Can't see wireless router (2nd try)

My computer can't see my Orange mini Livebox wireless router even though
security is set to none. The router is normally next to the computer but I
have also tried it several feet away with the same result. My Laptop will
connect OK to Broadband via this router. Any ideas why and how to resolve
this please?

Thanks.

Bill Ridgeway

Bill Ridgeway wrote:
> My computer can't see my Orange mini Livebox wireless router even though
> security is set to none. The router is normally next to the computer but I
> have also tried it several feet away with the same result. My Laptop will
> connect OK to Broadband via this router. Any ideas why and how to resolve
> this please?

Cable it.

--
Adrian C

"Adrian C" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Bill Ridgeway wrote:
>> My computer can't see my Orange mini Livebox wireless router even though
>> security is set to none. The router is normally next to the computer but
>> I have also tried it several feet away with the same result. My Laptop
>> will connect OK to Broadband via this router. Any ideas why and how to
>> resolve this please?
>
> Cable it.


That will work - until the router has to be relocated to another part of the
house.

Bill Ridgeway

Bill Ridgeway wrote:
> My computer can't see my Orange mini Livebox wireless router even
> though security is set to none. The router is normally next to the
> computer but I have also tried it several feet away with the same
> result. My Laptop will connect OK to Broadband via this router. Any
> ideas why and how to resolve this please?

Have you turned off the SSID in the router? It may be that it's just not
broadcasting its ID.

Tim

"Tim Downie" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Bill Ridgeway wrote:
>> My computer can't see my Orange mini Livebox wireless router even
>> though security is set to none. The router is normally next to the
>> computer but I have also tried it several feet away with the same
>> result. My Laptop will connect OK to Broadband via this router. Any
>> ideas why and how to resolve this please?
>
> Have you turned off the SSID in the router? It may be that it's just not
> broadcasting its ID.
>
> Tim

Thanks Tim,

I can connect my laptop wirelessly through the router so the Laptop / Router
/ Brodband 'circuit' is proved. It's the Desktop / Router / Broadband
'circuit' (even with security off) that is proving difficult.

Bill Ridgeway

Bill Ridgeway wrote:
> "Tim Downie" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Bill Ridgeway wrote:
>>> My computer can't see my Orange mini Livebox wireless router even
>>> though security is set to none. The router is normally next to the
>>> computer but I have also tried it several feet away with the same
>>> result. My Laptop will connect OK to Broadband via this router. Any
>>> ideas why and how to resolve this please?
>>
>> Have you turned off the SSID in the router? It may be that it's
>> just not broadcasting its ID.
>>
>> Tim
>
> Thanks Tim,
>
> I can connect my laptop wirelessly through the router so the Laptop /
> Router / Brodband 'circuit' is proved. It's the Desktop / Router /
> Broadband 'circuit' (even with security off) that is proving
> difficult.

That's what I understood. What I thought you might have done (after having
set up you latop sometime in the past) is turned off the SSID broadcast. If
you do that, your laptop will still connect but your PC won't "see" the
router.

What I don't know is whether it's possible or not to connect without
"seeing" the router SSID. Of course, if your laptop displays the router's
network name then that's not the problem.

Could be problems with you PC wireless card or card drivers.

Tim

"Tim Downie" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Bill Ridgeway wrote:
>> My computer can't see my Orange mini Livebox wireless router even
>> though security is set to none. The router is normally next to the
>> computer but I have also tried it several feet away with the same
>> result. My Laptop will connect OK to Broadband via this router. Any
>> ideas why and how to resolve this please?
>
> Have you turned off the SSID in the router? It may be that it's just not
> broadcasting its ID.
>
> Tim


Thanks Tim. The SSID appears on the list on the Laptop.

