Wireless Connection Problems

Go figure...

I'm using a Belkin wireless card on my laptop (WinXP) at home. I go out of town (fly) and then my wireless doesn't work at all. I've tried shutting down the firewall, virus scan, etc., but my wireless utility still doesn't connect.

Here's the real kicker:

I took my laptop along with the wireless card to Best Buy to let the Geek Squad check it out...they can't solve the problem! They card worked on their spares laptops at that!

Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on? They only thing that happened was that my laptop had to pass through the security x-ray at the airport...HELP!

Reply to
EZ Allen
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I had a Belkin G card do the same thing. It suddenly stopped working in my laptop that it had been installed in, but worked if I installed it in another laptop.

If you haven't already, try inserting it in the other slot on the laptop. Believe it or not, this has worked for me.

Next, if no joy, uninstall it using free "Revo Uninstaller" (google it). Do their maximum strength uninstall to remove all traces of the driver and utility in the registry.

Then download and reinstall the most current driver after a reboot.

Steve

Reply to
seaweedsl

Thanks Steve, the download allowed me to see my wireless network, but I still can't connect to it. It's encrypted and I have used the correct key but no luck.

I bought a new laptop yesterday (Toshiba P300) because I needed a new one anyway. I still have the same problem...can see the network, can connect to it, but when I open MS OE, no webpage loads. Any other suggestions before I call the techno-geeks? At this point, I'm thinking my wireless access point is hosed.

EZ

Reply to
EZ Allen

If the card works at the Geek Squad's laptop, then the problem may be with your laptop's connection manager software

Some connection manager utilities require that winXP's WZC be turned off

You may want to install the driver only and use a third party utility such as Wifi Hopper

Reply to
bi241

the network, can connect to

thinking my wireless access point

Hmm. First of all, it doesn't necessarily sound like the same problem. One adapter/laptop won't connect and the other connects but no internet. Could be your AP is the common bad element or could be two seperate problems.

Try connecting your laptop directly to the router via ethernet and see if that works.

Steve

Reply to
seaweedsl

wireless, but my older Compaq laptop is still having problems "finding/seeing" my wireless network. This is the strange part... I download a patch from Belkin's webpage for my wireless card. Initially, if found the network and even connected to it. The next day, I powered up my Compaq and again, the same problem on not seeing the network. I've pretty much given up and will try taking it to one of the independent computer shops here in town to see if they can figure out what's going on...

Sounds like Windows has some default startup file for that device and the file is trashed, so it goes back to some damaged defaults after rebooting. But I don't know what it might be. Or is the *stack* specific to each network device? That's something that goes out on ocasion in XP.

[Links to follow- see if my posting problem gets fixed]

What I suggested before is the *generally recommended approach* and I took it as well, but don't remember if it worked - I keep several adapters around and may have just put a different one on that notebook when it gave me grief. Eventually I sold the notebook for one with built-in wireless. I still have the card as a backup, but I now consider it to be a flaky one. Whether that's a correct assesment or not, don't know.

My Belkin is a F5D7010 - what's yours? Oh, and I do seem to remember that I eventually found the original provided driver (on CD) to work better or instead of the newer download one. So, contrary to previous suggestion, try the original if you do a clean reinstall again.

Oh, one more idea - what about windows restore? Got a restore point from before your trip?

So, I'd go this route:

1) Restore point- if you got it, see if that works.

2) If not, try the stack cleanup tools. I'm sure somebody here could tell us if this is appropriate or not here, but lacking further advice, I'd just do it.

3) Uninstall new driver and reinstall old driver.

4) Get a cheap USB adapter for the notebook in question and forget about it. Life is short, use the Belkin somewhere else or sell it !

Reply to
seaweedsl

formatting link

Reply to
seaweedsl

Thanks to everyone who helped me through this issue.

I finally took it to a computer shop located inside a flea market and he fixed it within six hours! Can you believe it?! He said all he did was uninstall the Belkin patch I download and reloaded the wireless card software and WHALA! I did the same thing when the problems first cropped up, but I had no luck.

Sometimes it pays to take your problems to the "little shop on the corner" where they take a personal interest in help resolve issues!

Reply to
EZ

Ahem. A bit obvious. That was what I advised. In multiple variations. See above.

I don't understand what you mean by "patch" in this case, but then I doubt you do either. It's the driver you were looking for at the web site.

But good for you. Self-help is not for everybody and service shops exist for that reason. Such simple problems are their bread and butter.

And it only took six hours!

Reply to
seaweedsl

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