Connecting to a wireless network

alright i have been screwing around with this way longer than i should be. i have a wireless network already set up at my house, and i recently purchased a PCMCIA card for my laptop and want to connect to this wireless network. I have the network's SSID and i know my default gateways ip address and my primary/secondary dns server addresses etc... anyways, how to i connect to this damn wireless network! My the link led on my PCMCIA card isnt green, and when i try to "view available wireless networks", nothing shows up... btw im running windows xp. thanks in advance!

btw the default gateway is an old sonicwall firewall, and i am not using windows xp firewall.

What kind of wireless router are you using? Is that the Sonicwall?

XP's got a wireless config utility that is often superceded by one from your wireless card's mfg'er. You may actually have two wireless utilities running on the PC. Check to see if there's another wireless utility running in your systray.

thanks for the fast reply.... the sonic wall is the router. I am currently running the software that came with the PCMCIA card called buffalo airstation client manager. Its just pissing me off that i cant get something this simple done. i have tried to add a route to the network routing tables to no avail... I thought it would be as simple as plugging in the PCMCIA card and getting an IP from the DHCP server :(

btw everything is using 802.11b, so no problems there, my phone uses the same frequency as well, but thats another issue and has not caused me any problems. all i want to do is figure out how to connect my laptop to my wireless network.

also, the router (sonicwall) is not wireless. I have a cable modem that hooks up to the sonic wall on one end (WAP) and a cable that connects to my hub (lan). A cable is routed from the hub to the WAP (cisco something using 802.11b).

when i try to set up a network connection using the network setup wizard, it tells me that my wireless network connection, which is my PCMCIA card, is disconnected which cant be a good sign. Its plugged in all the way and the power light is on, however the link light is off. My goal is to get the link light on by the end of the night :)

Ugh, I'm a bit confused by your description of the network hardware. Let me see if I got this straight:

1) The cable modem (did you mean WAN?) connected to...

2) The Sonicwall connected to...

3) The hub (LAN) connected to...

4) a Cisco something (?) broadcasting 802.11b (WAP)

Does this setup work ok when you're hardwired? You running any other wireless devices successfully? Are you able to verify the Cisco is broadcasting the SSID and properly set up? Have you checked the config on that device?

Quote:

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1) The cable modem (did you mean WAN?) connected to...

2) The Sonicwall connected to...

3) The hub (LAN) connected to...

4) a Cisco something (?) broadcasting 802.11b (WAP)

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thats exactly what i mean.

I said Cisco "something" because i dont remember the exact model number of the WAP...

Wireless internet seems to be working fine on my other computer, since people can read my complaints online :) When i hardwire and connect into one of the hub's RJ-45 ports, i can ping people and surf the web and all that good stuff. I assume the Cisco is properly broadcasting the SSID, since my computer's antenna is picking up a wireless signal. I have not checked the config, and i guess i dont know how to since i was not the one who originally set up this network.

also i am not 10000000 ft away from the WAP or anything, so distance isnt a factor. I sat right next to it and it still didnt work. i know all my computer info due to entering the ipconfig /all command in cmd (on my big desktop connected to the wireless network). is there a way i can just enter this data in manually on my little laptop which cant seem to connect to the wireless network?

Well, if you got one PC working off the wireless, it must be OK.

Has your laptop ever had another wireless card installed? Did you remove the driver and the utility for that old card (if there was one) before installing your current card?

alright now im starting to get pissed at this stupid PCMCIA card... i gave the ipconfig /all command on my laptop that cant connect to the wireless network, and it told me that the media state was "disconnected". Does this mean that it cant read my PCMCIA card? I switched PCMCIA ports and restarted, but i am still having the same problem.

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Has your laptop ever had another wireless card installed? Did you remove the driver and the utility for that old card (if there was one) before installing your current card?

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actually no. This PC use to run windows 98. I installed one of my copies of windows xp today, since the drivers werent compatible with windows 98. Anyways, i got 30 days left, and i am trying to installed fedora core 5. I am starting to wonder if it is a problem with the card itself, or if the PCMCIA slot is screwed up (the computer is an old dell laptop).

Sounds like you should put it down for awhile and cool off. ;)

Check the hardware manager to see if the card's working properly.

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Sounds like you should put it down for awhile and cool off.

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haha ya i tried that for a while, but then i just got frusterated that i wasnt making any progress, so i am trying again. I assume the card is working properly, because the power lcd is on, so its not like the card is dead.

Hey W.E. You said something like the hardware wasn't being recognized properly. So try uninstalling it and reinstalling it. Some devices are touchy when it comes installing them so be sure to follow the instructions completely.

Once you've done that find your SSID in the wireless networks available screen (it will be whatever you set it as or if you didn't set it, it will be the default of the maker).

Next you need to know if you are broadcasting wide open or if you encrypted it (WEP or WPA)
If its encrypted you need to know your network code(s).


Give these things a shot and let us know what happens.


P.S. never rule out a bad piece of hardware.

Check your "Device Manager"...

thanks for the response...

I have uninstalled and reinstalled a couple times now... I am pretty sure the network is open... when i viewed the properties for the SSID, i noticed that the network authentication was set to open, and the data encryption was set to WEP. in the network key field, there were several black dots, which made me think that a password had been set. However, when i clicked the field, all the black dots disappeared and i was prompted to enter and confirm a network key... whatever i havent seen any cyberhobos camping out on my lawn in hopes of using my internet, so i guess i dont care but that would be a nice thing to eventually set up. Right now though, i just want to establish a connection to my wireless network. :)

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Originally posted here by brokencrow
Check your "Device Manager"...

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how? sorry im kind of a n00b... :)

Right click on My Computer --->Properties--->Hardware--->device manager --->look for network adapters


I'm assuming you are using XP

If your network is using WEP encryption you will need the key to access it.

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Originally posted here by jabrown
Right click on My Computer --->Properties--->Hardware--->device manager --->look for network adapters


I'm assuming you are using XP

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alright, i went into the "PCMCIA adapters" section in the device manager, and i have two Texas Instruments PCI-1225 CardBus Controllers under that section. My wireless LAN notebook adapter is a Buffalo WLI-CB-G54S Wireless Network Card and it appears under the "Network Adapters" section. I wonder if i should update the driver or something for the Texas Instrument Cardbus Controllers found at http://support.packardbell.com/uk/it...atform_C2plusB

the device status of my Buffalo network card is all good and seems to be working properly...

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Originally posted here by jabrown
If your network is using WEP encryption you will need the key to access it.

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i know but right now i could care less about accessing my network, i just want my PC to confirm that the wireless network in my house actually exists! then i will start to worry about how i plan on connecting to it :)

i called the support line at Buffalo and they told me it sounded like bad hardware since my drivers and everything else was properly installed. Anyways, guess i gotta switch it out tomorrow :(