Okay, so I have a home wifi network like lots of folks, as well as a
laptop I routinely use at home on the network as well as-- until very
recently-- using it at lots of public wifi hotspots, hotel wifi, etc.
Recently, however, I can't connect to many of the hotspots I once used
regularly. My laptop can't even see the networks; it simply reports
that nothing is there. This isn't just my laptop lying to me. I know
because I've tested it by bringing another laptop and confirming that
the access points are alive and kicking in these locations. The funny
thing is, my laptop continues to consistently connect in my home and in
at least one public hotspot. It just doesn't work anywhere else!
I've done a lot of digging on this. At first I thought the trouble
might be traced to a recent installation of OpenSSL. I tried
uninstalling it, which didn't help. I also tried reinstalling Windows
XP Pro from scratch. No dice.
I'm on a IBM Thinkpad T30 which comes with software called "Access
Connections" to manage wifi configurations. I've tried using Access
Connections rather than letting XP manage my connections without
success. I've tried the reverse without success. I've also tried
uninstalling Access Connections. No help.
I've tried using ZoneAlarm, Windows Firewall, and no firewall at all.
It doesn't work under any of these options.
So what can I do?! I've got to believe this is a software/config
problem and not a hardware problem given that wifi still works fine in
a couple of places. I've run out of things to try, though.
I should say that all of the wifi spots in question are free, public
sites not using WEP or any other kind of security. My system is a
ThinkPad T30 with built-in wifi running XP Pro with all the dozens of
updates installed. I've insured the BIOS on my system as well as the
device drivers are all up to date.
HELP!
-Ziad
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