XP preference to go for my neighbours WLAN 1st !

Hi,
has anyone else seen this behaviour?

boot up laptop and it connects to my neighbours network rather than my own
which preferred.

My access point is only a few metres from the laptop - so much closer and
greater signal strength.
I have to force the connection to my system

Brief set-up details
Running XP SP1
I have a WEP key configured on my system but neighbours is open
I have my system as preferred or 1st choice

not a big issue but really annoying
Thanks for any help
F

willoxs wrote:

> Hi,
> has anyone else seen this behaviour?
>
> boot up laptop and it connects to my neighbours network rather than my
> own which preferred.
>
> My access point is only a few metres from the laptop - so much closer
> and greater signal strength.
> I have to force the connection to my system
>
> Brief set-up details
> Running XP SP1
> I have a WEP key configured on my system but neighbours is open
> I have my system as preferred or 1st choice
>
> not a big issue but really annoying
> Thanks for any help
> F

There is an option (possibly in Advanced settings) in the Wireless
settings for Windows to only connect to preferred networks. Put a check
in that and you won't connect to your neighbor's network.

Malke
--
MS MVP - Windows Shell/User
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"

"willoxs" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi,
> has anyone else seen this behaviour?
>
> boot up laptop and it connects to my neighbours network rather than my own
> which preferred.
>
> My access point is only a few metres from the laptop - so much closer and
> greater signal strength.
> I have to force the connection to my system
>
> Brief set-up details
> Running XP SP1
> I have a WEP key configured on my system but neighbours is open
> I have my system as preferred or 1st choice
>
> not a big issue but really annoying
> Thanks for any help
> F
Also use a different channel to your neighbour, Channels 1, 7 or 11 are the
best for not overlapping.

Tony,

Unfortunately, the solutions provided above are not adequate.
There is a check box that states "Automatically connect to non-preferred
networks" (in the Advanced dialog box), which will make your machine connect
to any network. However, by default this is off. Please make sure that
this is the case, as is not a good idea to have it checked.

Now the only reason that the Wireless service would connect to your
neighbors network is because it has the same name. If they were both called
"Default" then the problem is pretty clear- we can't tell one from the
other. Changing the SSID of your network in the AP and on your client will
definitively fix your problem, as then they will appear as different,
non-confusable networks.


--
Brian Wehrle
(E-Mail Removed)
Software Test Engineer/Wireless Networking
Microsoft Corp.




P.S. Changing the channel is also a good idea, if your neighbor is using
the default (1), go to 7 or 11. However, this is not directly related to
your problem.


"Tony" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:crhijc$u6p$(E-Mail Removed)...
> "willoxs" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Hi,
>> has anyone else seen this behaviour?
>>
>> boot up laptop and it connects to my neighbours network rather than my
>> own which preferred.
>>
>> My access point is only a few metres from the laptop - so much closer and
>> greater signal strength.
>> I have to force the connection to my system
>>
>> Brief set-up details
>> Running XP SP1
>> I have a WEP key configured on my system but neighbours is open
>> I have my system as preferred or 1st choice
>>
>> not a big issue but really annoying
>> Thanks for any help
>> F
> Also use a different channel to your neighbour, Channels 1, 7 or 11 are
> the best for not overlapping.
>

Brian Wehrle [MSFT] wrote:

>
> Tony,
>
> Unfortunately, the solutions provided above are not adequate.
> There is a check box that states "Automatically connect to
> non-preferred networks" (in the Advanced dialog box), which will make
> your machine connect
> to any network. However, by default this is off. Please make sure
> that this is the case, as is not a good idea to have it checked.
>
> Now the only reason that the Wireless service would connect to your
> neighbors network is because it has the same name. If they were both
> called "Default" then the problem is pretty clear- we can't tell one
> from the
> other. Changing the SSID of your network in the AP and on your client
> will definitively fix your problem, as then they will appear as
> different, non-confusable networks.
>
>
Great catch, Brian. Serves me right for trying to remember the wireless
settings when the laptop isn't on. Thanks. I'm betting that you're
right about the SSID name. Most home users just leav it as "Linksys" or
"Default" or whatever.

