connected but not connecting

hi all,
first many thanks to everyone who is taking time out of their day to
help me out with my problem. i'm new here so i'll try to be as specific
as possible without overloading you.

so the problem: i am on a desktop pc with a wireless
card/band/antenna/whatever that allows me to get wireless. i see the
signal i want, i connect to the signal. i get the computer in my
notification area in the lower right hand corner. computer says i'm
connected.
only, i'm not, or i am, but not enough. i open up firefox and all i get
are 'server not found' pages. i know i'm connected somehow, through a
program i'm running i can see that i'm uploading files over the
internet, BUT NOT downloading.

what's bizarre is that this problem is intermittent at best. sometimes
the computer will say i'm connected and i surf the web at lightning
speeds (as now). other times it says i'm good to go when i can't get
past 'server not found'. there is no rhyme or reason to when it decides
i can/can't use the internet. and it always says that i'm fine.

another odd thing is that this problem is sometimes ( and always
temporarily) fixed one of three ways: (1) using the 'repair' tool from
the wireless icon. (2) restarting the DHCP Client. or (3) restarting teh
computer. on occasion this allows me access to the internet, but it is
not permanent, anywhere from 10 minutes to hours later it will quite on
me again.

Product details: now, i have a "linksys instant wireless-B PCI adapter"
for my dell desktop. I got it quite some time ago (~4years) and am
getting the signal from a "2-Wire Gateway 2701 HG-D". uhh, we have qwest
for our dsl provider.

any ideas? i don't think of myself as computer illiterate, but this one
really has me stumped, i've done everything i can think of to fix it but
it hangs around. if anyone has any suggestions or needs more info please
please please respond. i don't know how much longer i have.. ...
ahhh.
many thanks to any and all.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
View this thread: http://www.wirelessforums.org/showthread.php?t=32005
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mofomoser wrote:
> hi all,
> first many thanks to everyone who is taking time out of their day to
> help me out with my problem. i'm new here so i'll try to be as specific
> as possible without overloading you.
>
> so the problem: i am on a desktop pc with a wireless
> card/band/antenna/whatever that allows me to get wireless. i see the
> signal i want, i connect to the signal. i get the computer in my
> notification area in the lower right hand corner. computer says i'm
> connected.
> only, i'm not, or i am, but not enough. i open up firefox and all i get
> are 'server not found' pages. i know i'm connected somehow, through a
> program i'm running i can see that i'm uploading files over the
> internet, BUT NOT downloading.
>
> what's bizarre is that this problem is intermittent at best. sometimes
> the computer will say i'm connected and i surf the web at lightning
> speeds (as now). other times it says i'm good to go when i can't get
> past 'server not found'. there is no rhyme or reason to when it decides
> i can/can't use the internet. and it always says that i'm fine.
>
> another odd thing is that this problem is sometimes ( and always
> temporarily) fixed one of three ways: (1) using the 'repair' tool from
> the wireless icon. (2) restarting the DHCP Client. or (3) restarting teh
> computer. on occasion this allows me access to the internet, but it is
> not permanent, anywhere from 10 minutes to hours later it will quite on
> me again.
>
> Product details: now, i have a "linksys instant wireless-B PCI adapter"
> for my dell desktop. I got it quite some time ago (~4years) and am
> getting the signal from a "2-Wire Gateway 2701 HG-D". uhh, we have qwest
> for our dsl provider.
>
> any ideas? i don't think of myself as computer illiterate, but this one
> really has me stumped, i've done everything i can think of to fix it but
> it hangs around. if anyone has any suggestions or needs more info please
> please please respond. i don't know how much longer i have.. ...
> ahhh.
> many thanks to any and all.
>
>

Open up the admin page for the router. Look for the diagnostic utility
tools and run those...Could be your DSL (lights on DSL modem all OK?) or
a bad router or a bad client card.

For now, you are not concerned with fixing the problem, in part,
because you still don't know what the problem is. And to get anything
but speculation, provide specific facts (data).

Some of the tools to learn what is happening start with a simplest
utility: Ping. From Command Prompt (probably found in
Start>Accessory), execute the ping program by entering:
PING 192.168.1.1

If the server inside your router or gateway has that IP address,
then the wireless connection with get three echo replies from the
gateway. Another possible address might be 192.168.0.1.

Once that ping works, then setup ping to work constantly:
PING -t 192.168.x.1

So what happens when you have and have not internet access? Does
Ping also stop working?

Another program is IPCONFIG. What is the IP Address of your
computer when connections do and do not exist? Does the IP Address
remain intact? What happens to the Subnet Mask and Default Gateway?

Meanwhile go see what the server inside the router / gateway
reports. Having established its IP Address, then enter that IP number
as the address in Internet Explorer (or Firefox). The server should
provide numerous important information such as signal strength of
DSL. Does that signal strength low during dropouts? Also look at the
DHCP server inside the Gateway. Is the IP address for your computer
assigned? The server will (should) be full of useful facts that again
tell you what is happening AND may also report useful facts when data
is lost.

For example, how many errors (retransmissions) are performed? Just
another useful status fact. Most important to get useful replies
means posting these numbers and trapping unexplained anomalies. Your
replies will only be as useful as the information you provide. Using
such facts, we must first zero in on the problem. Repair (solution)
occurs after the suspect has been identified.

On Nov 12, 4:21 pm, mofomoser <mofomoser.2zy...@no-
mx.wirelessforums.org> wrote:
> ...
> so the problem: i am on a desktop pc with a wireless
> card/band/antenna/whatever that allows me to get wireless. i see the
> signal i want, i connect to the signal. i get the computer in my
> notification area in the lower right hand corner. computer says i'm
> connected.
> only, i'm not, or i am, but not enough. i open up firefox and all i get
> are 'server not found' pages. i know i'm connected somehow, through a
> program i'm running i can see that i'm uploading files over the
> internet, BUT NOT downloading.
>
> what's bizarre is that this problem is intermittent at best. sometimes
> the computer will say i'm connected and i surf the web at lightning
> speeds (as now). other times it says i'm good to go when i can't get
> past 'server not found'. there is no rhyme or reason to when it decides
> i can/can't use the internet. and it always says that i'm fine.
>
> another odd thing is that this problem is sometimes ( and always
> temporarily) fixed one of three ways: (1) using the 'repair' tool from
> the wireless icon. (2) restarting the DHCP Client. or (3) restarting teh
> computer. ...