Problems Aquiring Network Address

I Have a 3Com Wireless ADSL Router (3CRWE754G72-A) which is set up as a DHCP
Server. I have 3 wireless laptops, all fitted with 3Com Wireless 11g PC
Cards but only one of them consistently connects to the network. The other 2
can see the wireless network, but sit there saying "Aquiring Network
Address". The only way I can overcome this is to re-start the Router and hey
presto they all work, until they are switched off. When re-started they just
sit there waiting for an IP Address! Both the Router and the PC Cards have
the latest firmware and drivers. I have checked the settings in all the PC's
and as far as I can see they are all the same. All PC's are XP and fully
upto date. Can anyone help as this is driving me bonkers...

I have a similar set-up and suffer from the same problems. Re-starting the
router gets it to re-offer IP addresses, but this is not a fix. I would be
interested to see if anyone has a solution, is a 3Com problem, or XP?

"ChrisW" wrote:

> I Have a 3Com Wireless ADSL Router (3CRWE754G72-A) which is set up as a DHCP
> Server. I have 3 wireless laptops, all fitted with 3Com Wireless 11g PC
> Cards but only one of them consistently connects to the network. The other 2
> can see the wireless network, but sit there saying "Aquiring Network
> Address". The only way I can overcome this is to re-start the Router and hey
> presto they all work, until they are switched off. When re-started they just
> sit there waiting for an IP Address! Both the Router and the PC Cards have
> the latest firmware and drivers. I have checked the settings in all the PC's
> and as far as I can see they are all the same. All PC's are XP and fully
> upto date. Can anyone help as this is driving me bonkers...

Clarke, you a quite correct, there is a lot of chat not only in this this
newsgroup but also in others...relating to similar problems aquiring IP
Address's, but I haven't seen a post that says changing the Router for a
different 3Com model fixes the problem, in fact I haven't seen any posts at
all with a fix!

In addition to the 3 laptop's I have a Desktop with a Belkin 54g wireless
card and that one always seeems to work fine. One of the laptops generally
works OK, the other two are very iffy. The addition of another client doesn't
knock another one off, as once you have the IP Address you seem to be OK
until you turn off that laptop, or take it out of range...

Just as SteveJ said the only fix I can find is to re-start the router! I
have tried swapping the 3Com PC cards around, no difference, I have enough
address's the router is set up for 192.168.1.2 > 192.168.1.254. The laptops
always detect the wireless network, with a very good / excellent signal
reception...but just sit there forever "Aquiring Network Address" I am
fitting a Belkin 54g card into another XP Desktop tonight, so I'll see if
that suffers from the same problems....

I haven't tried Static address's yet, that will be my last resort, apart
from buying another Router!

"Clark" wrote:

> Well, I may not be remembering this correctly, but there was one device like
> yours, that had such a problem and you have to get a different series
> Router to make it stop. I think the problem presented itself by a new
> addition to the wireless network, would knock off someone already connected.
>
> If that isn't it, does one computer at a time work normally? Can you change
> the cards around and have the problem move with the cards?
>
> Do you have enough addresses available for the 3 devices? Have you tried
> giving them static addresses?
>
> Clark
>
> "SteveJ" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:818C1203-84E8-499F-9E89-(E-Mail Removed)...
> >I have a similar set-up and suffer from the same problems. Re-starting the
> > router gets it to re-offer IP addresses, but this is not a fix. I would
> > be
> > interested to see if anyone has a solution, is a 3Com problem, or XP?
> >
> > "ChrisW" wrote:
> >
> >> I Have a 3Com Wireless ADSL Router (3CRWE754G72-A) which is set up as a
> >> DHCP
> >> Server. I have 3 wireless laptops, all fitted with 3Com Wireless 11g PC
> >> Cards but only one of them consistently connects to the network. The
> >> other 2
> >> can see the wireless network, but sit there saying "Aquiring Network
> >> Address". The only way I can overcome this is to re-start the Router and
> >> hey
> >> presto they all work, until they are switched off. When re-started they
> >> just
> >> sit there waiting for an IP Address! Both the Router and the PC Cards
> >> have
> >> the latest firmware and drivers. I have checked the settings in all the
> >> PC's
> >> and as far as I can see they are all the same. All PC's are XP and fully
> >> upto date. Can anyone help as this is driving me bonkers...
>
>
>

