Unidentified Network, Static IP, LAN Ok

[Tom Stephens]

This problem came up today on a customers PC, This was driving me crazy for 2 hours, I eventually set the Network to DHCP and made a MAC Reservation to get the IP address I wanted...This is not how I want this Network setup for reason I cannot go into now...

Anyway.. The Question seems to have come up lots on the Internet, but really never gets answered, or some driver install fixes the problem..

When Windows 10 came out, the choices for Private, Public, Work Networks All effect the connection greatly. Now with this problem, I get no choice to change the Network Type anywhere.. the only fix seems to be to run Troubleshooter and allow the OS to set DHCP active on the computer.. This problem did not come up until I choose to Reset the Network on M$ Windows advisement and against my better judgment I choose to Reset the Network.. What a Mistake..

The System was Win7 64, now upgraded to Win10 for a year with little to no problems.. When this problem came up, it hurt the business, they only had 1 POS at the time...

I would love to find some kind of explanation, Primer, White Sheet, Explaining Why Microsoft is playing Dictator with the Network settings..Why can't I have a Static Address and still choose my Network Type.

Thanks in Advance.

 

[Regedit32]

Hi Tom,

I've been re-reading your post a few times now, and still am not sure if I am completely following you.

There are a number of methods within Windows 10 to set your Network type.

Option 1 - Administrator: Windows PowerShell

• Type powershell in your Search/Cortana field
• In the search results, right-click on Windows PowerShell and select run as administrator
• When prompted by UAC click Yes
• Now type or copy & paste the following commands:

Get-NetConnectionProfile

Press Enter key to get a list of profiles

Now type or copy & paste the following:

Set-NetConnectionProfile -Name “X” -NetworkCategory Public

Press Enter key

Notes:

• Replace X with the actual name of your Network
• Public is one option, you could also set to Private.
• If your network is on a Domain this will be automatically detected and set.

Option 2 - Local Security Policy

• Right-click on Start and select run
• In the run dialog type secpol.msc then click OK
• In the left pane select Network List Manager Policies
• Now in the right pane locate the Network you wish to change and double-left-click on it
• Select the Network Location tab
• Under the Location type you can check either Not configured, Private or Public then click OK

Option 3 - Registry Editor

• Right-click on Start and select Run
• In the run dialog type regedit then click OK
• When prompted by UAC click Yes
• In the address bar of Registry Editor window type or copy & paste the following:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkList\Profiles

Press Enter key

Expand the Profiles key in the left pane to reveal your profiles. Open each one to reveal which one if the Network you wish to modify. You'll be able to recognize it by reading the Data value of the REG_SZ value ProfileName which contains the name of your Network.

When you've found the correct Profile sub-key right-click on the 32-bit REG_DWORD value: Category and select modify. Choose 0 for Public, or 1 for Private, or 2 for Domain.

Press F5 to refresh Registry, then close the Registry Editor

Right-click on Taskbar and select Task Manager

Scroll to bottom and right-click on Windows Explorer and select Restart

After the screen flashes/darkens close Task Manager​

Option 4 - Windows Settings

• Click Start > Settings cog > Network & Internet
• Select your Network from left pane (for example Ethernet) then on right side click HomeGroup

Note: You can also get here by opening Control Panel then while viewing by Category click on Network & Internet > HomeGroup​

• Now click on the Change network location hyperlink. You be prompted to choose whether you PC is discoverable. Click Yes if you want a Home/Work network or click No if you want a Public network.

Regarding the other issue about DHCP versus Static IP, simply click Start > Settings cog > Network & Internet then in left side select your Ethernet/Wifi etcetera, and now in right side click Network & Sharing Center

Now in left pane click the hyperlinked: Change adapter settings then right-click on the Network you want to change and select Properties

Now left-click once on Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) to highlight it, then click the Properties button.

There you can set up your Static IP address and DNS Server details.

If left on automatic you are using DHCP.

You can also make these changes to the Internet Protocol Version 6


As I said from the outset, I am not entirely sure I followed your post accurately, so perhaps I'm simply teaching a duck to paddle here . If I have completely missed the point here, then perhaps state in a shorter statement what the actual problem is.


Regards,

Regedit32

 

[Tom Stephens]

Thanks for the Reply, the methods you listed will surely help someone, I'm going to try the powershell option next time, to clearify...

Once I reset the Network using the MS method, the static IP address was lost.and the IPv4 was set to DHCP.

I changed the IPv4 to Static, and set to the Desired Address.
Then the Network location said "Unidentified Network" upon which I lost all internet connectivity...yet, LAN was ok..

I went through all the GUI options I could find to change the Network Type, and the options were completely Gone. Network Discovery option did not show in any location... I was forced to use DHCP.

I set a MAC Reservation on the Router, however I'd prefer to be able to set Static, due to an old Terminal Server (Open BSD), that relies on an IP address to validate Licenses.

Removing Drivers, and Reinstalling, using the PowerShell command options, are ways I will check the next time I am at the customers site, and then update my post to my findings..

Sadly, I don't use PowerShell much, I learned on DOS 3... and all the years of experience with DOS, kinda inhibit me learning PowerShell.

Thanks Again Regedit32

 

[Regedit32]

If after assigning a Static IP you get that 'unidentified network' error, that may be an indication that your Static IP was overridden by the NIC address.

For example, let's say you had a wireless NIC address: 192.168.0.3, and you manually changed to a Static IP address of 192.168.0.4 — you may then need to right-click on the wireless adapter and disable it, to prevent that from overriding your static ip address.

I'll be interested to see how you go - so will continue watching the thread for updates.

By the way, there is nothing wrong with using an elevated command prompt and settings up your Static IP address that way if that is your preferred method.