Anyone know anything about Ashton AirDash usb wireless sticks?

Have had these wireless airdash sticks for about a month now and they have
worked off and on. Documentation sucks-I have them set up to use the
internet connection sharing in XP Home (host) and on my daughter's WIN 98SE
presario (access point "peer to peer" ad hoc mode, with no router
required), on a cable modem broadband connection. After much trial and
error got them to work but they seem to drop out a lot.

Today they stopped working and I could not get WIN 98se machine to get
internet connection - ICS is enabled, have tried obtaining IP address
automatically, putting it in manually, reinstalling drivers and
configuration settings, turning encryption on and off, nothing. Both
machines show excellent connection and (most of time) low to very good
signal strength, but internet just won't work. I think other than lack of a
router they use the same protocols as the other wi-fi router based networks.
Am a novice here and self taught so any ideas would be appreciated.

I found the web-site for this unit at
http://www.ashtondigital.com/specs/w...sh_usb_11b.htm

Had you made any changes to either system between the time when the wireless
worked and when it stopped working? If not, then it sounds like a unit
defect.

You are correct that the AirDash uses standard 802.11b; the same protocol
used by wireless routers in that speed range. Actually you have a router:
that's what ICS is.

Begin your debugging at a low level. First check that the AirDash on the
Win98se system is associated with the AirDash on the XP system. Use the
software provided by Ashton to do that.

Then check that the Win98se system is obtaining an IP address from ICS; use
ipconfig from a MS-DOS Prompt window. Remember that you computer has
multiple Ethernet adapters: AirDash, wired Ethernet, and maybe even some
virtual adapters. You can also use winipcfg: just select the AirDash from
winipcfg's pull-down list.

Then, from the Win98se system, PING the address shown as the Default
Gateway. That's the address of the XP system's AirDash.

If all of that works, then the problem isn't hardware or the driver. Then
you start looking at the TCP/IP configuration for the AirDash units, and
then ICS.

Ron Bandes, CCNP, CTT+, etc.

"Jim Marshall" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news29zc.8244$(E-Mail Removed) t...
> Have had these wireless airdash sticks for about a month now and they have
> worked off and on. Documentation sucks-I have them set up to use the
> internet connection sharing in XP Home (host) and on my daughter's WIN
98SE
> presario (access point "peer to peer" ad hoc mode, with no router
> required), on a cable modem broadband connection. After much trial and
> error got them to work but they seem to drop out a lot.
>
> Today they stopped working and I could not get WIN 98se machine to get
> internet connection - ICS is enabled, have tried obtaining IP address
> automatically, putting it in manually, reinstalling drivers and
> configuration settings, turning encryption on and off, nothing. Both
> machines show excellent connection and (most of time) low to very good
> signal strength, but internet just won't work. I think other than lack of
a
> router they use the same protocols as the other wi-fi router based
networks.
> Am a novice here and self taught so any ideas would be appreciated.