1 card connects to Hotspot;another doesn't-WHY?

Question

I'm wondering why the following situation exists:

There is a free open city owned WiFi hotspot covering Union Square in San Francisco.Union Square is in the dead center of the city for tourists,shoppers,and business,so it's useful to know for anyone coming to SF.It seems to have a large footprint.I've connected to it from a bookstore (Borders) off the Square.

But my question is this:I have 2 older 802.11b cards someone gave me.One of the cards sees the AP,but the other doesn't.Why is this?Here are the details.

My P3 laptop has Win98SE.The card that sees and automatically connects to the AP is a 3COM 11Mbps.3CRWE737 96B.The 3rd party apps that I have to find hotspots don't work with this card,but the SW that comes with the card shows the details of signals it detects. It actually doesn't show their SSIDs,but the APs MAC addresses.However,when it automatically associates with an AP,it shows the SSID highlighted in the text input field of the connection utility that allows you to enter an SSID.Alternatively,I can manually enter an SSID and then the card will only connect to that SSID and it works when I do this.So, I know I am connecting to the U. Square AP.

The other card is a little newer,I think.It's a US Robotics

11 Mbps USR2410.Boingo's SW and Aerosol work with this card .I have changed the variables in the connection SW that comes with the card:5Mbps,11Mpbs,Fully Automatic.I have manually entered the SSID: UNIONSQUAREWIRELESS2.It won't see the AP.The signal strength of the AP is extremely strong,so that couldn't be the issue.And Boingo's SW and Aerosol detect many other APs when I'm in Union Square (all WEP enabled).Any ideas?

Peter Pan · Accepted Answer

Two reasons I see all the time (I do computer repair and upgrades)... 1) Some computers can NOT work with some wireless cards. My favorite was three xxxx (don't want to be legally liable for saying the name, theres lawyers out there!) with revision B C and E motherboards.. B and E would work fine, no way rev C would work, not even with a USB wireless device. Not much you can do except keep trying different devices.

2) Most people download/install all sorts of programs that may cause problems. If you have a backup device (I use Ghost and a network drive) *** ONLY DO THIS IF YOU HAVE MADE A BACKUP FIRST! **** back it up, wipe the hard disk, and install it completely fresh from the emergency restore disks.. Then try installing the card and see if it works.

crossbar5 · Answer

Peter Pan:Thanks for trying to help,but you haven't understood theproblem.I have 2 WiFi cards as described in original  cardsare recognized by  cards work perfectly in connecting tomost Access  are no conflicts or driver issues.The issue is there is 1 (ONE) hotspot access point (the one describedin my original post) where one WiFi card sees the AP and associates toit while for the other card this access point is invisible.My qusetion was: why is this?Peter Pan wrote:

Peter Pan · Answer

Then try the free way.. Delete the software and reinstall it.. I would surmise a setting got changed somewhere, but the easiest thing to try is always delete and reinstall (or on AP's, reset).

Are the cards the same? What happens if you swap computers they are in? Have you gone to the card manufacturers websites and seen if there are any updates?

1 card connects to Hotspot;another doesn't-WHY?

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