Wireless Networking after SP2 install

Published on April 16, 2005 By jazzymjr In PC Hardware

Hi all

Yesterday, I wiped/reinstalled everything on my desktop...upgraded to SP2 and wanted a clean install. That went fine, except for one glitch. I have a wireless network at home, with 3 computers. On the desktop after the SP2 install, whenever I turn on or reboot the computer, a ballon pops up and Windows says it is unable to connect to the network, and to click to have Windows repair the connection. I do that and windows "fixes" it every time. I have a Linksys wireless access point router with 4 port switch...811b. My other 2 computers don't have that problem...they connect to the network without any problems. One of them is running SP2, the other, SP1a.

Does anyone have any ideas?
MJ

Comments (Page 1)

Elesarr

on Apr 16, 2005

have you checked the firewall setting on the computer that is having the difficulty connecting to the network?

Raymond

Jingles

on Apr 16, 2005

every time I had a problem like that, It involved removeing the offending program and renameing remaining folders to old---- ,and then re-installing the software. the manufacturer usually has a page or recomondation on which folders to rename.

Island Dog

on Apr 16, 2005

Try this patch from Microsoft.

Link

I had a problem with sp2 and wireless connections and this fixed it.

jazzymjr

on Apr 16, 2005

Thanks, guys for the responses! This is so weird...not logging on automatically. When Windows repairs the connection, I connect without any problems the whole time the computer is on. It is more of an inconvenience than anything...and I'm afraid that eventually, that won't work. The other computer with SP2 is wired via ethernet directly into the router...no problems there at all. The laptop, with SP1a, is wireless like this desktop...no problems there either. Before I upgraded to SP2, I had no problems. I am at a total loss here!

Island Dog,
I tried the patch and it didn't change anything. This is nuts!

DevTekPro,
What kind of settings should I have on the firewall? I'm using SP2's firewall.

Jingles, what programs are you referring to?

rabidrobot

on Apr 16, 2005

I experienced exactly what you describe using a Gigabyte wireless card and Gigabyte router on my new desktop.

Not much consolation, but it seems to have gone away. Let me just throw some things out there I remember trying, see if one sticks.

1) Just wait a bit. I found that sometimes, when going online wasn't my priority, that it eventually sorted itself without my having to say repair. This is less annoying if in your connection properties you tell it not to show an icon in the tray.

2) Disable windows firewall. You have a router!

OK, don't ask why, but I think this next one is the one that really fixed it. My card came with special software for controlling the wireless connection. When I ran it, Windows would know and turn itself off as the entity responsible for controlling the connection. But this custom software sucked. It would always hang on the first try, and had to be End Tasked and restarted. Anyway, I set up all the password etc. settings in it. And I set them up in the windows network connections r-click on icon properties. Then, I told windows (in the properties panel, should be a Wireless Networks tab with a checkbox at top "Use Windows to configure my wireless network settings" NOT to be in control (i.e. unchecked the box). I also stopped the custom software that came from the card from starting with the Startup COntrol panel (or whatever startup control you use).

So, I had two things which wanted to configure my connection. They both knew the relevant data (passkey, ssid) and I told them both not to do anything after all. Now I am connected at as soon as startup completes, although the Internet Gateway/Internet Connection icon doesn't always appear in my network connections window, I'm still connected.

Every once in a while, very rarely, usually when I'm afk, the connection drops and has to be repaired. Probably unrelated.

So, sorry so long, hope you get the idea, and it applies to your setup.

Elesarr

on Apr 16, 2005

2) Disable windows firewall. You have a router!

NOT a good idea... if one is using a router one should also have a firewall running on each computer connected to the internet.

It is possible that two different pieces of software are trying to control how the networks are managed on the laptop: in my experience if you just let Windows manage your networks there is no problem.

The reason I asked about the firewall settings is because I can sit at home and connect to my Wireless Router (D-Link DI-524: 2.4 Ghz 11b/54g) with no issues, and I can go to a local coffee shop and connect with no problem; HOWEVER, if I go to my friend's house I always get the "cannot connect to wireless network" bubble and have to repair it - once I do it tends to work, but will drop out often: I am not sure why it acts like that at her house, but I have narrowed it down to the way she has her network setup.

You might just want to try and uninstall your wireless card and then reinstall it after rebooting. That may take care of any issue. And I would suggest just letting Windows manage the Network for you. Do you have an internal wireless antenna or do you use a wireless card?

Raymond

jazzymjr

on Apr 16, 2005

Disable windows firewall. You have a router!

That is interesting. I don't have Windows firewall enabled on the laptop that has SP1a...and, I have never had problems there. And, before I upgraded this computer to SP2, I did not use the firewall, and had no problems..hmmm. Maybe I just might try that. My router has a firewall built into it.

