Excellent Link and signal strength, but no connection !

[GeorgeC]

Hello folks:

I recently replaced my wired router with a SMC7004AWBR wireless router. I also installed an SMC2635W - 2.4GHz 11 MBbps Cardbus Adapter in a new COMPAQ 2100 series laptop.

Unfortunately, I am unable to establish any wireless connection between the laptop and the internet or the LAN.

Nevertheless, the wireless Card Manager utility on the laptop reports link quality and signal strengths between 90% and 99%. (excellent).

I checked the troubleshooting section in SMC's FAQ and read their take on the problem at http://www.smc.com/index.cfm?action=support_tools_show_FAQ&note_id=583 . They suggest changing the channel on the Wireless Router, and/or disabling the wired adaptor on the wireless computer. I followed both suggestions changing the channel from 6 ( to 7, and then 11), and disabled the wired network device on the computer. But all this was to no avail.

All connections to the internet and the LAN work fine when the laptop is connected to the router in wired mode.

I am a total newbie as far as wireless connectivity, and may be overlooking something quite elementary. Any hint or suggestion to fix the problem would be appreciated.


Thanks again,

gc

[spiderbite]

The fact that you can see the signal strength and such on your laptop suggests that you have a link. You are apparently associated but not authenticated. Try checking to make sure your SSID is the same on both devices.


If you had no link you would not be able to monitor signal strength


Is Alice Fazooli's still there by the mall? I love that place....

[spiderbite]

The more I think about it ...you would not be able to do that if the SSID's didnt match either.


Is all the layer three IP address stuff correct?

[GeorgeC]

Originally posted by spiderbite
The more I think about it ...you would not be able to do that if the SSID's didnt match either.]
The SSID on both the router and the laptop's wireless adapter are set to "default".
Is all the layer three IP address stuff correct?
What exactly are you referring to? I know what IP addresses are, but I don't see anything to set manually. If it works in wired mode why should it balk in wireless mode? Help me here. You may be able to guide me through some steps I missed.
Is Alice Fazooli's still there by the mall? I love that place....
Sure is. There is one location in Mississauga and one in Oakville (virtually in Mississauga) where we dined 2 times. We too love that place.

gc

[davidjwieland]

So you hit repair and it looks like it released your IP information, but didn't renew it.

Try this now to obtain a new IP address:

Close all IE windows and then open a new one. That should renew your ip address...then try your ipconfig again (although it looks like you had a valid IP address before) and see what you get. If nothing, then go into IE tools, options, connections, LAN settings and make sure the "auto. detect proxy settings" is clicked. If not, click it, and shut down IE and open it again.

Also, if you're running XP and you have the little connection box in the bottom right corner showing your wireless connection, you should be able to double click on that, hit details, and it will show all your IP addresses.

Also, I wouldn't be afraid to restart your computer after you make any real changes...XP (esp. XP Home) is funny about network settings like that.

Hope that helps,

[GeorgeC]

Originally posted by davidjwieland
So you hit repair and it looks like it released your IP information, but didn't renew it.

Try this now to obtain a new IP address:

Close all IE windows and then open a new one. That should renew your ip address...then try your ipconfig again (although it looks like you had a valid IP address before) and see what you get. If nothing, then go into IE tools, options, connections, LAN settings and make sure the "auto. detect proxy settings" is clicked. If not, click it, and shut down IE and open it again.

Tried all this to no avail.

Also, if you're running XP and you have the little connection box in the bottom right corner showing your wireless connection, you should be able to double click on that, hit details, and it will show all your IP addresses.

I did.

Also, I wouldn't be afraid to restart your computer after you make any real changes...XP (esp. XP Home) is funny about network settings like that.

Hope that helps,


I restarted the laptop many times.


There is a hint of progress: I have Yahoo Messenger that starts automatically. Two times, it loaded up and I was able to send a one word message out. But I couldn't get any reply, because the connection had timed out. IE also nearly opened my home page "my.yahoo.com", but then timed out.

