XP SP2 ... now have Wireless, Wired LAN problems

[kjarrett]

Looks like I spoke to soon...

Initially after I first installed SP2, all was well. Connected to my home LAN (DLink DI-624) without a problem via my DWL-G650 PCMCIA "g" card. I was psyched and posted the good news.

Shut down and went upstairs. Rebooted and the system didn't see my shared network drive. Waited a few minutes. Was able to access it, didn't think anything about it. Worked the entire day, grabbing files, everytyhing's perfect.

Shut down for dinner, then restarted. Got an IP address, Internet OK, just can't see my shared drive. Weird. So I disconnected the shared drive, deleted the shortcuts etc., and tried to recreate.

No-go. I can see my workgroup name, but no PCs under it.

Took out the wifi adapter. Plugged in an RJ45 cable to my router. Nothing, can't get an IP. IPCONFIG hangs. "Repair connection" does nothing (renew fails).

Put the wifi card back in. Grabs an IP address just fine, but, no Internet. "Page Cannot Be Displayed." IPCONFIG details appear perfect. Everything is there. System reported correctly on DHCP tab in router.

I ran the "wireless network setup wizard" and was told the system is now connected with "excellent" strength. Still no internet. IPCONFIG release/renew now works perfectly via WiFi.

I am running Zone Alarm Pro firewall, Windows firewall is turned off on all machines. The firewall is set up correctly, has been for a while. No problems whatsoever.

What could be wrong?

Thanks!

-kj-

[kjarrett]

Well I'm Ghosting the drive back to pre-SP2 and will patch again.

Funny thing, I was away from the PC for about an hour, came back, everything was fine. Internet, file shares, Windows had even shared all the printers installed on the Thinkpad. Odd. Worked great. Then I shut down, restarted, and it was broken again. No access to the shared volume on my desktop, no Internet, but it DID have an IP from my router. I have a feeling this is gonna be a tough one...

-kj-

[kjarrett]

I have narrowed the problem down (I think) to WEP/WPA-PSK. Wifi card is a DWL-G650.

When I run without WEP or WPA-PSK, everything is fine. Gets an IP, connects to my shared PC, printer, no problem.

When I run WEP, the system connects initially (accepts my key), then after I shut down, I get no IP, no connectivity, nothing. Repairing the connection does nothing.

When I run WPA-PSK, it also works initially, and after shut down, it also fails. It hunts for an address for about 1-2 minutes. Once it autoconfigures 169.254.x.x, I can repair the connection and it will then work fine.

Any clues here guys?

Wireless strength is always excellent, I'm no more than 15-20' from the DI-624 at any time.

Thanks, kj

[mrbjr]

Have you updated the current firmware for your router?

[kjarrett]

Firmare is most current, yes.

I have solved the problem for now by re-enabling the DLink wireless utility to manage the connection. I have WEP, MAC addr filtering, and my handy little green bars back.

Wondering if I was supposed to UNINSTALL that utility rather than just remove it from the startup group.

Still checking...but for now we're back.

-kj-

[Kenn]

Do you have the Wireless Zero Config service enabled? Try the 120-second test - let your computer sit for 2 minutes after bootup and see if the network connects (or does something else) after that. Moving between wireless networks while the computer is off played havok on my machine until I got the SP2/WZC/IBM Access Connections issue sorted out.

[kjarrett]

How do I check if WCFG is enabled?

Do I need that if I am NOT running the DLink utility? Or is that the source of the problems all around?

It *WAS* able to connect after I let it sit for quite a while. Suprised me. Then I rebooted and it was inoperative again.

Thanks, kj

[sugo]

I would try uninstalling the Dlink utility. The startup program might well be just the tray icon, instead of the windows service/background process.

Is your card Atheros based? I have great success with atheros universal driver v3.1.1.48 and v3.3.0.150 under windows SP1. The atheros utility has many options and provides many more technical statistics which can be handy for troubleshooting.

[sugo]

Start -> Run -> services.msc -> find Wireless Zero Config. If status is Started then it's running.

If you do NOT have another utility (like Dlink or Atheros) then you need WZC.

[Kenn]

How do I check if WCFG is enabled?

Do I need that if I am NOT running the DLink utility? Or is that the source of the problems all around?

It *WAS* able to connect after I let it sit for quite a while. Suprised me. Then I rebooted and it was inoperative again.

Thanks, kj

If you haven't disabled it yourself, it's running
Find it at:

Start menu>Run>type "services.msc"

"Wireless Zero Config" is near the bottom of the list, should be "Started" and "Automatic."

I assume SP2 performance is more uniform than pre-SP2, but you can try to STOP and DISABLE the service (then reboot) to see if it affects your performance. It's just a start, but doing so may tell you if your problem is one of the wireless seek/delay issues that manifest in different ways for different people, ESPECIALLY if you use a 3rd party app (like IBM Access Connections or presumably the D-Link utility you mention) to manage the wireless connection.

[sugo]

oh kjarrett, if you have IBM Access Connection, you want to uninstall it too.

[kjarrett]

Thanks guys. I'll try that in the morning. Question is, what's the advantage of NOT using the DLink wireless config utility? I have it running now. It works just fine. I like the idea of a 'simple' config, if XP can handle it all, ok great ... but is that the only gain?

I also do NOT have IBM access connections installed. Never put it on, didn't think I needed it.

-kj-

[Kenn]

Thanks guys. I'll try that in the morning. Question is, what's the advantage of NOT using the DLink wireless config utility? I have it running now. It works just fine. I like the idea of a 'simple' config, if XP can handle it all, ok great ... but is that the only gain?

I also do NOT have IBM access connections installed. Never put it on, didn't think I needed it.

-kj-

The advantage is that when it works , Windows alone provides a nearly flawless "simple" wireless control set, as it seems you desire. It doesn't have the bells and whistles of Access Connections (or I assume the D-Link util), but it lets you manage simple profiles, doesn't take up the extra resources of a 3rd party util, and just does the job.

Unfortunately it seems that thinkpads are a bit more complicated (and thus problem-prone) given Access Connections and all that jazz. You can get everything playing together nicely, but it takes time and tweaking.