Malke
--
MS MVP - Windows Shell/User
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"

Malke,

It seems that there should be some better way to remember a network, like
the ethernet address of the AP.
However, since these can change, or there can be multiple AP's in a network
the SSID is defined as the network identifier.
It was very short-sighted of the manufacturers to use their current naming
scheme (among other things, like the channel settings).

I see very few cases of the above problem, surprisingly! I assume it will
become more and more of a problem as time goes on.
Brian

--
Brian Wehrle
(E-Mail Removed)
Software Test Engineer/Wireless Networking
Microsoft Corp.

"Malke" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Brian Wehrle [MSFT] wrote:
>
>>
>> Tony,
>>
>> Unfortunately, the solutions provided above are not adequate.
>> There is a check box that states "Automatically connect to
>> non-preferred networks" (in the Advanced dialog box), which will make
>> your machine connect
>> to any network. However, by default this is off. Please make sure
>> that this is the case, as is not a good idea to have it checked.
>>
>> Now the only reason that the Wireless service would connect to your
>> neighbors network is because it has the same name. If they were both
>> called "Default" then the problem is pretty clear- we can't tell one
>> from the
>> other. Changing the SSID of your network in the AP and on your client
>> will definitively fix your problem, as then they will appear as
>> different, non-confusable networks.
>>
>>
> Great catch, Brian. Serves me right for trying to remember the wireless
> settings when the laptop isn't on. Thanks. I'm betting that you're
> right about the SSID name. Most home users just leav it as "Linksys" or
> "Default" or whatever.
>
> Malke
> --
> MS MVP - Windows Shell/User
> Elephant Boy Computers
> www.elephantboycomputers.com
> "Don't Panic!"

Some manufacturers have proprietary setting to force the WLAN
adapter to connect only to APs with certain BSSID (sometimes called "ethernet address" ).
But unlikely that it is meant as remedy for naive users who can't configure
their AP and WZC.
--PA

"Brian Wehrle [MSFT]" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:#(E-Mail Removed)...
> Malke,
>
> It seems that there should be some better way to remember a network, like
> the ethernet address of the AP.
> However, since these can change, or there can be multiple AP's in a network
> the SSID is defined as the network identifier.
> It was very short-sighted of the manufacturers to use their current naming
> scheme (among other things, like the channel settings).
>
> I see very few cases of the above problem, surprisingly! I assume it will
> become more and more of a problem as time goes on.
> Brian
>
> --
> Brian Wehrle
> (E-Mail Removed)
> Software Test Engineer/Wireless Networking
> Microsoft Corp.
>
> "Malke" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Brian Wehrle [MSFT] wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> Tony,
> >>
> >> Unfortunately, the solutions provided above are not adequate.
> >> There is a check box that states "Automatically connect to
> >> non-preferred networks" (in the Advanced dialog box), which will make
> >> your machine connect
> >> to any network. However, by default this is off. Please make sure
> >> that this is the case, as is not a good idea to have it checked.
> >>
> >> Now the only reason that the Wireless service would connect to your
> >> neighbors network is because it has the same name. If they were both
> >> called "Default" then the problem is pretty clear- we can't tell one
> >> from the
> >> other. Changing the SSID of your network in the AP and on your client
> >> will definitively fix your problem, as then they will appear as
> >> different, non-confusable networks.
> >>
> >>
> > Great catch, Brian. Serves me right for trying to remember the wireless
> > settings when the laptop isn't on. Thanks. I'm betting that you're
> > right about the SSID name. Most home users just leav it as "Linksys" or
> > "Default" or whatever.
> >
> > Malke
> > --
> > MS MVP - Windows Shell/User
> > Elephant Boy Computers
> > www.elephantboycomputers.com
> > "Don't Panic!"
>
>