Could my Zonealarm firewall be creating a problem? It doesn't in wired connections. But I also tested disabling it, on both a PC on the LAN, and the wireless connection. But there was no progress.


gc

[Aiakos]

Run a continuous ping on your gateway. "ping 192.168.0.1 -t"
Let it run for a minute or two (press ctrl+c to stop). If you are right next to the router, and you hit it a few times but the majority of the time you time out, your card is hosed.

"Data deactivate the self-destruct control sequence."
"Data NO!"
"DO IT Data!"
"30 seconds to warp threshold"
"Resistance is futile!"

[carter1945]

The issue as I see it is the laptop sees the AP, but does the AP see the client. In the wireless environment we sometimes forget the 802.11b is bi-directional.

Whiole this might not be the problem. I would ask some basic questions.

1) How far away from the AP is your laptop?
2) Is it line of sight?
3) Are the client drivers current?
4) Is the AP settings correct and the same as the client? I am thinking of any encription setting like WEP.
5) Is there anyway to try out the card in another laptop? Maybe the card is not tranmitting?
6) Is the LAN open to outsiders - Is DHCP enabled?
7) You might try loading Net Stumbler to see the activity of the 802.11b.
8) Try powering your system, as this way you activate DHCP (if active) which should get you a fresh IP.

I am sure there are others who could add more, but for this Sunday morning here are mine.

Keep us updated as we are all anxious for you to get operational.

[GeorgeC]

Originally posted by Aiakos
Run a continuous ping on your gateway. "ping 192.168.0.1 -t"
Let it run for a minute or two (press ctrl+c to stop). If you are right next to the router, and you hit it a few times but the majority of the time you time out, your card is hosed.


By this test my card is indeed hosed.

But are there any other possibilities? Is it possible that my wireless router is hosed, rather than the card?

If I return the card to the dealer, is there any way I can show him the card is the problem, so he doesn't blame something else. [ I don't plan on taking my laptop and router with me too]


gc

[spiderbite]

GeorgeC,

That 169.x.x.x address is a public IP address that would not be on your internal Network.

You need to check and see what the configs are for all of your equipment.


The IP above is probably the address from the ISP.


Ping 127.0.0.1 to test your IP stack.

If successful ping the gateway, and work your way out of the house.


Didnt you say you had two routers one regular and one wireless?


I do not believe you have a bad card.


Take everything off the network that is wireless. set them up separately. Manually configure IP addresses in the same class and range for both devices and set all the SSID stuff either to default or the same id.

If this works it aint the card.


I believe this is a good old fashioned networking issue.


Post configs from all devices and ping the stack make sure it works (127.0.0.1)

[spiderbite]

Remember- wireless and all is on layer two of the OSI model.

It doesnt care what IP address (layer 3) anything has to do its job.

Its job is to associate to a layer 2 device via MAC. If you are associated to the radio you are not necessarily authenticated to the network.


Now, if you want to connect to the network all your layer three stuff needs to be in order.


Isn't this fun?

[GeorgeC]

Originally posted by spiderbite
GeorgeC,

That 169.x.x.x address is a public IP address that would not be on your internal Network.

This was the IP address that showed up in the Command Prompt box after I did a "repair connection" and typed ipconfig. Why it got there, I don't kno.

You need to check and see what the configs are for all of your equipment.

Can you tell me exactly what I should check? I believe have already specified all my settings and IP addresses.


The IP above is probably the address from the ISP.

I typed it in the browser and got "This page cannot be displayed".


Ping 127.0.0.1 to test your IP stack.

I did. There was 0 loss.

If successful ping the gateway, and work your way out of the house.

Pinged it, (192.168.2.1) and got 4 time outs.

Didnt you say you had two routers one regular and one wireless?

The old wired one is disconnected. The new wireless one has 3 RJ45 connectors for wired ethernet. What are you suggesting.?


I do not believe you have a bad card.


Take everything off the network that is wireless. set them up separately. Manually configure IP addresses in the same class and range for both devices and set all the SSID stuff either to default or the same id.

If this works it aint the card.


