Wireless network adaptor won't connect

On a Windows 98 SE PC, I've tried two different USB adaptors, a Belkin 54 G
and a Netgear WG111T, using the supplied software.

Neither will connect to the router, even though I've temporarily turned off
encryption to remove authentication from the problem. A laptop with a
built-in network adaptor can connect perfectly, so the router is OK. I've
even tried with the laptop in the same place as the USB device so I'm
comparing signal strength like-for-like.

The required network is the only strong signal and the only one on that
channel - I've chosen a channel that is several channels different from any
other network that is detectable.

The Belkin device shows the network (and sometimes a few neighbouring ones)
but gives cross symbol beside the network as soon as I highlight it and
press Connect. Sometimes the selected network disappears altogether from the
list of available networks as soon as I press Connect.

The Netgear device shows as a very weak signal (only 30%) even when the
router is brought right next to it. The data rate alternates between 1 Mbps
and not found.

Odd that two different network adaptors are both unable to connect.


I'm thinking that I may have to install an Ethernet card in the PC and
connect it by cable, which means moving the router and setting the other,
desktop PC (Win XP) to use the USB wireless device.




Martin Underwood

"Martin Underwood" <a@b> wrote in message
news:45c3c0a3$0$8753$(E-Mail Removed)...
> On a Windows 98 SE PC, I've tried two different USB adaptors, a Belkin 54
> G and a Netgear WG111T, using the supplied software.
>
> Neither will connect to the router, even though I've temporarily turned
> off encryption to remove authentication from the problem. A laptop with a
> built-in network adaptor can connect perfectly, so the router is OK. I've
> even tried with the laptop in the same place as the USB device so I'm
> comparing signal strength like-for-like.
>
> The required network is the only strong signal and the only one on that
> channel - I've chosen a channel that is several channels different from
> any other network that is detectable.
>
> The Belkin device shows the network (and sometimes a few neighbouring
> ones) but gives cross symbol beside the network as soon as I highlight it
> and press Connect. Sometimes the selected network disappears altogether
> from the list of available networks as soon as I press Connect.
>
> The Netgear device shows as a very weak signal (only 30%) even when the
> router is brought right next to it. The data rate alternates between 1
> Mbps and not found.
>
> Odd that two different network adaptors are both unable to connect.
>
>
> I'm thinking that I may have to install an Ethernet card in the PC and
> connect it by cable, which means moving the router and setting the other,
> desktop PC (Win XP) to use the USB wireless device.
>

just to confirm you're set for Infrastructure and no hidden SSID

"Martin Underwood" <a@b> wrote in message
news:45c3c0a3$0$8753$(E-Mail Removed)...
> On a Windows 98 SE PC, I've tried two different USB adaptors, a Belkin 54
> G and a Netgear WG111T, using the supplied software.
>
> Neither will connect to the router, even though I've temporarily turned
> off encryption to remove authentication from the problem. A laptop with a
> built-in network adaptor can connect perfectly, so the router is OK. I've
> even tried with the laptop in the same place as the USB device so I'm
> comparing signal strength like-for-like.
>
> The required network is the only strong signal and the only one on that
> channel - I've chosen a channel that is several channels different from
> any other network that is detectable.
>
> The Belkin device shows the network (and sometimes a few neighbouring
> ones) but gives cross symbol beside the network as soon as I highlight it
> and press Connect. Sometimes the selected network disappears altogether
> from the list of available networks as soon as I press Connect.
>
> The Netgear device shows as a very weak signal (only 30%) even when the
> router is brought right next to it. The data rate alternates between 1
> Mbps and not found.
>
> Odd that two different network adaptors are both unable to connect.
>
>
> I'm thinking that I may have to install an Ethernet card in the PC and
> connect it by cable, which means moving the router and setting the other,
> desktop PC (Win XP) to use the USB wireless device.
Check that your USB device and its software are explicitly Win98
compatible - many aren't.

I found Win98 often took ages to connect using a Belkin USB wireless device,
and could drop the connection randomly. Refreshing the connection sometimes
helped, but other times there seemed to be no connection for ages, then it
would connect after perhaps 20 minutes for no obvious reason.

Chris R

"ChrisR" <(E-Mail Removed) y.com.address>
wrote in message news:45c47d38$0$8750$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "Martin Underwood" <a@b> wrote in message
> news:45c3c0a3$0$8753$(E-Mail Removed)...
>> On a Windows 98 SE PC, I've tried two different USB adaptors, a Belkin 54
>> G and a Netgear WG111T, using the supplied software.
>>
>> Neither will connect to the router, even though I've temporarily turned
>> off encryption to remove authentication from the problem.

> Check that your USB device and its software are explicitly Win98
> compatible - many aren't.

The boxes of both of them list the supported operating systems and Windows
98 SE (actually written as "Windows SE"!) is one of them. I've set each of
the USB adaptors to Infrastructure mode.

The router is an Orange "Livebox". It's not set to hide the SSID - in fact I
don't remember seeing a configuration option to do this - anyway, the SSID
visible when the PC does a network scan. It's just that when you try to
connect to the network that's been found, it fails to do so or else the
network disappears from the list as I press "Connect".

