Hi, chas045

1 The first thing I do with any connection issue is to reinstall the network adapter from device manger. In the device manger find the network adapters and right click on them choose uninstall>reboot the computer, windows will reinstall the adapter for you

2 The second thing is to reboot the router modem by unplugging them both, then plug the modem in, wait for all the lights to come, then plug router in.

3 The 3ed thing is,

Windows XP

From the Start menu, select Settings, and then Control Panel.

Double-click Network Connections.

For a wired network connection, right-click Local Area Connection, and then select Properties.

For a wireless network connection, right-click Wireless Network Connection, and then select Properties.

From the General tab, click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), make sure it is checked, and then click Properties.

Click Obtain an IP Address Automatically, and then click OK.

These are things you can try.

Try this for a Google search limited or no connectivity E1000

Cisco Connect software .. will allow you to see or change the guest access password. Install it on your wife's computer ??

Here is a link that might be useful: Cisco Connect guest access...

Thanks for finding the cosco connect software. I was looking all over for it without much success until soon after my previous post. I did find the guest password and am using it now. It was almost impossible without just the right search to find linksys. I finally found something similar to 'support.linksys.com/en-us/support/routers/E1000, and that gave me a chat session that sent me to the link above.

I found a loaded utility for the loaded wireless card. It indicates that the guest has WEP disabled and the protected net has it 'on'. The router is set for WPA2/WPA.

zep: I tried following your advise. We had already rebooted stuff. I did not understand how to get the new IP: I got to the step after assuring that TCP/IP was checked (it was) and had two choices, one with a dimmed out IP address space and another that I didn't know what to do with that had an active IP space but no actions to do.

"did not understand how to get the new IP"

See if there is anything at the link provided that may help.

Here is a link that might be useful: tcpip_pro_autoconfig

My goodness, Zep, what are you suggesting be done?

Sometimes disabling/re-enabling nics can do something, but uninstalling/reinstalling seems unnecessary and frought with needless risk to a user.

I've never seen a case where the ip setting needed to be changed, especially not on a machine that previously worked fine. Have you?

Hello snidely,

Are you speaking of uninstalling and reinstalling the network adapter from the device manger?

It's a common procedure used when any connection issue is present, the driver for the network adapter can sometimes get corrupted, we already know the driver is present or there would be no connection at all. Uninstalling the driver and then rebooting forces windows to "Find new hardware" & reinstall the driver that we know is present. So no risk there.

oops,
Looks like another adjustment is needed,

Note When you uninstall a network adapter in the Device Manager on a Windows XP-based computer, the network adapter is reinstalled only when you right-click Network adapters and then click Scan for hardware changes.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/945399

" but uninstalling/reinstalling seems unnecessary and frought with needless risk to a user."

Could you please describe exactly where you thought the needless risk would have incurred. What would have happened..

"I've never seen a case where the ip setting needed to be changed, especially not on a machine that previously worked fine. Have you? "

We are not changing any IP setting, we are just checking a setting in the network tcp /ip location, to make sure the computer can obtain an IP address automatically. If you look at your computer you will see that yours is set that way.

The full instructions and additional information

"Every time you connect your computer to the Internet, it must be assigned a specific IP address before you can get online. There are two ways your computer can be assigned a unique IP"

Statically Each computer is manually configured to have one specific IP. Every time your computer tries to access the internet, it will use this IP address only.

Dynamically, or by DHCP - DHCP stands for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. DHCP allows your computer to automatically ask for the first available IP address every time you connect. Once your computer is finished with the connection, it releases that IP back to the server for other devices to use.

An example of use of the protocol is in a residential local area network (LAN). In this case, a DHCP server is contained in the router.

Windows XP

1 Go to the Start menu, go to Settings, and then open the Control Panel.
2 Double-click on the Network Settings icon. Right-click on Local Area Connection and select Properties.
3 In the new window, scroll to the bottom of the list. Select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and select Properties.
4 In the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties Window, make sure the checkbox buttons next to Obtain an IP Address Automatically and Obtain DNS Server Address Automatically are selected. Be sure that all IP address fields are blank.

So thanks for chipping in it's forced me to a bit more research on the instructions given. There always comes a certain amount of risk...

I know this might be a silly question, but are you using the WiFi protocol on the laptop that matches the router?

There are no silly questions...

@ snidely
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"Sometimes disabling/re-enabling nics can do something, but uninstalling/reinstalling seems unnecessary and frought with needless risk to a user."
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Snidely could you please describe exactly where you thought the needless risk would have incurred. What would have happened ?

Chas045, I'm with Zep on this one. The first thing that I would do is uninstall the wireless adapter and restart Windows to reinstall. It removes any old corrupted drivers and reinstalls fresh.

Sometimes, when a person is troubleshooting a network issue, they (or a well meaning friend) might try assigning an IP address in TCP/IP properties. It's always good practice to check and correct those settings.

As long as your wireless adapter is set to automatically obtain an IP address, restarting the computer or connecting to the Linksys will renew your IP address. Windows is nice like that :-)

Snidely, it's like you are searching for a reason is jump on Zep's techniques and posts. What's up with that? It seems a bit hostile.

I just uninstalled / reinstalling my nic. Fixed it right up after wasting time doing too many other things trying to figure it out.

Youtube didn't work right on some video's & I was placing the blame with googleism jealousy as I use OpenDns DnsCrypt rather than googles dns servers & also block google tracking.

"Snidely, it's like you are searching for a reason is jump on Zep's techniques and posts. What's up with that? It seems a bit hostile."