What do you mean? I can remove the card from the laptop, uninstall the driver and related apllications, and start all over. Is that what you mean?


I believe this is a good old fashioned networking issue.


I hope you are right. I wouldn't want to replac the card, only to find out that the new one had the same problem as theis one.


Post configs from all devices and ping the stack make sure it works (127.0.0.1)

Tell me exactly what settings I should post, and where would I find them. I installed Netstumbler on the laptop, but I don't know what to do with it. There is a steep learning curve ahead for me.

gc

[GeorgeC]

Originally posted by carter1945
The issue as I see it is the laptop sees the AP, but does the AP see the client. In the wireless environment we sometimes forget the 802.11b is bi-directional.

Whiole this might not be the problem. I would ask some basic questions.

1) How far away from the AP is your laptop?
2) Is it line of sight?

For testing purposes, it has been within inches of the router/AP. Moving the laptop to another room, there is very little signal degradation.


3) Are the client drivers current?

version 1.79.0424.2003 (dated April 24, 2003). It is not the latest. I will install the later one from the smc.com website and report any change in result.

4) Is the AP settings correct and the same as the client? I am thinking of any encription setting like WEP.

WEP is disabled on the AP and on the laptop.

5) Is there anyway to try out the card in another laptop? Maybe the card is not tranmitting?

No other laptop. According to the wireless card manager, Throughput looks like this now:


Rx fragments 63995
Tx fragments 766

Link quality and Signal strength are generally excellent.

6) Is the LAN open to outsiders - Is DHCP enabled?

I'm not sure what you are asking? The DHCP server is set as enabled in the router configuration screen.

7) You might try loading Net Stumbler to see the activity of the 802.11b.

I loaded Netstumbler. I shows some activity, but I don't know what to look for.

8) Try powering your system, as this way you activate DHCP (if active) which should get you a fresh IP.

I powered up all systems more than once. There is no difference any time.

I am sure there are others who could add more, but for this Sunday morning here are mine.

Keep us updated as we are all anxious for you to get operational.


Thank you. I appreciate your help, and that of all other participants in this thread. Thank you all. Eventually, I will learn something from you all.


gc

[GeorgeC]

Originally posted by spiderbite
Remember- wireless and all is on layer two of the OSI model.

It doesnt care what IP address (layer 3) anything has to do its job.

Its job is to associate to a layer 2 device via MAC. If you are associated to the radio you are not necessarily authenticated to the network.


Now, if you want to connect to the network all your layer three stuff needs to be in order.


Isn't this fun?

Sorry spiderbite. I am a newbie as far as networking goes. I don't understand what you are saying. What should I do?

gc

[Aiakos]

Originally Posted by spiderbite
Remember- wireless and all is on layer two of the OSI model. It doesnt care what IP address (layer 3) anything has to do its job.

Yes, but this does not rule out a Layer 1 problem with the card. If some part of the intetional radiator is defective, it could produce massive packet loss.

GeorgeC:

1) What are the statistics for the continuous ping on your gateway address (they come up when you press ctrl+c)? Run it for 5 minutes. If you are getting very few replies (<25%), I would say there's a good chance you have a layer 1 problem with the card or router. Most likely the card.

2) Can you trace route google? Type "tracert 216.239.51.99" at the command prompt. Try 5 times. If you ever get anywhere outside your network try to trace route google threw DNS. Type "tracert www.google.com" at the command prompt.

3) Are you getting a APIPA (169.254.x.x) address when you run "ipconfig" at the command prompt? If so type "ipconfig /release _all", then "ipconfig /renew _all". Did you get a 192.? If not power down the router for 20 seconds, turn it on and try again. If your are getting 192.'s, try step 1 & 2 again.

4)If you are getting 192.'s are you on the association table in the router? Type "192.168.0.1" in the Internet Explorer address field, and search around the web interface for the association table. Look for the MAC address of the laptop. To find the MAC address type "ipconfig /all" at a command prompt. Look for the "Physical Address", it will be a hexadecimal 8 octet of numbers similar to 00-00-80-3E-D4.

