vista doesn't see the wireless

limerick_woody

Hi guys,
I have a dell 9400, with an intel 3945abg wireless thingybob inside it (to be technical) - i have the Eircom 2Meg package, with the Netopia 2247-02 Router, and run Vista home premium. The ethernet connection workds fine. I have enabled the wireless via the eicom wireless setup page. Vista refuses to see the wireless. No wireless signal is detected. I have the wifi light illuminated on the front of the computer and i have pressed the Fn-F2 key-combination to enable the wireless. I am new to Vista (i normally use linux, but i need to get Vista working). Any ideas what i can try?

Cheers,

Sean

limerick_woody

Oh, and i have WEP setup - but i don't see where to setup the password?

Barlow07

limerick_woody wrote: »

Oh, and i have WEP setup - but i don't see where to setup the password?

Just out of interest can you see any Wireless networks?

I would try changing the channel to either 4, 6 or 11 on the Netopia and see if it detects any wireless networks after, it could be interference.

Karoma

From your original post, I understand that it cannot see any wireless networks, is this correct?

Does the laptop use WLANConfig, Dell Wireless WLAN Utility, or the Intel PROSet wireless utility?
http://support.euro.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dsn/en/document?journalid=4373EEF43A4C966CE040A68F5A287A67&docid=1A61D1A25CE701C8E0401E0A55176592
http://support.euro.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dsn/en/document?journalid=4373EEF43A4C966CE040A68F5A287A67&docid=08152461EBF962BCE0401E0A551745D2



ed: http://support.euro.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dsn/en/document?journalid=4373EEF43A4C966CE040A68F5A287A67&docid=1A2C07695AB81246E0401E0A55176D6D

limerick_woody

that's right it see's nothing, checking the links now

limerick_woody

ok, when i go to start->connect to
It sees the ssid of my wireless - i hit connect and it fails with 'an unknown error has occured' - where do i put the wep password?

When i go to start -> network ->add wireless device
It doesn't findy any wireless devices

Karoma

Start-> run -> ncpa.cpl -OK
Do you see the wifi card/connection listed there?
Right-click -> Properties - is there a wireless tab there? (This is where you add a network, if the option is present)

Barlow07

limerick_woody wrote: »

ok, when i go to start->connect to
It sees the ssid of my wireless -

I think the wireless signal is to weak to connect and you need to change the wireless channel as i said above.

limerick_woody

ok i lost the signal and when i go to the router webpage it tells me the wireless is 'down' - i am totally at a loss - perhaps i should do the microsoft 3-fingered salute and see if i can see the restore the signal

limerick_woody

i also changed the wireless channel and powered off my wireless phone (you never know!), but still nothing

limerick_woody

ok, a reboot of both the router and the laptop gives the signal back. so now Vista recognises the router, finds the signal with the correct ssid. However it refuses to connect. The signal strength is 'excellent'. I try to connect and it fails everytime. I suspect my 3945abg nw card in the laptop is shagged as i saw the same problem with linux, but always put it down to the fact that linux can be quirky, particularly with laptops. I have connected a different laptop to the wireless signal, it was running XP though. Can anyone suggest anything to try to diagnose the fault?

Sean

dub45

limerick_woody wrote: »

ok, a reboot of both the router and the laptop gives the signal back. so now Vista recognises the router, finds the signal with the correct ssid. However it refuses to connect. The signal strength is 'excellent'. I try to connect and it fails everytime. I suspect my 3945abg nw card in the laptop is shagged as i saw the same problem with linux, but always put it down to the fact that linux can be quirky, particularly with laptops. I have connected a different laptop to the wireless signal, it was running XP though. Can anyone suggest anything to try to diagnose the fault?

Sean

Have you checked the driver for the wireless card? Is it the correct driver for Vista?

limerick_woody

HI i checked the driver was the newest. I am going to contact Dell today to see if they can debug the wireless - i have had a different computer with the same type of wireless receiver working - but it used XP - maybe it's a Vista thing, but i also couldn't get the wireless to work in Linux and my computer is only a few months old. I will post any results for posterity.