Wireless problem with MN-500

I need help with getting wireless working with MN-500.
For a few months now I have a couple of PCs networking
great with a MN-500 router, both access internet fine.
Just got a laptop equipped with both RJ45 and wireless
running XP SP2.
- First I installed the MSBN utility, got the
compatibility issue, uninstalled SP2, s/w installed ok.
- Use a CAT-5 to connect it to a spare port on the MN-
500, works great, accessing the network and internet no
problem.
- Setup the MN-500 for wireless with WEP. Enabled the
wireless, Windows discovered the network, enter the key
and connected. Opened browser, no internet! Opened MSBN
utility, no network! and the IP address is complete
different.
- Checked "View Network Connection", Windows showed it as
a good connection???
- Disconnect, reboot, tried again, no luck.
- Disabled wireless, plugged the wire back on, worked
great.
- Unplugged the wire and enable wireless, not working
again.
- Disabled wireless, plugged the wire back on, worked
again, I then went to command line and ran
IPCONFIG/RELEASE.
- Unplugged the wire, enabled the wireless, Windows
showed good connection, MSNB show no connection, IP
address remained 0.0.0.0 (also tried to run
IPCONFIG/RENEW but session hung)

I read some articles that talked about MAC clone, but
wouldn't it affect the 2 PCs that are still connected and
working fine?

I tried entering (an unused) static IP address, Windows
showed good connection, MSNB showed not connected.

Not sure what else to try, please help if you can. Thanks
in advance for any recommendations.

Hmmmmmm. Not sure if this will help you or not but I just
went through the whole MN-500 router and MN-510 USB thing
over the past week. Was getting nowhere each time I went
about setting it up and getting a connection through the
USB side. Main (new) computer and base station and cable
modem all worked flawlessly, it was just that crazy USB
adapter that refused to connect, even though it would
show an excellent signal strength most of the time.

Anyway, to be sure the adapter wasn't faulty I took my
notebook over to the parents house (was their two
computers being networked wirelessly) which has wireless
built-in. Connected okay. Disabled the built-in, attached
the MN-510, let Windows ask for the CD, installed it.
Worked fine.

Back into the next room to try a Windows XP clean install
since that was going to be done eventually anyway. Had
SP2 on it before, too, when it encountered that same
incompatible message you (and others) had. I probably
uninstalled and reinstalled the MN-510 eight times before
giving up, along with all networking and USB hardware
drivers too. It was still not connecting after an hour to
get XP setup on a reformated disk!

Now get this... my mother comes into the room to check on
progress and she says "Maybe if it were closer to the
base station it would connect?". I had already moved the
thing around some, and with them only 20 feet apart I
figured it might be interference from a basement full of
fluorescent lights not distance anyway. So she pulls it
as far as it will stretch, a mere two feet farther than
before and set onto the other end of the desk.

Amazingly it saw the MSHOME (used all defaults in an
effort to prevent confusion) network and almost
connected. We moved the base station to the end of her
desk too (fathers is the other computer). Retrying to
connect a few times and it finally did. I couldn't
believe it. The things are supposed to connect at up to
300 feet in open spaces and what we eventually figured
out from all this is that the initial connection must be
extremely accurate and well-defined or else it fails.
Once we had it going it had a 2 Mbps speed that dropped
down to only 1 Mbps soon afterward. We actually taped
down both the MN-500 and 510 to the desks so they would
stay in position. Later I noticed the connection speed
was up to 5.5 Mbps.

Really goes to show this brand/model wireless device is
finicky beyond compare. Since beginning to work on it I
have read several messages from other people about lots
of connection troubles with the MN 5** and 7** units. I
never had a problem with the DELL Truemobile 1184 and
1180 wireless router and USB adapter I use with my
notebook and desktop and cable modem, although I did do a
release and renewel of IP at first so it would get to
internet.

Maybe you'd have to have been there when my Mom moved
that MN-510 across the desk and is started to connect.
You can literally almost see the MN-500 just 20 feet away
from where it had been all along. Maybe a bad antenna?
But then why the strong signal most times, other times no
signal or no wirleless network? Something very glitchy
about it, if you ask me.