I've had the same Netgear adaptor using the same software working on my own
Windows 98 (not SE) PC: the differences are a) the PC and b) the router.

Martin Underwood wrote:
> "ChrisR" <(E-Mail Removed) y.com.address>
> wrote in message
> news:45c47d38$0$8750$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>
>> "Martin Underwood" <a@b> wrote in message
>> news:45c3c0a3$0$8753$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> On a Windows 98 SE PC, I've tried two different USB adaptors, a Belkin
>>> 54
>>> G and a Netgear WG111T, using the supplied software.
>>>
>>> Neither will connect to the router, even though I've temporarily turned
>>> off encryption to remove authentication from the problem.
>
>> Check that your USB device and its software are explicitly Win98
>> compatible - many aren't.
>
> The boxes of both of them list the supported operating systems and Windows
> 98 SE (actually written as "Windows SE"!) is one of them. I've set each of
> the USB adaptors to Infrastructure mode.
>
> The router is an Orange "Livebox". It's not set to hide the SSID - in fact
> I
> don't remember seeing a configuration option to do this - anyway, the SSID
> visible when the PC does a network scan. It's just that when you try to
> connect to the network that's been found, it fails to do so or else the
> network disappears from the list as I press "Connect".

You do realise that the Livebox uses what appears to be some kind of
mac-filtering?? Even if the livebox has encryption switched off, every new
wireless network device is only able to connect while the router is in
pairing mode. Once a device connects in pairing mode, the mac address is
added to the list (I assume this is how it works, it appears to work like
that).

Press the pairing button on the livebox (i think it is button one, near
where the usb socket is), it then is open for ten minutes, after that you
should be good.

Gaz

"Gaz" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...

> You do realise that the Livebox uses what appears to be some kind of
> mac-filtering?? Even if the livebox has encryption switched off, every new
> wireless network device is only able to connect while the router is in
> pairing mode. Once a device connects in pairing mode, the mac address is
> added to the list (I assume this is how it works, it appears to work like
> that).
>
> Press the pairing button on the livebox (i think it is button one, near
> where the usb socket is), it then is open for ten minutes, after that you
> should be good.

No I didn't know that! Grrrrrrrrrrrr! What a bugger! I thought about MAC
filtering as a possible cause of the problem, but when I searched through
the router's menus and didn't find anything about MAC filtering I thought
that maybe that router didn't support MAC filtering.

Strange that my laptop was able to connect when I originally tried it. I
wonder if I happened to hit the pairing button as I was picking the router
up to check its WEP key (which is actually a WPA key) on the label
underneath it.

Martin Underwood wrote:
> "Gaz" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>> You do realise that the Livebox uses what appears to be some kind of
>> mac-filtering?? Even if the livebox has encryption switched off, every
>> new
>> wireless network device is only able to connect while the router is in
>> pairing mode. Once a device connects in pairing mode, the mac address is
>> added to the list (I assume this is how it works, it appears to work like
>> that).
>>
>> Press the pairing button on the livebox (i think it is button one, near
>> where the usb socket is), it then is open for ten minutes, after that you
>> should be good.
>
> No I didn't know that! Grrrrrrrrrrrr! What a bugger! I thought about MAC
> filtering as a possible cause of the problem, but when I searched through
> the router's menus and didn't find anything about MAC filtering I thought
> that maybe that router didn't support MAC filtering.
>
> Strange that my laptop was able to connect when I originally tried it. I
> wonder if I happened to hit the pairing button as I was picking the router
> up to check its WEP key (which is actually a WPA key) on the label
> underneath it.

If you where walking your way through the wizard/manual when orginally
setting it up, you might not have realised that you had actually started it
pairing...

I presume it is now working for you??

Gaz

"Gaz" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Martin Underwood wrote:
>> "Gaz" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>
>>> You do realise that the Livebox uses what appears to be some kind of
>>> mac-filtering?? Even if the livebox has encryption switched off, every
>>> new
>>> wireless network device is only able to connect while the router is in
>>> pairing mode. Once a device connects in pairing mode, the mac address is
>>> added to the list (I assume this is how it works, it appears to work
>>> like
>>> that).
>>>
>>> Press the pairing button on the livebox (i think it is button one, near
>>> where the usb socket is), it then is open for ten minutes, after that
>>> you
>>> should be good.
>>
>> No I didn't know that! Grrrrrrrrrrrr! What a bugger! I thought about MAC
>> filtering as a possible cause of the problem, but when I searched through
>> the router's menus and didn't find anything about MAC filtering I thought
>> that maybe that router didn't support MAC filtering.
>>
>> Strange that my laptop was able to connect when I originally tried it. I
>> wonder if I happened to hit the pairing button as I was picking the
>> router
>> up to check its WEP key (which is actually a WPA key) on the label
>> underneath it.
>
> If you where walking your way through the wizard/manual when orginally
> setting it up, you might not have realised that you had actually started
> it

By the time I'd been called in, the customer had already configured the ADSL
aspects of the router, under the guidance of Orange technical support, and
that side of things worked. The wireless had already been pre-configured:
this router is one of the comparatively few ones which comes with a WPA key
(except they call it a WEP key) already entered and WPA already turned on.
So I didn't actually follow a wizard or a manual from start to finish - I
relied on my prior knowledge of configuring routers instead. I did a check
through the various menus: there were no MAC-filtering screens so I *though*
that this router didn't have such complications. How wrong I was! Still, all
part of my education: I'll know for the future. Thanks for pointing me in
the right direction.

