Cannot connect to my wireless router with Vista.

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I have 5 computers at home, all of which are running XP, excepy my new
bad-boy which runs Vista. 3 Wi-Fi Enabled Laptops, and 1 Desktop with a
Linksys Wireless Adapter PCI.

All of these computers connect to my Wireless Router (WRT54G Linksys) no
problems at all, and have complete access to internet.

Enter my new Vista machine. A Dell Inspiron 531 (Desktop) This machine has
a Broadcom Wireless Network Adapter PCI card inside, and Vista Pre-Loaded.
Now, the wireless card can see the network, with excellent signal strength.
However, I cannot connect to it. I get "Windows cannot connect to
'netname'". After I manually assigned an IP address to my computer, I get
limited connections to my router, and sometimes I can get internet. But when
I do get internet, I get very bad internet. It's intermittant, and very slow.

I spent 3 1/2 hours with Dell tech support walking me through changing my
router settings to no avail. I have tried adding MAC addresses, changing
broadcast channels, adding IP addresses, opening ports, Updating Firmware on
the router, even downloading new drivers for the Wireless Card (On the XP
Machine, transferred to the Vista machine with a JumpDrive). NOTHING WORKS.

I have at this point determined that it has to be Vista, or more directly, a
problem with Vista's Wireless Connectivity.

Vista is an amazing visual OS for all media access, and I personally really
like it. Functionality for the wireless adapter has quite a bit to be
desired however.

I hope I have provided enough information. If anyone out there is having
similiar issues, Please let me know how you have solved it.
 
* Shibblet:
I have 5 computers at home, all of which are running XP, excepy my new
bad-boy which runs Vista. 3 Wi-Fi Enabled Laptops, and 1 Desktop with a
Linksys Wireless Adapter PCI.

All of these computers connect to my Wireless Router (WRT54G Linksys) no
problems at all, and have complete access to internet.

Enter my new Vista machine. A Dell Inspiron 531 (Desktop) This machine has
a Broadcom Wireless Network Adapter PCI card inside, and Vista Pre-Loaded.
Now, the wireless card can see the network, with excellent signal strength.
However, I cannot connect to it. I get "Windows cannot connect to
'netname'". After I manually assigned an IP address to my computer, I get
limited connections to my router, and sometimes I can get internet. But when
I do get internet, I get very bad internet. It's intermittant, and very slow.

I spent 3 1/2 hours with Dell tech support walking me through changing my
router settings to no avail. I have tried adding MAC addresses, changing
broadcast channels, adding IP addresses, opening ports, Updating Firmware on
the router, even downloading new drivers for the Wireless Card (On the XP
Machine, transferred to the Vista machine with a JumpDrive). NOTHING WORKS.

I have at this point determined that it has to be Vista, or more directly, a
problem with Vista's Wireless Connectivity.

Vista is an amazing visual OS for all media access, and I personally really
like it. Functionality for the wireless adapter has quite a bit to be
desired however.

I hope I have provided enough information. If anyone out there is having
similiar issues, Please let me know how you have solved it.
Click to expand...

Have you checked to see if there's a firmware update for your router?
Try that first.

Some routers do not handle Vista's UPnP very well, or at all.
You could try disabling/enabling UPnP on the router. Disabling
UPnP in Services. I've seen folks get different result doing different
things with UPnP settings.

Also, try this Microsoft tool;
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/using/tools/igd/default.mspx
Internet Connectivity Evaluation Tool
The Internet Connectivity Evaluation Tool checks your Internet router to see if it supports
certain technologies. You can use this tool on a PC running either the Windows Vista or Windows
XP operating system. If you're planning to run Windows Vista, this tool can verify whether your
existing Internet router supports advanced features, such as improved download speeds and
face-to-face collaboration using Windows Meeting Space.

The tool is intended to be run from a home network behind a home Internet (NAT) router. Running
this tool from behind a corporate firewall or on operating systems other than those specified
above won't produce accurate results. This tool requires administrator privileges to run.

The tests can require up to 10 minutes to complete and do not make any permanent changes to
your router. For the most accurate results, your computer should be connected directly to your
Internet router, using a wired connection.


-Michael
 
Have you checked to see if there's a firmware update for your router?
Try that first.
Click to expand...

Yep, been there, done that.
Some routers do not handle Vista's UPnP very well, or at all.
You could try disabling/enabling UPnP on the router. Disabling
UPnP in Services. I've seen folks get different result doing different
things with UPnP settings.
Click to expand...

Tried that too.
Also, try this Microsoft tool;
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/using/tools/igd/default.mspx
Internet Connectivity Evaluation Tool
The Internet Connectivity Evaluation Tool checks your Internet router to see if it supports
certain technologies. You can use this tool on a PC running either the Windows Vista or Windows
XP operating system. If you're planning to run Windows Vista, this tool can verify whether your
existing Internet router supports advanced features, such as improved download speeds and
face-to-face collaboration using Windows Meeting Space.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately that tool tells me everything is running fine.

