Event Viewer erros, no connectivity

wonder if your connecting switch or hub is autosensing gracefully. have you a known good cable and hub (or witch) there. one that is not forced to 100mb full duplex. are they connecting with wireless or wired?
when this happens can you ping the dhcp server. what do you get with ipconfig. what does ipconfig /release do? how about ipconfig /renew.
if you can get on everytime with your laptop from there then suggest brand of nic they can buy to ensure similar smooth operation. or let them borrow one. not all nics especially wireless nics created equal. some way way better than others. are they getting into your domain or just using the internet? can you set up a wireless and wired pcmcia nic that they can borrow. do they connect at multiple places in the plant or just one? do those places have good cables and robust switches that are not forced to full duplex 100MB or 1gb? do the wireless stations have sources of interference nearby like cell phones and ac motors...
i can see how it might take a while for laptop to get it's dhcp address....dell wireless pcmcia card lets say and win98 box....
how saavy are the users? can you get them to set up a static address instead? is dhcp worth this trouble? or offer it to them as option. see if they like it better. you supply parameters and instructions...
I solve problems like this by posting short instructions, by suggesting brands of nic that i think will work more hassle-free.

I went to EventID.net and put in error 8021 - most of the solutions look to be related to WINS, NetBIOS, or Browse master election issues. I would go try it and get the list of solutions. It is a great website - use it all of the time!

RAS servers can obtain IP addresses for remote clients from a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) server. DHCP servers provide static and dynamic IP address allocation on a large network. You should select this option if a DHCP server is available.

The RAS server records the address of the DHCP server, the leased IP address, when the lease was obtained, when the lease expires, and the lease length. All other DHCP options defined for that scope are discarded. When the client dials into the RAS server and requests an IP address ("Server Assigned IP Address" is selected) the RAS server will use one of these cached leases. The IP address is then given to the dial-in client, which is unaware that the IP address has been obtained through DHCP. The RAS server maintains the lease on behalf of the client. Therefore, the only information that the client receives from the DHCP lease is the IP address.

When a RAS server assigns an IP address to a RAS client either from a Static Address Pool or DHCP, there is no real lease time for the IP address since it will be released when client disconnects.

However, RAS clients can still receive additional TCP/IP configuration information from the RAS server. WINS server assignments and Domain Name Service (DNS) server assignments can be delegated to the client when it connects.

Again, this information is not taken from the Options given in the DHCP lease. Instead, this information is taken directly from the RAS server's settings. If a RAS server has WINS or DNS entries, these entries are passed to the client.

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