I loaded Netstumbler. I shows some activity, but I don't know what to look for.

Does it work? If it works your AP should show up with a colored dot next to it. Click the + next to channel, --> click the + next to the number (channel) --> click the colored dot. This chart shows
you the signal strenth of the AP's probe response frames.

Are you getting a good signal? Lots of green over red? Is it continuous or sporadic?

* You may have to disable your client manager for NS to work properly. Right click on the icon next to the clock, and click exit. Then start netstumbler.

[spiderbite]

First the 127.0.0.1 worked- ok that means the stack works

Then you could not ping the gateway (wireless router) is 192.168.x.x the correct ip of the router?

Can you right click on my network places- left click on properties-and find the interface for the wireless card?

when you click tcp ip what is the config there? Have you tried to enter your own 192.168.x.x to see what happens? If you can open the web browser to the wireless routers address, with the manual address in place on the card, then the card works.

If you are able to see the signal strength of the AP and any info about the ap on your laptop the card works.

when troubleshooting- always start with the least expensive thing and work your way up.

[spiderbite]

What configurations have you made to the router? how many addresses have you allowed DHCP to use for your network?


basically, just make sure all your network settings are correct before you go back to the store and the little punk behind the counter gets your card to work on his test system.


Post all configs from router, wireless card and we'll start there.

[gsankaran]

Pardon me for jumping in like this. I have the EXACT same problems that gc has described. I searched the web for help and saw this forum. Imagine my surprise when I found someone else with the same issues.

Wireless Router is SMC7004VWBR

Card is SMC2635W.

Laptop is a Toshiba Satellite 5105-S501.

Installed the router. Connected to the router configuration page through a wired desktop and was able to connect to 192.168.2.1. The wireless IP address range is set to 192.168.2.100 - 200.

I have completely uninstalled and reinstalled the card driver a few times. Each time I've checked before and after re-booting the laptop.

What I find is:

1. IP address assigned to the laptop is 192.168.2.100.

2. Am able to successfully ping 192.168.2.1 (router) from the laptop. Am UNABLE to put in the IP address http://192.168.2.1 into Internet Explorer on the laptop and access the router configuration page.

3. On the laptop, Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger work - they pop up the small box that serves as an indicator each time an e-mail message arrives. I am able to see online buddies in the two messengers. However, I am unable to use Internet Explorer. Keeps coming up with the error message that indicates that I have no Internet connection.

4. Am successfully able to ping yahoo.com both by URL name and by IP address.

5. Have been able to connect via VPN to my office using Checkpoint SecureClient. However once I am on the office network, I am unable to telnet into any of the UNIX servers there. I am also unable to "Remote Desktop" into my office desktop.

This has me completely flabbergasted.

I am a newbie to wireless and would much appreciate any suggestions you may have.

Best regards,

Sankaran

[lwheeler]

It has got to be some sort of misconfiguration/mismatch. You have network connectivity,resolving DNS queries and such. I would go back and verify all the little things. Subnet mask from the DHCP scope, additional routes in your laptop, VPN settings based upon destination addresses. Can some of the addresses your accessing be going through your VPN connection, based upon your profile? Something like that should be the problem.
Larry

[spiderbite]

That is pure evil!


If you can do all that you should be able to do everything else.


Have you checked and or turned off any third party firewall software?

I'll say a prayer for you....:)

[gsankaran]

Prayer is the way to go, I guess....

Have turned off McAfee's Firewall.

Beginning to grasp straws, I've just downloaded and installed the Toshiba Wirless LAN driver update. Hope this one pays off...

[GeorgeC]

I have been asked to post my settings for the router and the wireless adapter card on the laptop.