I'm at the point now, where I am about to tell Dell that I want a copy of XP
instead.
 
* Shibblet:
Yep, been there, done that.


Tried that too.


Unfortunately that tool tells me everything is running fine.

I'm at the point now, where I am about to tell Dell that I want a copy of XP instead.
Click to expand...

http://forums.linksys.com/linksys/board/message?board.id=Wireless_Routers&message.id=35737
<quote>
This has also baffled me at first but it has to do with some choice you (must have) made early
during the setup process of the wireless network on Vista.

When I first setup my network it asked me how to categorize it. If you choose "private" all is
well. However, if you choose "public" somehow all connectivity over the router is lost. I don't
know why but that is what happened to me. So delete your wireless connection and reconfigure
it. Choose "private" this time during setup.
</quote>

http://www.techimo.com/forum/t175350.html
<quote>
This was posted on the Microsoft Tech Board about issues with Vista

"The culprit is the built-in firewall software on the DI-724U router, which features Stateful
Packet Inspection (SPI). This is not the only router in the SOHO market that features SPI -
Netgear's WGR614 and Linksys' WRT54GS are among dozens of products that offer similar
capabilities. Trouble is, the new and improved TCP/IP stack in Windows Vista falls apart when
it encounters an SPI-enabled router.

One workaround is to disable SPI on the router. That significantly weakens a key layer of
network security, but it allows Internet traffic to get through. Unfortunately, the D-Link
DI-724U, like several other products in the same family, doesn't allow SPI to be disabled."
</quote>

The site below is an excellent site.
http://www.chicagotech.net/vista/vista.htm
http://www.chicagotech.net/netforums/viewtopic.php?t=530


-Michael
 
This was posted on the Microsoft Tech Board about issues with Vista
"The culprit is the built-in firewall software on the DI-724U router,
which features Stateful
Packet Inspection (SPI). This is not the only router in the SOHO market
that features SPI -
Netgear's WGR614 and Linksys' WRT54GS are among dozens of products that
offer similar
capabilities. Trouble is, the new and improved TCP/IP stack in Windows
Vista falls apart when
it encounters an SPI-enabled router.
Click to expand...

That's ridiculous. Not only am I sitting in a hotel room at a client's site
that for sure has a SPI FW solution for the hotel's wireless network using
Vista on the laptop, but I have also taken the laptop to the client's site
and connected the machine to the LAN and there is FW there too that's using
SPI. In either case, I have had no problems connecting to any one of them
with them both using SPI.
 
* Mr. Arnold:
That's ridiculous. Not only am I sitting in a hotel room at a client's site
that for sure has a SPI FW solution for the hotel's wireless network using
Vista on the laptop, but I have also taken the laptop to the client's site
and connected the machine to the LAN and there is FW there too that's using
SPI. In either case, I have had no problems connecting to any one of them
with them both using SPI.
Click to expand...

I also have no problem with SPI on.
In fact, I have been quite pleased overall with
Vista's network stack and internet performance,
even since the betas. I have 3 Vista machines (one wireless),
Windows Home Server and an XBOX360 connected to my router,
and it has performed flawlessly.

However, there was a problem for some routers with the Vista betas
and even when Vista was first released.

The OP can try several different things before he decides to
dump Vista in frustration.


-Michael
 
MICHAEL said:
* Mr. Arnold:

I also have no problem with SPI on.
In fact, I have been quite pleased overall with
Vista's network stack and internet performance,
even since the betas. I have 3 Vista machines (one wireless),
Windows Home Server and an XBOX360 connected to my router,
and it has performed flawlessly.

However, there was a problem for some routers with the Vista betas
and even when Vista was first released.

The OP can try several different things before he decides to
dump Vista in frustration.
Click to expand...

It really comes down to who is sitting behind the wheel and is doing the
driving.
 
I have seen machines that just won't connect properly to a certain router.
I have an Inspiron 2650 (with a Linksys G card) that doesn't like my Netgear
'G' router ( drops connections, refuses to connect, etc), but connects to my
Linksys 'B' (which is further away and has half the signal strength) and
works fine.
The Inspiron E1705 with built in wireless works great with either the
Netgear G or the Linksys B or G. (yes I have 3 wireless routers in my house
to give full coverage for the house and patio).
I have had friends over that can connect to one or the other, but sometimes
they have issues with a certain router (sometimes 1 brand, sometimes the
other).
If you can borrow a different brand/model of wireless router, try it.
If it works, you can chalk it up to hardware compatibility.
If not, you need to get back with Dell.
 
It really comes down to who is sitting behind the wheel and is doing the
driving.
Click to expand...

I completely disagree. If it doesn't work, then it doesn't work.

I'm not some little old lady trying to look up a knitting web site. I may
not be a major corporation IT tech or anything. But I have set up my own
wireless system to run 4 separate computers. And with Windows XP, every
system runs perfectly. All three laptops (one of which I am on right now)
and my media server desktop.