> I presume it is now working for you??

Yes it is. Occasionally the wireless adaptor at the PC fails to connect
properly during a reboot: it gives all the appearance of being connected in
the the icon changes to the "connected" state, the application shows a
"connected" symbol beside that SSID in the "found networks" list and the
application shows a valid IP address, but ipconfig shows a 169.x.x.x
"stupid" IP address. The customer is quite happy on the rare occasions that
it doesn't auto-start to go into the app and press the Connect button.

Martin Underwood wrote:
> "Gaz" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Martin Underwood wrote:
>>> "Gaz" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>>
>>>> You do realise that the Livebox uses what appears to be some kind of
>>>> mac-filtering?? Even if the livebox has encryption switched off, every
>>>> new
>>>> wireless network device is only able to connect while the router is in
>>>> pairing mode. Once a device connects in pairing mode, the mac address
>>>> is
>>>> added to the list (I assume this is how it works, it appears to work
>>>> like
>>>> that).
>>>>
>>>> Press the pairing button on the livebox (i think it is button one, near
>>>> where the usb socket is), it then is open for ten minutes, after that
>>>> you
>>>> should be good.
>>>
>>> No I didn't know that! Grrrrrrrrrrrr! What a bugger! I thought about MAC
>>> filtering as a possible cause of the problem, but when I searched
>>> through
>>> the router's menus and didn't find anything about MAC filtering I
>>> thought
>>> that maybe that router didn't support MAC filtering.
>>>
>>> Strange that my laptop was able to connect when I originally tried it. I
>>> wonder if I happened to hit the pairing button as I was picking the
>>> router
>>> up to check its WEP key (which is actually a WPA key) on the label
>>> underneath it.
>>
>> If you where walking your way through the wizard/manual when orginally
>> setting it up, you might not have realised that you had actually started
>> it
>
> By the time I'd been called in, the customer had already configured the
> ADSL
> aspects of the router, under the guidance of Orange technical support, and
> that side of things worked. The wireless had already been pre-configured:
> this router is one of the comparatively few ones which comes with a WPA
> key
> (except they call it a WEP key) already entered and WPA already turned on.
> So I didn't actually follow a wizard or a manual from start to finish - I
> relied on my prior knowledge of configuring routers instead. I did a check
> through the various menus: there were no MAC-filtering screens so I
> *though*
> that this router didn't have such complications. How wrong I was! Still,
> all
> part of my education: I'll know for the future. Thanks for pointing me in
> the right direction.
>
>> I presume it is now working for you??
>
> Yes it is. Occasionally the wireless adaptor at the PC fails to connect
> properly during a reboot: it gives all the appearance of being connected
> in
> the the icon changes to the "connected" state, the application shows a
> "connected" symbol beside that SSID in the "found networks" list and the
> application shows a valid IP address, but ipconfig shows a 169.x.x.x
> "stupid" IP address. The customer is quite happy on the rare occasions
> that
> it doesn't auto-start to go into the app and press the Connect button.

I have found the wireless on the Livebox gives the windows zero
configuration tool problems, and causes it to fall over.

The livebox actually broadcasts both a wep and a wpa security and tries to
connect at the highest level. This seems to be fine when using the supplied
wireless usb devices, but causes major problems on other wireless devices.

If you log into the router, you can change the wireless settings to be
either wpa or wep, not both, this seems to solve most problems.

Gaz

Gaz wrote in message
(E-Mail Removed):

> The livebox actually broadcasts both a wep and a wpa security and
> tries to connect at the highest level. This seems to be fine when
> using the supplied wireless usb devices, but causes major problems on
> other wireless devices.
> If you log into the router, you can change the wireless settings to be
> either wpa or wep, not both, this seems to solve most problems.

I didn't know that the same signal could be encrypted with both WEP and WPA
security at the same time until I found that configuration screen on the
router.

I found empirically that the Windows zero-config service on my laptop
wouldn't connect when security was set to "both" but would connect when set
to "WPA only". Mind you, I would have had to press the sodding pairing
button for the laptop to get past the MAC filtering, so maybe the fact that
I got it to work was down to accidentally entering pairing mode rather than
because I changed the encryption.

The Livebox ranks alongside the Zoom as one of the more tedious routers I've
had to set up: in the case of the Zoom it was the need to press both "Apply"
and "Save" buttons for every config change (one was not enough, both were
necessary) otherwise the router would revert to older settings at some
random time in the future; for the Livebox it's the pairing mode and
invisible MAC filtering, coupled with mixed-mode encryption.

Given a choice, I prefer Netgears: piece of piss to configure and log files
which describe why the router is failing to connect to broadband.