Here they are. Please let me know if something looks odd, or if you want me to report other settings. If so tell me where to find them.
--------------------------------------
Router settings:

IP address : . . . 192.168.2.1
IP Subnet Mask : 255.255.255.0
DHCP Server : Enabled
Lease Time (sec) : Forever
IP address pool 192.168.2.2:40
Domain Name : WorkGroup

WAN: PPP over Ethernet

DHCP
Host Name (none)
MAC Address 00-04-E2-3D-08-2B


Setup | Wireless | Channel and SSID
Wireless Channel 6
SSID default
Encryption: disabled
----------------------------------------
Wireless Cardbus Adapter settings
IP Address 192.168.2.15
IP Netmask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 192.168.2.1

Channel 6
SSID default
Associated BSS ID 00:01:24:F2:96:10

-----------------------------------------

I will answer other questions in separate messages

gc

[GeorgeC]

Originally posted by spiderbite
when you click tcp ip what is the config there? Have you tried to enter your own 192.168.x.x to see what happens? If you can open the web browser to the wireless routers address, with the manual address in place on the card, then the card works.

If you are able to see the signal strength of the AP and any info about the ap on your laptop the card works.


I entered the card ip 192.168.2.15 manually. Nothing changed as far as results.

Pinging the gateways still gives me "request timed out"

As I reported all the way from the start, the signal strength and link quality are reported as "excellent"


gc

[davidjwieland]

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by spiderbite
when you click tcp ip what is the config there? Have you tried to enter your own 192.168.x.x to see what happens? If you can open the web browser to the wireless routers address, with the manual address in place on the card, then the card works.

If you are able to see the signal strength of the AP and any info about the ap on your laptop the card works.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes, if you can get into the AP, then your card should work. However, I disagree with the point made that if you can see your AP and any info about it that your card necessarily works. I've seen several instances where everything works on the card except Internet access. Still sounds to me like your card is shot.

Best,

[lwheeler]

What about when you do a "arp -a" ? Do you see a MAC address for the router under the IP address of 192.168.2.1?
Larry

[spiderbite]

Ok this is my last whack at GC's problem and this is pretty thin.


I noticed the MAC identifiers are different, so I did a search. the router MAC belongs to SMC but the card belongs to Acer.


Acer makes embedded wireless cards for laptops.

Is it possible that there is an embedded wireless car associated to the AP? and causing conflict with the SMC card?

Is the wireless zero configurator in XP home disabled? Can you remove the card in the bottom of it?

Why has a driver not loaded the SMC card?

What is the MACaddress on the Back of the SMC card? Is it the same as the one you posted?

Just a wild guess, but ...hmmm

Other than that take the card back....

I cant wait to hear how this shakes out.....

[spiderbite]

Is the laptop in the WorkGroup domain?

[GeorgeC]

Hi folks:

Still no solution. But I'm leaning to the conclusion that there is something flaky with my wireless adapter card. As mentioned before, I've had a very few occasions where yahoo messenger started and connected properly, only to die immediately thereafter.

Yesterday, while preparing answers to some of the questions, I did a cold reboot, and YM started OK, and surprizingly, so did Internet Explorer which opened up my home page (my.yahoo.com). The home page loaded, but beyond that, nothing worked. I couldn't click on links or write anything in the Address window.

gc

[dineshmina]

upgrade your xp to latest version available, need more help refer to article #314994 @knowledgebase of microsoft

[Aiakos]

Any results from the continuous ping? type "ping 192.168.0.1 -t" at the command prompt. Let this run for 5 minutes, then press ctrl+c. What are the statistics?

If you get ANY replies, your stack is ok, your layer 2 is ok and at least most of your layer 3 is ok. We have been through all layer 2 & 3 settings. If you have a very high percentage of time outs to replies, there is something wrong with how signal is being transmitted or received; ie your card is the most likely source of failure. Then comes the router.

If you dont get any replies, your card (or router) is really hosed or we dont have some settings right. So repeat the continuous ping several times, and if you get any replies, you know what the problem is.

[GeorgeC]

Originally posted by spiderbite
Is the laptop in the WorkGroup domain?


I think the answer is "YES". But now I can't find this info. Where is it reported?

Note: The workgroup (under Control Panel/System) is ALL.

The domain is identified as 'WorkGroup' on the router's web interface. Where should I look if the laptop belongs to the Workgroup domain ?



gc

[GeorgeC]

Originally posted by dineshmina
upgrade your xp to latest version available, need more help refer to article #314994 @knowledgebase of microsoft
Checked this out.

