wireless connection lost

Greetings - have a network consisting of my hardwired PC, a spare hardwired
PC, and my wife's wi-fi PC connecting through a Linksys WAG54GS. The wi-fi
PC uses a Linksys USB wi-fi adaptor. All PCs on Win XP SP2

This has been working fine for some time.

Our phone exchange then developed a fault and phone line went down, and is
still giving a lot of wierd noises and BT say it is still being fixed.
Anyway, before my wife realised the line was down, she realised she couldn't
connect to the internet and switched the router off at the mains and
switched back on - a number of times, testing for a connection in between
each attempt.

Once the line came back, albeit with lots of noise still, I could connect to
the net with the hardwired PCs, but the wi-fi one showed as not connected. I
checked the router setup and saw that the WEP settings had been disabled. I
re-enabled, and now the wi-fi PC shows "limited connectivity". The setup
software for the wi-fi adaptor said it is connecting to the access point but
can't detect the internet. I have checked that the WEP key is exactly the
same as for the router. Also, the two hardwired PCs are visible on the
network, but the wi-fi PC is not visible from either, and cannot see either
of them.

Where do I look for answers?

Thanks




wasted

"wasted" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:468a6b9c$0$8726$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Greetings - have a network consisting of my hardwired PC, a spare
> hardwired
> PC, and my wife's wi-fi PC connecting through a Linksys WAG54GS. The wi-fi
> PC uses a Linksys USB wi-fi adaptor. All PCs on Win XP SP2
>
> This has been working fine for some time.
>
> Our phone exchange then developed a fault and phone line went down, and is
> still giving a lot of wierd noises and BT say it is still being fixed.
> Anyway, before my wife realised the line was down, she realised she
> couldn't
> connect to the internet and switched the router off at the mains and
> switched back on - a number of times, testing for a connection in between
> each attempt.
>
> Once the line came back, albeit with lots of noise still, I could connect
> to
> the net with the hardwired PCs, but the wi-fi one showed as not connected.
> I
> checked the router setup and saw that the WEP settings had been disabled.
> I
> re-enabled, and now the wi-fi PC shows "limited connectivity". The setup
> software for the wi-fi adaptor said it is connecting to the access point
> but
> can't detect the internet. I have checked that the WEP key is exactly the
> same as for the router. Also, the two hardwired PCs are visible on the
> network, but the wi-fi PC is not visible from either, and cannot see
> either
> of them.
>
> Where do I look for answers?

In the router and the wirelessly connected PC

First try configuring the router with SSID visible and without wireless
security. Configure the PC to match. If necessary delete any existing
wireless configurations on the PC. The PC should "see" the wireless
network. If it sees several (those belonging to your neighbours, for
example) note the channel numbers that the others use, and configure your
router to use a different channel. Remember channels nearer than 5 steps
away overlap, so choose accordingly.

Tell the PC to connect and watch the icon in the systray. There should be a
yellow "bouncing ball" under the icon while it tries to get an IP address
from the router - this might last for up to about 10 seconds; then it should
report a good connection. Open a command window and type
IPCONFIG /ALL
This should show the IP address of the router, and of the computer. Confirm
the connection by typing:
PING (ip address of router - i.e. default gateway)

If this doesn't work, yet the wireless icon suggests that there is a good
signal, try configuring the wireless network with a fixed IP address
(different from any of the other PCs) and set the same DNS and default
gateway parameters as shown for a wired PC.

