Laptop wireless card help...

[rubberman]

i have an HP laptop and i replace the motherboard in it. the new motherboard came with an internal wirless card (broadcom w450). i updated the drivers and installed the utility software. The laptop gets a signal and an IP from my router but will not let me access any webpages. I have WEP on and there are 4 rows of digits for key. but on the broadcom card utility there is no place for 4 rows of keys. it has 1 row for a netowrk key. I also took my laptop to work which the router there has WEP off and it connects and surfs pages fine. so i dont understand why i can connect and get an IP but not surf? any ideas??

[JohnnyMalaria]

Your four rows of hex digits are calculated from the network key.

The network key is a string of exactly five letters.

If you can't recall the string, you need to connect to the router using an ethernet cable and then, using your web browser, connect to the router. e.g., http://192.168.1.245 (the default for many Linksys routers). The ethernet cable connection doesn't require the key, so you can go into the router's configuration and look at the security settings. You should see the string. You will need a password to access the router's configuration pages. If you haven't changed it, it will be a default value printed in the manual. If you have changed it and have forgotten it, you will need to do a factory reset on the router. How that is done varies from router to router (usually from manufacturer to manufacturer).

(If you have another computer that does have a valid key, you can use it to get to the configuration pages instead of using your one with an ethernet cable.)

[rubberman]

i have the Dlink di-524 and it has no such thing as the network string of digits. it only has the 4 rows of wep keys that i made up.

i have my fileserver in the garage that used the USB Dlink wireless adapter but it's utility asks for the 4 rows of WEP keys and connects fine.

[redwudz]

What I've done when I couldn't get WEP to work was to use MAC filtering on the router and just put in the MACs from the computers that I want to access the router. I also turned off the 'broadcast' from the router, so it doesn't show as listed on just any computer nearby. Not as good as encryption, but WEP's not that great of security anyway.

[JohnnyMalaria]

why i can connect and get an IP but not surf? any ideas??

You probably aren't connecting. When a network adapter can't get an IP address from a DHCP server (such as the router), Windows assigns an IP address. Typically, these are 169.x.x.x whereas private networks are 192.168.x.x.

I usually use this difference to help troubleshoot - getting a 169.x.x.x usually leads to some ranting and raving at the computer

WEP certainly is a pain - I wasted 2hrs yesterday doing something that really should have taken about 15mins.

[rubberman]

NO, i have it set for 192.168.0.102 with the MAC address of the internal wireless card.(DHCP)

[JohnnyMalaria]

i have the Dlink di-524 and it has no such thing as the network string of digits. it only has the 4 rows of wep keys that i made up.

The configuration page under Wireless/Home lets you choose between HEX or ASCII key types. Choose ASCII and enter a 5 letter key. Clicking Apply should generate the 4 hex strings based on the 5 letter key.

Of course, this means you'll have to start over but you'll be able to configure all your wireless devices whether they only accept one key type or both.

HTH.

[JohnnyMalaria]

NO, i have it set for 192.168.0.102 with the MAC address of the internal wireless card.(DHCP)

I'm a bit unclear when you say "I have it set for 192.168.0.102" - is that manually configured for the network adapter (under Properties in Windows)? And is DHCP enabled on the router?

If the adapter is set to use DHCP and when you can't get to the internet and you still get a 192.168.x.x, that certainly seems odd. Try turning off the router and see if you get the same IP address when you try to connect again.

[rubberman]

i get 192,168.0.102 every time its connects cause i have it set that way. i have DHCP set for all the computers in the house so i know that each computer/PS2 will have the same IP everytime it is turned on.

i might try the ASCII since i only have the laptop and fileserver using wireless. and i might try the MAC method too. i'll let you know what happens

[guns1inger]

DHCP dynamically allocates IP addresses. Yes, in a small environment they may not change very often, but they could. It is ideal if you have laptops coming and going, or if you don't have to have the same IP address every time, guaranteed.

If you are going to put s single IP address against a MAC address for access then you should turn of DHCP and put fixed IP addresses into all the network cards (fixed and/or wireless that will connect to router, or at least on all the ones that will be in the MAC list.

[rubberman]

Static DHCP Client List
  	Host Name 	IP Address 	MAC Address 	 
	dell4100	192.168.0.101	00-60-97-ba-9b-c0	editdelete	 
	PS2	192.168.0.103	00-15-c1-e8-4e-67	editdelete	 
	fileserver	192.168.0.104	02-13-46-c5-30-90	editdelete	 
	fileserver	192.168.0.105	00-13-46-c5-30-90	editdelete	 
	HPLAPTOP	192.168.0.102	00-90-4b-45-46-f7	editdelete

this is what i have set in the router

[JohnnyMalaria]

OK, so you have set static addresses for the router to give to specific network adapters.

What have you set the network adapters to? i.e., on each computer what have you set the TCP/IP options to. If you have "Obtain an IP address automatically", then the router will assign the IP address from the list, as long as there is a connection. If, however, you have chosen "Use the following IP address", then you aren't using the router's DHCP. Instead, you are simply setting the IP address to be the same as the one listed in the router's static list. If this is the case, you will always get an IP address (assigned by the computer) and it will be the same as the one listed in the router but only because you have entered the same IP address in both pieces of equipment. This will give you the impression that the computer must be connected to the router.

The best thing to do is leave the list as is and set the computer's configuration for the network adapter to "Obtain an IP address automatically". The useful thing about this is that if the router is down or you can't get past the WEP (which sounds like your original description), you'll get a completely different IP address (169.x.x.x) making it easier to troubleshoot connectivity issues.

[rubberman]

i might send this damn motherboard back. the HD activity light, charging light and power light dont come on anymore and the touchpad quit working., plus this wireless card is getting the best of me....