I can see my wireless connection but can't connect.

[welshbhoy]

I have a netgear WPN824 router set up.

I have an NTL 250 BB modem with an ethernet cable going to the router. I then have an ethernet cable running from the router to my PC. My Pc is connected to the internet and all is well.

I'm running XP sp2, my daughters laptop has the same.

My daughter has an HP DV8387ea laptop with built in wireless connection. I have tried and tried to configure it to connect to the internet. It's showing that my wireless connection is available, but not allowing an internet connection.

Each time I attempt to connect it's asking for the encryption key which is about 45 characters long, I have to type this twice and then the status is showing as automatic but it will not let me connect.

I have checked the adapter in hardware and it's showing as working properly, it is a Broadcom 802.11a b/g.

Local Area Connection is showing as unplugged. I have had a look in device manager and it's telling me that the device is working properly. I have rolled back the drivers, I have disabled and then enabled it, but the icon is still looking back at me with a little red cross.

The network card is, Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC.

I have run IP config on the laptop

C:\Documents and Settings\dayna>ipconfig/all Windows IP Configuration Host Name................: Dayna Primary Dns Suffix.....: Node type.................: Broadcast IP Routing Enabled.....: No WINS Proxy Enabled...: No Ethernet adapter Local area connection: media State:..............: Media disconnected Description.................: realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Etherent ernet NIC Physical address..........:00-16-D4-3F-38-A3 Ethernet Adapter Wireless Network Connection: Media State..................................: Media Disconnected Description....................................: Broadcom 802.11a/b/g WLAN Physical Address............................: 00-14-A5-B5-31-FA C:\Documents and Settings\dayna>

I have tried as much as I can from the results I've found. Now it's a cry for help.

I am a novice to wireless networking and so if anyone can help provide step by step configuration advice I'll be eternally grateful.

Thanks.

[glc]

I would log into the Netgear and change the encryption key to WPA-Personal, and use an easy to remember passphrase. Then all you have to enter when trying to connect is the passphrase. There are no 45 character keys that I know of - WEP 64 is 10 characters, and WEP 128 is 26 characters, both hex (0-9 and A-F). WPA is more secure and all it requires is an 8 character or more password type word. Use your dog's name or something like that.

Once you get the encryption sorted, everything will fall into place.

[welshbhoy]

Originally Posted by glc I would log into the Netgear and change the encryption key to WPA-Personal, and use an easy to remember passphrase. Then all you have to enter when trying to connect is the passphrase. There are no 45 character keys that I know of - WEP 64 is 10 characters, and WEP 128 is 26 characters, both hex (0-9 and A-F). WPA is more secure and all it requires is an 8 character or more password type word. Use your dog's name or something like that. Once you get the encryption sorted, everything will fall into place.

I think the problem lies with the laptop's ethernet adapter. The internet is fine on my PC, and I can see my network is showing on the laptop. No matter what I do I still have a red cross on the Local Area Connection, "Local Area Connection network cable unplugged"

As for the key to connect to my network via the laptop, it's the network key and it's the info I copied from the wireless settings set up on the laptop, it starts with an 8 it's 65 numbers and letters and ends with a 5.

I tried to set up a network using the wireless settings in XP and didn't have a flash drive there to copy the settings onto so I copied them manually, hence being asked for this 65 string of numbers/letters. I have since tried the set up on my PC, being prompted to save to a flash drive and then plugging that in to the laptop and then back to my pc to transfer the info.

I have a passphrase set up on my router using WPA-PSK [TKIP]. When I first went to the laptop and tried to set it up I put the passphrase I had set up for the router but I had a message saying something along the lines of " the encryption is 48 bit" I then remembered the settings I had copied and typed in the Network key. The laptop in the network connections was showing me that NETGEAR was visible and the icon in the taskbar was showing as connected. But the local area connection icon still has the red cross on it.

I even tried a system restore this afternoon on the laptop thinking that it would roll the settings back to before I started, but no luck. I'm really open to any suggestion to get this going.

