Wireless detected, won't connect anymore- MN-820

I have an MN-820 kit which includes an MN-700 wireless
base station (which I am using as a wireless access
point) and an MN-720 wireless adapter card. I am using
this with an HP Pavilion ze4125 laptop. This worked well
for about 4 months, but now I cannot connect although the
wireless access point is detected. When I try to connect,
it goes through a loop telling me first that a wireless
network is not available (if I move my cursor over the
wireless network icon), then after a few seconds of
trying to do something, a balloon message appears over
the wireless connection icon indicating that a network is
available. However, f I try to connect, the loop is
repeated. Meanwhile, the MN-720 wireless indicator
continues to slowly pulse, indicating that it is looking
to connect but has not connected.

Another computer (Dell Latitude D600) connects with the
MN-700 wireless access point successfully using its
internal 802.11b adapter. I have also disabled the
802.11b on the Dell and installed my MN-720 adapter and
it worked, with or without a security setting. It
connected just fine, using the 802.11g.

After uninstalling the Microsoft Broadband Utility and
the MN-720 from the HP and then attempting to reinstall,
the network was again detected during the setup. Since no
security mode was set on the MN-700, the screen warned me
that the network did not use wireless security.
Nevertheless, when I attempted to connect, I received
this message:

"The wireless security key (WEP) is not valid for the
selected network. To connect to an available network,
click OK and enter the settings required." I have been
unable to get past this point.

All of this is in addition to reviewing and trying the
troubleshooting recommendations that I have been able to
locate in the manual and in the help files, spending over
three hours on the phone with Microsoft technical support
(going back and forth between resetting the base station,
going to the command prompt, running IP config etc.). I
have seen reports in other postings in this group which
suggest that there may be issues related to the MN-720
and certain computers including some HP Pavilions, but
the Microsoft technical support told me there were no
known hardware incompatibilities. I am wondering if
another card would work although if there is a hardware
incompatibility problem I don't understand why it worked
for several months.

In addition to the fact that the MN-720 and MN-700 both
work fine with the Dell, the device manager indicates no
problems. If you've read this far, it should be obvious
that I would appreciate any help to resolve this issue.
Someone from the Microsoft research group is supposed to
call back in a couple of days, but I thought I would post
to see if someone already knows the answer. The only
other thing I can think of that I feel qualified to try
is to see if I can borrow another wireless adapter card
and install it and see if it works.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

Update:
In discussion with Microsft R&D, I was told that there is
a compatibility issue with wireless adapters for PCMCIA
slots and certain computers, notably the HP 2100 series
and the HP 4100 series, and that this issue affects
wireless adapter cards from several manufacturers,
including but not limited to Microsoft. I was advised to
keep checking for updates on both the HP and Microsoft
sites that may resolve the issue, or that I could return
the adapter. I was also told that Linksys apparently has
a wireless "g" card that seems to work with these
computers.
If this is the cause, I'm still mystified as to why it
worked perfectly for several months before failing.

>-----Original Message-----
>I have an MN-820 kit which includes an MN-700 wireless
>base station (which I am using as a wireless access
>point) and an MN-720 wireless adapter card. I am using
>this with an HP Pavilion ze4125 laptop. This worked well
>for about 4 months, but now I cannot connect although
the
>wireless access point is detected. When I try to
connect,
>it goes through a loop telling me first that a wireless
>network is not available (if I move my cursor over the
>wireless network icon), then after a few seconds of
>trying to do something, a balloon message appears over
>the wireless connection icon indicating that a network
is
>available. However, f I try to connect, the loop is
>repeated. Meanwhile, the MN-720 wireless indicator
>continues to slowly pulse, indicating that it is looking
>to connect but has not connected.
>
>Another computer (Dell Latitude D600) connects with the
>MN-700 wireless access point successfully using its
>internal 802.11b adapter. I have also disabled the
>802.11b on the Dell and installed my MN-720 adapter and
>it worked, with or without a security setting. It
>connected just fine, using the 802.11g.
>
>After uninstalling the Microsoft Broadband Utility and
>the MN-720 from the HP and then attempting to reinstall,
>the network was again detected during the setup. Since
no
>security mode was set on the MN-700, the screen warned
me
>that the network did not use wireless security.
>Nevertheless, when I attempted to connect, I received
>this message:
>
>"The wireless security key (WEP) is not valid for the
>selected network. To connect to an available network,
>click OK and enter the settings required." I have been
>unable to get past this point.
>
>All of this is in addition to reviewing and trying the
>troubleshooting recommendations that I have been able to
>locate in the manual and in the help files, spending
over
>three hours on the phone with Microsoft technical
support
>(going back and forth between resetting the base
station,
>going to the command prompt, running IP config etc.). I
>have seen reports in other postings in this group which
>suggest that there may be issues related to the MN-720
>and certain computers including some HP Pavilions, but
>the Microsoft technical support told me there were no
>known hardware incompatibilities. I am wondering if
>another card would work although if there is a hardware
>incompatibility problem I don't understand why it worked
>for several months.
>
>In addition to the fact that the MN-720 and MN-700 both
>work fine with the Dell, the device manager indicates no
>problems. If you've read this far, it should be obvious
>that I would appreciate any help to resolve this issue.
>Someone from the Microsoft research group is supposed to
>call back in a couple of days, but I thought I would
post
>to see if someone already knows the answer. The only
>other thing I can think of that I feel qualified to try
>is to see if I can borrow another wireless adapter card
>and install it and see if it works.
>
>Thanks for any help you can provide!
>.
>