Graham wrote:
>
> In the router and the wirelessly connected PC
>
Thanks Graham, I'll try it out tonight and report back

"wasted" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:468a6b9c$0$8726$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Greetings - have a network consisting of my hardwired PC, a spare
> hardwired
> PC, and my wife's wi-fi PC connecting through a Linksys WAG54GS. The wi-fi
> PC uses a Linksys USB wi-fi adaptor. All PCs on Win XP SP2
>
> This has been working fine for some time.
>
> Our phone exchange then developed a fault and phone line went down, and is
> still giving a lot of wierd noises and BT say it is still being fixed.
> Anyway, before my wife realised the line was down, she realised she
> couldn't
> connect to the internet and switched the router off at the mains and
> switched back on - a number of times, testing for a connection in between
> each attempt.
>
> Once the line came back, albeit with lots of noise still, I could connect
> to
> the net with the hardwired PCs, but the wi-fi one showed as not connected.
> I
> checked the router setup and saw that the WEP settings had been disabled.
> I
> re-enabled, and now the wi-fi PC shows "limited connectivity". The setup
> software for the wi-fi adaptor said it is connecting to the access point
> but
> can't detect the internet. I have checked that the WEP key is exactly the
> same as for the router. Also, the two hardwired PCs are visible on the
> network, but the wi-fi PC is not visible from either, and cannot see
> either
> of them.
>
> Where do I look for answers?

In the router and the wirelessly connected PC.

First reboot the wireless PC. Always use the wired PC to manage the router.

Then try configuring the router with SSID visible and without wireless
security. Configure the wireless PC to match. If necessary delete any
existing wireless configurations on the PC. The PC should "see" the
wireless network. If it sees several (those belonging to your neighbours,
for example) note the channel numbers that the others use, and configure
your router to use a different channel. Remember channels nearer than 5
steps away overlap, so choose accordingly.

Tell the PC to connect and watch the icon in the systray. There should be a
yellow "bouncing ball" under the icon while it tries to get an IP address
from the router - this might last for up to about 10 seconds; then it should
report a good connection. Open a command window and type
IPCONFIG /ALL
This should show the IP address of the router, and of the computer. Confirm
the connection by typing:
PING (ip address of router - i.e. default gateway)

If this doesn't work, yet the wireless icon suggests that there is a good
signal, try configuring the wireless network with a fixed IP address
(different from any of the other PCs) and set the same DNS and default
gateway parameters as shown for a wired PC. Then try pinging the router.

If this doesn't work, there's something very wrong - seek expert local help.

However, if the insecure wireless network behaves OK, then create a new
security key and apply it to both the router and the laptop. Beware that
some routers want the (WEP) key provided in hex, while the laptop will
probably accept it in ASCII. In reality most people fail to achieve this
step correctly. Create the key in notepad on one computer, and copy it
using a memory stick or floppy to the other. Then copy and paste into the
router and wireless adapter GUI.

Once you can ping the router from the wireless PC you have a good wireless
connection. If this PC cannot see the others, or vice versa, you probably
have a firewall problem. Similarly, if this PC cannot see the internet,
check first that it can see the web page in the router - you might have
misconfigured the browser. If you can see this but nothing on the internet,
yet other PCs can see the internet, suspect the DNS settings on the wireless
computer - but if the wireless connection uses DHCP this should be OK.

Report back

--
Graham J

Graham wrote:
> First reboot the wireless PC. Always use the wired PC to manage the
> router.
Thanks for the reply - in the end I solved it by returning the router
settings to factory default (using "reset" instead of just swiching off and
then on again) , then inputting all the settings I had used previously, and
bingo, it worked. This was inspite of previously checking that all the
router settings were showing as they should.

Really appreciate your efforts though

"wasted" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:468bf24c$0$8746$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Graham wrote:
>> First reboot the wireless PC. Always use the wired PC to manage the
>> router.
> Thanks for the reply - in the end I solved it by returning the router
> settings to factory default (using "reset" instead of just swiching off
> and then on again) , then inputting all the settings I had used
> previously, and bingo, it worked. This was inspite of previously checking
> that all the router settings were showing as they should.
>
> Really appreciate your efforts though

There are times when power off / on will cure problems; sometimes when the
ADSL connection fails to synchronise or authenticate. Usually this happens
when there's a nearby lightning strike and the power twitches. I have seen
it happen on several BT Voyager 205 routers with apparently no cause.

Performing the "factory reset" as you did will ensure that you re-enter all
the parameters correctly and clear any other strange corruptions.

--
Graham J