Linksys Wireless "DHCP" problem.

Hello All, I have a problem with a wireless connection between my Dell laptop with a Dell TrueMobile 1300 pcmcia wireless card and a Linksys WAG545 router, I have covered all the angles so I am looking for inspiration.

To set the scene I have 2 wireless routers [1 Linksys & 1 Netgear] and

2 broadband connections into my house, I have 1 PC connected to each router and I have removed any wireless security just to take that out of the equation, each router is on a different channel, I will call the PC's A & B and routers 1 [Netgear] & 2 [Linksys].

I can connect PC A wirelessley to both routers 1 & 2 and get an IP address from the local DHCP, my PC connection is configured to dynamically get the IP, so that works on both routers/broadband connection. PC 2 will only connect to Router 1 wirelessley, connecting to router 2 always fails with "limited or no connectivity", if i do an "ipconfig /all" I can see that windows has assigned my wireless connection the default ip autoconfiguration address of 169.254.x.x, I can however hardwire PC 2 to router 2 and it works fine, I get a correct IP address allocated [192.168.1.xxx].

Something else I tried was configuring PC 2 with a static [manual] IP address and this then DID connect to router 2 wirelssley OK however I was getting issues where DNS names could not be resolved even though I had stated both DNS servers to use.

The issue I have is why I only get the problem with PC 2 and router 2, I know that each component is OK as it works in another combination, the only thing I can think of is maybe a compatability issue between the Linksys wireless configuration and the Dell configuration - but what ??

thanks for any help on this..

cheers, Mark.

Reply to
mark1.thompson45
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Just to add, I have just tried a WPN111 USb wireless adapter in PC 2 and tried to connect to router 2 and this too fails, this really confuses me. Both pcmcia wireless card and USB wireless fail when trying to connect pc 2 to router 2.

Reply to
mark1.thompson45

snipped-for-privacy@btinternet.com hath wroth:

Typo... that's a WAG54S.

ADSL modem and wireless router.

Model number of the Netgear router please?

Are they both DSL connections or is one cable modem? (Just curious.)

Ok, no wirelss security. However, both routers apparently still have their DHCP servers running. If you have both wirelss routers set to the same SSID, that should create the maximum confusion as to which one to connect.

- Are you using the same SSID on both?

- Are they both on the same RF channel? (not related to the current problem but probably your next headache).

- Do they both have their DCHP servers active?

- Is there any ethernet interconnection between these two routers?

- Do either PC-A and PC-B have simultaneous connections to both routers?

- Are your computers running Windoze 98, ME, 2000, XP, Vista, OS/X, Linux, or some other operating system?

- What are the LAN side IP addresses of the routers? What are the DHCP server IP ranges (hopefully not overlapping)?

- Any other networking devices on the system that might cause problems? (ie. PC's, routers and wireless access points?)

I can deduce the answers to some of these, but it would best if you supplied a better description of your system.

What happens when you connect PC-2 to Router-2 (Linksys) via a CAT5 ethernet cable? Does DHCP now work?

What happens when you turn off Router-1 (Netgear) and only have Router-2 (WAG54S) running? Also, turn off PC-1 in case it's set to bridge between wireless and ethernet. In other words, simplify the system to only the basics. Does PC-2 now get a proper DHCP IP address from Router-2 (WAG54S)? If that works, then there's something in the configuration, wiring, or setup of the two routers or PC-1 that's causing problems.

It's possible to have garbage for the DNS servers and gateway IP's if you have two DHCP servers responding. There's nothing wrong with having two DHCP servers, but if there's a sneak path between them somewhere in your system (i.e. PC-1 bridging, ethernet wiring, etc), you might have problems.

What other combinations have you tried? I'm particularly interested in wired ethernet configurations and tests when parts or pieces have been eliminated or replaced.

Also, are you running the latest firmware on the WAG54S and drivers on the Dell Truemobile 1300 device?