Warning: try the following at your own risk only if you are curious enough
to see if this is a driver issue -- it is unsupported and I am only
suggesting it as a diagnostic. It may not work and it may not be the best
thing for your computer.

If, in fact the Linksys drivers (as opposed to firmware) fix the issue (as I
have been guessing), you could try to force the MS card to use the Linksys
driver ONLY AS A TEST since they have the same chipset. To do this, first
set a restore point. Then download the latest driver for the Linksys WPC54G
card. Then uninstall the MS card and remove the driver files manually and
reboot. Then install again and use update driver/have disk (and select all
devices, not just compatible) and keep pointing at the Linksys driver
instead of the MS card. I know that the Linksys card has drivers with fixes
for certain pcmcia controller issues but not which issues.

I don't have a laptop with controller issues, but I have been able to change
drivers.

!!!WHEN YOU ARE DONE, USE SYSTEM RESTORE
TO GET BACK TO WHERE YOU WERE BEFORE
THIS TEST!!!!!

Waylon wrote:
> Update:
> In discussion with Microsft R&D, I was told that there is
> a compatibility issue with wireless adapters for PCMCIA
> slots and certain computers, notably the HP 2100 series
> and the HP 4100 series, and that this issue affects
> wireless adapter cards from several manufacturers,
> including but not limited to Microsoft. I was advised to
> keep checking for updates on both the HP and Microsoft
> sites that may resolve the issue, or that I could return
> the adapter. I was also told that Linksys apparently has
> a wireless "g" card that seems to work with these
> computers.
> If this is the cause, I'm still mystified as to why it
> worked perfectly for several months before failing.
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> I have an MN-820 kit which includes an MN-700 wireless
>> base station (which I am using as a wireless access
>> point) and an MN-720 wireless adapter card. I am using
>> this with an HP Pavilion ze4125 laptop. This worked well
>> for about 4 months, but now I cannot connect although
> the
>> wireless access point is detected. When I try to
> connect,
>> it goes through a loop telling me first that a wireless
>> network is not available (if I move my cursor over the
>> wireless network icon), then after a few seconds of
>> trying to do something, a balloon message appears over
>> the wireless connection icon indicating that a network
> is
>> available. However, f I try to connect, the loop is
>> repeated. Meanwhile, the MN-720 wireless indicator
>> continues to slowly pulse, indicating that it is looking
>> to connect but has not connected.
>>
>> Another computer (Dell Latitude D600) connects with the
>> MN-700 wireless access point successfully using its
>> internal 802.11b adapter. I have also disabled the
>> 802.11b on the Dell and installed my MN-720 adapter and
>> it worked, with or without a security setting. It
>> connected just fine, using the 802.11g.
>>
>> After uninstalling the Microsoft Broadband Utility and
>> the MN-720 from the HP and then attempting to reinstall,
>> the network was again detected during the setup. Since
> no
>> security mode was set on the MN-700, the screen warned
> me
>> that the network did not use wireless security.
>> Nevertheless, when I attempted to connect, I received
>> this message:
>>
>> "The wireless security key (WEP) is not valid for the
>> selected network. To connect to an available network,
>> click OK and enter the settings required." I have been
>> unable to get past this point.
>>
>> All of this is in addition to reviewing and trying the
>> troubleshooting recommendations that I have been able to
>> locate in the manual and in the help files, spending
> over
>> three hours on the phone with Microsoft technical
> support
>> (going back and forth between resetting the base
> station,
>> going to the command prompt, running IP config etc.). I
>> have seen reports in other postings in this group which
>> suggest that there may be issues related to the MN-720
>> and certain computers including some HP Pavilions, but
>> the Microsoft technical support told me there were no
>> known hardware incompatibilities. I am wondering if
>> another card would work although if there is a hardware
>> incompatibility problem I don't understand why it worked
>> for several months.
>>
>> In addition to the fact that the MN-720 and MN-700 both
>> work fine with the Dell, the device manager indicates no
>> problems. If you've read this far, it should be obvious
>> that I would appreciate any help to resolve this issue.
>> Someone from the Microsoft research group is supposed to
>> call back in a couple of days, but I thought I would
> post
>> to see if someone already knows the answer. The only
>> other thing I can think of that I feel qualified to try
>> is to see if I can borrow another wireless adapter card
>> and install it and see if it works.
>>
>> Thanks for any help you can provide!
>> .


