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General discussion

Problems connecting new Acer to wifi...

Jun 7, 2005 12:51AM PDT

Hardware:
Winxp Toshiba Satellite Laptop
Winxp Dell Latitude Laptop
Winxp Acer TravelMate 4500 Laptop
Netgear WGT624 v.3

I've just tried using the Wireless Network Setup Wizard (see http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/columns/cableguy/cg0604.mspx) to add a computer to my network. This led to 2 questions:

1) If my netgear router doesn't have a usb connector, is there any way I can use the wizard to set up all computers on the network without having to select "manually configure"? Is there some other way of getting the config settings onto the router (e.g. by somehow pushing them out from the main computer, which is connected to the router via ethernet cable)?

2) Prior to using the Wireless network setup wizard, I tried a thousand other things to get the new Acer laptop to hook up to the network, but it steadfastly refuses to connect. I've totally reconfigured the entire network, tried dropping the encryption from WPA to WEP, turned on SSID broadcasting (which was before turned off), uninstalled/reinstalled network adapter drivers, updated the router firmware. And still no luck. The other 2 computers continue to connect fine, but the Acer just won't. It sees other APs (and sometimes even sees mine) but still won't connect.

Any ideas on how to fix this would be very welcome. Thanks in advance.

Gus

Discussion is locked

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Why is the firmware so old?
Jun 7, 2005 1:10AM PDT
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v.3 is the hardware version, not the firmware.
Jun 7, 2005 1:36AM PDT

Bob,

v.3 relates to the hardware, not the software. The very latest firmware is running on the router.

Gus

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You still have WEP turned on?
Jun 7, 2005 1:42AM PDT

What some find out is that WEP/WPA is not compatible across makers. You didn't note this in your post.

If it works, then you move to replace the router with another make/model or update drivers in hopes it will cure it.

Then we have those firewalls that people install, but can't control.

Bob

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should work
Jun 7, 2005 1:51AM PDT

Will try this but assume it should work without any security, but that creates a real problem: I wouldn't operate the network without WPA (preferably) or WEP (at a minimum).

As all the drivers are up-to-date, if it is an interoperability issue as you suggest, that leaves me a bit stuck - how do I find out which routers are compatible with all 3 makes of computer! Particularly annoying as I've also just bought the router!

Gus

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Screamer.
Jun 7, 2005 3:34AM PDT

Yup, that's a hoot too. If you can't return a defective product to a store, what can you do?

Let me offer that when I'm faced without WEP/WPA, I resort to MAC FILTERING. It's another type of securiing the wifi.

Bob

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off vs. on...
Jun 7, 2005 3:48AM PDT

Turn all security off on the router and on the client systems for the 10 minutes or so that it will take to establish basic connectivity. Then change the SSID to something non-standard. This isn't so much a security precaution as an opportunity to establish a unique identity from all the other wireless signals around you that their respective owners haven't changed yet (i.e., how does one distinguish between the three "Linksys" APs run by the uphill and downhill neighbors...). Now connect one of your systems to the router by wire so that as you rachet up the security one small item at a time, you can still get into the router setup to correct anything that goes awry. Be very careful about correct typing as capital letters in the passphrase matter. Finally, unwire the last system and configure it for the wireless.

I would be very surprised if compatibility between the hardware was an issue. More likely are the invisible typos in the passphrase or misconfigured settings elsewhere.

dw

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Tried w/o security. No luck
Jun 7, 2005 9:14PM PDT

I disabled all the security, enabled SSID broadcasting and it still wouldn't work. So... I suspect the only option is to go back to Acer and tell them its faulty.

Thanks to you both for the suggestions.

Gus

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The last test.
Jun 7, 2005 9:56PM PDT

Go somewhere with free wifi access.

Bob

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Factory-installed WiFi cards...
Jun 7, 2005 3:54AM PDT

sometimes don't work immediately because the drivers that were set in the pre-loaded disk image don't seem to latch on properly. One has to uninstall the device and then reboot to let the operating system redetect the hardware and reinstall the drivers.

dw

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Problem solved!
Jun 9, 2005 6:19PM PDT

Left this for a couple days and went back to try again. I found that although I'd turned off MAC filtering, it hadn't registered on the router and also hadn't stored the new laptop's MAC data on the router's config.

Works now. Thanks for all your suggestions!

Gus