OT: Wireless Network Problem

I'm the opposite of an expert, but you may be interested in this. Last week I was out of town with my family and we tried to hook up with my relatives' wi-fi. My Linux machine hooked up perfectly. My son's Windows 7 machine did not, and had the same symptoms as yours. There was a WinXP machine on the same wi-fi network and it worked perfectly.

That was an AT&T modem/router. I'm told that it's Belkin, but I don't know. Googling around, I found many other people who have had the same problem, and indications that there are several possible issues with some routers and Win7.

Good luck. We never solved it, but we didn't have much time.

========= For a cheap and quick test, if not a fix, try downloading Ubuntu linux and burning a BDI [brain dead install] CD. This will allow you to boot into linux with no changes [may posibly require a boot sequence change in the set-up rom] to your computer [assuming you have a bootable cd drive] Ubuntu is very good at recognizing ports, devices, and such and this will tell you if the connection can be made. see

price is right -- free also the common applications such as word processing, spread sheet and database, as are the updates.

If you decide to install you can have both operating systems available at bootup.

-- Unka George (George McDuffee) .............................. The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there. L. P. Hartley (1895-1972), British author. The Go-Between, Prologue (1953).

Strong signal and correct code means that the hardware is up. That's a long way from being good to go. What does an "ipconfig" tell you? Does it have the Belkin's IP address set as the default gateway? Is it showing your machine on the correct subnet and with an address that is not a duplicate of another machine on the network? Can you ping the Belkin from the computer with the problem?

On Sat, 28 Aug 2010 15:02:58 -0400, Chet wrote: ...

I suggest that when posting about a problem like this, that you include the following information: make and model of router, model number of "belkin USB unit", and actual name of operating system. (Ie, not "Windows 7" but "Windows 7 Home Premium", etc, not "Windows XP" but "Windows XP sp3" etc)

Also, try the belkin USB unit in another computer, and try your basement computer with a direct cable to the router (ie use a long cable into the basement or bring computer up to router). Note, the good suggestions by earlier posters, to use an Ubuntu bootable linux CD for diagnosis, might be more useful than trying another computer and trying with a cable, unless you don't have an Ubuntu disk and for some reason can't download and burn one.

Put this in a notepad file:

ipconfig /release ipconfig /renew pause

and name the file "IP Release and Renew" (no quotes). Now change the notepad file extension from .txt to .bat. This makes an MS-Dos batch file that will renew the lease on your IP address.

Reboot your modem. Reboot your computer. Double click on the IP Release and Renew.bat file. This helps me often when the computer gets lost trying to figure out what it is doing.

This may or may not be your problem's solution, but try it and let me know. Dave

Cable or DSL? I've had issues with SEVERAL Belkin wireless units on Rogers Cable - worked fine on Bell DSL

Sorry - my issues were with Belkin ROUTERS - bu there is a very REAL chance the drivers are not fully compatible with Win7

What OS? Vista is the worst for these issues.

Windows 7 Home doesnt even have a setup menu for networking, from what I can find on the discussion groups

Gunner

I am the Sword of my Family and the Shield of my Nation. If sent, I will crush everything you have built, burn everything you love, and kill every one of you. (Hebrew quote)

I had no problems with 7, I couldn't tell you how to do it, you just hit assorted keys and mouse clicks, it's pretty intuitive. I really like 7!

I had an odd experience with Vista connecting to my WHR-G54S router. Plenty of signal, correct WPA key, same type on both (WPA) but the once working connection failed.

I looked at connection properties, and somehow IPv4 was disabled. Enabled it and shazaam... I wonder if a M$ upgrade toggled IPv4 off, I'll probably never know.

YMMV.

WfW 3.11, the last great version of Windows. Crash it so hard that it bounced, boot with a floppy that had an editor on it, fix the *.ini files, and system comes up again...

Had the same problem when eldest daughter came to stay with her Vi$ta machine. IPV6 enabled, IPV4 not enabled. M$ getting ahead of themselves :-)

Mark Rand RTFM

[ ... ]

So -- are you talking about the *same* Windows 7? One of you mentioned specifically "Windows 7 *home*", while the other just "Windows

7". As I understand it (no personal experience -- nor do I want it) the "home" edition may not have a lot of things which the more upgrade ones may have.

Good Luck, DoN.

When I was beta testing Windows 7, I reported to Micro$oft that some of us need to manually configure the connection. I stream a webcam, and the computers on the network must have a fixed IP number. They corrected that in the pre release version. It may be missing in the home version. The beta versions had an automatic configuration. That could be the problem.

Steve R.

Many thanks to all who responded... I'm the original poster and I was able to resolve the problem... But it's a brute fix rather than a finesse with technical expertise... I did a system restore to an earlier date, and changed how I installed the network USB adapter: (I'm using MS XP home edition) I didn't follow Belkin's directions and simply plugged the USB into the computer. Windows detected the device and asked for the install disk. Loaded the disk, and in a few moments XP downloaded the driver only. Followed the onscreen commands, and everything was operating as it is supposed to! I think I'm going to use this technique as my 'failsafe' before seeking help on the web in the future... Perhaps this approach will benefit someone else... Chet