[Solved] Internet Connection issue with Windows 7 Pro Guest

[ttellahzab]

Hello,

I have recently installed Windows 7 Pro 64bit guest onto Vbox v 5.0.10 and is fully activated. The host is Windows 10 Pro 64bit.

The network settings for this instance is:
Attached as: Bridged adapter
Name: Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
Adapter Type: Intel PRO/1000 MT Desktop (82540EM)
Promiscuous Mode: Deny

Cable connected: Checked

No guest additions installed at this stage. This is intentional.

I am having a problem where by when the instance is started it connects to our internal network and is allocated a valid IP address but the connection to the internet is intermittent. Most times without intervention it will not connect to the internet at all.

When selecting the "Network and Sharing center" under windows 7 and click to troubleshoot the internet connection this may or may not make the system connect to the internet.

Can someone advise on how to get windows 7 pro 64bit guest OS to connect reliably within this version of Virtual Box?

Regards,
Barry

[socratis]

If you're using a wireless connection from your host to your router, try with a wired one. See if that works.

[ttellahzab]

Hello socratis,

Thanks for your response.

My and three other PCs in this office all use a wired connection.

Kind regards,
Barry

[andyp73]

To quote the great mpack...

Please provide a VM log file: with the VM fully shut down, right click it, save "VBox.log" (ONLY) to a zip, and attach the zip here.

Andy

[ttellahzab]

Hello andyp73,

Please find relevant file attached.

Regards,
Barry

[mpack]

Actually, in this case I wouldn't necessarily ask for a log, because I don't expect to see guest networking (software) issues in one VM (hardware) log.

These symptoms smell of MAC address conflicts to me. Has the OP been copying clones around without resetting their MAC address?

And why don't you want to install Guest Additions?

[ttellahzab]

Hello mpack,

Thanks for your response.

I have just added Guest Additions (as a snapshot) with no effect on internet connectivity. I want ultimately to install GA's as a separate snapshot in this way.

It makes sense about the MAC conflict but I can confirm that there are no other virtual machines running on our network at this time. I'm still having an issue so I'm assuming (maybe incorrectly) that there is no conflict such at that you indicate.

This instance of virtual mc is a fresh newly created mc. No machines have been cloned on my PC.

Regards,
Barry

[mpack]

It makes sense about the MAC conflict but I can confirm that there are no other virtual machines running on our network at this time. I'm still having an issue so I'm assuming (maybe incorrectly) that there is no conflict such at that you indicate.

It's unlikely, unless you manually forced the default random MAC address to be one that conflicts.

You might want to try upgrading to VirtualBox 5.0.12, as changes for Win10 hosts are still feeding through.

[ttellahzab]

Hello mpack,

I have now tried 5.0.12 and initially looked promising i.e. it connected straight away but after about 1-2min it dropped offline again. As of yet I have not been able to recover the connection.

Extra notes:
- Windows XP guests appear to still be working fine.
- Creating a clone resetting the MAC again initially appeared to fix the issue until the mc was restarted.

Regards,
Barry

[mpack]

Please don't make random moves, those usually just confuse matters. Resetting the MAC will not help if it was already not conflicting.

Possibly you have an IPv4/IPv6 compatibility issue on your network. If you can force your non-XP guests to use IPv4 that might be a useful test.

[ttellahzab]

My apologies mpack. The original win 7 vpc's MAC has not been reset.

I have now disabled IPv6 in the original guest win 7 guest vpc local Area Connection settings and at this time there does not appear to be any change.

Thanks,
Barry

[mpack]

No change, meaning that the problem remains?

Besides MAC address, I can't think of anything in the VM behaviour which can cause this. You might need to start sniffing with WireShark or similar.

[mpack]

Oh, and it might be useful to see the output from "ipconfig /all" from both host and guest.

[ttellahzab]

Hi mpack,

It appears as though there is nothing wrong with Virtual Box after all.

It transpires that someone else in our premises was using a router as a switch as a result was causing conflicts. The server side of that router has now been disabled and the Win 7 guest now appears to working find every time it is restarted.

Thanks for your and everyone's assistance.

Regards,
Barry

[mpack]

Thanks for letting us know.