The article refers to XP professional. I have XP home. In any case, My XP is updated with the latest service packs, and the file Wzcsvc.dll in c:\windows\system32 is version 5.1.2600.1106 dated 8/28/2002. This is more revent than the file referred to in the article.

gc

[GeorgeC]

Originally posted by Aiakos
Any results from the continuous ping? type "ping 192.168.0.1 -t" at the command prompt. Let this run for 5 minutes, then press ctrl+c. What are the statistics?

If you get ANY replies, your stack is ok, your layer 2 is ok and at least most of your layer 3 is ok. We have been through all layer 2 & 3 settings. If you have a very high percentage of time outs to replies, there is something wrong with how signal is being transmitted or received; ie your card is the most likely source of failure. Then comes the router.

If you dont get any replies, your card (or router) is really hosed or we dont have some settings right. So repeat the continuous ping several times, and if you get any replies, you know what the problem is.

I replied before to this.

I pinged both 192.168.0.1 and 192.168.2.1 and got 100% "Request time out", ie 100% loss in both cases.

gc

[GeorgeC]

Originally posted by spiderbite
Ok this is my last whack at GC's problem and this is pretty thin.


I noticed the MAC identifiers are different, so I did a search. the router MAC belongs to SMC but the card belongs to Acer.


Acer makes embedded wireless cards for laptops.

Is it possible that there is an embedded wireless car associated to the AP? and causing conflict with the SMC card?

Is the wireless zero configurator in XP home disabled? Can you remove the card in the bottom of it?

Why has a driver not loaded the SMC card?

What is the MACaddress on the Back of the SMC card? Is it the same as the one you posted?

Just a wild guess, but ...hmmm

Other than that take the card back....

I cant wait to hear how this shakes out.....


The number (MAC address ???) on the back of the SMC card is:
0004E27DE3D2

But the one I posted was for the router, not the card.

What am I missing here?

gc

[GeorgeC]

Originally posted by lwheeler
What about when you do a "arp -a" ? Do you see a MAC address for the router under the IP address of 192.168.2.1?
Larry

Entering arp -a on both the laptop and a desktop machine wired to the router, I get:

Interface: 192.168.2.1x ---0x2
Internet Address Physical Address Type
192.168.2.1 00-04-e2-3d-08-2a dynamic

x = 15 on laptop
x = 14 on desktop

[spiderbite]

Can you click on my network places, click on view network computers and see all the computers on your network?

Do this wired and wireless.


If not, all computers must be in the same workgroup..

Control panel-system-computer name-Change....

This is where you can change the name of the computer and assign it a workgroup.

[GeorgeC]

Originally posted by spiderbite
Can you click on my network places, click on view network computers and see all the computers on your network?

Do this wired and wireless.


If not, all computers must be in the same workgroup..

Control panel-system-computer name-Change....

This is where you can change the name of the computer and assign it a workgroup.


All computers are, and remain in the WorkGroup "ALL"

The router's web interface referred to a domain called "WorkGroup"

I renamed the Domain from "WorkGroup" to "ALL", and nothing changed.

Why would that be the problem? The laptop connects correctly to the same router if wired.

gc

[GeorgeC]

Hi again:

I read somewhere on the smc.com web site that the light on the wireless cardbus adapter is supposed to be solidly lit if there is a active connection.

But the light on my adapter flickers, rapidly and unevenly as if in sync with data sent or received.

What does this mean? Is it normal, or confirmation of a flaky card?

gc

[Aiakos]

I replied before to this.

Yes but your replies were inconsistent/incomplete.

Originally posted by me
Run a continuous ping on your gateway. "ping 192.168.0.1 -t" Let it run for a minute or two (press ctrl+c to stop). If you are right next to the router, and if you hit it a few times but the majority of the time you time out, your card is hosed.

Originally Posted by GeorgeC
By this test my card is indeed hosed.

Originally Posted by GeorgeC
Pinged it, (192.168.2.1) and got 4 time outs.

