WiFi Wireless Help Needed

My Dell laptop has built in wireless (B and G) capability and it works great
in my house. I have been to two separate locations in the last few days that
offered "free" and "open" wireless access. According to my WiFi gauge (Dell
TrueMobile 1300 WLAN Mini PC Card Utility) I had "excellent" signal and
confirmed that the networks were "open" yet I could not open ANY web pages
nor download and email. I shut down completely and re-booted twice and still
had no luck.

Any ideas or suggestions would be MUCH appreciated!

Thanks, Scott

"Scott G." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
news:403bfcdf$0$3067$(E-Mail Removed):

>
> My Dell laptop has built in wireless (B and G) capability and it works
> great in my house. I have been to two separate locations in the last
> few days that offered "free" and "open" wireless access. According to
> my WiFi gauge (Dell TrueMobile 1300 WLAN Mini PC Card Utility) I had
> "excellent" signal and confirmed that the networks were "open" yet I
> could not open ANY web pages nor download and email. I shut down
> completely and re-booted twice and still had no luck.
>
> Any ideas or suggestions would be MUCH appreciated!
>
> Thanks, Scott
>
>
>

Did the computer's wireless NIC get a valid IP from the network's DHCP IP
server. If it didn't get a valid IP from the network, then you can have
100% signal strength and it will mean nothing, because the machine did
not get a valid connection or IP on the network that's going to allow you
to access the Internet with the computer.

Type in IPCONFIG /all at the Command Prompt and look at the IP the next
time. And if the IP starts with 169., it's a default IP being assigned
indicating that the computer didn't get a valid IP from a DHCP server on
the network.

It's due to some mis-configuration that's stopping the machine's NIC from
getting a valid IP.

Duane

"Duane Arnold" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:Xns9499D96A57B84notmwnotmecom@216.148.227.77. ..
> "Scott G." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
> news:403bfcdf$0$3067$(E-Mail Removed):
>
> >
> > My Dell laptop has built in wireless (B and G) capability and it works
> > great in my house. I have been to two separate locations in the last
> > few days that offered "free" and "open" wireless access. According to
> > my WiFi gauge (Dell TrueMobile 1300 WLAN Mini PC Card Utility) I had
> > "excellent" signal and confirmed that the networks were "open" yet I
> > could not open ANY web pages nor download and email. I shut down
> > completely and re-booted twice and still had no luck.
> >
> > Any ideas or suggestions would be MUCH appreciated!
> >
> > Thanks, Scott
> >
> >
> >
>
> Did the computer's wireless NIC get a valid IP from the network's DHCP IP
> server. If it didn't get a valid IP from the network, then you can have
> 100% signal strength and it will mean nothing, because the machine did
> not get a valid connection or IP on the network that's going to allow you
> to access the Internet with the computer.
>
> Type in IPCONFIG /all at the Command Prompt and look at the IP the next
> time. And if the IP starts with 169., it's a default IP being assigned
> indicating that the computer didn't get a valid IP from a DHCP server on
> the network.
>
> It's due to some mis-configuration that's stopping the machine's NIC from
> getting a valid IP.
>
> Duane
>
>

probably the AP you are trying to connect to does not use DHCP - I have a
home setup and use all static IP assignment and MAC address filtering. So un
less you can spoof one of two machines allowed to connect then the AP won't
allow you to do anything

And, as far as sending mail is concerned, many ISP accounts require that you
are connected through them to send mail. This is a big problem for people
who travel a lot. When I use my Verizon mobile phone for connection, I use
an smtp server that Verizon makes available to those who connect with their
phones. My regular Verizon DSL account doesn't allow me to send mail unless
I'm connected at home using my DSL modem. My dialup account doesn't allow
me to send mail unless I've actually dialed in using a landline.

Check with your ISP to see what they offer as an smtp server or, you can use
a web-mail based service to receive and send mail.

Nadyne Nelson
(E-Mail Removed)

Shabby wrote:
> "Duane Arnold" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:Xns9499D96A57B84notmwnotmecom@216.148.227.77. ..
>> "Scott G." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
>> news:403bfcdf$0$3067$(E-Mail Removed):
>>
>>>
>>> My Dell laptop has built in wireless (B and G) capability and it
>>> works great in my house. I have been to two separate locations in
>>> the last few days that offered "free" and "open" wireless access.
>>> According to my WiFi gauge (Dell TrueMobile 1300 WLAN Mini PC Card
>>> Utility) I had "excellent" signal and confirmed that the networks
>>> were "open" yet I could not open ANY web pages nor download and
>>> email. I shut down completely and re-booted twice and still had no
>>> luck.
>>>
>>> Any ideas or suggestions would be MUCH appreciated!
>>>
>>> Thanks, Scott
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Did the computer's wireless NIC get a valid IP from the network's
>> DHCP IP server. If it didn't get a valid IP from the network, then
>> you can have 100% signal strength and it will mean nothing, because
>> the machine did not get a valid connection or IP on the network
>> that's going to allow you to access the Internet with the computer.
>>
>> Type in IPCONFIG /all at the Command Prompt and look at the IP the
>> next time. And if the IP starts with 169., it's a default IP being
>> assigned indicating that the computer didn't get a valid IP from a
>> DHCP server on the network.
>>
>> It's due to some mis-configuration that's stopping the machine's NIC
>> from getting a valid IP.
>>
>> Duane
>>
>>
>
> probably the AP you are trying to connect to does not use DHCP - I
> have a home setup and use all static IP assignment and MAC address
> filtering. So un less you can spoof one of two machines allowed to
> connect then the AP won't allow you to do anything

