I'm trying to connect my laptop to a network element through an ethernet connection for some configuration work, but I've hit a snag. When I first connect the laptop, I can send a few successful pings, but after that, they start to fail within seconds. I've tried disabling the antivirus and firewall, and even attempted safe mode with networking, but nothing seems to work.
Interestingly, when I connect another computer to the same port, it works perfectly. My laptop can also connect to the internet and communicate with other devices using the same ethernet cable. So, it seems like the issue is only between my laptop and the specific network element. Since this is a work laptop and I need it to access these network elements in the future, I'm really stumped here. Has anyone experienced something similar, or does anyone have any advice to troubleshoot this?
2 Answers
It sounds like the network element might have some ICMP limits in place, which could be causing it to ignore your pings after a while. Some devices restrict responses based on how frequently they receive ICMP requests. You might also want to try pinging at longer intervals, like once every 1 or 5 seconds, to see if that changes anything.
More importantly, check if you can still access the device after the pings fail. If it’s locking you out, then it could be blocking your laptop as an "untrusted network". Since this is a work laptop, it might have specific security settings that are kicking in.
Got it. Just to rule it out, check if there are any settings on your laptop that enforce security measures when connecting to unfamiliar networks. It's possible it's flagging this connection as unsafe, even if there's no active directory or strict policies.
Another possibility is that your work laptop might have some built-in restrictions preventing it from communicating with what it sees as an untrusted device. Since you’ve tried disabling Kaspersky and the firewall, maybe take a look at other network-related settings or any installed security software. Sometimes, those can cause interruptions in connections even if they appear inactive.
I've already disabled most of those settings but no luck yet. It’s puzzling because the laptop works fine everywhere else. I'm really hoping to figure this out soon.
I hear you! Check if there’s a Windows setting that’s marking this connection as limited or metered. That can also trick the system into blocking access.
That makes sense! The device is an older type called SDH that operates through ethernet. There aren’t any known ICMP limits on it, but I’ve already tried resetting the network element. I can't access it from the laptop at all, which is the main problem.