Solved Ethernet/Wi-Fi disabled

[Suz91]

So we have about 10 Surface Pro 4's in our organisation, of these at least 50% have had an issue where they boot up and will not connect to Ethernet or Wi-Fi, or will connect to Wi-Fi but say no internet access. The issue is not caused by a failed update and event viewer does not point to a driver issue.

The only thing we have found to fix this is to run the following from Command Prompt:
netsh winsock reset catalog

The problem with the script is that staff do not have admin rights to run the fix so if they are not in an office, it basically turns their Surface into a brick.

Has anyone else experienced this problem? If so, have you found what is causing it and a permanent fix?
I haven't found anyone else that has experienced this yet.

 

[sharpuser]

This sounds like a IPv6 issue. Disable IPv6 to test.

 

[Suz91]

I'll give it a crack. I won't know until it happens again, but its such an intermittent issue.
Now that you've mentioned it though, I feel like I read somewhere else to do that too.

 

[Suz91]

So this issue has occurred on 6 of our surfaces in the past week. I have disabled IPv6 as suggested and waiting to see if the issue reoccurs

 

[awwshoot]

I was just coming here to ask the same question! We have 21 Surface 4s and I see this at least once a week.

Also have and issue on and off with one losing Touch and Pen, sometimes it throws in the keyboard also not responding.

Quick fix for all have been to plug them into my dock and reboot. Just started picking up frequency since January updates.

FYI, I had always turned of IPv6, Missed that on these since the staff were extremely excited and practically standing over my shoulders when they arrived. LOL

 

[sharpuser]

If no internet connection:

Sometimes, the Surface is shut down, and the WiFi adapter IPv6 and IPv4 settings are locked in with a particular IP address. When booting back up, WiFi connects, but not the Ethernet.

Fix:
1) Right-click network icon, choose Open Network and Sharing Center
2) Choose Change Adapter Properties
3) Right-click adapter, choose Properties
4) Right-click Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP IPv4)
5) Choose Properties
6) Choose Obtain an IP Address Automatically and Obtain DNS Server Address Automatically
7) OK, Close

Internet should be connected.

 

[awwshoot]

When this happens to our Surfaces, the Adapters page is blank. Reboot and it all comes back.

All the devices have IP and DNS as Obtain Automatically.
Then last night I made sure all had IPv6 check mark removed! LOL

Already had one drop this morning, Rebooted and they were off and running.

I have to say, I have never had to put as much time into any device like we have had to with these Surface Pro 4s! Feels like we are "Testers" on a beta product at times, especially the beginning 1/2 of last year where Microsoft would patch an issue one month, then break it again the next.

 

[drLisa]

awwshoot-- I am with you-- I tried all of these things-- I need my computer for a project deadline over a weekend... i went to Costco and bought another computer. My SP had to be completely wiped out and reformatted-- has worked now for about 3- 4 months-- knock on wood. Love the size and portability-- but it is quirky!

 

[awwshoot]

Updated tablets last week and 2 out of 21 yesterday dropped all network connections. Multiple Reboots didn't help and only way to get them back was to plug them into my dock, then reboot.

Ours looks like an issue with the Wireless Network controller failing when the tablet comes out of sleep mode. IPV6 is disabled on all tablets.

 

[Suz91]

The problem is still occurring even after the fix.

My users are so frustrated with this issue that they no longer want their SP4 because they are just so unreliable. We will be logging a fault with Microsoft, as we can't seem to find a resolution for this issue. Extremely disappointing for Microsoft.

 

[jnjroach]

Out of curiosity are you using the stock image that came with SP4 or a corporate image? How are you provisioning these?

When our IT Department uses their Windows 10 Image to provision we have multiple issues with Power Management and drivers, when the provision with the SP4 image and change the PID to Enterprise we have no issues.

 

[Suz91]

No we have a company image that we apply to the surfaces. This applies specific group policies, applications, and settings to the machine.

We have found that the last updates haven't been installed. Specifically, after the Features Windows 10 update is installed this issue started occurring. Turns out there is an update after this to fix the issue which we are going to apply to our machines over the next few days and hopefully resolves the issue.

https://mspoweruser.com/heres-how-to-fix-the-no-internet-connection-issue-on-windows-10-build-14393-479/
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-networking/problems-connecting-to-the-internet/f121306e-fab5-411d-833f-e4490ecb8b5c