would have their respective DHCP functions disabled.

The ZTE router should also be assigned a static IP address via the Zytel router. The assigned static IP address should be outside of the DHCP address range allowed to the Zytel router and otherwise reserved for only the ZTE. The ZTE thus becoming an access point versus a router. Was the ZTE's IP address changed? One manual source cited the default IP as being 192.168.2.254.

The ZTE can still be 192.168.1.2 but static and also must have its' DHCP functions disabled.

Does the following link provide the User Manual applicable to your ZTE?

https://fccid.io/Q78-ZXHNH389A/User-Manual/Users-Manual-3433021

Check the LED colors and meanings as listed in Chapter 3.

= = = =

There are two other changes that can be made: IPv6 can be problematic and disabling IPv6 may help. And changing the DNS Servers from 192.168.1.1 to Googles' 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 can be beneficial as well.

However, the immediate objective is to ensure that the line diagram accurately shows all connected devices, the connection paths, IP addresses (dynamic and static) plus the respective device MACs (physical addresses).

 

[gijsbartman]

EDIT: DUDE! I fixed it! I honestly have no idea why it suddenly got fixed. I disabled IPv6, manually set the DNS server address to 192.168.1.1 (setting to Google's didn't do anything) in Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) Properties and then did ipconfig /release and /renew and it just started working. Then I enabled IPv6 again, and set the DNS server address to automatic and it still works. Even after releasing and renewing (not sure if that even does anything but I was just trying everything at that point.
Well, I really do appreciate your help! I was literally banging my head for hours yesterday and today. Kind of annoying we didn't really get an exact answer as to where it went wrong exactly, but I'm just glad it's fixed. Thanks again.

ISP === (coax, DSL, fiber) ===> Modem ---->[WAN Port] Zyxel Router [LAN Port] ----> [LAN Port] ZTE Router Wifi Access Point ~~~~> Wireless network devices

With other Router LAN ports -----> Wired network devices.

This is accurate, if "With other Router LAN ports" is the ZTE Router too, acting as a switch.
So to clarify:

ISP === (coax, DSL, fiber) ===> Modem ----> [WAN Port] Zyxel Router [LAN Port] ---->
[LAN Port] ZTE Router (WiFi) ~~~~> Wireless network devices
[LAN Port] ZTE Router (switch) [LAN Port] ----> Wired network devices
note: the 2 "ZTE Router" are the same device

What does the lease time do and what is a normal duration? 1 day is set as default but I could just change it of course.

The ZTE router should also be assigned a static IP address via the Zytel router. The assigned static IP address should be outside of the DHCP address range allowed to the Zytel router and otherwise reserved for only the ZTE. The ZTE thus becoming an access point versus a router. Was the ZTE's IP address changed? One manual source cited the default IP as being 192.168.2.254.

The ZTE can still be 192.168.1.2 but static and also must have its' DHCP functions disabled.

I changed the ZTE's IP to 192.168.1.2, the default was indeed 192.168.2.254. DHCP is only enabled on the Zyxel Router, properly disabled on the ZTE.

Does the following link provide the User Manual applicable to your ZTE?

https://fccid.io/Q78-ZXHNH389A/User-Manual/Users-Manual-3433021

Check the LED colors and meanings as listed in Chapter 3.

It's similar but not quite, I received it from my internet provider. When I moved we got a new router from our new provider and kept this old router which I'm using now as an access point. It's called Experiabox v10 (https://www.libble.eu/kpn-experiabox-v10/c598997/) but the manuals are in Dutch. I think this specific model is a custom version for this internet provider.
After some searching the services LED seems to be related to Internet, TV and phone because that would be an entire subscription. And since WiFi does work I doubt it's relevant.

There was one think I found kind of odd though, in my Zyxel admin page the ZTE router (192.168.1.2) does not show up in connections. But in the ZTE admin page the Zyxel (192.168.1.1) does show up. I'm not entirely sure how this works so this might be correct behaviour.

 

[Ralston18]

👍

Good that it is all working.

Sketch it all out and document IPs, configurations etc..

Take screenshots and print them out as well.

Having a baseline "copy" of what is working will prove useful sooner or later.