Can't connect XP Laptop to wireless network

Greetings and apologies if this issue has been answered before - I have
scoured the Expert Zone newsgroups for a solution and haven't found one. My
basic problem is I'm unfamiliar with the wireless antennas inside XP laptops
and how they are used to connect to wireless home networks. It seems simple
enough but I can't get connectivity.

I have a D-Link 624 router and I use WEP encryption. I have 3 desktops and 1
laptop on this network, using D-Link wireless antennas in each. A fourth
desktop running Vista is my "main" machine connected to the router where I
configure its settings.

We employ Au Pairs from Europe who bring laptops with them and need internet
connectivity. Their laptops always have internal wireless capability
built-in (which I'm unfamiliar with). Our newest girl has a Sony VAIO laptop
running XP. I can't get her machine on my network. I "view" the wireless
networks from her machine and can see my network. I highlight it and click
"connect". It asks me for the WEP key which I enter. A dialogue box appears
as it tries to connect. This lasts for 30 seconds or so, then the box
disappears and I'm not connected. There is no error message. I have made
sure I'm typing the key in correctly. I've tried this several times with no
success.

We had this same problem with our last Au Pair's laptop. A year ago when I
was troubleshooting her issues, I tried disabling my router's security to
make it easier to connect with it and that didn't work. I went so far as to
try circumventing her internal antenna by installing my D-Link software and
plugging the antenna from my laptop into her machine and that didn't work
(although I now wonder if I needed to "turn off" her internal antenna and
failed to do that?). I finally gave up and gave her a 50' CAT-5 cable
connected to my router. We don't want to do this again for the new girl. We
want her on our network wirelessly.

Any ideas would be appreciated!
thanks, Riccardo

WEP is far too weak. You should really switch to WPA.
It is likely that if the laptops come from Europe where different
channels are used for 802.11 networking and the D-Link router is
using American firmware that this could create a mismatch.

On Fri, 10 Aug 2007 11:16:01 -0700, Rick_NJ
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Greetings and apologies if this issue has been answered before - I have
>scoured the Expert Zone newsgroups for a solution and haven't found one. My
>basic problem is I'm unfamiliar with the wireless antennas inside XP laptops
>and how they are used to connect to wireless home networks. It seems simple
>enough but I can't get connectivity.
>
>I have a D-Link 624 router and I use WEP encryption. I have 3 desktops and 1
>laptop on this network, using D-Link wireless antennas in each. A fourth
>desktop running Vista is my "main" machine connected to the router where I
>configure its settings.
>
>We employ Au Pairs from Europe who bring laptops with them and need internet
>connectivity. Their laptops always have internal wireless capability
>built-in (which I'm unfamiliar with). Our newest girl has a Sony VAIO laptop
>running XP. I can't get her machine on my network. I "view" the wireless
>networks from her machine and can see my network. I highlight it and click
>"connect". It asks me for the WEP key which I enter. A dialogue box appears
>as it tries to connect. This lasts for 30 seconds or so, then the box
>disappears and I'm not connected. There is no error message. I have made
>sure I'm typing the key in correctly. I've tried this several times with no
>success.
>
>We had this same problem with our last Au Pair's laptop. A year ago when I
>was troubleshooting her issues, I tried disabling my router's security to
>make it easier to connect with it and that didn't work. I went so far as to
>try circumventing her internal antenna by installing my D-Link software and
>plugging the antenna from my laptop into her machine and that didn't work
>(although I now wonder if I needed to "turn off" her internal antenna and
>failed to do that?). I finally gave up and gave her a 50' CAT-5 cable
>connected to my router. We don't want to do this again for the new girl. We
>want her on our network wirelessly.
>
>Any ideas would be appreciated!
>thanks, Riccardo
--

Barb Bowman
MS Windows-MVP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/e...ts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/

Hi
Hi
What you referred to as an Antenna is actually called Wireless Network Card
(the Antenna is a little part of the card).
This page describe a way to make sure that the cards are working correctly.
http://www.ezlan.net/wireless.html
In addition European card can be configured to Wireless channels that are
not available in the USA.
Make sure that the card is set to the channel that your Wireless router with
at.
Jack (MVP-Networking).