Hope no one got too bored reading all this.

Best of luck to you all.

Thanks for your suggestion, but I didn't have any problem
with the signal strength, I was configuring the laptop in
the same room as the base station, Windows shows
connectivity at full strength. I guess the problem is a
setup problem because the laptop can see and connect to
the hardware itself, just couldn't connect to the
network. The IP address on the laptop is either
169.xxx.xxx.xxx or 0.0.0.0, couldn't get a 192.168.2.x
assigned.
Tried static IP, MSNB recognized the static IP but still
didn't connect it to the network.
Works great with the cable, the only problem is I want to
use the laptop elsewhere in the house.

Any other suggestions?



>-----Original Message-----
>Hmmmmmm. Not sure if this will help you or not but I
just
>went through the whole MN-500 router and MN-510 USB
thing
>over the past week. Was getting nowhere each time I went
>about setting it up and getting a connection through the
>USB side. Main (new) computer and base station and cable
>modem all worked flawlessly, it was just that crazy USB
>adapter that refused to connect, even though it would
>show an excellent signal strength most of the time.
>
>Anyway, to be sure the adapter wasn't faulty I took my
>notebook over to the parents house (was their two
>computers being networked wirelessly) which has wireless
>built-in. Connected okay. Disabled the built-in,
attached
>the MN-510, let Windows ask for the CD, installed it.
>Worked fine.
>
>Back into the next room to try a Windows XP clean
install
>since that was going to be done eventually anyway. Had
>SP2 on it before, too, when it encountered that same
>incompatible message you (and others) had. I probably
>uninstalled and reinstalled the MN-510 eight times
before
>giving up, along with all networking and USB hardware
>drivers too. It was still not connecting after an hour
to
>get XP setup on a reformated disk!
>
>Now get this... my mother comes into the room to check
on
>progress and she says "Maybe if it were closer to the
>base station it would connect?". I had already moved the
>thing around some, and with them only 20 feet apart I
>figured it might be interference from a basement full of
>fluorescent lights not distance anyway. So she pulls it
>as far as it will stretch, a mere two feet farther than
>before and set onto the other end of the desk.
>
>Amazingly it saw the MSHOME (used all defaults in an
>effort to prevent confusion) network and almost
>connected. We moved the base station to the end of her
>desk too (fathers is the other computer). Retrying to
>connect a few times and it finally did. I couldn't
>believe it. The things are supposed to connect at up to
>300 feet in open spaces and what we eventually figured
>out from all this is that the initial connection must be
>extremely accurate and well-defined or else it fails.
>Once we had it going it had a 2 Mbps speed that dropped
>down to only 1 Mbps soon afterward. We actually taped
>down both the MN-500 and 510 to the desks so they would
>stay in position. Later I noticed the connection speed
>was up to 5.5 Mbps.
>
>Really goes to show this brand/model wireless device is
>finicky beyond compare. Since beginning to work on it I
>have read several messages from other people about lots
>of connection troubles with the MN 5** and 7** units. I
>never had a problem with the DELL Truemobile 1184 and
>1180 wireless router and USB adapter I use with my
>notebook and desktop and cable modem, although I did do
a
>release and renewel of IP at first so it would get to
>internet.
>
>Maybe you'd have to have been there when my Mom moved
>that MN-510 across the desk and is started to connect.
>You can literally almost see the MN-500 just 20 feet
away
>from where it had been all along. Maybe a bad antenna?
>But then why the strong signal most times, other times
no
>signal or no wirleless network? Something very glitchy
>about it, if you ask me.
>
>Hope no one got too bored reading all this.
>
>Best of luck to you all.
>
>.
>

>-----Original Message-----
>Thanks for your suggestion, but I didn't have any
problem
>with the signal strength ---8<---

Actually, that was my point about it. I also had perfct
signal strength and the wireless network and workgroup
(MSHOME default) was being found fine.

What seemed to be happening was that the initial
connection info (IP configuration and such) was not
getting through, for whatever mysterious reason, enough
to keep complete contact.

