On a Dell Precision 670 (@work), updated to Vista SP1, and a new Dell Inspiron 530 (@friend) with Vista SP1 installed on it when it was received, I have been having issues using the Internet.  Every time I restart my computer, my Internet connection won’t work even though the globe indicator on the network connection icon is showing as being online.  I can browse my local network but I can’t do anything online.  I found that I could temporarily get around this by disabling and re-enabling the Local Area Connection.  However, I wanted a more permanent solution:

Disabling IPv6 on Windows Vista SP1

Option 1:

1. Click on the Start Menu.
2. Click on Control Panel.
3. Once the Control Panel is open, click the Classic View link on the left sidebar.
4. Find and double-click Network and Sharing Center.
5. Click Manage Network Connections on the left sidebar.
6. Find your Broadband connection (usually named Local Area Connection) and right-click on it.
7. On the context-menu, click Properties.
8. Click the Networking tab.
9. Remove the checkmark from Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6).
10. Click Ok.
11. Close all the windows opened in the previous steps.
12. Restart your computer.

Option 2 (requires modifying the registry but allows you to change one setting to affect all network adapters):

1. Microsoft Knowledge Base Article – KB929852 – How to disable certain Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) components in Windows Vista

Known Issues with disabling IPv6:

1. Any programs that require IPv6 will not work.  One example is Windows Meeting Space:

Hopefully Microsoft gets this issue fixed soon as I hate workarounds, especially ones that make compromises.  Though we all know that workarounds are a necessity of the digital life.