"Rick_NJ" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:3B6BBF04-0E98-4B45-8BC5-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Greetings and apologies if this issue has been answered before - I have
> scoured the Expert Zone newsgroups for a solution and haven't found one.
> My
> basic problem is I'm unfamiliar with the wireless antennas inside XP
> laptops
> and how they are used to connect to wireless home networks. It seems
> simple
> enough but I can't get connectivity.
>
> I have a D-Link 624 router and I use WEP encryption. I have 3 desktops and
> 1
> laptop on this network, using D-Link wireless antennas in each. A fourth
> desktop running Vista is my "main" machine connected to the router where I
> configure its settings.
>
> We employ Au Pairs from Europe who bring laptops with them and need
> internet
> connectivity. Their laptops always have internal wireless capability
> built-in (which I'm unfamiliar with). Our newest girl has a Sony VAIO
> laptop
> running XP. I can't get her machine on my network. I "view" the wireless
> networks from her machine and can see my network. I highlight it and click
> "connect". It asks me for the WEP key which I enter. A dialogue box
> appears
> as it tries to connect. This lasts for 30 seconds or so, then the box
> disappears and I'm not connected. There is no error message. I have made
> sure I'm typing the key in correctly. I've tried this several times with
> no
> success.
>
> We had this same problem with our last Au Pair's laptop. A year ago when
> I
> was troubleshooting her issues, I tried disabling my router's security to
> make it easier to connect with it and that didn't work. I went so far as
> to
> try circumventing her internal antenna by installing my D-Link software
> and
> plugging the antenna from my laptop into her machine and that didn't work
> (although I now wonder if I needed to "turn off" her internal antenna and
> failed to do that?). I finally gave up and gave her a 50' CAT-5 cable
> connected to my router. We don't want to do this again for the new girl.
> We
> want her on our network wirelessly.
>
> Any ideas would be appreciated!
> thanks, Riccardo

Hello Barb and Jack - thanks very much for your feedback. I will check into
the possibility of a channel mismatch using your advice.

Jack: one question - you mention checking that the card is set for the same
channel as my router. Where do I find what channel the laptop's card is set
at?

One fact I left out: these girls receive orientation in Connecticut upon
arrival in the US, and while there they stay in a hotel (don't know which)
where wireless networking is available. It's not clear to me if the hotel is
providing the network or if it belongs to someone else close by (like another
business). In any event our newest girl told us she connected to this
network without trouble. So while your points are very valid, it's curious
that she was able to connect to this particular network.

I will report back with any findings - thanks again.

"Jack (MVP-Networking)." wrote:

> Hi
> Hi
> What you referred to as an Antenna is actually called Wireless Network Card
> (the Antenna is a little part of the card).
> This page describe a way to make sure that the cards are working correctly.
> http://www.ezlan.net/wireless.html
> In addition European card can be configured to Wireless channels that are
> not available in the USA.
> Make sure that the card is set to the channel that your Wireless router with
> at.
> Jack (MVP-Networking).
>
>
> "Rick_NJ" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:3B6BBF04-0E98-4B45-8BC5-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Greetings and apologies if this issue has been answered before - I have
> > scoured the Expert Zone newsgroups for a solution and haven't found one.
> > My
> > basic problem is I'm unfamiliar with the wireless antennas inside XP
> > laptops
> > and how they are used to connect to wireless home networks. It seems
> > simple
> > enough but I can't get connectivity.
> >
> > I have a D-Link 624 router and I use WEP encryption. I have 3 desktops and
> > 1
> > laptop on this network, using D-Link wireless antennas in each. A fourth
> > desktop running Vista is my "main" machine connected to the router where I
> > configure its settings.
> >
> > We employ Au Pairs from Europe who bring laptops with them and need
> > internet
> > connectivity. Their laptops always have internal wireless capability
> > built-in (which I'm unfamiliar with). Our newest girl has a Sony VAIO
> > laptop
> > running XP. I can't get her machine on my network. I "view" the wireless
> > networks from her machine and can see my network. I highlight it and click
> > "connect". It asks me for the WEP key which I enter. A dialogue box
> > appears
> > as it tries to connect. This lasts for 30 seconds or so, then the box
> > disappears and I'm not connected. There is no error message. I have made
> > sure I'm typing the key in correctly. I've tried this several times with
> > no
> > success.
> >
> > We had this same problem with our last Au Pair's laptop. A year ago when
> > I
> > was troubleshooting her issues, I tried disabling my router's security to
> > make it easier to connect with it and that didn't work. I went so far as
> > to
> > try circumventing her internal antenna by installing my D-Link software
> > and
> > plugging the antenna from my laptop into her machine and that didn't work
> > (although I now wonder if I needed to "turn off" her internal antenna and
> > failed to do that?). I finally gave up and gave her a 50' CAT-5 cable
> > connected to my router. We don't want to do this again for the new girl.
> > We
> > want her on our network wirelessly.
> >
> > Any ideas would be appreciated!
> > thanks, Riccardo
>
>