[rjfvillarosa]

Have a look in your manual for this page:
http://kbserver.netgear.com/kb_web_files/n101675.asp
Connect your laptop to the router using a Cat5 cable, then open IE and type http://192.168.0.1 or http://192.168.1.1 this will open the login GUI for your router, if you haven't changed them the Username is Admin and the Password is password.
Click on Wireless settings and click WEP (wired equivilent privacy) scroll down a little and put in a PassPhrase, click Generate, then highlight and copy the generated number, click on the little ariel icon in the tool tray and view available networks, if your router shows up click connect and when prompted paste the number you copied from the routers wireless setup page.
Windows will allow you to connect both wired and wirelessly at the same time, once you have the wireless setup you can go to control panel>network connections and disable the LAN connection which will remove it from the tool tray.

[welshbhoy]

Originally Posted by rjfvillarosa Have a look in your manual for this page: http://kbserver.netgear.com/kb_web_files/n101675.asp Connect your laptop to the router using a Cat5 cable, then open IE and type http://192.168.0.1 or http://192.168.1.1 this will open the login GUI for your router, if you haven't changed them the Username is Admin and the Password is password. Click on Wireless settings and click WEP (wired equivilent privacy) scroll down a little and put in a PassPhrase, click Generate, then highlight and copy the generated number, click on the little ariel icon in the tool tray and view available networks, if your router shows up click connect and when prompted paste the number you copied from the routers wireless setup page. Windows will allow you to connect both wired and wirelessly at the same time, once you have the wireless setup you can go to control panel>network connections and disable the LAN connection which will remove it from the tool tray.

Thanks for that info.

I can obviously connect using a Cat5 cable. I have now got the mac address of the laptop and added it to the wireless card access list. I have followed this page,

http://kbserver.netgear.com/kb_web_files/n101675.asp


I still can't see my netgear network on the laptop. I am seeing a neighbors network, but not my own. I have even tried a USB Wireless adapter, and still can't see my network.

Following that page I have set the laptop up under the " wireless card access " in the router settings.

Can I just clarify a few things.

When I check the wireless connection properties I have the following settings,

Netgear Properties,

Association tab.

Network name: NETGEAR,

Network Authentication: I have a choice of four, Open, Shared, WPA, WPA-PSK

Data Encryption: I have a choice of TKIP, AES.

Network Key: This is the WEP keys which were generated.

I need the correct settings for the network adapters I think. Can someone tell me what I should set Network Authentication and the Data Encryption.

[rjfvillarosa]

Toward the bottom of that page there is a section "Advanced Wireless Settings"
In this section is the box next to "Enable SSID Broadcast" checked?

[welshbhoy]

Originally Posted by rjfvillarosa Toward the bottom of that page there is a section "Advanced Wireless Settings" In this section is the box next to "Enable SSID Broadcast" checked?

Yes it's checked.

[rjfvillarosa]

Regardless of the fact that you cannot connect to the router, I am finding it a little strange that you cannot see the router in your "view available wireless networks"
Do you have the manual for the router?
Can you have a read of the manual and then do a hard reset, thus resetting the router back to the factory default settings.
I appreciate it's late back in Cymru now so if you want to carry on tomorrow no worries..

[welshbhoy]

Originally Posted by rjfvillarosa Regardless of the fact that you cannot connect to the router, I am finding it a little strange that you cannot see the router in your "view available wireless networks" Do you have the manual for the router? Can you have a read of the manual and then do a hard reset, thus resetting the router back to the factory default settings. I appreciate it's late back in Cymru now so if you want to carry on tomorrow no worries..

Hi, Thought I would pop in and give an update.

I tried as best as I could to configure my wireless network using the wireless adapter built in to the laptop. I got nowhere!!

I had a look at the Netgear website to see which cards were compatible with the router I had, and then proceeded to purchase one. It arrived this morning and I installed it this evening. As soon as the drivers were loaded and it was configured it picked up my router and connected straight away to the internet.

Thanks for the help and advice.

[rjfvillarosa]

Originally Posted by welshbhoy I tried as best as I could to configure my wireless network using the wireless adapter built in to the laptop. I got nowhere!!.

Thats a pity, what make and model of laptop is it?

At least you can take comfort in the fact that the boys did well last Saturday...

No Azzurri trying to score after diving over the dead ball line like last time...