Well, it's possible. I'll assume Windoze XP. Download and try a DHCP test tool from:

Where is asks for device identifier, uncheck the ethernet box, and type in almost anything.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

to try and answer most of the questions:-

the 2 routers have different SSID's they are on different channels [in original post] the 2 pc's/routers are completely seperate, no bridging. pc 2 does work when connected over cat 5 to router 2 [in original post] both are winxp platforms both had dhcp servers running [range 192.168.1.100-149]

In my earlier post I mentioned that I had tried dynamically configuring the wireless connection IP and this had not entirely worked, i.e. the wireless icon stated that it was connected but from the PC i could not ping the router IP, well I have got it working now, I switched of DHCP on router 2 [which I did not do initially], I can now ping the router [192.168.1.1] over the wireless connection. A further complication was that once the wirelss connection was up and I can talk to the router I then have to setup a VPN connection into my ISP as this is my corporate broadband, this did not work until I enabled RIP on the router.

I am happy that I can at least get connected now even though it is a static address I have configured, I have read loads of posts however which elude to the same issues with Linksys routers and Dell laptops not acquiring DHCP addressing.

Reply to
mark1.thompson45

snipped-for-privacy@btinternet.com wrote: A

I would have thought that having DHCP enabled on the router would have caused problems for your VPN connection. You would surely have to have the company server provide DHCP or use a static IP. I am willing to be corrected on this as I am in learning mode.

Reply to
Kev

snipped-for-privacy@btinternet.com hath wroth:

Good. That should work.

Ok, that eliminates that possibility.

I missed that. Sorry. That means that broadcasts are not going through the wireless part of the Linksys router.

I would not run both DHCP servers with overlapping ranges. If you happen to accidentally create a bridge between the two networks (easily done), then the DHCP servers would get confused as both are issuing IP's from each others address pool. I suggest changing it to: Router-1 .100 -> .129 Router-2 .130 -> .159 That also has the benifit of letting you know which router issued the IP address.

I'm not going to go searching for your earlier post.

Do the two routers perhaps have the same IP address (192.168.1.1)???? Are they in the same class C IP block (192.168.1.xxx)? The aformentioned description sounds like either accidental bridging or duplicate IP's.

Bingo. You definately have the two routers bridged somewhere. RIP broadcasts from each router is advertising that they both have the best route to the internet. Your computer can't seem to decide which is the best route and getting lost. You can see the effect with traceroute to something on the internet. Methinks you'll find that your path is going through BOTH routers or the wrong router. Turning on RIP means that the two routers are now talking to each other and negotiating the best route to the internet. This is the way it's suppose to work when you have multiple routes to the internet and can only happen when you have an accidental bridge (or ethernet LAN) that will connect you simultaneously to BOTH routers.

90% of those are problems with ASCII versus Hex WEP keys. MS does not supply sufficient diagnostics for mere mortals to figure out what point during the connection process has failed. All the user sees is a permanent "Aquiring IP address", so they think DHCP has failed.

Please re-read my rhetorical questions from my previous posting. You managed to answer perhaps 1/3 of my questions. I didn't spend 30 minutes writing this so that you can convince me that you've done everything correctly and that it should work. At the very least, kindly try just the WAG54S and PC with all the other stuff turned off and see if it works.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Reply to
COGoldenBoy

Yep. I'm also rude, arrogant, obnoxious, irritating, tactless, boorish, and sometimes even hostile. I also spend an inordinate amount of time helping people solve problems for free in this newsgroup. Checking Google, that's:

4,780 answers in about 1.5 years. For total newsgroups, it's been about 15,000 answers since the stone age.

When people asking questions bother to supply sufficient information needed to answer the question (such as the model numbers), when they bother to do a simple Google search *BEFORE* asking, and when they answer perhaps 80% of the questions that I ask in return trying to figure out what they own and how they're doing things, then I'll be nice, diplomatic, and courteous.

In the past, I've tried almost everything from diplomacy to absurdity to get people to format their questions in a manner that can be answered. Since you apparently haven't read any of my previous postings, that means: 1. What are you trying to accomplish? 2. What do you have to work with? (Hardware, OS, versions, topology, environment, numbers). 3. What have you tried and what happened? (error messages). That has failed miserably. Almost every question I've tried to answer in several weeks has been deficient in one or more of these areas. Frankly, I've given up trying. The result is that when someone (in my opinion) screws up, I waste no effort being nice about pointing out the problem. The good news is that very few make the same mistake twice. The bad news is that there seems to be an infinite supply of those willing to repeat them.