Hello Barb and Jack - I promised an update on my findings and I have good
news. I was able to get the laptop on our network. I checked a few things
first with the wireless card and WZC to make sure everything was working.
Then I remembered a snippet from the www.ezlan.net website about WEP pass
phrases not working because wireless hardware from different manufacturers
could resolve the same ASCII phrase into different HEX strings. Your
comments about the compatibility between the laptop hardware and my router
made me think of this possibility.

If you remember I was using WEP encryption. And my pass phrase was indeed
an ASCII string. So as a test I reconfigured my router to use a HEX pass
phrase. After resetting the router and configuring the laptop's network
connection with the new HEX key I got instant connectivity.

As a final note I changed my encryption to WPA-PSK per Barb's
recommendation. The reconfiguration of the laptop went smoothly and my
connectivity is still perfect.

thanks for your help-
Riccardo

"Jack (MVP-Networking)." wrote:

> Hi
> Hi
> What you referred to as an Antenna is actually called Wireless Network Card
> (the Antenna is a little part of the card).
> This page describe a way to make sure that the cards are working correctly.
> http://www.ezlan.net/wireless.html
> In addition European card can be configured to Wireless channels that are
> not available in the USA.
> Make sure that the card is set to the channel that your Wireless router with
> at.
> Jack (MVP-Networking).
>
>
> "Rick_NJ" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:3B6BBF04-0E98-4B45-8BC5-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Greetings and apologies if this issue has been answered before - I have
> > scoured the Expert Zone newsgroups for a solution and haven't found one.
> > My
> > basic problem is I'm unfamiliar with the wireless antennas inside XP
> > laptops
> > and how they are used to connect to wireless home networks. It seems
> > simple
> > enough but I can't get connectivity.
> >
> > I have a D-Link 624 router and I use WEP encryption. I have 3 desktops and
> > 1
> > laptop on this network, using D-Link wireless antennas in each. A fourth
> > desktop running Vista is my "main" machine connected to the router where I
> > configure its settings.
> >
> > We employ Au Pairs from Europe who bring laptops with them and need
> > internet
> > connectivity. Their laptops always have internal wireless capability
> > built-in (which I'm unfamiliar with). Our newest girl has a Sony VAIO
> > laptop
> > running XP. I can't get her machine on my network. I "view" the wireless
> > networks from her machine and can see my network. I highlight it and click
> > "connect". It asks me for the WEP key which I enter. A dialogue box
> > appears
> > as it tries to connect. This lasts for 30 seconds or so, then the box
> > disappears and I'm not connected. There is no error message. I have made
> > sure I'm typing the key in correctly. I've tried this several times with
> > no
> > success.
> >
> > We had this same problem with our last Au Pair's laptop. A year ago when
> > I
> > was troubleshooting her issues, I tried disabling my router's security to
> > make it easier to connect with it and that didn't work. I went so far as
> > to
> > try circumventing her internal antenna by installing my D-Link software
> > and
> > plugging the antenna from my laptop into her machine and that didn't work
> > (although I now wonder if I needed to "turn off" her internal antenna and
> > failed to do that?). I finally gave up and gave her a 50' CAT-5 cable
> > connected to my router. We don't want to do this again for the new girl.
> > We
> > want her on our network wirelessly.
> >
> > Any ideas would be appreciated!
> > thanks, Riccardo
>
>

Hi
Glad it was resolved.
Jack (MVP-Networking).