Bill Ridgeway

>> "Tim Downie" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> Bill Ridgeway wrote:
>>>> My computer can't see my Orange mini Livebox wireless router even
>>>> though security is set to none. The router is normally next to the
>>>> computer but I have also tried it several feet away with the same
>>>> result. My Laptop will connect OK to Broadband via this router. Any
>>>> ideas why and how to resolve this please?
>>>
>>> Have you turned off the SSID in the router? It may be that it's
>>> just not broadcasting its ID.
>>>
>>> Tim
>>
>> Thanks Tim,
>>
>> I can connect my laptop wirelessly through the router so the Laptop /
>> Router / Brodband 'circuit' is proved. It's the Desktop / Router /
>> Broadband 'circuit' (even with security off) that is proving
>> difficult.
>
> That's what I understood. What I thought you might have done (after
> having set up you latop sometime in the past) is turned off the SSID
> broadcast. If you do that, your laptop will still connect but your PC
> won't "see" the router.
>
> What I don't know is whether it's possible or not to connect without
> "seeing" the router SSID. Of course, if your laptop displays the router's
> network name then that's not the problem.
>
> Could be problems with you PC wireless card or card drivers.
>
> Tim

No problem with the PC wireless card. It works OK with my other wireless
router.

Bill Ridgeway

"Ato_Zee" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:vtlCl.245868$(E-Mail Removed)2...
>
>> I can connect my laptop wirelessly through the router so the Laptop /
>> Router
>> / Brodband 'circuit' is proved. It's the Desktop / Router / Broadband
>> 'circuit' (even with security off) that is proving difficult.
>
> Is it an IP domain problem?
> There are defaults of 10.xxx.xxx.xxx and 192.168.xxxx.xxx
> They don't mix well.

Thanks. Would you give more detail or a link(s) to information source.

Bill Ridgeway

"Ato_Zee" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:x8tCl.184319$(E-Mail Removed)2...
>
> On 6-Apr-2009, "Bill Ridgeway" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> > Is it an IP domain problem?
>> > There are defaults of 10.xxx.xxx.xxx and 192.168.xxxx.xxx
>> > They don't mix well.
>>
>> Thanks. Would you give more detail or a link(s) to information source.
>
> http://compnetworking.about.com/od/w...vateipaddr.htm
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_network
> In brief some routers come with one range of Private IP addresses (eg the
> 10.xxx.xxx.xxs range, others the 192.168.xxx.xxx range).
> Problems arise because DHCP allocates other devices on the network
> IP addresses in the routers domain.
> If say a laptop, or PC, has an IP address outside the range known to the
> routers LAN side, the router has an unresolvable problem, the new
> device (the router doesn't know it's wireless) has an IP address that
> the router can't handle.
> Routers DHCP ought to be able to allocate an IP address IF the
> device trying to connect wirelessly will accept the change, but from
> experience there can be problems.
> So the routers LAN side is 10.0.0.xxx, a wireless laptop or PC
> is 192.168.0.26, a connectivity problem.
> Try
> ipconfig /all > C:\ipconfig.txt
> on the working device then on the non-connecting one
> and compare the text files.
> Google for ipconfig for fuller instructions on how to use it.
> Windows comes with other diagnostic tools like
> pathping, ping, tracert
> these reveal how far a connect attempt gets and
> whether there is a DNS problem (in your case it
> doesn't look like a DNS problem).

In principle, if the computers are all set to "obtain IP address
automatically" and "Obtain DNS server address automatically" on their
wireless interfaces, then the problem described above should not arise.

If the computer runs Vista, its DCHP request may be incompatible with the
DHCP server in the router.

However, the problem you describe is that a particular computer does not
even see the wireless signal. Ordinarily, the computer would see the
signal, recognise that some sort of security was required, and ask you for
the necessary key - but in your case you've explained that security is
currently turned off. My point being that if the computer can't see the
wireless signal, then it can't begin the DHCP request - so the issue of what
IP address it has isn't yet relevant.

I am still troubled by the inconsistency you report, and believe that -
quite innocently - you might not be correctly reporting what is happening.
Are you completely sure that the laptop is communicating with your router,
and not another one elsewhere?

Do all the computers function correctly when connected by ethernet cable
directly to the router?

--
Graham J