(E-Mail Removed) (Mark Lassmans) wrote in
news:(E-Mail Removed) om:
> I currently have a PC with XP Pro (SP2) installed with a Belkin
> 802.11g wireless desktop network card installed. It's hooked up to
> the internet via a USB cable to an NTL broadband modem. I have
> recently bought a new laptop which is running XPHome (SP2) and is
> fitted with a Prism wireless network card. Is this all I need to
> set up a home network?
>
> I know the card on the laptop is working OK because my wife tested
> it at work and there were no problems. But I can't get the laptop
> and my PC to talk. How do I do that? Do I need an additional AP or
> router? I've run network wizard more times than I care to remember
> on both machines without success. TCP/IP is set to automatic for
> IP address and still nothing happens.
>
> As a last resort I tried a D-Link router and my laptop recognises
> it as a default network and connects straight away. My Belkin card
> recognises the default network but won't connect to it. If I take
> the router away neither of them work. I've set up connections on
> both machines but I'm unable to "enable" them, they just sit there
> with a red cross on them.
If you want both PCs to share a single Internet connection, then you
need a router. A router + wireless access point packaged in a single
box is probably what you want - I guess the D-Link device is that
kind of beast.
I strongly recommend that you first check that everything works with
wired connections before moving on to a wireless network. That way
you will have confidence that the router is working and that your
local network and each PC are working OK. That leaves only the
wireless side of things...
When using a wireless access point, you have an 'Infrastructure'
network. All communications go to and from the access point. Check
this when setting up the wireless cards.
Windows related things to be aware of:
- when using the Network Setup Wizard, choose the path that refers to
a 'residential gateway' [this of course applies to both a wired and
wireless network]
- there is often a conflict between the facilities of Windows and the
utility program which comes with a wireless card. Use one or the
other. To disable the Windows facilities, go to Settings | Control
Panel | Administrative Tools | Services, scroll down to Wireless Zero
Configuration, double click, click Stop, and set 'Startup type' to
Disabled.
- check in Internet Explorer via Tools | Internet Options |
Connections that either nothing is shown in 'Dial-up and Virtual
Private Network settings' or that 'Never dial a connection' is
selected, and that when you click 'LAN Settings' that nothing is
selected.
One other thing - when testing, do not use any wireless security.
That means no encryption (either WPA or WEP) and no MAC address
filtering. Only when you are happy that things are working should you
enable security - it's too easy for it to get in the way.
Hope this helps
--
Richard Perkin
To email me, change the AT in the address below
richard.perkinATmyrealbox.com
It's is not, it isn't ain't, and it's it's, not its, if you mean it
is. If you don't, it's its. Then too, it's hers. It isn't her's.
It isn't our's either. It's ours, and likewise yours and theirs.
-- Oxford University Press, Edpress News
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