No hostile intent, I questioned the benefit of double checking a default setting (that I've never seen inadvertantly changed, most people don't understand what it does or know where the setting is), and I perhaps saw no reason to do an uninstall. With a novice user, it didn't seem like a good idea to rely on windows to handle a reinstall.

I see from your comment, Snidely that you have limited experience with actual troubleshooting with end users. Those settings get changed a lot and especially when frustration levels get high because of a network connection issue that goes on for some time. Either they google for an answer or allow the techie guy from down the street to change things, then promptly forget because they also tried 50 other things.

Windows of all versions (maybe not Vista) does a great job of reinstalling drivers. Really simple too for those with limited tech skills.

I've never worked as a Level 1 tech, if that's what you're suggesting. But I'd say that my career in Silicon Valley working with many of the companies whose products and components are discussed here, and supplementally managing an IT dept supporting hundreds of users brings me to where I am today. I'll leave out the friends, family and neighbor experiences, most all of us here that offer help have that.

There's a lot I don't know, and I'm often wrong. My comment was what it was - I'm very familiar with the dynamic vs static IP option (I have a mix of both on my network for access reasons), where the settings are, and what I said was that I've never seen a novice user change the default settings. That's an observation. You're entitled to your view as I am to mine.

zep et. al.: Sorry I didn't get back sooner but with my limited experience, I was a little leary of doing the uninstall of network adapter. However I finally realized that at worst it would only mess up the laptop and not the other devices that are connected and working on the secured network. So: I just uninstalled and rebooted. The adapter did reinstall but I am still not getting a proper connection although things have slightly changed. The secured network got connected, but did not even ask for the security password and simply went to 'validating identity' and simply hung. It didn't even time out. I checked firefox to see if it was expecting a password there, as was the initial case to get connected to the Guest Network (where I am again now), but it couldn't find the server.

You may recall, that previously the issue was that the secured net would ask for the password, but find it unacceptable and give 'limited or no connectivity. Is there a way to force the network to ask for the password?? Any other ideas? Eventually, I will probably find a way to get a knowledgeable person out to my house where they could diagnose this.

FYI, I am creating another post about security updates that may tangentially be connected to this thread. I apparently successfully installed sp3 but 'security update' keeps wanting to install it AGAIN! I was worried I might not be able to shut down to reload the adapter, but I was able to cancel the update.

Not Zep, but I have a few questions for you Chas. Which version of Windows is it? I looked and may have overlooked that information in your posts. If it's XP, you should go into Control Panel and find Network Connections. Highlight or select your wireless network and click "Change settings of this connection" in the left sidebar. Click on the Wireless Networks tab, select your network and click the Properties button. Make sure that you have selected the Network Authentication Method that matches what you used for the router (very important) and Data Encryption, then retype the Network Key.

Thanks pk,
Yes it is win xp pro now sp3 as of a few days ago. Perhaps I wasn't able to get to the correct place in Properties. My security on the router is wap2/wap but the only option listed in network properties is either 'none or wep'. I did find a way to add the password in those settings but it didn't make much difference. I did get a message while connecting that windows couldn't find a valid something (i will disconnect and try again and correct this) (edit: well, the message doesn't come up now). Again the net will connect but hang attempting validation.

BTW for diagnostic value: I didn't used to use this inboard card (didn't even realize it was there) but instead a netgear wg511T external card. This was with my other hard drive (now dead). I would leave the card installed and usually shut down at night. Perhaps a fourth of the reboots would give the same hanging windows validating message. I would log off; remove the card; logon and Then reattach the card and the netgear drivers rather than windows would cleanly connect the card.

I have installed the netgear drivers on this drive, but either the card has failed or the external card port has failed because before or after netgear driver installation, I would get the 3 soft beep on card installation, and the netgear program doesn't see the card.

This post was edited by chas045 on Fri, Sep 13, 13 at 8:05

I see. Does the onboard wireless work for you?

Well, the onboard wireless connected as a guest with no wep no security works fine. All messages have been from that guest connection except this one. My problem is with the secured connection.

Did you correct the protocol and password for the internal wireless network card? You can always Google the directions for resetting the router to factory and reset it up to match all of the protocols and network keys throughout the network. Some network cards have different capabilities, like the external card that had only two options. Just find a middle ground where you can make everything match.

I admit that I don't undertand most of these settings, but I suspect that the router settings are essentially the defaults. I believe that the problems are in the computer net settings. For example, I don't seem to have control of any security other than wep. I believe the basic router setting is wap2/wap.

I am hoping that some of my network settings are wrong and preventing me from seeing the correct options. When I go to the Properties of my secured network I see the following:
Request a key for following
Network Authorization : OPEN vs shared (caps selected)
Data Encryption: WEP vs disabled
Network Key Only
Shows eight characters as dots; not the 13 chars I entered and saved.

Authentication tab
CHECK on Enable IEEt 802.1X auth. for computer
EAP type: Smart Card or other certificate
(I suppose this has caused the occasional warning message while connecting of: 'unable to find cirtificate to log you on to the network' before a long wait followed by a hang or 'partial/no connectivity' while attempting 'validating auth.'

The Wireless networks sub tab shows:
O use smart card button Un-marked
O use a certificate for computer. Marked or selected.
use simple certificate (recomended) Checked!
Validate server certificate Checked!
Connect to these servers (followed by long list) Unchecked

I am hoping that one or several of these computer network settings have prevented normal connection. Does anyone recognize these settings?

You have to change the router wifi security to match your laptops WEP only. If the guest account is separate that may be the wise one to use it on WEP assuming it has that setting separate, and leave the others on the standard home wifi network on its WAP.