BleepingComputer.com: Laptop cannot connect to my home Wireless Netowkr

Hello.

At the suggestion of one of the forum techs (who helped me with a different topic and computer) I have reposted this here at a more appropriate forum section.

About two weeks ago, I temporarily lost all wireless connectivity to the netgear rangemax wpn824 version 2 router I share with my upstairs neighbor (located in his apartment). Connectivity was restored a few minutes later to all computers except for the one running Vista SP2 (XP and 7 reconnected immediately). The Vista 32-bit computer can see the network but cannot connect. It CAN connect to any other wireless network within its range. It CAN connect to my home network with hard line directly into the router.

I have run the network diagnostic tool several times and the result is always the same - that the security key is incorrect (it is not incorrect).

I have pasted an ipconfig report below. If anyone has any suggestions or would be willing to take on my case, I would appreciate it.

Thanks,
JMundy5



Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Jim-and-Stewart
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : nyc.rr.com
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Ralink 802.11n Wireless LAN Card
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-24-2B-D6-C0-5D
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8168C(P)/8111C(P) Family PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC (NDIS 6.0)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-23-5A-56-4E-6F
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 6:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.nyc.rr.com
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 7:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : isatap.{818A53B4-267C-415F-9C7D-7FD8DB78EF1B}
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 11:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-00-54-55-4E-01
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 12:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 6TO4 Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 13:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 6TO4 Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

All of your computers connect to his router wirelessly?

That's correct. We have been doing so for over a year now and never had a problem. No new devices had been added prior to this issue.

Thanks,
JMundy5

Going to ask some basic questions.

1. Are you 100% sure you are entering the right password?
2. Are you 100% sure you are using the right encryption type?
3. Is he using Mac filtering so that only certain mac addresses can connect?

No problem.

1. Absolutely sure about the password. Have sat with him and entered it.
2. Yes, have double checked the encryption type against the encryption type for my other two computers. Just to be super safe, I have tried every permutation of security types and encryption keys.
3. I can double check on Mac filtering, but it has never been a problem before.

On occasion in the past, this computer has had difficulty connecting for no apparent reason, though it was intermittent and usually after I had brought it elsewhere and used a different network (though not always). When that happened, I would have to go to Network and Sharing Center and do a diagnostic, usually resulting in a new IP address needing to be randomly assigned. The diagram would show my computer connected to the router and the a red X between the router and the internet.

Now when I go to Network and Sharing Center, the diagram does not show the router, only my computer, a red X and the internet. A diagnostic fails and tells me that a security key is incorrect. The adapter says it is awaiting authorization.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
JMundy5

Try deleting the network from the PC. Then manually configure it under manage wireless networks.

How is the signal between that pc and the router?

I have tried deleting and manually configuring with no success. Same message appears. The signal is okay and I have tried it sitting right next to the router with the same results.

According to that screen shot all the connections are disconnected which indicates a problem with the actual wireless adapter. The adapter is not connecting to the router to obtain in IP address. Just to be sure you have tried uninstalling the wireless card and the drivers then re-installing the card/adapter? Is the router set up for DHCP or Static IP addressing?

This post has been edited by Sneakycyber: 20 May 2011 - 01:59 PM

I would figure the same about the wireless adapter but when I take it to another network it starts up immediately which would indicate that it is functioning properly. I will try uninstalling the wireless card and drivers tomorrow and then reinstalling them, though I would welcome some instruction on doing so properly. I believe the router is set for DHCP.

So is the computer able to Detect your wireless network at all?

Yes. It can detect the network. It simply cannot connect. I can, however, connect to any other network I travel to. Hence the reason I do not believe that there is anything wrong with the adapter.

Is there anything that you can imagine that could have happened to any of the hardware or software during the glitch in the network we experienced a few weeks ago that I mentioned in my first post?

Thanks,
JMundy5

If you experienced a problem with the router itself it may need to be reset and reconfigured. Some setting may have been corrupted during the outage. The wireless channel may have changed, or there may be a problem with the security settings on either the laptop or the router. You can check the computer by comparing the settings to a computer that is working properly and make sure nothing has changed. When the outage occurred was it a power outage that caused the router to shut down, A power surge that caused it to shut down or something accidental? Did the computers power down as well?

No, there was no power outage, just a blip in wifi connectivity of all devices. If all other devices are working correctly, is it still possible that the router has to be reconfigured? we have reset it twice since the blip, but to no avail for this machine.

How did you reset the router? With the reset button then reconfigured it? Have you compared the settings on the Vista Machine with the Computers Working correctly?

I have compared the settings.

I will have to get with my neighbor as to how he reset the router. I believe he reset it with the reset button and went through the unplug/replug sequence. I doubt that he went to the trouble of reconfiguring the whole thing since all but this computer are fine, but I will request that we do that if you think that is what is causing this one to have these issues.