Wireless problem

[meeza]

hi gus
i've been trying to make my computers wireless for 2 days now and i think i've justabout managed it but don't ask how! got one or two little problems though.........

i got this laptop from currys Currys | TVs, Washing Machines, Cookers, Cameras, Laptops

my old pc has a network card and i was connected to ntl through that. therefore i bought this router from pc world and got a free adaptor.
[DLMURL]http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/852034[/DLMURL]


i followed all instructions to connect router to modem and all is fine on that section. however, nothing was happening on the laptop, it was finding no wireless connection or anything. therefore, i used the free network adaptor to connect to the laptop and that worked! what i want to know is do i always have to connect the adaptor to the laptop even though i have a wireless card built in the laptop? or have i done something wrong?

your helpis appreciated!

 

[capdan]

Yep that laptop is wireless enabled which means you do not require the additional card. Try the following:-
Make sure there is no switch on the laptop that turns the wireless on and off. Some laptops have a physical switch on the laptop.

Unplug the pcmcia card you got free and go in to control panel, network connections
You should see LAN and Wireless
Double click the wireless and you should se the SSID for your wireless network
If you see your wireless ID then double click that and you will be prompted for encryption key if you have set it? If not you will go strait in

Hope this helps

Capdan

 

[meeza]

Yep that laptop is wireless enabled which means you do not require the additional card. Try the following:-
Make sure there is no switch on the laptop that turns the wireless on and off. Some laptops have a physical switch on the laptop.

Unplug the pcmcia card you got free and go in to control panel, network connections
You should see LAN and Wireless
Double click the wireless and you should se the SSID for your wireless network
If you see your wireless ID then double click that and you will be prompted for encryption key if you have set it? If not you will go strait in

Hope this helps

Capdan

this mite be a stupid question but wherebouts is the wireless card stored in the laptop? is it on the side? cos i opened it up an all there is is an empty tray which comes out! on network connections, i have two wireless connections, one which is the linksys adaptor connection which is running n the other which is 'ralink rt 2500 wireless connection' which is not connected. any ideas on what ive done wrong?

 

[meeza]

i've tried clicking on the wireless connections and wen i do it says no connections found. wat should i do? help!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[capdan]

First of all the in built wireless is on the main board, As long as you have it listed don’t worry about it.

Have you navigated to the linksys device i.e. http://192.168.1.1
Just check under the wireless tab that you have broadcast SSID enabled. as long as you have this enabled you should be able to see it.

Capdan

 

[meeza]

i've tried that mate and the ssid is being broadcasted. however, when i search for it nothing comes up. my wireless connection through the linksys adaptor is running but for the built in wireless adaptor, there is nothing even though it says it is working fine. any ideas?

p.s. thanks for replyin

 

[capdan]

Ok, the first things I would try is Right click my computer, select manage go to device manager, then go to network adapters. Ensure it is listed and says it works properly

Next go in to Event viewer, look in system and application log to see if anything is pointing to network errors or device errors

Did you search the manual to see if there is a button on that particular laptop that enables / disables built in wireless controller? – This gets a few people

If all that fails I would try to remove the device in device manager, reboot computer, let it pick up the device again and see if it works.

Let me know how you get on

Capdan

 

[mad]

hello mate i have the same lappy as you and it works fine!
did you install software for the adapter? if so i would uninstall it. and try
also to turn wifi on and off you have to push FN+F2 (fn is by ctrl)
it should come up in your network connections screen as "ralink rt2500 wireless lan card"

 

[meeza]

hello mate i have the same lappy as you and it works fine!
did you install software for the adapter? if so i would uninstall it. and try
also to turn wifi on and off you have to push FN+F2 (fn is by ctrl)
it should come up in your network connections screen as "ralink rt2500 wireless lan card"

thanks for your help mate! i didn't know there was a switch for turning your wifi on and off! im using a program called odyssey client which manages the the wireless connections. is that what your using? it fins my connection but it doesn't connect to it. it always says connecting but nothing happens.

when i right click on the connection in 'network connections' n clickon 'view available wireless networks' it says 'windws cannot configure this wireless connection'.
any idea what ive done wrong? how did you connect yours. i've been trying to connect it wirelessly for three days now and still no luck!!

 

[mad]

hello mate i am on bt b/b so i have a modem/router in one(berklin) had no probs with it! maybe your settings aren't right on your router? have you enabled sucurity? do you need a password to connect? Do you know anyone else with wifi maybe you can check it out on another network ?
Sorry i cant be much help mate all i can say is i got my router up and running and the lappy connected no prob so maybe there is a a prob with your lappy! make sure u check the security setting on router

 

[meeza]

thanks for your advice mate.
just wanted to know that when you connect the router to the modem, do u have to do something to the laptop or should the laptop detect the connection itself?

i think my connection is not right through the router, but even so i can still pick up the connection with an adaptor so maybe theres something wrong with the wireless card in the laptop?
i haven't got the foggiest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[zhinkler]

meeza,
first take out the PCMCIA card, you don't need one.
try turning off the other software(oddesey...) and let windows manage your wireless connection.

just disable it from starting up and select "let windows manage my wireless connections" under the wireless tab in network connections.
also try turning off your XP firewall-it could be blocking it. your router should have a firewall built-in.

make sure the router has DHCP enabled, this should be set as default already.

 

[meeza]

guys thanks for helping out but i still aint got far!
i've uninstalled the odyssey software but still when i click on the 'view avaiable connections' tab it says ' windows cannot configure this wireless connection..................................if you want windows to configure this connection, start the wireless configuration zero service (WCZ)'

what on earth does that all mean?!!! by now you must have all realised that im no einstein on computers so i really apprecite all your help!

 

[zhinkler]

okay no problem,

1. click on start > run.
2. in the run prompt type "services.msc" and hit enter
3. scroll down to the very bottom, it's the 5th from the bottom you want.
4.double-click it and then in "startup type" choose automatic.
5.on service status click START.
6.close the dialog box and the services window.
7.restart your machine.

by the way make sure the drivers for the RALINK are installed, not the software, just the drivers. you can find this out in device manager.

 

[meeza]

i tried what you told me to do and still no luck! any idea whats gone wrong?

by the way everything was already set up the way you told me to set it up

 

[zhinkler]

is the wireless connection found but just won't connect or can you not see the wireless signal at all?

if it see's the connection then it may b sommat to do with the security on the router.
have you got some form of encrption enabled?
WEP or WPA? if so turn it off(in router config), then try connecting.

if it doesn't detect a the wireless connection, then it may be a driver issue or a faulty laptop.

ps.also make sure MAC filtering is switched off for now. we'll try and get it going with just the basic settings first.

 

[meeza]

GOOD NEWS!!!!!!!

after a whole week of trying to go wireless the impossible has become possible!
thanks to all those who have contributed and tried to help me!!

started the wireless zero configuration and it worked straight away.

once again thanks to all those who have contributed to this thread!!

 

[mad]

Good to here that you got it sorted mate. Well done:Clap:
now you can concentrate on the rewards of your hard work

 

[zhinkler]

good stuff.

 

[davtor]

you get the windows cannot configure this - if you have installed other software.

Go to the control panel, open Administrative Tools, Open services, scroll down to the bottom and look for Wireless Zero Configuration, select it and the choose start service.

If this does not work you have to uninstall the other software and then try it all again.