Where has my wireless network gone?

[mww221]

Hi

Can anyone please help? I’m totally stuck on this one.

I am running a PC with XP Pro SP3 (I shall refer to this as “A”) and another PC with XP Home SP3 (“B”). A connects to the wireless Netgear DG834G router through a NETGEAR WG311, and B through a Belkin USB 2.0 Adapter. B always had problems with wireless so we had been using hardwire for that, but A was fine.

The weekend before last, for no reason, the wireless stopped working. We changed routers and started using the new Speedtouch ADSL router provided by BE. No joy. We phoned BE who managed to get the wireless working by setting static IPs and Open DNS servers, and by working out that the router works under WEP but not WPA. However the PCs were still unable to browse pages, they could only view IP addresses. Pinging the site name (e.g. google.com) also worked.

PC A was then unable to connect when hardwired, so no internet at all, but an apparently “perfect” wireless connection. Still no browsing possible. At this point I introduced a laptop, “C”, a Toshiba Satellite 1900-803 with a WG511 PCMCIA adapter. I set the DNSs and IPs, and hey presto, perfect wireless but no Internet. We now had 2 machines hardwired, one machine that couldn’t do anything and all with perfect wireless signals that can’t browse pages. It seems ok when encryption is disabled but that’s not a great scenario.

Today, the wireless signal has gone down. The router probably needs powering off and on but, after changing channels, changing network names, resetting the router, changing routers (the DG834G worked previously), I’m stumped. It can’t be a virus because all PCs have the same symptoms, and the situation is getting progressively worse by the day. First no Internet, then no wireless through dynamic IP, then no page browsing on wireless, now no wireless again!

So I now have 1 PC that can’t do anything except get a good wireless signal, and 2 that can hardwire and browse but can’t do anything with their apparently “good” wireless signal.

Am I missing anything here? Would firmware really help on a brand new router? I also had a contract with BE in an alternative address but never used it. It wasn’t til my Netgear here failed to produce the Internet that I opened the router that was given to me with my first contract with BE. MAC address issue perhaps? Or is it an operating system issue? Also I have noticed that CMD ipconfig /all shows DHCP “no”. Is this right? I have enabled DHCP in “services” under “My Computer > Properties”

I am quite knowledgeable about this subject, but I have exhausted all avenues. If any serious techies could provide ANY options that a guy like me might not have thought of, please get in touch ASAP. I’m tearing my hair out here!

Yours in anticipation, and grateful in advance,

M

[mjc]

It can’t be a virus because all PCs have the same symptoms, and the situation is getting progressively worse by the day. First no Internet, then no wireless through dynamic IP, then no page browsing on wireless, now no wireless again!

Don't be so quick to discount malware...there are plenty of examples of malware that spread over the local network and infest every machine on the the network.

Am I missing anything here? Would firmware really help on a brand new router? I also had a contract with BE in an alternative address but never used it. It wasn’t til my Netgear here failed to produce the Internet that I opened the router that was given to me with my first contract with BE. MAC address issue perhaps?

Router firmware is something, that unlike most other items, should be updated regularly, or at least to the latest version. Most units, brand new, right out of the box, fresh from the store do not have the latest.

Or is it an operating system issue? Also I have noticed that CMD ipconfig /all shows DHCP “no”. Is this right? I have enabled DHCP in “services” under “My Computer > Properties”

Grab a Linux LiveCD, like Knoppix (http://knoppix.com/) and boot one of the wired machines with it. Wired network cards are usually autoconfigured, so it will be a bit easier to check connectivity if you don't have to try to configure a wireless card. Some wireless cards are 'natively' supported in Linux and others need ndiswrapper and Windows drivers (which makes them a bit of a bear to configure in a 'LiveCD' environment).

If you've set static IPs, then yes No DHCP is correct.

Also, have you plugged any machine directly into the 'Internet'? Bypass the router and plug in directly.

What about firewall software? What is running?

[mww221]

Hi

Thanks I'll give all that a go. The Firewall i am running is just Windows Firewall as of XP Service Pack 2. On or off makes no difference whatsoever...

Thanks