Every once in a while a Windows PC will come across a network connection (wired or wireless) that just doesn't seem to want to stay connected.  This can be caused by a bad switch/router, low wireless signal, or a bad cable/connector.  Unfortunately by default the DHCP client in Windows is configured to renew your IP address every time the connection is dropped then reacquired.  This can cause some serious delays in your computing experience.

If you disable the ability of the DHCP client to sense whether the connection is on or off, you eliminate this delay.  Please keep in mind that this "fix" does NOT get rid of the icon in your system tray telling you that the device is not connected.  (In order to fix that issue you simply have to disable the connection and remember to re-enable it when you do need to use it.)

Note:  If you perform this tweak, you will HAVE to either manually renew your IP address or use the repair function on your network connection to renew your IP Address if needed.

This tweak is accomplished differently in Windows XP than for Windows Vista/7.

In Windows XP:

You have two options in Windows XP.  You can manually edit the registry of your computer or you can use Microsoft's "Fix It" tool.

Fix it for me:

Simply download the Fix It tool and run it.  A wizard will come up and take care of the problem for you.

Microsoft Fix it 50492

I want to fix it myself:

Open the Windows Registry Editor (Start > Run > regedit.exe > OK) and navigate to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters

In the right window pane, look for a DWORD type key called DisableDHCPMediaSense.  If it doesn't exist, right click within the right pane and select new > DWORD value.  Name the new key "DisableDHCPMediaSense" and set the value to 1.

After you have run the Fix It tool or changed the value manually, restart your computer to apply the changes.

In Windows 7/Vista:

In Windows 7 & Windows Vista as Microsoft has built in tools to make things simpler, but you have to make changes to both your IPv4 (Traditional Internet Protocol) and IPv6 (Modern Internet Protocol) interfaces.

To disable Media Sense in Windows 7 & Windows Vista, please perform the following steps:

1. Click on the Start button.
2. Type cmd in the search bar.
3. Right click on the cmd.exe and select Run as Administrator.
4. Run the following commands one by one:
   
   netsh interface ipv4 set global dhcpmediasense=disabled
   netsh interface ipv6 set global dhcpmediasense=disabled
   
5. After finishing the commands above, please run the following commands to check the results:
   
   
   netsh interface ipv4 show global
   netsh interface ipv6 show global
   
   Please check if the entry “DHCP Media Sense” shows disabled or not. If it is disabled, it means the operations are successful.