If you have a better way to extract the necessary information from those apparently unwilling, unable, or too lazy to supply the basics, I'm all ears as it will make answering questions so much easier.

As to why I bother to answer questions? I don't know. If I thought too much about it, I probably would stop and do something else.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

On 16 Feb 2007 10:26:09 -0800, snipped-for-privacy@btinternet.com wrote: : On 16 Feb, 17:01, Jeff Liebermann wrote: : > snipped-for-privacy@btinternet.com hath wroth: : >

: > >I have a problem with a wireless connection between my : > >Dell laptop with a Dell TrueMobile 1300 pcmcia wireless card and a : > >Linksys WAG545 router, I have covered all the angles so I am looking : > >for inspiration. : >

: > Typo... that's a WAG54S. : > : > ADSL modem and wireless router. : >

: > >To set the scene I have 2 wireless routers [1 Linksys & 1 Netgear] : >

: > Model number of the Netgear router please? : >

: > >2 broadband connections into my house, : >

: > Are they both DSL connections or is one cable modem? (Just curious.) : >

: > >I have 1 PC connected to each : > >router and I have removed any wireless security just to take that out : > >of the equation, each router is on a different channel, I will call : > >the PC's A & B and routers 1 [Netgear] & 2 [Linksys]. : >

: > Ok, no wirelss security. However, both routers apparently still have : > their DHCP servers running. If you have both wirelss routers set to : > the same SSID, that should create the maximum confusion as to which : > one to connect. : >

: > - Are you using the same SSID on both? : > - [etc., etc., etc.] : : to try and answer most of the questions:- : : the 2 routers have different SSID's : they are on different channels [in original post] : the 2 pc's/routers are completely seperate, no bridging. : pc 2 does work when connected over cat 5 to router 2 [in original : post] : both are winxp platforms : both had dhcp servers running [range 192.168.1.100-149]

That looks like a problem. If both DHCP servers are assigning addresses from the same range, you may create some nasty routing ambiguities. Try changing one of the ranges to 192.168.2.100-149 or something similar.

: In my earlier post I mentioned that I had tried dynamically : configuring the wireless connection IP and this had not entirely : worked, i.e. the wireless icon stated that it was connected but from : the PC i could not ping the router IP, well I have got it working now, : I switched of DHCP on router 2 [which I did not do initially], I can : now ping the router [192.168.1.1] over the wireless connection. A : further complication was that once the wirelss connection was up and I : can talk to the router I then have to setup a VPN connection into my : ISP as this is my corporate broadband, this did not work until I : enabled RIP on the router. : : I am happy that I can at least get connected now even though it is a : static address I have configured, I have read loads of posts however : which elude to the same issues with Linksys routers and Dell laptops : not acquiring DHCP addressing.

I've used a lot of Linksys routers and a lot of Dell laptops, and I've never seen such problems. I've had various problems, some of them intractable, with Linksys routers and access points, but I can't remember any that have been DHCP-related.

Bob

Reply to
Robert Coe

On Fri, 16 Feb 2007 18:41:35 +0000, Kev wrote: : snipped-for-privacy@btinternet.com wrote: : A : > further complication was that once the wirelss connection was up and I : > can talk to the router I then have to setup a VPN connection into my : > ISP as this is my corporate broadband, this did not work until I : > enabled RIP on the router. : > : > I am happy that I can at least get connected now even though it is a : > static address I have configured, : I would have thought that having DHCP enabled on the router would have : caused problems for your VPN connection. You would surely have to have : the company server provide DHCP or use a static IP. I am willing to be : corrected on this as I am in learning mode.

Not all VPN methodologies require a client to have an IP address on the destination network, if that's what you're implying. Checkpoint Securemote, for example, lets you keep your client-side IP and use your own DHCP server.

Bob

Reply to
Robert Coe

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