Welcome to the joys of WEP key ASCII to Hex conversion. What's happening is that your unspecified hardware has failed to negotiate a compatible WEP encryption key. That's due to the stupid situation where different manufacturers use different algorithms to convert from and ASCII (text) key to a Hexadecimal (hex) key. Windoze XP wireless zero config only supports one of the algorithms. Windoze XP also agrivates the situation by not offering even a token amount of troubleshooting information. All you get is "Aquiring IP address" followed eventually by "Limited connectivity..." That's not very useful.
Use a Hex key and everything will work.
If you have any furthur questions, I suggest you disclose what hardware and Windoze mutation you're using.
I could probably search the 3com site for the exact model numbers but I'm lazy today. When you find your model numbers, also check the 3Com web pile for updated firmware and drivers.
No. It's only relevent for WEP encryption. WPA is consistent. So much for that theory.
Can WZC "see" the 3com router under "Show available networks"?
Duz the 3com router have a log file or diagnostic page that will show failed connections?
I don't know if the 3com driver will help. Basically, DHCP is not working on power up. It may also not be working at all. I had one machine that had been infected with spyware like that. When the spyware removal program (Ad-Aware) was done, I was left with an IP stack where DHCP just didn't work but static IP's did. I never really fixed the machine. I was able to repair part of the DHCP puzzle with one of the LSP editors, but never could get DHCP to accept the DNS addresses. So, I just set the DNS servers as static and left it rather than risk making things worse. You might have something similar happening. Is this a new installation or an old installation that previously worked as expected?
You might wanna try the 3com drivers instead of using WZC. I don't know if it will do anything useful. Be sure to create a restore point before installing so you can easily undo any damage. I do that whenever installing anything that claims to be a driver.
Oh, I just noticed that the connection doesn't work even when you assign a static IP address. Did you also assign a gateway address and DNS servers? How are you testing? I suggest trying to ping the IP address of the 3com router for testing.
When I boot my PC my wireless adapter shows "Aquiring IP Address" constantly. The only way to resolve this is to reboot the router.
So I disabled DHCP on the router and manually set the IP addresses in my PC. All works fine and when I boot the PC I get a good connection to the router.
The only trouble is that their is now no data transfer between my PC and the router - I cant access the router at all. The only solution is to reboot the router again.
Can anyone give me some advice as to what may be the problem?
Is the router broken? Could it be a configuration issue?
please help as I have not idea where to go with this one.
The router is a 3COM Office connect ADSL router and the adapter is a
3COM 54g USB adapter. I am using WPA currently on Windows XP Pro + SP2 via the Zero Config Option.
Despite using WPA is your recommendation still relevent? Would it be safer to use the supplier 3COM connection CD to connect my PC to the router, or shall I stick with the Zero Config?
I have the latest Firmware for the router and latest drivers for the USB adapter too.
The PC is off during the day and when I switch on in the evening the connection shows a OK but invariably no data can be transferred to the or from the router. When I reboot the router and it all works fine.
The router has a ping block on it so I will disable it and try pinging the router later when I get home.
Cabling-Design.com Forums website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.