Wireless network problem

You can check the IP the computer has by doing IPconfig /all at the DOS Command Prompt. If the IP starts with 169, then there was a timeout and the O/S assigned the IP to the NIC.

The 169 IP will let the machine access other machines on the LAN, but the IP is not going to allow you to ping the router nor will it let the machine to access the Internet, since it's not using an IP from or on the router.

If the 169 IP is there, then the O/S has to release the IP. You can reboot the machine or use Ipconfig /release and IPconfig /renew to see if the IP will be released. If it doesn't release, then you have to reset the TCP/IP stack, which is based on the O/S type to get the O/S to release the IP.

Duane :)

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

Three possible problems.

Machines and adapters sometimes hang. Shutdown your computer, unplug the USB dongle, pull the power plug, and wait about 30 seconds. Then power it back up.

Another is that you have somehow lost contact with the DHCP server and are stuck with a 169.254.xxx.xxx IP address. Duane Arnold explained how to check and remidy that in his previous reply to your question.

However, if runing: ipconfig /release (wait a few seconds) ipconfig /renew ipconfig doesn't return a proper IP address, then it's possible that the WEP/WPA encryption has somehow failed or changed. Windoze will show that you are "connected" even though the encryption key exchange has failed. Check if the encryption methods and keys are the same. If using WEP, be sure to use the Hex key, not the ASCII key.