Strong wireless, but cannot ping to router

  • Thread starter Thread starter xavier.verges
  • Start date Start date
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xavier.verges

My desktop's wireless has been working fine for months. Suddenly
(sorry, no more details, I'm not aware of any change or important
event *) wireless has stop working from my desktop; it does work fine
from my laptop.

HP Pavillion s7639
XP, SP2
Strong wireless signal is reported, however, I don't get an address
from DHCP.
In fact, I cannot even ping the router 192.168.1.1

(*) Likely to be missleading guesses: I'm under the impression that it
may be related to the system going suspended or hibernated.
The network adapter is called USB Wireless 802.11 b/g Adaptor,
although it is internal and I don't plug it anywhere
Looking at the Device Manager, I see nothing related to network in the
USB controllers tree

Thanks in advance for any hint.

-Xv
 
check the network adapters tree. Is it listed there or not? If yes,
if you disable it and then re-enable it, do you get a connection?
Click to expand...
It is there.
After enable+disable I see that it is trying to get an IP address but
it fails after a while.
Ping to the router still fails.
The details of the Network Connection (reported as "limited") show
that the assigned IP is a 169. one, instead of a 192. one; even
pinging to the assigned 169.254.190.141 address times out.
re: hibernate/suspend. do you get a good connection if you reboot or
turn off and then turn on again?
Click to expand...
No.

Thanks for your interest.
-Xv
 
if it is enabled and you don't get an IP address after rebooting,
then I would check the event logs on the computer and see if
anything is reported. I'd also check the router logs. I'd reboot the
router.

which exact router hardware model and revision and what firmware?

It is there.
After enable+disable I see that it is trying to get an IP address but
it fails after a while.
Ping to the router still fails.
The details of the Network Connection (reported as "limited") show
that the assigned IP is a 169. one, instead of a 192. one; even
pinging to the assigned 169.254.190.141 address times out.

No.

Thanks for your interest.
-Xv
Click to expand...
--

Barb Bowman
MS Windows-MVP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/meetexperts/bowman.mspx
http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/
 
It is there.
After enable+disable I see that it is trying to get an IP address but
it fails after a while.
Ping to the router still fails.
The details of the Network Connection (reported as "limited") show
that the assigned IP is a 169. one, instead of a 192. one; even
pinging to the assigned 169.254.190.141 address times out.

No.

Thanks for your interest.
-Xv
Click to expand...
The address 169.x.x.x is the one which XP uses when it cannot find a dhcp
server. The router will not route to such an address from the wireless to
the outside world.
Have you checked to see that the encryption keys match? That would be where
I would have started because you are seeing a strong signal hence the NIC
must be working.
Jim
 
It is there.
After enable+disable I see that it is trying to get an IP address but
it fails after a while.
Ping to the router still fails.
The details of the Network Connection (reported as "limited") show
that the assigned IP is a 169. one, instead of a 192. one; even
pinging to the assigned 169.254.190.141 address times out.




No.

Thanks for your interest.
-Xv
Click to expand...

I would suggest you "manually" add an IP (192.xxx.yyy.zz) to the TCP/
IP settings of the adapter along with the router's IP (aka gateway.)
This should let you access the router's web pages and check its status.
 
I would suggest you "manually" add an IP (192.xxx.yyy.zz) to the TCP/
IP settings of the adapter along with the router's IP (aka gateway.)
Click to expand...
I tried that already: still no access to the router.
This should let you access the router's web pages and check its status.
Click to expand...
That's not a problem: I can reach the router's web pages from another
PC (using wireless) or from the sick PC itself using ethernet (and
making my house a complete mess :-)

-Xv
 
I tried that already: still no access to the router.


That's not a problem: I can reach the router's web pages from another
PC (using wireless) or from the sick PC itself using ethernet (and
making my house a complete mess :-)

-Xv
Click to expand...

Have you checked any "logs" that the router may have?

Are you running SP2 on the "sick" PC?

What type of wireless "encryption" key is the "sick" PC and the router
use? Both need to match. WEP or WPA ???
 
I tried that already: still no access to the router.


That's not a problem: I can reach the router's web pages from another
PC (using wireless) or from the sick PC itself using ethernet (and
making my house a complete mess :-)

-Xv
Click to expand...

You need to make sure that

1) Running the latest driver for the wireless adapter.

2) Use the same type of encrytion key both with the wireless adapter
and router.


Have you checked the router for any "loogs" generated?
 
Have you checked any "logs" that the router may have?
Click to expand...
Nothing there. The router doesn't seem to log anything until it leases
an address; this does not happen when the sick PC tries to connect.
Are you running SP2 on the "sick" PC?
Click to expand...
Yes, but I already was before it became sick.
What type of wireless "encryption" key is the "sick" PC and the router
use? Both need to match. WEP or WPA ???
Click to expand...
Both are on WEP.
You need to make sure that

1) Running the latest driver for the wireless adapter.
Click to expand...
Done.

I yesterday tried to use a linux livecd to check if there was a
hardware problem; unfortunately, wireless on linux is far from obvious
(and I have no knowledge about it), and I was unable to set t up (who
knows if it was my incompetence, the lack of an appropiate driver, a
hardware fault or all of the above).

I've got the gut feeling that it is related to USB, but since the
device is attached inside the PC box, I don't know what to do. If I
uninstall the wireless devices using the device manager, they appear
magically again when I reboot the system.

-Xv
 
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