Dell Inspiron 1545 Windows 7 wifi wierdness
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From: Ben Myers on 26 Dec 2009 16:48 Occasional client of mine bought a pair of Dell Inspiron 1545 laptops with Windows 7 Home for the kids. Problem: The Dell laptops cannot connect up to the US Robotics USR8054 802.11g router in the house. Symptoms: Dell laptops see the USR8054, which is wide open with no encryption at all, and which has a strong signal. When you go to connect, the laptop tries, but responds that it can't. The brand-new Windows 7 built-in diagnostics are virtually useless, as they hardly tell you anything about the cause of the failure. A one-year old HP running Vista works just fine with the wifi. Curiosity: Dell laptops connect up OK to neighbor's (a more regular client) wide-open Netgear. All the Win 7 wifi connection parameters match between the two routers. McAfee software is installed on both Dells, with one-year subscription. I looked at all the McAfee firewall settings and saw nothing unusual. I changed some of the USR router settings to no avail. Client is going to buy a Linksys WRT54G to replace the USR router. The USR8054 is unfamiliar to me, and the USR cable modems are not widespread around here. Anyone else had similar unfavorable out-of-box wifi experiences with recent Dell purchases? I ran into a similar situation a few months ago with a Dell desktop running Vista. In both cases, I have no idea what might have been done to the computers prior to my getting the call. The answer may be there in what they did before, but I'll never be able to figure out what they might have done. I had an almost instantaneous wifi connection with a Lenovo T500 I set up recently with Windows 7 Pro, so it ain't Windows 7... Ben Myers
From: BillW50 on 26 Dec 2009 17:45 In news:hh60bk$h15$1(a)news.eternal-september.org, Ben Myers typed on Sat, 26 Dec 2009 16:48:35 -0500: > Occasional client of mine bought a pair of Dell Inspiron 1545 laptops > with Windows 7 Home for the kids. Problem: The Dell laptops cannot > connect up to the US Robotics USR8054 802.11g router in the house. > > Symptoms: Dell laptops see the USR8054, which is wide open with no > encryption at all, and which has a strong signal. When you go to > connect, the laptop tries, but responds that it can't. The brand-new > Windows 7 built-in diagnostics are virtually useless, as they hardly > tell you anything about the cause of the failure. > > A one-year old HP running Vista works just fine with the wifi. > > Curiosity: Dell laptops connect up OK to neighbor's (a more regular > client) wide-open Netgear. All the Win 7 wifi connection parameters > match between the two routers. > > McAfee software is installed on both Dells, with one-year > subscription. I looked at all the McAfee firewall settings and saw > nothing unusual. > I changed some of the USR router settings to no avail. > > Client is going to buy a Linksys WRT54G to replace the USR router. The > USR8054 is unfamiliar to me, and the USR cable modems are not > widespread around here. > > Anyone else had similar unfavorable out-of-box wifi experiences with > recent Dell purchases? > > I ran into a similar situation a few months ago with a Dell desktop > running Vista. In both cases, I have no idea what might have been > done to the computers prior to my getting the call. The answer may > be there in what they did before, but I'll never be able to figure > out what they might have done. > > I had an almost instantaneous wifi connection with a Lenovo T500 I set > up recently with Windows 7 Pro, so it ain't Windows 7... Ben Myers What does "ipconfig /all" report? What is the router's IP address? 192.168.1.1, 172.16.100.x, etc. The Windows 7 machine might be looking for a different IP address. Try: http://www.dslreports.com/faq/6742 -- Bill Gateway MX6124 ('06 era) 1 of 3 - Windows XP SP2
From: Ben Myers on 26 Dec 2009 19:36 BillW50 wrote: > In news:hh60bk$h15$1(a)news.eternal-september.org, > Ben Myers typed on Sat, 26 Dec 2009 16:48:35 -0500: >> Occasional client of mine bought a pair of Dell Inspiron 1545 laptops >> with Windows 7 Home for the kids. Problem: The Dell laptops cannot >> connect up to the US Robotics USR8054 802.11g router in the house. >> >> Symptoms: Dell laptops see the USR8054, which is wide open with no >> encryption at all, and which has a strong signal. When you go to >> connect, the laptop tries, but responds that it can't. The brand-new >> Windows 7 built-in diagnostics are virtually useless, as they hardly >> tell you anything about the cause of the failure. >> >> A one-year old HP running Vista works just fine with the wifi. >> >> Curiosity: Dell laptops connect up OK to neighbor's (a more regular >> client) wide-open Netgear. All the Win 7 wifi connection parameters >> match between the two routers. >> >> McAfee software is installed on both Dells, with one-year >> subscription. I looked at all the McAfee firewall settings and saw >> nothing unusual. >> I changed some of the USR router settings to no avail. >> >> Client is going to buy a Linksys WRT54G to replace the USR router. The >> USR8054 is unfamiliar to me, and the USR cable modems are not >> widespread around here. >> >> Anyone else had similar unfavorable out-of-box wifi experiences with >> recent Dell purchases? >> >> I ran into a similar situation a few months ago with a Dell desktop >> running Vista. In both cases, I have no idea what might have been >> done to the computers prior to my getting the call. The answer may >> be there in what they did before, but I'll never be able to figure >> out what they might have done. >> >> I had an almost instantaneous wifi connection with a Lenovo T500 I set >> up recently with Windows 7 Pro, so it ain't Windows 7... Ben Myers > > What does "ipconfig /all" report? > > What is the router's IP address? 