OK, don't ask why, but I think this next one is the one that really fixed it. My card came with special software for controlling the wireless connection. When I ran it, Windows would know and turn itself off as the entity responsible for controlling the connection. But this custom software sucked. It would always hang on the first try, and had to be End Tasked and restarted. Anyway, I set up all the password etc. settings in it. And I set them up in the windows network connections r-click on icon properties. Then, I told windows (in the properties panel, should be a Wireless Networks tab with a checkbox at top "Use Windows to configure my wireless network settings" NOT to be in control (i.e. unchecked the box). I also stopped the custom software that came from the card from starting with the Startup COntrol panel (or whatever startup control you use).

My card came with software as well, but I did not install it...I just installed the driver. Do you think it would be a good idea to disable windows configuring the networkig settings anyway?

You might just want to try and uninstall your wireless card and then reinstall it after rebooting.

I already did that...it didn't help. I use a wireless card.

Thanks for being so willing to help...this is driving me nuts!
MJ

jazzymjr

on Apr 16, 2005

Okay, here is what I have tried:

Disbled the firewall....no good...so, I turned it back on.

Unchecked letting windows confugure the settings...no good...could not even find my network! So, I re-enabled it.

So, back to square one...

Elesarr

on Apr 16, 2005

Unchecked letting windows confugure the settings...no good...could not even find my network! So, I re-enabled it.

I believe I suggested that you do not disable the windows networking management jazzy - something has to be enabled to find the wireless network.

Windows Security Center (which includes the Firewall) was released with SP2 - that is why it is not enabled on your SP1a machine

I would install the software that came with your wireless card; it could be that something more is needed for your card besides just the drivers. And just ensure that you let windows manage your wireless network. I have a broadcom antenna and the software is installed and I just let Windows Manage it - and I have no issues except at one person's house. Additionally, the "hard wired" computer won't have these issues. It is the wireless network that you are unable to connect to without repairing it.

This Link may prove to give you some useful information:

Because there is typically no central authentication server in the home or small office, someone in the home or small office must do one of the following:

• For open system/WEP, they must choose a strong WEP key and configure all of the computers and wireless devices to use open system authentication, WEP encryption, and the same strong WEP key.

Raymond

jazzymjr

on Apr 16, 2005

Raymond,
Thank you for the link and the info. I'm gonna try to do the Wireless Network Setup Wizard thing...maybe that will fix this. If it messes things up even worse, I'll just re-install Windows over itself...lol. This is the first time I have done any upgrade that resulted in problems. The other computer here with SP2 was a breeze...had no problems with it.

The laptop, which has SP1a, does have the Microsoft Firewall on it....just not the whole security center panel like in SP2.

I'll post back with the results.
Again, thanks for your help.
MJ

jazzymjr

on Apr 16, 2005

Okay, the saga continues....

I tried the wireless wizrd thing. Got this computer set up ok. Manually entered all the settings into the laptop, then everything went downhill from there. The laptop coould not connect to the internet at all. I couldn't change anything on the router. The desktop was still able to connect to the internet at that point.I wound up removing the network from both computers, and when I did that, the desktop could no longer access the internet. So, I rebooted both computers, and the network re-appeared as it was configured beofre I made the changes, so I just went ahead and connected both computers to it.

I'm done messing with this! I will just repair the connection on this computer everytime I sign on. The wireless card I have for this computer is fairly old....maybe I should go and buy a new one and see if that helps.

I know it has to be something relatively simple that I am missing or have messed up, but for the life of me, I don't know what it is!

ben1605

on Apr 16, 2005

When you use the repair function, your PC is contacting the router to get a free IP address. If you have to do a repair every time you start your PC, you might have an IP address conflict.

Each PC must either get a free address from the DNS on the router or use a unique IP address which is NOT within the range of the addresses managed by the router DNS. In the properties of your wireless connection, check the properties of the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). it must either be automatic or set to a free IP address (outside of the DNS range of the router and not used by any of the other PCs on your network).

Double Zero

on Apr 16, 2005

Hi Jazzy, I wonder, have you went to the "Linksys" website and searched for updated drivers for your card?

When I had a wireless connection I used a *Netgear USB adapter on my desktop and forever have driver issues, I was dropping my connection at least once a day and had to do a repair operation to log back on..
Finally Netgear released drivers that actually worked...

Just a thought,
Zero.

jazzymjr

on Apr 16, 2005

Ben,
The TCP/IP is set to get the address automatically. Is there anyway to find out what IP address windows is trying to connect to at boot up? The IP address that is in the status window once I'm connected to the network is the same address that has always been assigned to that computer. The last 3 digits of the addresses for the computers are 100 (the hard-wired computer), 101 (my desktop), and 102 (my laptop)...those are the same they have always been.

Zero,
My card is not Linksys...Windows update found an updated driver for it, and after I installed it, I couldn't even see my network, and my CD burner was disabled in the process as well. So, I rolled back the driver for the card, and removed/reinstalled the CD burner. I'm just wondering if SP2 doesn't like the card I have...it has always worked just fine for me, right up until I did the wipe/reinstall. I updated the firmware on the router last weekend.

Thanks for all the help/suggestions! This is so maddening! It's gotta be something simple!
MJ

Elesarr

on Apr 16, 2005

Sounds to me that it is your wireless card... do you have a different one that you can try to see if that resolves the issue?

Raymond

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