Initial problems

What is the exact error message you are recieving? I have seen this problem before, but with machines that have personal firewall software installed. Are you running any anti-virus or personnal firewall software on your Dell? If you are using personal firewall software, then you might need to configure the software to recognize the new network address.

The message I see right now is:

"This connection has limited or no connectivity. You might not be able to access the internet or some network resources."

The Inspiron came with 3 months McAfee Antivirus.

Bart

Next time it does it, right click on the connection icon by the clock and select REPAIR. it will go through a procedure of disconnecting, flushing the DNS cache etc, then reconnecting. It will be fine. If it isn't then it means you haven't set your ISP details correctly. If you can use the Internet by hooking up the computer to the router via a lead but can't via the wireless part - you need to check the settings.

What IP does the machine have when you enter IPconfg /all at the DOS command prompt?

Linksys default IP(s) start with 192. and if the IP starts with 169, then the machine is not getting an IP from the router that's going to allow it to access the Internet. The personal FW is not interfering with the machines problems, as the machine is making the initiating the contact with the router to get an IP and the PFW is not going to stop it. McAfee av is not interfering in anyway or a PFW.

So, what's the IP that the machine has?

Duane :)

"bwesley8" hath wroth:

That's Microsloth's way of announcing that you've achieved a connection, but failed to negotiate the encryption key. My crystal ball suggests that you're using WEP instead of the more secure WPA. If my crystal ball is correct, then please try the Hex key instead of the ASCII key. That will probably work. However, I would strongly suggest you use WPA instead of WEP.

I did the REPAIR but that didn't solve the problem -- so the problem must be ISP settings.

The router IP is 192.168.1.1. DHCP Server is Enabled, Starting IP Address:

I tried changing the DHCP servere starting IP to 192.168.1.200 -- Inspiron now says it cannot connect with the network.

I've also changed Encryption to WPA Personal.

Thanks for the assistance, because I don't have a lot of experience in wifi (actually, none)..

Bart

Running IPconfig/all on the Inspiron yields:

Windows IP Configuration Host Name BW-WSHC Primary DSN Suffix Node Type Hybrid IP Routing Enabled No WINS Proxy Enabled No Ethernet Adapter Local Area Connection Media State Media disconnected Description Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller Physical Address 00-15-C5-09-2F-4C Ethernet Adapter Wireless Network Connection Media State Media disconnected Description Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Controller Physical Address 00-13-02-20-F5-1B

The Linksys Router setup local IP address is 192.168.1.1. DHCP Server is Enabled, Starting IP Address is 192.168.100.

Thanks for the assistance -- this is my first attempt at setting up wifi (should be obvious...)

Bart

Your crystal ball was correct. This morning I changed it to WPA Personal. The Inspiron sees the network, but says "Unable to Connect." Thanks for the assistance,

Bart

"bwesley8" hath wroth:

1. Try it with encryption disabled. No WPA and no WEP and see if it works. My crystal ball suggests that it's a typographical error in the encryption key. If it works with no encryption, then try again with WPA-PSK (also known as WPA Personal).
2. Check your version of the Intel Proset drivers. If it's 9.x something, then I suggest an update to 10.x. See: |
   formatting link
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   formatting link
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   formatting link
   will do two things. It will update the underlying 3945ABG driver. It will disable Microsoft's Wireless Zero Config and setup Proset utilities as the default connection manager.

Although somewhat more complex with more features, methinks you'll find Proset 10.1 superior to WZC. At least it has readable diagnostics and logging that will display what part of the wireless negotiation has failed.

I decided to try my luck with Dell support. After a couple of minutes wading through the voicemail menu, I was connected with a guy who pretty quickly diagnosed the problem and walked me through the network connection settings. He got me on-line in about 10 minutes.

I don't know if it being a business account had any effect, but I had no complaints about the support received.

Bart

"bwesley8" hath wroth:

What was the problem?

Out of curiousity, did Dell support setup your wireless client with WEP, WPA, WPA2, or no encryption? One of my customers called a different vendor, who had them reset their router to defaults and connect with no encryption. That certainly will work, but isn't at all secure.

In general, Dell support is quite good for basic setup and installation problems. I've found them to be useless for hardware and warranty issues, especially when the problem is a built in hardware fault.

I usually recommend using Boingo for beginners. Boingo is a graphical application used to configure your wireless networks; additionally, Boingo is used to connect to other WiFi hotspots. Linksys support, at one point, would suggest to its users to download Boingo to configure thier wireless networks instead of using the software that came with thier WiFi adapters.