Windows Embedded Standard 7 TCP/IP Services not completely started before user application loads

Question

WES7 is set to autologon a user and launch a startup batch that launches my application.  My application, through a series of LEDs, notifies the user when the system
is initialized and ready to go.  What I've noticed is that even though the system is "up and running" TCP/IP services are not initialized yet.  For example, RDP Server won't respond as well as ICMP/ping and FTP services.  Sometime
later, maybe 20-30 seconds Windows TCP/IP services come alive and everything is okay.  Once other thing to note is that I am using BIT Locker and when I turn it off, TCP/IP services, a majority of the time, are alive immediately at or around autologon.
 My guess is that there is some contention when Windows is logging and starting services and the behavior for which services are started when is not always deterministic.  Is there a way to guarantee TCP/IP services starting before other services?
 I’ve messed around with several services in service manager but none seemed to fix the problem.  One other item to note.  I was able to issue a ping as my first command in my startup script to a fixed IP which appears to force TCP/IP services
to initialize.  The problem with this “hack” is that I don't know any host IP addresses until my system has fully started.  Plugging in the loopback address in the script or my own external IP did not work.
Thanks,
Joe

Answer 1

I forgot this is getting trickier to track this for WES7. There was this method in C#:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10855290/which-windows-service-ensures-network-connectivity
Workstation Service or DHCP Service might be good enough. Firewall should be late enough that the network
Of course there are other methods like doing a ping until a an address returns:
http://serverfault.com/questions/612237/how-to-wait-for-network-in-a-batch-script-when-booting-on-windows-server
Other implementations:
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/393e6042-dea0-4285-9aeb-2ddf50434f6b/windows-7-always-wait-for-the-network-at-computer-startup-and-logon-group-policy?forum=w7itpronetworking
http://superuser.com/questions/262799/how-to-launch-a-command-on-network-connection-disconnection/262880#262880
I have never tried this one since it is more for domains:
Go to Start -> type in "gpedit.msc" in the run/search field.
In the Local Group Policy Editor that pops up, go to "Computer Configuration" -> "Administrative Templates" -> "System" -> "Logon" -> "Always wait for the network at computer startup and logon"
www.annabooks.com / www.seanliming.com / Book Author - Pro Guide to WE8S, Pro Guide to WES 7, Pro Guide to POS for .NET