Wireless networking

  • Thread starter Thread starter Stan Brown
  • Start date Start date
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Stan Brown

Windows XP SP2, Acer Travelmate laptop
Netgear wireless router with WPA encryption and Mac authentication

I recently purchased a wireless router, and I have no problem
connecting to it manually, but I can't connect automatically. Can
someone tell me what I might be missing?

Details:

The laptop's wireless is turned on and off by a push-switch on the
front of the laptop. (The router is always on.) When I turn on
wireless, it blinks (indicating it's searching for a network) but
doesn't find one. If I click the System Tray icon for wireless, then
"Refresh network list", mine is found and connected to right away.
I'd like to eliminate that extra step, naturally.

1. I do have "Connect to this network when available" set in the
properties for my own network. I can't see any other relevant
settings; am I missing something else I need to set to make networks
refresh automatically when the laptop's wireless card is turned on?

2. Failing that, is there a command I can use to refresh wireless
networks, rather than have to click several times to accomplish it?
If I knew the command, I could make a shortcut and a shortcut key. (I
looked in Help and Support, but found nothing helpful for this
question.)
 
Stan Brown said:
The laptop's wireless is turned on and off by a push-switch on the
front of the laptop. (The router is always on.) When I turn on
wireless, it blinks (indicating it's searching for a network) but
doesn't find one. If I click the System Tray icon for wireless, then
"Refresh network list", mine is found and connected to right away.
I'd like to eliminate that extra step, naturally.
Click to expand...

See "How to Troubleshoot wireless network connections in Windows XP
Service Pack 2" (http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=870702).
 
Stan Brown said:
Thanks for responding, but that page seems to be for people who can't
connect, and that's not my issue.
Click to expand...

Have you simply tried waiting for some time? My laptop needs some time
to reconnect when I had turned off the WLAN device.
 
Mon, 30 Jan 2006 09:36:14 +0100 from Thorsten Matzner
Have you simply tried waiting for some time? My laptop needs some time
to reconnect when I had turned off the WLAN device.
Click to expand...

Yes, after 90 seconds or so, it does eventually reconnect. Is there
any way to speed that up?

When I manually select "Refresh network list" it reconnects almost
instantly. Is there come command I can store in a shortcut to do
that, rather than have to click through a couple of screens?
 
Stan Brown said:
Yes, after 90 seconds or so, it does eventually reconnect. Is there
any way to speed that up?
Click to expand...

Not that I know of. This does not only depend on Windows but also on
the LAN and WLAN hardware.
 
Tue, 31 Jan 2006 11:57:52 +0100 from Thorsten Matzner
Not that I know of. This does not only depend on Windows but also on
the LAN and WLAN hardware.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the follow-up.

Hmm -- not sure why it's so much faster when manually initiated, but
okay.

In that case, what's the command to initiate a "Refresh Network
List"? I'll enclose that in a shortcut and give it a key combination.
 
Stan Brown said:
Hmm -- not sure why it's so much faster when manually initiated, but
okay.
Click to expand...

This may be because Windows not not try to reconnect in smaller
timesteps, even if the network is yet available.
In that case, what's the command to initiate a "Refresh Network
List"? I'll enclose that in a shortcut and give it a key combination.
Click to expand...

I do not know of a such a command-line. I personally access a remote
drive in the Winpows Explorer after a while to make Windows connect to
the other computer.
 
Thu, 02 Feb 2006 11:07:36 +0100 from Thorsten Matzner
This may be because Windows not not try to reconnect in smaller
timesteps, even if the network is yet available.
Click to expand...

Makes sense. I wonder if I can tweak that interval somewhere?
(Realistically, I'll probably never get around to investigating that
because I have so many higher priorities.)
I do not know of a such a command-line. I personally access a remote
drive in the Winpows Explorer after a while to make Windows connect to
the other computer.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately that's not an option for me -- my wireless connects
only to a broadband modem, and there are no other computers or
devices on my wireless network.

For now I guess I'll just have to live with the 90-second wait or
else the several clicks and mouse moves to initiate a manual
reconnect. But thanks for taking the time to post your follow-ups.
 
Hi, Stan. Please see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base
Articles for further info on the whys-and-hows for network
connection/reconnection problems.

KB 896062
KB 906524
KB 907405
KB 907865

Note: The Article Titles for these KB Articles do *not* accurately
reflect the scope of the problem in each case. The impact
of each problem is more-widespread than said in each KB
article.

Each of the above issues, along with firmware updates to
your Wireless Router and your Wireless Network Interface
hardware in your laptop need to be checked to see whether
any of the above are impacting your ability to reliably receive
a secure network connection from the Wireless Router.

And finally, please do not overlook the possibility that the
network settings in the Hardware Router *itself* need to be
optimized (after all the above driver and firmware updates
have been performed) to ensure you are granted a wireless
connection in a timely manner on initial-connect at
laptop-startup.



Best I can do for now. <tm>



Bill
 
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