Originally Posted by GeorgeC
Pinging the gateways still gives me "request timed out"

What I was looking for is an answer that specifically tells me if you are ever getting any relpies from your gateway. This is why I wanted you to post the statistics from the continuous ping the second and third time I asked.

*ALL of the settings you are being asked to look at now work in an ON/OFF fashion. They are either set correctly and everything works, or set incorrectly and nothing works. If you are occasionally pulling down homepages (barring they are not cached, but if they were if it would happen alot) and some messenger clients, you have these settings correct.

Stop wasting your time. Go to Best Buy plunk down $60, buy a new card. If it works you know what the problem is. If it doesn't take it back, they dont charge restocking fees.

[pananix]

Check all the following:
1. On XP, QOS is installed (service item on the network stack -- look in Connection Properties)
2. Card uses the same ESSID (you said it was default, is that the same as the router?)
3. Encryption key (WEP) must match router
4. You have an IP on the same network (assign an IP close the the one the router has).
5. Make sure you're in Infrastructure or Managed mode (not as-hoc, aka peer-to-peer).
Lights (in managed mode):
If you have one light, it should flash w/ data.
If you have two lights, one will be on constant, the other will flash as data is passed.

HTH,

David-

[grandebob]

Sorry for jumping on this so late, but here are my $.02.

Whoever told you that a 169.x.x.x address was an external address was a dirty, missinformed liar. Windows XP will automaticall assign itself an address in the range of 169.x.x.x if it is set to DHCP and does not find a DHCP server. This feature is called Automatic Private IP Addressing or APIA. Windows 98 and 2000 do this too. If you are getting an IP address in this range, you are not connected to the rest of the network.

To the guy where everything works but IE:
Check your settings in IE. If you go to tools > Intenet options there is a tab called "Connections" Make sure you have "Never dial a connection" selected, or Dial whenever a network connection is not detected."

Back to the original post's problem...
If you've checked that your SSID's are the same, and your WEP keys match (if enabled) you might want to check your routers config. It might be set to filter based on mac addresses or something. You might want to try using the software that came with your card, and disabling windows XP's "Zero config" wireless configuration.

You will most likely not be able to get to your routers web interface unless you have an ethernet cable connection. Most do not allow config changes over wireless for security reasons. Imagine the poor guy who gets hacked and the hacker changes his router config and password on him before logging off... that's just evil.

Bob
"The worst vice is advice"
-My buddy Nick

[obscure_detour]

I have this exact same problem basically. I have a Dell Inspiron 8200 with a built in Dell TrueMobile 802.11b PCI Card.

I can connect to my AP perfectly. I have WEP enabled and I have the auth key in perfectly. Using Windows Zero Config I could connect to the AP fine but the connection wouldn't say up for longer than 10 min. So I disabled Windows Zero Config and am now using Dell's Wireless Config Utility and have everything configured right and it connects to the AP fine also. Signal strength excellent and everything but I can't get on the internet or see other computers on the network or see the gateway.

I have tried everything, even typing in my own private IP and trying to point it to the router (gateway). But no such luck.

On another note (for more info on my problems).
On my desktop machine I ann get my USB Wireless adaptor to connect to the AP for about 3-5min and then it disconnects and says "one or more wireless networks available" but the only one listed is mine "MSHome".

So I have to click the Wireless Connection and then click "connect" and it connects and says signal strenth is excellent and then the internet will work and everything then about 3-5min later it'll disconnect. Which it did while I was typing this.

This problem is related to these two threads however:

One or more wireless connections..... (http://forums.80211-planet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1339)

One or more wireless networks are available! (http://forums.80211-planet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1245)

As you can see I have my share of problems. :(

Any ideas?

obscure detour

[GeorgeC]

Hi folks:

Sorry for not participating in this forum for nearly 2 weeks, and for not acknowledging so far several additional messages.

Today, I returned the SMC 2635W and upgraded to a USRobotics 11 Mbps Wireless Access PC Card, Model No. 322410. I tested the new card on the laptop in the store, and now at home, and it works fine.