I know it couldn't have been a software issue since I had
done everything imaginable (for me and tech support),
including starting with a fresh install of XP.

Plain and simple, my mother moved the USB adapter across
the desk by no more than two feet away from where it had
been and the connection was getting locked on.

I don't know if it could be hardware trouble or not.
Something like a faulty circuit or antenna that fixed
itself during the movement, or if it just had to be an
absolutely perfect signal without any flaws. Meaning,
perhaps even a healthy signal might mean it still
fawlters briefly and so messes up the configuration info.

What was really confsuing about this is that I saw boxes
and gibberish in the tooltip popup over the connection
icon in the system tray by the clock, at first, before it
finally showed a correct message there.

All I know is that it works now and no software changes
were responsible. If it had been software (drivers and
all) I would have seen a fix during all my earlier
attempts instead of it magically appearing to work okay
with the same old normal install.

I should note here that I did get through the firmware
updates for both the MN-500 and MN-510 when I started out
on all this MS broadband wireless network installation.
Presume those were fine, now that it does work right
still today. Talked to my Mom on the phone minutes ago,
in fact, and she was pulling old files she wants to keep
on new computer from her old one, which is my Dad's now.

I just want to make it clear that something about having
a perfect signal (beyond what you see in message and icon
form) might be a crucial point in these things.

Bob (and still anonymous!)

The signal wasn't the problem, WEP was.
Disabling WEP allowed connection. But now my wireless is
vulnerable to ousiders.
Would enabling MAC filtering by entering MAC from my
laptop only prevent intruder?


>-----Original Message-----
>>-----Original Message-----
>>Thanks for your suggestion, but I didn't have any
>problem
>>with the signal strength ---8<---
>
>Actually, that was my point about it. I also had perfct
>signal strength and the wireless network and workgroup
>(MSHOME default) was being found fine.
>
>What seemed to be happening was that the initial
>connection info (IP configuration and such) was not
>getting through, for whatever mysterious reason, enough
>to keep complete contact.
>
>I know it couldn't have been a software issue since I
had
>done everything imaginable (for me and tech support),
>including starting with a fresh install of XP.
>
>Plain and simple, my mother moved the USB adapter across
>the desk by no more than two feet away from where it had
>been and the connection was getting locked on.
>
>I don't know if it could be hardware trouble or not.
>Something like a faulty circuit or antenna that fixed
>itself during the movement, or if it just had to be an
>absolutely perfect signal without any flaws. Meaning,
>perhaps even a healthy signal might mean it still
>fawlters briefly and so messes up the configuration info.
>
>What was really confsuing about this is that I saw boxes
>and gibberish in the tooltip popup over the connection
>icon in the system tray by the clock, at first, before
it
>finally showed a correct message there.
>
>All I know is that it works now and no software changes
>were responsible. If it had been software (drivers and
>all) I would have seen a fix during all my earlier
>attempts instead of it magically appearing to work okay
>with the same old normal install.
>
>I should note here that I did get through the firmware
>updates for both the MN-500 and MN-510 when I started
out
>on all this MS broadband wireless network installation.
>Presume those were fine, now that it does work right
>still today. Talked to my Mom on the phone minutes ago,
>in fact, and she was pulling old files she wants to keep
>on new computer from her old one, which is my Dad's now.
>
>I just want to make it clear that something about having
>a perfect signal (beyond what you see in message and
icon
>form) might be a crucial point in these things.
>
>Bob (and still anonymous!)
>.
>

>-----Original Message-----
>The signal wasn't the problem, WEP was.
>Disabling WEP allowed connection. But now my wireless is
>vulnerable to ousiders.
>Would enabling MAC filtering by entering MAC from my
>laptop only prevent intruder?

Me again. Nope. I know don't know a whole lot about
wireless or even networking stuff only manage to use it
these past couple years.

Access could still find a way in, possibly even learn
your MAC since it is stated in your settings. But, like I
say, this isn't something I ever got into much. You might
want to post a new message to be seen easier for others
to help.

Great that you got it connecting, at least.