Foreign network appearing on my laptop - please help

I have setup my wireless network on Belkin cable router/access point and it
works fine. DHCP and SSID off and using WEP 128.

Occassionally, it reports another network available and chops my connection
off and the only way I can get mine to work again is by turning SSID on and
reconfiguring. I can connect to this 'other' network and then it goes off
halfway through.

It seems to me that this someone has SSID turned on and powers it up to use
it then at some stage powers it down.

How can I find out where it is and ask this 'irritation' to turnhis SSID
off. How can I ensure he/she does not interfere or drop my wireless
connection.

Thanks in advance, Paul

Guy de Bossy wrote:

> I have setup my wireless network on Belkin cable router/access point
> and it works fine. DHCP and SSID off and using WEP 128.
>
> Occassionally, it reports another network available and chops my
> connection off and the only way I can get mine to work again is by
> turning SSID on and reconfiguring. I can connect to this 'other'
> network and then it goes off halfway through.
>
> It seems to me that this someone has SSID turned on and powers it up
> to use it then at some stage powers it down.
>
> How can I find out where it is and ask this 'irritation' to turnhis
> SSID off. How can I ensure he/she does not interfere or drop my
> wireless connection.
>
> Thanks in advance, Paul

You should enable your own SSID since disabling it provides you with no
security. Then configure your wireless client to only connect to
preferred networks, putting your own in "preferred". Here are links to
help you:

Wireless - Basic Configuration -
http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Config.html

Wireless - Basic Security - http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Security.html

MVP Barb Bowman on wireless security - http://tinyurl.com/56fc5

The six dumbest ways to secure a wireless LAN -
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/index.php?p=43

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

Thanks for your reply and I got everything working. Only one problems now -
now Internet explorer will not get any pages.

I get the following error "Server not found or DNS server error" All the
settings are exactly same as saturday when everything was functioning.

Any thought before I mess anything up!! Thanks, Paul
"Malke" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Guy de Bossy wrote:
>
> > I have setup my wireless network on Belkin cable router/access point
> > and it works fine. DHCP and SSID off and using WEP 128.
> >
> > Occassionally, it reports another network available and chops my
> > connection off and the only way I can get mine to work again is by
> > turning SSID on and reconfiguring. I can connect to this 'other'
> > network and then it goes off halfway through.
> >
> > It seems to me that this someone has SSID turned on and powers it up
> > to use it then at some stage powers it down.
> >
> > How can I find out where it is and ask this 'irritation' to turnhis
> > SSID off. How can I ensure he/she does not interfere or drop my
> > wireless connection.
> >
> > Thanks in advance, Paul
>
> You should enable your own SSID since disabling it provides you with no
> security. Then configure your wireless client to only connect to
> preferred networks, putting your own in "preferred". Here are links to
> help you:
>
> Wireless - Basic Configuration -
> http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Config.html
>
> Wireless - Basic Security - http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Security.html
>
> MVP Barb Bowman on wireless security - http://tinyurl.com/56fc5
>
> The six dumbest ways to secure a wireless LAN -
> http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/index.php?p=43
>
> Malke
> --
> Elephant Boy Computers
> www.elephantboycomputers.com
> "Don't Panic!"
> MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

Guy de Bossy wrote:

> Thanks for your reply and I got everything working. Only one problems
> now - now Internet explorer will not get any pages.
>
> I get the following error "Server not found or DNS server error" All
> the settings are exactly same as saturday when everything was
> functioning.
>
> Any thought before I mess anything up!! Thanks, Paul
> "Malke" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...

>> Wireless - Basic Configuration -
>> http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Config.html
>>
>> Wireless - Basic Security -
>> http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Security.html
>>
>> MVP Barb Bowman on wireless security - http://tinyurl.com/56fc5
>>
>> The six dumbest ways to secure a wireless LAN -
>> http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/index.php?p=43
>>

You've still got something set up wrong. If it was working Saturday, it
was working because you were connecting to someone else's router and
you were getting DNS from *their* router. In addition to the
information at the links I gave you (I left them in above for your
convenience), run through the general setup here:

Wireless Network Setup Wizard SP2
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/com...uy/cg0604.mspx

I recently had a problem with my laptop not being able to get DNS after
being out of town. I simply put some preferred DNS servers in the
Network properties (instead of getting DNS from the router) and that
took care of it. You would get the DNS server adddresses from your ISP.
However, try running through the wireless network setup above first.

Malke
--
MS-MVP Windows User/Shell
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic"

"Malke" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Guy de Bossy wrote:
>
> > Thanks for your reply and I got everything working. Only one problems
> > now - now Internet explorer will not get any pages.
> >
> > I get the following error "Server not found or DNS server error" All
> > the settings are exactly same as saturday when everything was
> > functioning.
> >
> > Any thought before I mess anything up!! Thanks, Paul
> > "Malke" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> >> Wireless - Basic Configuration -
> >> http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Config.html
> >>
> >> Wireless - Basic Security -
> >> http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Security.html
> >>
> >> MVP Barb Bowman on wireless security - http://tinyurl.com/56fc5
> >>
> >> The six dumbest ways to secure a wireless LAN -
> >> http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/index.php?p=43
> >>
>
> You've still got something set up wrong. If it was working Saturday, it
> was working because you were connecting to someone else's router and
> you were getting DNS from *their* router. In addition to the
> information at the links I gave you (I left them in above for your
> convenience), run through the general setup here:
>
> Wireless Network Setup Wizard SP2
> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/com...uy/cg0604.mspx
>
> I recently had a problem with my laptop not being able to get DNS after
> being out of town. I simply put some preferred DNS servers in the
> Network properties (instead of getting DNS from the router) and that
> took care of it. You would get the DNS server adddresses from your ISP.
> However, try running through the wireless network setup above first.
>
> Malke
> --
> MS-MVP Windows User/Shell
> Elephant Boy Computers
> www.elephantboycomputers.com
> "Don't Panic"

I didn't see the start of this, but it reminds me of an issue I ran into a
while back with a SMC 7004AWBR router --- Comcast uses DHCP
to hand out the DNS addresses (at least in our area). The SMC router
would not forward DNS requests unless the DHCP server was turned
on in the router (I use static IP's in the house for kid filtering ... ).
Took
me a while to figure that one out and it was one comment in a version log
for the firmware for the router where it said something like "enabled DNS
forwarding" or something. Just one of those little things that drives you
crazy (for some of us it is a short drive).

mikey