--
Nadyne Nelson
(E-Mail Removed)

> Did the computer's wireless NIC get a valid IP from the network's DHCP IP
> server. If it didn't get a valid IP from the network, then you can have
> 100% signal strength and it will mean nothing, because the machine did
> not get a valid connection or IP on the network that's going to allow you
> to access the Internet with the computer.
>
> Type in IPCONFIG /all at the Command Prompt and look at the IP the next
> time. And if the IP starts with 169., it's a default IP being assigned
> indicating that the computer didn't get a valid IP from a DHCP server on
> the network.
>
> It's due to some mis-configuration that's stopping the machine's NIC from
> getting a valid IP.
>
> Duane

Thanks for the response Duane! I honestly don't know if the wireless NIC got
a valid IP from the network or not. I will check when I am there again next
week. If it is a mis-configuration, is it on my end or theirs? As info, if
it matters, on my home network we do have WEP encryption and need a password
to access the system. I have gotten on at Starbuck's (hot spot) previously
but its been awhile since I have tried.

Thanks again, Scott

> probably the AP you are trying to connect to does not use DHCP - I have a
> home setup and use all static IP assignment and MAC address filtering. So
un
> less you can spoof one of two machines allowed to connect then the AP
won't
> allow you to do anything

So, perhaps in the one case (Allentown Airport, www.lvia.org) I should share
this with them since they just recently unveiled the free wireless
capability and may not be aware of this problem, right?

Thanks!

"Scott G." <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
news:403d51ba$0$3080$(E-Mail Removed):

>> Did the computer's wireless NIC get a valid IP from the network's
>> DHCP IP server. If it didn't get a valid IP from the network, then
>> you can have 100% signal strength and it will mean nothing, because
>> the machine did not get a valid connection or IP on the network
>> that's going to allow you to access the Internet with the computer.
>>
>> Type in IPCONFIG /all at the Command Prompt and look at the IP the
>> next time. And if the IP starts with 169., it's a default IP being
>> assigned indicating that the computer didn't get a valid IP from a
>> DHCP server on the network.
>>
>> It's due to some mis-configuration that's stopping the machine's NIC
>> from getting a valid IP.
>>
>> Duane
>
> Thanks for the response Duane! I honestly don't know if the wireless
> NIC got a valid IP from the network or not. I will check when I am
> there again next week. If it is a mis-configuration, is it on my end
> or theirs? As info, if it matters, on my home network we do have WEP
> encryption and need a password to access the system. I have gotten on
> at Starbuck's (hot spot) previously but its been awhile since I have
> tried.
>
> Thanks again, Scott
>
>

You'll have to check with an Admin of the hot spot as to the
configuration needed for your machine to join the network.

If you're using XP, then you can setup multiple NIC configurations to
join different networks.

http://asia.cnet.com/itmanager/netad...9148297,00.htm

Duane

"> You'll have to check with an Admin of the hot spot as to the
> configuration needed for your machine to join the network.
>
> If you're using XP, then you can setup multiple NIC configurations to
> join different networks.
>
> http://asia.cnet.com/itmanager/netad...9148297,00.htm

Thanks again Duane! I do use XP so I will review the article. As for
checking with the Admin of the hot spot
(http://www.lvia.org/wireless/index.html), I will though I suspect that they
are as lost as I am. This is new for them and I think that they will end up
having to go back to their provider.

Thanks again, Scott

On Wed, 25 Feb 2004 21:57:18 -0500, "Scott G." <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>
>"> You'll have to check with an Admin of the hot spot as to the
>> configuration needed for your machine to join the network.
>>
>> If you're using XP, then you can setup multiple NIC configurations to
>> join different networks.
>>
>> http://asia.cnet.com/itmanager/netad...9148297,00.htm
>
>Thanks again Duane! I do use XP so I will review the article. As for
>checking with the Admin of the hot spot
>(http://www.lvia.org/wireless/index.html), I will though I suspect that they
>are as lost as I am. This is new for them and I think that they will end up
>having to go back to their provider.

If the dude with the Mac next to you got on no problem, the odds are
that they ARE running a DHCP server and it IS assigning valid IP
addresses. Otherwise he'd be SOL too. As a previous poster
suggested, I would try the old release/renew trick and see if you get
a valid address. If you do, bob's your uncle. If not, there's
something else at work, but I'd hazard a guess it's not DHCP.

FWIW, these public wireless hotspots are SUPPOSED to be set up so
anybody can access them; that's the whole point. If you need some
kind of special configuration, then somebody hasn't done their job
right.

Cheers,
dan

>I would try the old release/renew trick and see if you get
> a valid address.

Dumb question, sorry. How exactly would I do the release/renew procedure on
my XP machine?