Can't 'see' wireless network

alansbigplate · #1 July 9th, 2006, 08:55 AM

I have recently moved house (from Australia to the UK if that's going to make a difference) and whilst I had wireless at home beforehand, I now cannot see wireless networks.

Others in the house are fine, and they say everyone else usually just can bring their laptop in and connect instantly. However, the wireless network available within the house does not appear to register with my computer/ client.

I am using the Atheros AR5005G Client, and it just won't see the network and enable me to use it. Every other computer in the house, including those of visitors is fine.

When I run the Atheros Client Utility's troubleshooting, it says Link Status: Not associated. Test Failure: Your client adaptor is not associated to an access point. Solution: Configure the radio card and set SSID and other properties.

This, as with the product manual, may as well be in an obscure dialect of Swahili to me. However, when I go into profile management and scan, the house network comes up, almost as if it can see it, but is refusing to acknowledge this and won't let me use it. Any ideas on what I need to tweak here?

Other things that may be of use:
I'm using broadband through a Linksys WAG354G router, windows XP with the firewall enabled.
My default gateway is 192.168.1.1 using the cable.
When I check the ipconfig, it says MEdia State.... Media disconnected under Ethernet Adapter Wireless Internet Connection

Thanks,
David

.Technician. · #2 July 9th, 2006, 09:54 AM

well i cant ping your default gateway. so maybe a network card error? software not installed properly or not at all?

alansbigplate · #3 July 9th, 2006, 10:16 AM

I re-installed the driver, but still no joy. Is there anything else I'd need to install?

.Technician. · #4 July 9th, 2006, 10:18 AM

the software for the wireless card...

alansbigplate · #5 July 9th, 2006, 10:34 AM

Sorry. I'm a bit of an ignoramus when it comes to this. The network card would be the Atheros AR5005G, yes? Is there software for this other than the driver?

.Technician. · #6 July 9th, 2006, 11:24 AM

Probably... Does it attach by the PCI slot or is it internal? You already have all software installed. Try going into the options for the card. Make sure you have the correct WEP key for use with the wireless modem/router.

**Snurfen** · #7 July 9th, 2006, 12:40 PM

Sorry to jump in here folks, but a top tip is to NOT use the cards own software to connect, but to make a new connection manually.
If using XP, go to START>Connect To>Show All Connections
Tell us what connections you can see (better still, take a snapshot by hitting ALT+PrtSc, paste it into MS Paint and upload it to a photo sharing site - click insert image - icon of a mountain and the moon, just above the edit pane, and post it on here.

While your at it, get the person who set the WAG up to tell you if there are any settings you need to know about. As .Technician. said, you'll need at least the Channel no and SSID name to get started. We can talk you through setting it up step by step.

.Technician. · #8 July 9th, 2006, 12:53 PM

sure can. One thing Snurfen:

I use my sofware to connect.

**Snurfen** · #9 July 9th, 2006, 12:59 PM

Yeah, some do, but on the whole it's more pain the the worth of it and often masks problems - particularly if the equipment is from different manufacturers.

G_Dem · #10 July 9th, 2006, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by .Technician.

sure can. One thing Snurfen:

I use my sofware to connect.

You may do and have no probs but I agree with Snurfen. I deal with networks for a living and I can't count the amount of times a problem has been to do with the wireless software. The XP software is much better and more reliable in most cases.

.Technician. · #11 July 9th, 2006, 01:14 PM

yea lol but xp software wont work with mine!

**z1p** · #12 July 9th, 2006, 06:38 PM

Hi folks,

We seem to be wandering from alansbigplate 's problem here. From what I've seen some cards behave better with their config utility and others behave better with the built-in config utility. The one thing that will bite you most of the time is running the wireless card's config utility and not disabling XP management of the wireless card.

If you are using the cards config software (and it sounds like you are), then go to the properties of the wireless connection and switch to the 'Wireless Networks' tab. Turn of 'Use Windows to configure...' and click OK.

The opposite approach is to shutdown the cards config software and let windows manage the wireless network. I'd try it both ways to see if either works.