DHCP/WPA-PSK problems persist, and post-login connection drop

Hi,

Half of my wireless problems have been solved! With the release of the new
firmware for my Linksys WRT54G, I no longer have bizarre disconnections and
signal losses (when the wireless part of the router seemed to simply go to
sleep).

Two issues remain, however. As I have posted in earlier messages to this
group, there still appear to be problems using DHCP in combination with
WPA-PSK encryption. The DHCP service works intermittently, sometime
obtaining an IP address after a few seconds delay, sometimes failing
all-together to get an address and instead using a 169.254.xxx.xxx default
address. This problem is particularly annoying when logging on to a domain,
as the client machine will not see the domain at all during login. There
are often numerous event log messages (from the tcpip and DHCP services)
indicating problems following a reboot and attempt at login. Even after
passing through login, there are occasionally problems getting DHCP to
assign an address if the device is disabled/re-enabled or even if one tries
to "repair" the connection. The same 169.254.xxx.xxx problem can result.

I am using the Microsoft WZC as my WPA supplicant. Others who have
responded to my earlier posts have indicated that this behaviour does not
occur when using the Funk supplicant. I therefore conclude that the problem
is likely related to the WPA patch to the WZC. I note that this patch was
released in March 2003. Isn't it time for Microsoft to update this product
in light of several months of real world experience, now that WPA-capable
products are on the market?

The second problem occurs after login, assuming a successful connection has
been established. A few minutes after logging in, the connection will drop
and the "One or more wireless networks is available" bubble will come up.
After reconnecting, the network then seems stable. This problem also occurs
if the login to the wireless machine is done via XP's remote desktop
connection. In that case, the connection will drop and after about 3
minutes, re-establish itself.

Are others still experiencing these problems with WPA?

Is Microsoft listening and addressing these issues?

Regards,

Peter

Hmmm... maybe the router is partially to blame. I was just looking at the
system event log and there are lots of the following entries that appear
every 10 minutes or so:

"The system detected that network adapter
\DEVICE\TCPIP_{FEEBB758-4B63-45A3-B406-XXXXXXXXXXXX} was connected to the
network, and has initiated normal operation over the network adapter."

After many of these entries, the following appears:

"Your computer was not able to renew its address from the network (from the
DHCP Server) for the Network Card with network address 0006XXXXXXXX. The
following error occurred:
The semaphore timeout period has expired. . Your computer will continue to
try and obtain an address on its own from the network address (DHCP)
server."

And then:

"Your computer has automatically configured the IP address for the Network
Card with network address 0006XXXXXXXX. The IP address being used is
169.254.57.84."

After that, I have to manually choose the router in order to re-connect.

-Yves

"Peter" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:ghSmb.585$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi,
>
> Half of my wireless problems have been solved! With the release of the
new
> firmware for my Linksys WRT54G, I no longer have bizarre disconnections
and
> signal losses (when the wireless part of the router seemed to simply go to
> sleep).
>
> Two issues remain, however. As I have posted in earlier messages to this
> group, there still appear to be problems using DHCP in combination with
> WPA-PSK encryption. The DHCP service works intermittently, sometime
> obtaining an IP address after a few seconds delay, sometimes failing
> all-together to get an address and instead using a 169.254.xxx.xxx default
> address. This problem is particularly annoying when logging on to a
domain,
> as the client machine will not see the domain at all during login. There
> are often numerous event log messages (from the tcpip and DHCP services)
> indicating problems following a reboot and attempt at login. Even after
> passing through login, there are occasionally problems getting DHCP to
> assign an address if the device is disabled/re-enabled or even if one
tries
> to "repair" the connection. The same 169.254.xxx.xxx problem can result.
>
> I am using the Microsoft WZC as my WPA supplicant. Others who have
> responded to my earlier posts have indicated that this behaviour does not
> occur when using the Funk supplicant. I therefore conclude that the
problem
> is likely related to the WPA patch to the WZC. I note that this patch was
> released in March 2003. Isn't it time for Microsoft to update this
product
> in light of several months of real world experience, now that WPA-capable
> products are on the market?
>
> The second problem occurs after login, assuming a successful connection
has
> been established. A few minutes after logging in, the connection will
drop
> and the "One or more wireless networks is available" bubble will come up.
> After reconnecting, the network then seems stable. This problem also
occurs
> if the login to the wireless machine is done via XP's remote desktop
> connection. In that case, the connection will drop and after about 3
> minutes, re-establish itself.
>
> Are others still experiencing these problems with WPA?
>
> Is Microsoft listening and addressing these issues?
>
> Regards,
>
> Peter
>
>