Laptop connection problem

[knightley]

I have set up a wireless broadband network on 4 tower pc's and 1
laptop. All hardware including router is "Dynamode". The nics see the
router ok from all the systems and internet works fine from tower
machines, but the laptop (running WinXP Home) will not connect to
internet via I.E unless a tick is put against "Use windows to
configure my wireless network settings" in the wireless adaptor
properties. With the tick there all works fine. My problem is that
each time the laptop is rebooted the tick has vanished and has to be
reentered. I have tried setting the "Wireless Zero Configuration" service to automatic without success.
Any ideas on this will be most welcome please.

[Taino718]

Hi,

Did your laptop adapter installed an utility? Many adapter cards install utilities that allow you to configure the wireless card. Do you use a Dynamode wireless adapter or an adapter from the laptop manufracturer?

Let WinXP handle the wireless adapter. Make sure your laptop adapter is set to obtain IP address automatically.

Next post....

[cszeto]

If you are not already on XP SP2, then you might consider SP2. It does address some wireless configuration functionality issues.

[JackMDS]

In WinXP and XPSP1 there is a Windows Zero Configuration (WZC). This services was improved in WInXP SP2 release.

Microsoft provides it as an added service to Windows Network system. However they can not force the manufacturer of the Wireless Hardware to conform to this add-on.

Some manufacturer do not care whether it is conforming to WCZ, some might deliberately make it not conforming (this is especially so with the Entry Level Wireless Brands).

I would suggest to use first the manufacturer drivers, and utility. If it does not work with the manufacturer driver and utility take it with the Brand's Support Tech.

Once it is working with the above, and you want to try for easier configuration you might try WZC, YMMV.

Most Recent Wireless Hardware with WZC has a better chance than any of the past combination.

P.S. If you wonder why then the whole WCZ thingie is necessary.

Well, I bought recently 22 wirelesses PCMCIA for my company. Before actually buying them I made sure that they do work correctly with WCZ. Its sure make life easy that every one can use the cards in his Laptop with no need to deal with additional software.

:cool:

[Taino718]

Hi,

JackMDS makes a great point. I had issues with getting a WRT54G to work with a D-Link DWL-7100AP using a Dell 1350 adapter. The wireless connection crawled to a stop. I finally repaired my WAP54G and everything is back to normal.

Try to buy wireless equipment from the same manufracturer. I have tried countless wired adapters and they all work fine.

Next post....

[cszeto]

Actually... 802.11b equipment is generally very cross-manufacturer compatible. 802.11g can be a challenge when the manufacturers deviate from the true 802.11g specifications with their performance enhancements.

[JackMDS]

Originally posted by cszeto
Actually... 802.11b equipment is generally very cross-manufacturer compatible. This functionally true. I.e. almost all 802.11b that was released in the last two years would communicate between them.

But that does not mean that the chipsets, the drivers and the utilities are compatible, and thus necessarily work well with Windows WZC which is a software thing.

:cool:

[cszeto]

There are only a handful (literally less than 5) chip set manufactures. The key is model/line of chip sets used as well as driver support.

Windows compatibility is not guaranteed across manufacturers due to variations with their choice and implementations, so looking for it is something that is upon the buyer. The same manufacturer can have one model that is supported and another that is not. Buying from the same manufacturer does not guarantee Windows compatibility based on JackMDS' logic.

[knightley]

problem with Dynamode pcmcia wireless installation solved. I uninstalled the utility and allowed Windows to deal. No more problems.

Thank all for input.