"Rick_NJ" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:3203A64C-D504-4F3B-BBF2-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hello Barb and Jack - I promised an update on my findings and I have good
> news. I was able to get the laptop on our network. I checked a few
> things
> first with the wireless card and WZC to make sure everything was working.
> Then I remembered a snippet from the www.ezlan.net website about WEP pass
> phrases not working because wireless hardware from different manufacturers
> could resolve the same ASCII phrase into different HEX strings. Your
> comments about the compatibility between the laptop hardware and my router
> made me think of this possibility.
>
> If you remember I was using WEP encryption. And my pass phrase was indeed
> an ASCII string. So as a test I reconfigured my router to use a HEX pass
> phrase. After resetting the router and configuring the laptop's network
> connection with the new HEX key I got instant connectivity.
>
> As a final note I changed my encryption to WPA-PSK per Barb's
> recommendation. The reconfiguration of the laptop went smoothly and my
> connectivity is still perfect.
>
> thanks for your help-
> Riccardo
>
> "Jack (MVP-Networking)." wrote:
>
>> Hi
>> Hi
>> What you referred to as an Antenna is actually called Wireless Network
>> Card
>> (the Antenna is a little part of the card).
>> This page describe a way to make sure that the cards are working
>> correctly.
>> http://www.ezlan.net/wireless.html
>> In addition European card can be configured to Wireless channels that
>> are
>> not available in the USA.
>> Make sure that the card is set to the channel that your Wireless router
>> with
>> at.
>> Jack (MVP-Networking).
>>
>>
>> "Rick_NJ" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:3B6BBF04-0E98-4B45-8BC5-(E-Mail Removed)...
>> > Greetings and apologies if this issue has been answered before - I have
>> > scoured the Expert Zone newsgroups for a solution and haven't found
>> > one.
>> > My
>> > basic problem is I'm unfamiliar with the wireless antennas inside XP
>> > laptops
>> > and how they are used to connect to wireless home networks. It seems
>> > simple
>> > enough but I can't get connectivity.
>> >
>> > I have a D-Link 624 router and I use WEP encryption. I have 3 desktops
>> > and
>> > 1
>> > laptop on this network, using D-Link wireless antennas in each. A
>> > fourth
>> > desktop running Vista is my "main" machine connected to the router
>> > where I
>> > configure its settings.
>> >
>> > We employ Au Pairs from Europe who bring laptops with them and need
>> > internet
>> > connectivity. Their laptops always have internal wireless capability
>> > built-in (which I'm unfamiliar with). Our newest girl has a Sony VAIO
>> > laptop
>> > running XP. I can't get her machine on my network. I "view" the
>> > wireless
>> > networks from her machine and can see my network. I highlight it and
>> > click
>> > "connect". It asks me for the WEP key which I enter. A dialogue box
>> > appears
>> > as it tries to connect. This lasts for 30 seconds or so, then the box
>> > disappears and I'm not connected. There is no error message. I have
>> > made
>> > sure I'm typing the key in correctly. I've tried this several times
>> > with
>> > no
>> > success.
>> >
>> > We had this same problem with our last Au Pair's laptop. A year ago
>> > when
>> > I
>> > was troubleshooting her issues, I tried disabling my router's security
>> > to
>> > make it easier to connect with it and that didn't work. I went so far
>> > as
>> > to
>> > try circumventing her internal antenna by installing my D-Link software
>> > and
>> > plugging the antenna from my laptop into her machine and that didn't
>> > work
>> > (although I now wonder if I needed to "turn off" her internal antenna
>> > and
>> > failed to do that?). I finally gave up and gave her a 50' CAT-5 cable
>> > connected to my router. We don't want to do this again for the new
>> > girl.
>> > We
>> > want her on our network wirelessly.
>> >
>> > Any ideas would be appreciated!
>> > thanks, Riccardo
>>
>>

good news all the way around. am very glad you've implemented
stronger WPA security.

