Michel S. <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:
>You are right : I mean all "critical updates" PLUS Hotfix KB893357
>(which takes care of WPA2 and is not considered critical) applied. I
>used the expression because WMP11, IE7 and .NET framework are not
>"patches" IMHO.
I usually install literally everything. It sometime gets me into
trouble, especially when it offers a new device driver, but usually
works better than when an update is missing.
Incidentally, I also see far too many failed updates, where the update
is downloaded, but didn't install correctly. This usually requires
manual corrective action (hacking and cursing) and is not corrected by
Windoze update. I use Belarc Advisor (free) at:
<http://www.belarc.com>
which lists updated downloaded, installed, and missing. I've fixed
quite a few W2K and XP problems by simply re-downloading and
re-installing the update.
>The HP updated drivers weren't used at all.
Good, because they're usually a month or two behind the development
curve. With the newly re-written wireless stack in Vista, many
previously un-addressed wireless driver and connection manager related
issues seem to be appearing. In an effort to keep XP and Vista
synchronized, many driver writers are using this as an opertunity to
update their XP drivers at the same time as their Vista driver.
>> Both Wireless Zero Config and Proset have some kind of setting for
>> each connection profile that declares it to be a "connect
>> automatically". What happens if you have more than one of these set
>> is that when the client scans for available access points, it will
>> select the one that is nearest the top of the list of connection
>> profiles. It can easily be the wrong one.
>
>In the case of WZC, it will not even find the right one if the SSID
>broadcast is disabled. To make sure it was not the case with Intel's
>software, we tried with both SSID broadcast enabled and disabled.
Old bugs seem to return. Both WZC, Proset, and probably a bunch of
others will not detect access points that don't broadcast their SSID.
Incidentally, some of Netgear client managers will detect
non-broadcasting AP's. Last time I checked, both WZC and Proset will
connect to AP's that don't broacast, if you supply the correct SSID.
However, there were bugs in the past with this feature. I vaguely
recall that one of them is that the client would connect to a
non-broadcasting AP, but it would not roam or re-connect.
>(Even if many say that disabling SSID broadcast gives no additional
>security, I think that hiding it from the "average neighbour" will keep
>them away from any temptation to use or tamper with the AP).
They will accidentally land on your RF channel because they can't
"see" your system.
>This is the only connexion configured in the profiles list and it is
>set to automatically reconnect.
Good. Also, in Proset, there's a setting somewhere for how
aggressively the client should try to reconnect. It think it's under
roaming settings. It has a side effect of causing constant
connect/reconnect cycles if too aggressive in finding a better access
point, and seems to have an affect on connecting coming out of
hibernation. Sorry, I don't have a machine with Proset handy.
>Knowing my friend's patience, I'm sure he doesn't wait more than 45
>seconds before giving up.. ;-)
It was weird. Unfortunately, I never bothered to time how long or
investigate the cause. On boot, the laptop would boot normally in
about 90 seconds. All the multitude of programs that want to check
for updates would lurk silently in the background, waiting for the
internet connection. It was very obvious when it would finally
connect as the machine came to almost a halt as all these programs
would almost simultaneously either announce their intentions or beg
for comfirmation. What was suprising was how long it would take. My
guess is 5-7 minutes. I sometimes got impatient and would use WZC to
"view available networks" and connect manually. As I recall, that
would only take a few seconds (although the scan for networks was slow
when faced with a large number of access points).
>Any idea why it is like this at bootup but not when coming out of sleep
>mode (which takes only about 7-10 seconds to reconnect) ?
No, but I have a bad guess. Coming out of sleep mode, it probably
asks for a DHCP renewal. If it's less than 24 hours since the lease
was originally issued, it will probably get the lease the first time,
every time. However, when it requests a new lease, which may be a
problem if the AP thinks it previously had issued one. My guess is
that it's probing the network, looking for other devices that may
represent a duplicated IP, and only after some timeout, elects to
issue a new lease.
However, you seem to be having problems with the initial association
on boot, not the subsequent authentication or DHCP. Proset has some
diagnostic logging built in. Try using the logs and see where the
delays are buried.
Also, WZC has debugging and logging. See:
<http://www.microsoft.com/technet/network/wifi/wlansupp.mspx>
You may not be able to decode what's going on in the driver or WZC,
but you can see by the date/time stamps, where the delays are buried.
>a) do you think the 9.0.4.36 driver would make any difference over the
>current 9.0.4.33 ?
I don't know. Without a bug list, it's difficult to determine. I
always like the latest drivers. New bugs are far more entertaining
than old bugs.
>b) if the longest bootup connect time was noticed only since the ProSet
>11.1 - would it be a "good" idea to try installing the pre-11.1
>software but leave the "latest" (current) drivers ?
No, stay with the latest and save the stuff that will make a mess of
the registry for last. Most driver and application writers do not
test for downward revisions. Methinks you're asking for problems.
>Thanks again !!
--
Jeff Liebermann
(E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D
http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060
http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
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