Help! XP wireless not working
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Posted by George Neuner on May 4, 2008, 3:43 pm
Please log in for more thread options I'm suddenly having a problem with wireless access at home via a work provided laptop (which means I'm limited in what I can do to it). The hardware involved is: - IBM Thinkpad T41 (a real one - not Lenovo) w/ Intel Pro/Wireless LAN 2100 3B Mini PCI NIC (54G) XP pro (SP2) Cisco VPN - Netgear WG511T PCMCIA NIC (Rev-A 108/Super-G) driver ver 4.2.2.14 (latest) utility ver 2.64.33.3 (latest) - Netgear WGT624 Router I use the internal NIC when roaming at the office, but at home I like to use the faster Netgear card. Both worked fine until about a week ago when IT pushed some kind of upgrade. That same night the troubles began. Suddenly the Netgear card hung the computer whenever it was inserted. I tried the card in a different slot - no hang but it didn't work. Tried it in another laptop and it worked fine. I tried uninstalling/reinstalling the Netgear drivers and software after which the computer hung with the card in either slot. After a few go rounds, I gave up on Netgear and tried the internal Intel NIC using Windows wireless configuration (as I use it at work). It didn't work either - wouldn't even see my network until I disabled WPA encryption on the router. But even with encryption off it wouldn't connect to my router. Thinking the Intel NIC didn't like the Netgear Auto-108 mode, I switched the router first to G-only then to B-or-G. Still no connection (and no, I don't have address filtering turned on). I tried to connect to my neighbor who foolishly runs an open Linksys network - no luck. Meanwhile, my personal laptop is humming along perfectly content. Then I remembered that the Netgear drivers were still installed. Thinking all the gyrations had made a mess, I uninstalled them again and ran Registry Mechanic to clean up any dribbles left in the registry. Checked by inserting the card and inspecting with the device manager. Still no luck. The internal NIC seems to work fine at the office so IT won't help me figure it out (not that they could ... I generally know more than they do and their answer to everything is to re-image the computer) - but it won't work at home. I can't get the Netgear card to work at all despite the fact that it works fine in another computer. I'm afraid the update they pushed a week ago was/is the source of the problem and re-imaging won't solve it because I'll just get it again. Not to mention that I'll lose all my customizations and have to spend hours fixing everything again. What the heck could have happened? I'm sure there is no malware and the problem started just hours after a major software update. Any thoughts? George -- for email reply remove "/" from address | |||||||||||||
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Posted by DTC on May 4, 2008, 6:35 pm
Please log in for more thread options > What the heck could have happened?
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Posted by Dave on May 4, 2008, 9:42 pm
Please log in for more thread options > Hi all,
> > I'm suddenly having a problem with wireless access at home via a work > provided laptop (which means I'm limited in what I can do to it). =A0 > > The hardware involved is: > =A0 - IBM Thinkpad T41 (a real one - not Lenovo) > =A0 =A0 =A0 w/ Intel Pro/Wireless LAN 2100 3B Mini PCI NIC (54G) > =A0 =A0 =A0 XP pro (SP2) > =A0 =A0 =A0 Cisco VPN > > =A0 - Netgear WG511T PCMCIA NIC (Rev-A 108/Super-G) > =A0 =A0 =A0 driver ver 4.2.2.14 (latest) > =A0 =A0 =A0 utility ver 2.64.33.3 (latest) > > =A0 - Netgear WGT624 Router > > I use the internal NIC when roaming at the office, but at home I like > to use the faster Netgear card. =A0Both worked fine until about a week > ago when IT pushed some kind of upgrade. =A0That same night the troubles > began. > > Suddenly the Netgear card hung the computer whenever it was inserted. > I tried the card in a different slot - no hang but it didn't work. > Tried it in another laptop and it worked fine. =A0I tried > uninstalling/reinstalling the Netgear drivers and software after which > the computer hung with the card in either slot. > > After a few go rounds, I gave up on Netgear and tried the internal > Intel NIC using Windows wireless configuration (as I use it at work). > It didn't work either - wouldn't even see my network until I disabled > WPA encryption on the router. =A0But even with encryption off it > wouldn't connect to my router. =A0Thinking the Intel NIC didn't like the > Netgear Auto-108 mode, I switched the router first to G-only then to > B-or-G. =A0Still no connection (and no, I don't have address filtering > turned on). =A0I tried to connect to my neighbor who foolishly runs an > open Linksys network - no luck. > > Meanwhile, my personal laptop is humming along perfectly content. > > Then I remembered that the Netgear drivers were still installed. > Thinking all the gyrations had made a mess, I uninstalled them again > and ran Registry Mechanic to clean up any dribbles left in the > registry. =A0Checked by inserting the card and inspecting with the > device manager. > > Still no luck. =A0The internal NIC seems to work fine at the office so > IT won't help me figure it out (not that they could ... I generally > know more than they do and their answer to everything is to re-image > the computer) - but it won't work at home. =A0I can't get the Netgear > card to work at all despite the fact that it works fine in another > computer. =A0I'm afraid the update they pushed a week ago was/is the > source of the problem and re-imaging won't solve it because I'll just > get it again. =A0Not to mention that I'll lose all my customizations and > have to spend hours fixing everything again. > > What the heck could have happened? =A0I'm sure there is no malware and > the problem started just hours after a major software update. > > Any thoughts? > George > -- > for email reply remove "/" from address You might ask your IT group if the modifications they rolled down the network to your computer actually disabled access to all wireless networks except those which match their own parameters. This might be one of their ways of keeping tighter control on (a) what the machine is used for and (b) what is allowed to intentionally or unintentionally find its way onto the machine. | |||||||||||||
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Posted by seaweedsl on May 5, 2008, 8:05 pm
Please log in for more thread options
> You might ask your IT group if the modifications they rolled down the
> network to your computer actually disabled access to all wireless > networks except those which match their own parameters. This might be > one of their ways of keeping tighter control on (a) what the machine > is used for and (b) what is allowed to intentionally or > unintentionally find its way onto the machine. Sounds like a good lead. Perhaps it's some restriction your IT setup (via update) in the Group Policy ? One can appreciate that there would be reasons for restrictions. Doesn't sound like a typical driver/hardware problem. Not across two different wireless adapters. Have you tried installing another (not the netgear) adapter - a USB one, say? -------------------------------------------------- Jeff L, on another current thread, mentions approaching problems by asking the question in reverse, so the question here might be: How do you set up an xp machine so that it could only connect to one wireless network and that additional wireless network adapters could not be installed ? And prevent the user from changing that setting? Very clear, well informed problem description by the way. Steve | |||||||||||||
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> ago when IT pushed some kind of upgrade.