--
Barb Bowman
Expert Zone Columnist
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
MS-MVP (Windows)

Please let me know what you find out. I am trying to setup a MN-820 for a friend and running into simliar issues. HP ze4430us and HP ze4420. The 4420 can not connect and acts as yours, the 4430 is my laptop which has the builtin "g" and I can connect with the internal but when I try with the MN-720 I get the same results as the 4420. I have even swapped out my base station for his and no difference. We even exchanged the MN-820 as Microsoft declared the MN-720 as DEAD, no difference though. If you try the Linksys driver please post your results and if it works the url of the driver. Thanks

Update #2:
I talked with HP Pavilion support after my posting of
April 13, but was not able to get anything that helped.
After waiting a few weeks to see if any fixes or updates
were provided for the MN-720 (I had been told that was a
possibility) I finally bought a Linksys WPC54G Wireless-G
Notebook adapter, and it seems to be working - that's how
I'm connected right now.

>-----Original Message-----
>I have an MN-820 kit which includes an MN-700 wireless
>base station (which I am using as a wireless access
>point) and an MN-720 wireless adapter card. I am using
>this with an HP Pavilion ze4125 laptop. This worked well
>for about 4 months, but now I cannot connect although
the
>wireless access point is detected. When I try to
connect,
>it goes through a loop telling me first that a wireless
>network is not available (if I move my cursor over the
>wireless network icon), then after a few seconds of
>trying to do something, a balloon message appears over
>the wireless connection icon indicating that a network
is
>available. However, f I try to connect, the loop is
>repeated. Meanwhile, the MN-720 wireless indicator
>continues to slowly pulse, indicating that it is looking
>to connect but has not connected.
>
>Another computer (Dell Latitude D600) connects with the
>MN-700 wireless access point successfully using its
>internal 802.11b adapter. I have also disabled the
>802.11b on the Dell and installed my MN-720 adapter and
>it worked, with or without a security setting. It
>connected just fine, using the 802.11g.
>
>After uninstalling the Microsoft Broadband Utility and
>the MN-720 from the HP and then attempting to reinstall,
>the network was again detected during the setup. Since
no
>security mode was set on the MN-700, the screen warned
me
>that the network did not use wireless security.
>Nevertheless, when I attempted to connect, I received
>this message:
>
>"The wireless security key (WEP) is not valid for the
>selected network. To connect to an available network,
>click OK and enter the settings required." I have been
>unable to get past this point.
>
>All of this is in addition to reviewing and trying the
>troubleshooting recommendations that I have been able to
>locate in the manual and in the help files, spending
over
>three hours on the phone with Microsoft technical
support
>(going back and forth between resetting the base
station,
>going to the command prompt, running IP config etc.). I
>have seen reports in other postings in this group which
>suggest that there may be issues related to the MN-720
>and certain computers including some HP Pavilions, but
>the Microsoft technical support told me there were no
>known hardware incompatibilities. I am wondering if
>another card would work although if there is a hardware
>incompatibility problem I don't understand why it worked
>for several months.
>
>In addition to the fact that the MN-720 and MN-700 both
>work fine with the Dell, the device manager indicates no
>problems. If you've read this far, it should be obvious
>that I would appreciate any help to resolve this issue.
>Someone from the Microsoft research group is supposed to
>call back in a couple of days, but I thought I would
post
>to see if someone already knows the answer. The only
>other thing I can think of that I feel qualified to try
>is to see if I can borrow another wireless adapter card
>and install it and see if it works.
>
>Thanks for any help you can provide!
>.
>