The strange thing is that the SMC2635W I replaced is NOT defective. It worked fine on my nephew's laptop, and on a laptop at the store where they also tested it,

However, on my machine it just would not connect. I was able to reproduce the "good signal/ no connection" scenario with an access point at my nephew, and at the store. The service guy at the store was puzzled by this situation, and said he never encountered it before.

Once again, thanks to everone who posted in reponse to my original message. I learned a lot from you all. The caseis now closed, but if anyone has any theories that can explain the seeming conflict betwee my laptop and my original SMC 2635W card, I remain curious.

gc

[lwheeler]

Forget about it...

[Aiakos]

While this is no theory (somewhere between shot in the dark and hypothesis), maybe your cardbus controller and the chipset on the card dont like each other??

Oh well at least your up and running!

[mudgie]

It sounds to me like you inadvertantly turned on MAC address filtering. When you filter by MAC, non-configured clients get an excellent radio connection, but cannot access the IP communications layer, i.e. no DHCP, no ping, no web surfing, etc.

Check your wap config. If you want mac filtering, you need to add your nic's mac address in the table. If you don't, make sure mac filtering is NOT enabled.

If this isn't it, it might be a software conflict. I have had trouble with SSH IPSEC software on XP Pro. It makes my wireless lan IP layer very erratic. I had to get rid of SSH (sniff).

Good luck,

Mudgie

[mrchurch]

Hello,

I am new to the forum. I did a search about the SMC2635W wireless card connection problem and found this forum. I have the same card and have the same problem.... I get great signal strength, but cannot access the network. I am using Windows XP Home on a HP laptop. I also have the SMC2632W wireless network card with the SMC AWB7004 wireless router and that card works fine....only the signal strength is not as good.

I have dealt with SMC tech support and they finally gave up and told me to get a new card, which I did. The new card has the same problem. I was also able to test the latest card in a different laptop with Windows 98SE and it works great, so it is definitely not the card....it is the software and Windows XP. SMC tech support was supposed to call me back with further help, but no calls for about one week so far....don't count on much help from them if things are not easily solved.

If I get any further help with a solution from SMC I will post the info. Until then I will stick with the old card. My daughter, who is home for the summer, is using the 2635W card in her laptop with Win98SE right now with no problems. Sounds like they have some problems to resolve with their drivers.

If anyone knows of a solution please let us know.

Thanks,
mrchurch

[ReXMaC]

are u usin' the zero config utility of winxp? if so, juz go to the wireless networks tab on the wireless card's property...

remove everything in the prefered network and then hit add...

type in there the ssid and then uncheck wep-encryption enable...

hit ok--- hit ok again...

go to command line and then try to ping a website...

it works for me actually.

[gsankaran]

I posted on this thread with a similar issue a month/two ago.

Today, after weeks of trying different things, I switched to a D-Link card and had the exact same issue. But the D-Link support specialist that took my call had experienced something similar before.

He asked me if I had McAfee VirusScan installed on my laptop. I did. And where I had disabled it on earlier occasions, he asked me to UNINSTALL McAfee.

Did that and two seconds after the re-boot, I was on the Net on the laptop.

Hope this helps some others who may be facing similar issues!

Go D-Link Support!!!

Regards,

Sankaran

[saurabhrao]

this is a really old post! However, it was one of the first results on google, so i'm posting this to help others in the same boat. I'm not a techie, so pardon the possibly improper use of tech terms.

I have a DLINK 524 router. One day, god knows how, my net stopped working. My PC would show a connection to the router with excellent signal strength, but would refuse to load the router, and i couldnt even ping it.

I searched a lot of forums, tried out several things but nothing worked. I tried something on my own and it worked: I connected to my router using a lan cable, saw that it was registering my wireless session but not allotting an IP. I checked my connection settings (right click on 'my network places', click on properties, goto the wireless connection properties, and within that properties of the TCP/IP protocol). The connection was not on 'Obtain IP address automatically'. (and also automatic DNS) I set it to that, re-connected to the router and voila! all well now :)