"ChrisW" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:7546628B-9DAA-4F86-B456-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Clarke, you a quite correct, there is a lot of chat not only in this this
> newsgroup but also in others...relating to similar problems aquiring IP
> Address's, but I haven't seen a post that says changing the Router for a
> different 3Com model fixes the problem, in fact I haven't seen any posts
> at
> all with a fix!
>
> In addition to the 3 laptop's I have a Desktop with a Belkin 54g wireless
> card and that one always seeems to work fine. One of the laptops
> generally
> works OK, the other two are very iffy. The addition of another client
> doesn't
> knock another one off, as once you have the IP Address you seem to be OK
> until you turn off that laptop, or take it out of range...
>
> Just as SteveJ said the only fix I can find is to re-start the router! I
> have tried swapping the 3Com PC cards around, no difference, I have enough
> address's the router is set up for 192.168.1.2 > 192.168.1.254. The
> laptops
> always detect the wireless network, with a very good / excellent signal
> reception...but just sit there forever "Aquiring Network Address" I am
> fitting a Belkin 54g card into another XP Desktop tonight, so I'll see if
> that suffers from the same problems....
>
> I haven't tried Static address's yet, that will be my last resort, apart
> from buying another Router!
>

Static addressing won't work either; I've been there. The 3Com 3CRWE754G-72
is not capable of reliably supporting more than one wireless client at a
time. Their advertising might say up to 256 (I think) but reality is
different.

I shelved mine and got a Draytek. Much better and loaded with features, it
still has the odd wireless hiccup but if it gets into difficulty it reboots
automatically. Which takes about 5 seconds, as opposed to maybe 1 minute
with the 3Com, and even then as you have found out the problem may still not
be resolved.

HTH

Thanks for that Liam. I am now talking to 3Com Customer support. If and
when they come up with a solution I'll post their response, but I fear you
are correct, scrap the 3Com unit and buy another make. More expense!

I assume that you are the same Liam that posted 5/30/2005 on the 3Com
Officeconnect ADSL wireless router?

"Liam" wrote:

>
> "ChrisW" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:7546628B-9DAA-4F86-B456-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Clarke, you a quite correct, there is a lot of chat not only in this this
> > newsgroup but also in others...relating to similar problems aquiring IP
> > Address's, but I haven't seen a post that says changing the Router for a
> > different 3Com model fixes the problem, in fact I haven't seen any posts
> > at
> > all with a fix!
> >
> > In addition to the 3 laptop's I have a Desktop with a Belkin 54g wireless
> > card and that one always seeems to work fine. One of the laptops
> > generally
> > works OK, the other two are very iffy. The addition of another client
> > doesn't
> > knock another one off, as once you have the IP Address you seem to be OK
> > until you turn off that laptop, or take it out of range...
> >
> > Just as SteveJ said the only fix I can find is to re-start the router! I
> > have tried swapping the 3Com PC cards around, no difference, I have enough
> > address's the router is set up for 192.168.1.2 > 192.168.1.254. The
> > laptops
> > always detect the wireless network, with a very good / excellent signal
> > reception...but just sit there forever "Aquiring Network Address" I am
> > fitting a Belkin 54g card into another XP Desktop tonight, so I'll see if
> > that suffers from the same problems....
> >
> > I haven't tried Static address's yet, that will be my last resort, apart
> > from buying another Router!
> >
>
> Static addressing won't work either; I've been there. The 3Com 3CRWE754G-72
> is not capable of reliably supporting more than one wireless client at a
> time. Their advertising might say up to 256 (I think) but reality is
> different.
>
> I shelved mine and got a Draytek. Much better and loaded with features, it
> still has the odd wireless hiccup but if it gets into difficulty it reboots
> automatically. Which takes about 5 seconds, as opposed to maybe 1 minute
> with the 3Com, and even then as you have found out the problem may still not
> be resolved.
>
> HTH
>
>
>

"ChrisW" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:91488BE4-43DE-41F5-A32E-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Thanks for that Liam. I am now talking to 3Com Customer support. If and
> when they come up with a solution I'll post their response, but I fear you
> are correct, scrap the 3Com unit and buy another make. More expense!
>
> I assume that you are the same Liam that posted 5/30/2005 on the 3Com
> Officeconnect ADSL wireless router?
>

Hi Chris,

Yes that's me. At the time I along with the OP Geoff tried various firmwares
but none were any good. The conclusion was as I said, the 3Com wireless
implementation is just not up to the job. I think most consumer grade
wireless routers are far from perfect, but the Draytek Vigor 2600G that I am
using now is much more reliable and is the best of the bunch. It is widely
used commercially for it's reliability and features. I won't be buying
anything else from 3Com, that is for sure. Incidentally mine is still less
than a year old, so I may follow up on it.

Regards,

Liam