T42P Wireless Stopped Working - can't aquire network address

[steadyuk]

Hi,



I have a T42P which has run wireless for years with no problems. All of a sudden it stopped working. It has a very good signal strength but hangs when "acquiring a network address"



I have updated the driver for the Intel PRO LAN 2100 3B to 1.2.5.37. I am running XP SP3.



I have 3 other wifi devices that connect to the network without any issues



Any help gratefully received



thx

[ZaZ]

Are you running any sort of security, firewall or encryption? If so try shutting it down to see if it connects. You might also want to try turning off Access Connections and try using the Windows wireless tool. Fire up PC-Doctor or System ToolBox to see if that tells you anything see if that tells you anything. Those would be good places to start.

[GomJabbar]

If you have Access Connections installed, uninstall that, reboot, then try to do a Repair Install of the Wireless driver software (I have done this with the Intel 2200BG Wireless adapter before). Go to Add or Remove Programs, highlight the Intel Wireless Software, choose Uninstall, then Repair. After this is done, try to make a connection from Windows before reinstalling Access Connections (if you will be using it).

[Greisen]

Try running a winsock reset command, for reseting the winsock catalog.

Run the command: netsh winsock reset

That’s done in your command promt.

[phubai]

All good suggestions, and just to add another. Right click on the windows wireless icon in the system tray, and choose view available wireles networks. On the left hand side of the window that opens, select "Change advanced settings" which opens the Wireless Network Connection Properties window. In the general tab, in the "This connection uses the following items:" window, ensure Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) is there, and selected. If not, select it. The second tab in the window, is Wireless Netowrks. Select that tab, and you can see your "Preferred networks" window. Make sure that your SSID is the first one on the list, and if you only connect to this SSID, select and remove all of the others. In fact, it wouldn't be a bad idea to remove them all, and then re-select your SSID and re-enter your security information. Once you have done all of that, you can turn to your router and be sure that it is setup properly. By that I mean, that you haven't changed your security protocol to one not supported by the computer that you can't connect to it with. If you have a card/adapter that can only do 802.11b, then the router must be set to include 802.11b as well as 802.11g or even n. Further, if your adapter is only 802.11b capable, and you have selected WPA2 for example as an encryption method, many 802.11b's are not capable of connecting at all. For a test, temporarily turn your wireless security off and see if you can connect. If so, you know it's your security settings that are giving you the problem. Either not compatible with your wireless card, or a mis-typed wep/wpa password/key when trying to connect. Also, ensure that the scope of your router's dhcp server is great enough to include all of the computers on your lan. That's not normally a problem, but I have seen people reduce the scope of IP addresses available to the extent that any other computer is denied access because no IP address is available. Finally, make sure you have not enable MAC address filtering or if someone else has access to your router, that they haven't. If you use it, make sure your MAC address is included in the list.


Good-luck!
--phubai

[tim S]

Of course it could be the infamous Southbridge melt down! I hope not.
But if the OP has had a good connection for years then I'd look there.
Check the USB ports are 2.0 if not then the Southbridge is the culprit.

Tim S

[steadyuk]

Looks like the winsock reset command did the job. Many thanks to all that replied.

[phubai]

Good-deal! Glad you're back online.

[steadyuk]

stopped working again!
Tried all the suggestions again with no joy. What is the Southbridge melt down. Is it repairable?

[RealBlackStuff]

It's not a meltdown, it's the solder balls in the BGA (ball Grid Array) of the Southbridge coming unsoldered/broken/loose.
Contact Nick at Reflow Repairs in Newcastle (see my signature).