Removing child block

Question

Something is interfering with my computer which shuts off the internet between certain times. It occurs at the same time each day, and no other computers are affected, so I suspect someone has installed some sort of child block on my computer (or router?). I want to know what I need to do to find out exactly what's happening and remove the cause.

(In case it needs to be said, I am not a child, and there is no legitimate reason for someone to place such a block on my computer. Furthermore, the circumstances suggest this is an act of malice, so asking the person responsible to fix it will not work.)

My computer is running Windows 7, and I have an administrator account.

Below is a list of diagnostics I have tried so far:

• The internet works fine on other devices, so it's not a case of that being down.

• I have tried taking the ethernet cable from a computer that I know has internet, and plugging it into mine, but my computer still doesn't connect. Likewise, if I plug my cable into another computer, the other computer still connects fine. This makes me think it's either something unique to my computer (e.g. software installed on it), or something in the router that is able to uniquely identify my computer (e.g. by IP address).

• I've checked inside my computer case and there doesn't appear to be any hardware I don't recognise, so this issue is likely achieved through software somewhere.

• Using different browsers doesn't work, so it's probably not a browser add-on.

That's all I can think of for now. If you have a suggestion for some diagnostics to run I'll update this list with the results.

edit I changed my computer's MAC address and it instantly connected to the internet just fine. What does this tell me about where the issue lies and how I can remove the underlying cause?

Answer 1

My question was answered in the comments, so this is just a summary of those discussions. Thanks to @DavidPostill for the solution.

The issue was found to be that someone had set up a MAC filter on the communal router that blocked my computer during certain times.

A temporary solution was to change the MAC address on my computer to bypass the filter. This can be done by going to Control Panel -> Network and Internet -> Network and Sharing Centre, then under 'View Your Active Networks' click on 'Local Area Connection', then click 'Properties', then click 'Configure', then click 'Advanced' tab, then click 'Locally Administered Address', then under 'Value' type a new number in the format described by the info at the bottom of the window. Simply changing the last digit is enough.

A more permanent solution would be to reset the router to remove the filter, then change the password so as to prevent the person who did this from just setting up a new filter. Still working on this option, but I have no reason to believe it wouldn't work.

Answer 2

What about checking your IP settings?

It's possible your computer has been set with a static IP address.

Try checking:

Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center

Then click on the blue link with your Networks name in parentheses (()). Then click Details

Check if the value of DHCP Enabled is 'Yes'. If it is then this is not your solution.

If it is 'No' then go back to the blue link and click it again then click Properties.

Highlight the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) option then click Properties in the same window this will take you to another window that’ll show you two options in the first section:

• Obtain an IP address automatically
• Use the following IP address

Choose the first option then press OK. Everything should be in order now.