Wireless network connection problems.

[NJMorf]

Hi there.

I've got a laptop and a desktop sitting next to each other, both connected to a Linksys ADSL wireless router. Both machines are using WinXP, the network's set up to use 802.11g with 54Mbps and WPA-PSK encryption.

The laptop works perfectly: it finds the network and automatically connects. The desktop regularly has enough trouble connecting that I end up having to run a 10m cable instead. The problem isn't that it can't see the network, it seems to be that it can't get an IP address, though it sometimes claims to have connected but I can't get to anything on the network, including the router's config pages.

I'm pretty sure it's not a hardware problem. I started getting the problem with a D-Link PCI card, and it's persisting with a Belkin USB device too. I uninstalled all of the PCI drivers before setting up the USB, and I've tried different USB ports as well, not that I expected that to help. I've tried using both the Windows configuration and the manufacturer's software to administer the NICs, but that makes no difference either

Typically, what happens is this: When the computer boots up it tries to automatically reconnect to the last network (there are no other unsecured networks within range, so mine is the only option). Looking at the Network properties window and the config program, I can see that the network is normally visible, and the status on the NIC shows "Acquiring Network Address" but it eith just sits there with no apparent progress or it repeatedly tries and fails every 5 seconds or so. I've tried letting Windows repair the connection, I've tried disabling it and re-enabling it, and as I said, I've even tried different USB ports. Sometimes one of these measures looks like it's fixed the problem, but I suspect that this is coincidental. Other times, like last night, I can struggle for 20-30 minutes and it repeatedly fails to connect.

The router is set as the DHCP host. I've restricted access by MAC number and added all of the various ethernet and wireless NIC MACs into the list, so that shouldn't be an issue. I've also tried it with fixed IP addresses, but the router doesn't seem to like that (whether or not I disable DHCP). Since one computer is fine and the other is affected, I'm leaning towards it being a problem with the installation of Windows or leftover files from one card's installation making a mess of the other card's setup. Can anyone advise?

[Antischism]

is this working before??

WPA has 3 requirements

1. comp must support WPA
2. wireless card must support WPA
3. router must support WPA

try connecting using unsecured connection if you have no problem then encrypt your network using WEP if that works then use WPA in that way you will know whats the problem if its your card or your comp that needs update

[NJMorf]

The PCI card is WPA compatible if Windows manages it (at least I was told by D-Link's tech support that their software didn't support it so I had to allow Windows control of the card). The USB card has WPA out of the box, as does the router. Both were working fine before.

Anyway, having spotted something else somewhere about Windows trying by default to log in to a network with a broadcast SSID (even though you set your own hidden SSID network as the preferred one) I turned broadcast back on and all seems fine. Hopefully the combination of MAC restrictions and WPA will still put off the majority of people who can now see my network with even less effort on their part. The desktop PC now seems to reconnect more often than not, though it's still not 100%.

[Sooner Al]

MAC addresses can be easily cloned so they provide no security at all. A STRONG WPA key is the real key to security. Personally I use a 63-character random ASCII key and WPA-PSK (AES) on my home wireless segment...

http://www.kurtm.net/wpa-pskgen/

The only MAC address filtering I do is so I can assign my laptop a specific DHCP assigned IP address based on its MAC address. That is simply so I can configure my desktop PCs (I have two) XP SP2 Windows Firewall File & Print Sharing address scope to specific LAN IPs on my local network. Certain PCs have access to desktop shares while everyone else does not...

I also broadcast my SSID...Absolutly no need not too.. :cool:

[NJMorf]

My Linksys router doesn't have the ability to specify IPs by MAC, which is pretty backward. My attempts to fix the IPs at the PC end and either enable or disable DHCP on the router (whichever, so long as it doesn't clash) have all come to nothing so far. It usually looks like it's done it correctly, then after a reboot or something everything goes awry. I'll probably have another hack at it at some time but since the system's working at the moment, I'm loath to touch it again.

[tweaked]

Hey!

This is odd because I came to the forums today to post a question about a very similar problem that I'm having. Like you, I have a laptop and a desktop - the laptop connects perfectly everytime, but my desktop is very very picky about when it will connect. Especially after a reboot, it often just won't connect at all, even though it clearly shows my SSID with full signal strength. The only way to get it to connect when it's being annoying is to reboot the modem itself. Total pain.

I use a router/DSL modem that came with my Internet connection, and I forget what brand my wifi card is, but it's weird that we're having similar issues. I use WEP encryption and I've got my desktop set up with a fixed IP, but that doesn't seem to make much difference either way.

What exactly were you able to do to fix the issue? Did you just turn on SSID broadcast and it worked fine? Any advice you might have would be much appreciated! Does anyone else have a similar problem??

cheers,

tweaks

[NJMorf]

Tweaked:

Yep, that's pretty much all I did, and seems to have cured the problem entirely. It seems that the Windows installation on my desktop just doesn't like it when the only network that it can see happens to have the SSID hidden.

[Antischism]

it is bec. WZC is design to connect to broadcasted SSID, if you turn off the SSID even if you created profile after you restart it will connect to any available netsork

[NJMorf]

Odd that even though my network is the only one that Windows deigns to display, it was still having problems connecting to it.