Problem connecting to my own network - please help

[gazelle]

I have a Linksys WRT54G router with a Thinkpad T43 laptop running WXP SP2. I have changed the SSID on the network and enabled WEP 64-bit encryption along with wireless MAC filtering. This part of the setup all seems fine.

The issue I'm having is that I'm always being automatically connected to one of the unsecured networks in the neighborhood being picked up by my laptop. When I mouse over the wireless connection icon in the system tray I can see that it's connected to "default" or "linksys" at a much slower speed and the signal strength is weak. I am not using the default 192.x.x.x IP scheme so I can verify this is the case by checking my IP address. When I right-click the icon and choose the "View Available Wireless Networks" option, it shows the status of my network as Connected with a gold star (I'm guessing this means preferred network) and the signal strength at the max. What gives?

Is there a setting I can change to prevent my laptop from connecting to the other networks and only connect to mine? :confused: :confused: :confused:

[classicsoftware]

Run the wireless network wizzard in the control panel and you should be golden.

[gazelle]

Classic,

Thanks for the suggestion. I ran the setup wizard but I am still receiving 192.168.1.100 for the IP address. I have an IP scope range specified in the Linksys setup page that is totally different. At this second, the wireless network connection page lists 3 different networks, one of which is mine. It shows the laptop as being connected to my network and not the others but I am still baffled by the IP address.

Any other ideas?

[classicsoftware]

Look at your router settings carefully. You may have a whole different string of IP addresses for the wireless side. Check your router firmware.

[PrntRhd]

gazelle,
If the address you are seeing is a 169.xxx.xxx.xxx, it usually is indicative of non- connection and is an ASCII assigned dummy address, which helps diagnose the issue. (It helps if you post the first three octets of the address when trying to figure out your networking problem).

[gazelle]

I only noticed one location in the router setup where you could specify IP addresses, the Basic Setup link under the Setup page. I just updated my firmware to v4.20.7 and went through all of the options again but couldn't locate a separate section for issuing wireless IP's. Is there something I am missing?

I picked a scheme from a military facility to use for my local network and it's 160.151.76.x. My 2 desktop clients and laser printer are connected via ethernet cable to the router and all have 160.151.76.x addresses. Maybe I really am connected to my network with the laptop and just don't know it. I have Comcast broadband as well as many of my neighbors. Is there any info from ipconfig or some type of ping command I can use to verify where my IP address is coming from on the wireless client?

PS - I now have an green "SES" icon in the Basic Wireless Settings link after running the firmware upgrade. Does anyone know what type of security this is and whether it makes any sense to enable?

Thanks again for your help.

[classicsoftware]

You are connecting to someone elses router. Rt click on the wireless icon in the task bar and choose availabe networks. Log onto your network and see what happens...

[gazelle]

Thanks for the suggestions, but I think I am all set now. I recently needed to install this wireless networking client software and digital certificate in order to access the wireless network at a job I was working on. I was able to create an additonal profile within that client software and connected to my router with no problems. I forgot this software was even on my machine as it had been a few weeks since I had been out there.

Thanks again.