On Fri, 10 Aug 2007 18:46:03 -0700, Rick_NJ
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Hello Barb and Jack - I promised an update on my findings and I have good
>news. I was able to get the laptop on our network. I checked a few things
>first with the wireless card and WZC to make sure everything was working.
>Then I remembered a snippet from the www.ezlan.net website about WEP pass
>phrases not working because wireless hardware from different manufacturers
>could resolve the same ASCII phrase into different HEX strings. Your
>comments about the compatibility between the laptop hardware and my router
>made me think of this possibility.
>
>If you remember I was using WEP encryption. And my pass phrase was indeed
>an ASCII string. So as a test I reconfigured my router to use a HEX pass
>phrase. After resetting the router and configuring the laptop's network
>connection with the new HEX key I got instant connectivity.
>
>As a final note I changed my encryption to WPA-PSK per Barb's
>recommendation. The reconfiguration of the laptop went smoothly and my
>connectivity is still perfect.
>
>thanks for your help-
>Riccardo
>
>"Jack (MVP-Networking)." wrote:
>
>> Hi
>> Hi
>> What you referred to as an Antenna is actually called Wireless Network Card
>> (the Antenna is a little part of the card).
>> This page describe a way to make sure that the cards are working correctly.
>> http://www.ezlan.net/wireless.html
>> In addition European card can be configured to Wireless channels that are
>> not available in the USA.
>> Make sure that the card is set to the channel that your Wireless router with
>> at.
>> Jack (MVP-Networking).
>>
>>
>> "Rick_NJ" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:3B6BBF04-0E98-4B45-8BC5-(E-Mail Removed)...
>> > Greetings and apologies if this issue has been answered before - I have
>> > scoured the Expert Zone newsgroups for a solution and haven't found one.
>> > My
>> > basic problem is I'm unfamiliar with the wireless antennas inside XP
>> > laptops
>> > and how they are used to connect to wireless home networks. It seems
>> > simple
>> > enough but I can't get connectivity.
>> >
>> > I have a D-Link 624 router and I use WEP encryption. I have 3 desktops and
>> > 1
>> > laptop on this network, using D-Link wireless antennas in each. A fourth
>> > desktop running Vista is my "main" machine connected to the router where I
>> > configure its settings.
>> >
>> > We employ Au Pairs from Europe who bring laptops with them and need
>> > internet
>> > connectivity. Their laptops always have internal wireless capability
>> > built-in (which I'm unfamiliar with). Our newest girl has a Sony VAIO
>> > laptop
>> > running XP. I can't get her machine on my network. I "view" the wireless
>> > networks from her machine and can see my network. I highlight it and click
>> > "connect". It asks me for the WEP key which I enter. A dialogue box
>> > appears
>> > as it tries to connect. This lasts for 30 seconds or so, then the box
>> > disappears and I'm not connected. There is no error message. I have made
>> > sure I'm typing the key in correctly. I've tried this several times with
>> > no
>> > success.
>> >
>> > We had this same problem with our last Au Pair's laptop. A year ago when
>> > I
>> > was troubleshooting her issues, I tried disabling my router's security to
>> > make it easier to connect with it and that didn't work. I went so far as
>> > to
>> > try circumventing her internal antenna by installing my D-Link software
>> > and
>> > plugging the antenna from my laptop into her machine and that didn't work
>> > (although I now wonder if I needed to "turn off" her internal antenna and
>> > failed to do that?). I finally gave up and gave her a 50' CAT-5 cable
>> > connected to my router. We don't want to do this again for the new girl.
>> > We
>> > want her on our network wirelessly.
>> >
>> > Any ideas would be appreciated!
>> > thanks, Riccardo
>>
>>
--

Barb Bowman
MS Windows-MVP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/e...ts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/