This is CLEARLY a software issue. Something in Windows Vista is not
allowing this
Wireless card to function properly. I took an old copy of XP and loaded it
up (Thank God it's a new computer with none of my stuff on it) and it works
beautifully on the same router with none of the above changes made. Why
would XP work fine, but Vista doesn't? Well, the answer isn't hardware...
it's software, seeing as how that's the only thing that has changed.

My problem is, my computer came with Vista, and I want to use Vista. But
once again, it seems as if I am going to have to wait for Vista SP1.

Well, now that my ranting is done... Has anyone had this ame problem, and
found a fix for it?
 
* Shibblet:
I have 5 computers at home, all of which are running XP, excepy my new
bad-boy which runs Vista. 3 Wi-Fi Enabled Laptops, and 1 Desktop with a
Linksys Wireless Adapter PCI.
Click to expand...

8<


What type of encryption do you have enabled on your network and have you
tried changing it.
Some routers are very buggy and do fail in odd situations, \my netgear just
wouldn't stay up using WPA until I got a new driver for the Intel network
card even though it was fine using WEP.
There shouldn't be anything the wireless adapter can do to kill the router
but it did.
Its just as well that Intel provided a fix as Netgear still haven't fixed
the router to stop it crashing.
 
Shibblet said:
I completely disagree. If it doesn't work, then it doesn't work.

I'm not some little old lady trying to look up a knitting web site. I may
not be a major corporation IT tech or anything. But I have set up my own
wireless system to run 4 separate computers. And with Windows XP, every
system runs perfectly. All three laptops (one of which I am on right now)
and my media server desktop.

This is CLEARLY a software issue. Something in Windows Vista is not
allowing this
Wireless card to function properly. I took an old copy of XP and loaded
it
up (Thank God it's a new computer with none of my stuff on it) and it
works
beautifully on the same router with none of the above changes made. Why
would XP work fine, but Vista doesn't? Well, the answer isn't hardware...
it's software, seeing as how that's the only thing that has changed.

My problem is, my computer came with Vista, and I want to use Vista. But
once again, it seems as if I am going to have to wait for Vista SP1.

Well, now that my ranting is done... Has anyone had this ame problem, and
found a fix for it?
Click to expand...

MS didn't make the driver for the card nor did MS make the firmware for the
router, since you're on a software thing. And Stateful Packet Inspection
being used in a FW solution I doubt is the problem either.

Did you even try to call the manufacture of either the card or the router
concerning the issue? Did you post to a wireless NG concerning the issue?
It's just a thought.
 
If you can borrow a different brand/model of wireless router, try it.
If it works, you can chalk it up to hardware compatibility.
If not, you need to get back with Dell.
Click to expand...

Well, see that's the whole problem. My wireless card gets a full signal
strength from the router, it just connects intermittantly. And when it does
connect, I sometimes get internet, and sometimes don't. So if I am getting a
full signal strength, it shouldn't be a problem with the card.

However, I did take your advice, and threw my old Linksys card in. GLORY
GLORY HALLELUJAH! First off, Linksys has an enormous antenna, as compared to
that little Asus POS. Literally, the Linksys antenna was three times larger.


So, this problem has been solved, and it was a hardware issue. It was the
crappy wireless card that came with my new Dell. I am going to have a
hey-day phone call to them later on tonight.

Thanks for the help guys!
 
Since you know XP works well, check all the NIC settings as far as b or g
transmission settings, IV4 and IV6 settings etc. Possibly you'll notice a
difference in how Vista and XP set up the NIC. Also in Vista, disable all
the NIC protocols except IV4 and see if that helps. If it does, enable the
others one at a time until you have issues again. I can't get Vista to allow
me a static IP on my wireless NIC so there may be software issues too.
Good luck.
 
One other thing to look at is whether or not you have desktop computer right
next to the wireless router, as this can affect some wireless cards.
 
Shibblet said:
Well, see that's the whole problem. My wireless card gets a full signal
strength from the router, it just connects intermittantly. And when it
does
connect, I sometimes get internet, and sometimes don't. So if I am
getting a
full signal strength, it shouldn't be a problem with the card.

However, I did take your advice, and threw my old Linksys card in. GLORY
GLORY HALLELUJAH! First off, Linksys has an enormous antenna, as compared
to
that little Asus POS. Literally, the Linksys antenna was three times
larger.


So, this problem has been solved, and it was a hardware issue. It was the
crappy wireless card that came with my new Dell. I am going to have a
hey-day phone call to them later on tonight.

Thanks for the help guys!
Click to expand...

Nothing against you personally, but I suspect that a lot of problems people
are having with Vista are due to who is sitting behind the wheel and is
doing the driving.
 
The culprit was an Asus WR138G v2 Wireless Adapter. With a tiny little
tadger of an antenna. This thing couldn't make a connection on Chuck
Woolery's computer (obscure 90's reference).

I literally sat my desktop About 10 feet away from the wireless router, with
NOTHING inbetween the two. My connection was still intermittant. This
wireless card sucks harder than airlock decompression.

I am beginning to wonder if all of these people who are having problems with
thier Wireless adapters and Vista, just have really bad wireless cards.
 
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