192.168.1.1, 172.16.100.x, etc. > > The Windows 7 machine might be looking for a different IP address. Try: > > http://www.dslreports.com/faq/6742 > The USR router uses a 256-range (255.255.255.0 subnet mask) within 192.168.x.x (the x's ARE unusual, but valid numbers), and it is on channel 11 by default. I changed the channel with no effect, as expected. I did not change it's base IP address. The cited FAQ tells me what I already know about routers in general, and about Linksys, not US Robotics. On the Dells, IPCONFIG /ALL cannot and does not show anything useful, because they never manage to make a connection with the router. On the HP, IPCONFIG /ALL reports reasonable numbers for gateway, DHCP server, and DNS servers. Client called Dell before calling me, and the Dell tech out there in Asia somewhere walked through a number of steps before saying that the computers were all OK and that the router was the culprit. Of course, I continue to have my doubts about the aggregate technical wisdom of script monkeys... Ben Myers
From: Top on 26 Dec 2009 20:09 In article <hh6a6t$4tg$1(a)news.eternal-september.org>, ben_myers(a)charter.net says... > > BillW50 wrote: > > In news:hh60bk$h15$1(a)news.eternal-september.org, > > Ben Myers typed on Sat, 26 Dec 2009 16:48:35 -0500: > >> Occasional client of mine bought a pair of Dell Inspiron 1545 laptops > >> with Windows 7 Home for the kids. Problem: The Dell laptops cannot > >> connect up to the US Robotics USR8054 802.11g router in the house. > >> > >> Symptoms: Dell laptops see the USR8054, which is wide open with no > >> encryption at all, and which has a strong signal. When you go to > >> connect, the laptop tries, but responds that it can't. The brand-new > >> Windows 7 built-in diagnostics are virtually useless, as they hardly > >> tell you anything about the cause of the failure. > >> > >> A one-year old HP running Vista works just fine with the wifi. > >> > >> Curiosity: Dell laptops connect up OK to neighbor's (a more regular > >> client) wide-open Netgear. All the Win 7 wifi connection parameters > >> match between the two routers. > >> > >> McAfee software is installed on both Dells, with one-year > >> subscription. I looked at all the McAfee firewall settings and saw > >> nothing unusual. > >> I changed some of the USR router settings to no avail. > >> > >> Client is going to buy a Linksys WRT54G to replace the USR router. The > >> USR8054 is unfamiliar to me, and the USR cable modems are not > >> widespread around here. > >> > >> Anyone else had similar unfavorable out-of-box wifi experiences with > >> recent Dell purchases? > >> > >> I ran into a similar situation a few months ago with a Dell desktop > >> running Vista. In both cases, I have no idea what might have been > >> done to the computers prior to my getting the call. The answer may > >> be there in what they did before, but I'll never be able to figure > >> out what they might have done. > >> > >> I had an almost instantaneous wifi connection with a Lenovo T500 I set > >> up recently with Windows 7 Pro, so it ain't Windows 7... Ben Myers > > > > What does "ipconfig /all" report? > > > > What is the router's IP address? 192.168.1.1, 172.16.100.x, etc. > > > > The Windows 7 machine might be looking for a different IP address. Try: > > > > http://www.dslreports.com/faq/6742 > > > > The USR router uses a 256-range (255.255.255.0 subnet mask) within > 192.168.x.x (the x's ARE unusual, but valid numbers), and it is on > channel 11 by default. I changed the channel with no effect, as > expected. I did not change it's base IP address. The cited FAQ tells > me what I already know about routers in general, and about Linksys, not > US Robotics. > > On the Dells, IPCONFIG /ALL cannot and does not show anything useful, > because they never manage to make a connection with the router. On the > HP, IPCONFIG /ALL reports reasonable numbers for gateway, DHCP server, > and DNS servers. > > Client called Dell before calling me, and the Dell tech out there in > Asia somewhere walked through a number of steps before saying that the > computers were all OK and that the router was the culprit. Of course, I > continue to have my doubts about the aggregate technical wisdom of > script monkeys... Ben Myers For what it might be worth I unpacked a Studio 17 recently and it connected to my netgear router before I wanted it to. The Studio laptop has Win 7 Home Premium. Ed -- "Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you." signed - An old man
From: Bob Levine on 26 Dec 2009 21:41
"Ben Myers" <ben_myers(a)charter.net> wrote in message news:hh60bk$h15$1(a)news.eternal-september.org... > Symptoms: Dell laptops see the USR8054, which is wide open with no > encryption at all, and which has a strong signal. When you go to connect, > the laptop tries, but responds that it can't. The brand-new Windows 7 > built-in diagnostics are virtually useless, as they hardly tell you > anything about the cause of the failure. Are you allowing Windows to manage the connection? Bob |