Connecting with WiFi, what does "Identifying" mean?

February 4, 2009 6:47 PM

[WiFi Filter] What does "Identifying" mean?

When connecting up to a WiFi hotspot, the Network and Sharing Center on my laptop shows the word "Identifying." My question is simple: Who is identifying whom?

The word "Identifying" appears underneath the middle icon, which represents the hotspot. Sometimes the Identifying is completed quickly, sometimes it hangs and never finishes.

As I sit glumly staring at it, I can't help needing to know: Who is doing the Identifying? Whom are they trying to Identify? And why does the Identifying sometimes fail?

Windows Vista SP1 on a Toshiba laptop, various hotspots.

posted by exphysicist345 to computers & internet (6 comments total)

I guess it would be your machine identifying the IP address and DNS settings of the wireless hotspot.
posted by turgid dahlia at 7:30 PM on February 4

More specifically, it would be your machine checking a whole host of things on the hotspot: IP, DNS, DHCP, security settings, permissions, that class of thing. Go to Start-Run and type "cmd" to get to a DOS prompt, then type "ipconfig /all" at the prompt (sans quotes). Basically, everything listed there is what it's identifying (unless you've got a static IP address or the like).
posted by turgid dahlia at 7:40 PM on February 4

Basically it is using the settings it finds in the WiFi Hot Spot so it can identify itself on the WiFi network as a different from any other computer on that Hot Spot.

As turgid said, it does this by using a unique IP address given to it by the WiFi Hot Spot. Sometimes it only takes a sec, sometimes it buggers up (to use the technical term) and the Hot Spot does not give your computer the IP address in time so it just gives up asking.
posted by Man_in_staysis at 9:38 PM on February 4

Though it's probably DHCP, you can easily test this. Go to a hotspot where you normally see the Identifying, then set up your adapter with a static IP address. Disconnect from the wireless network and then re-connect. The "Identifying" step should take hardly no time now, since you are skipping the DHCP request/reply.

Note that this is a diagnostic way to narrow down what "Identifying" means. You should not disable DHCP during normal usage.
posted by odinsdream at 11:42 AM on February 5

odinsdream, thanks for the tip. I tried it with two hotspots, one which was Identifying for 15 seconds, and another for more than 60 seconds. With the adapter set with a static ip, there was ZERO Identifying for either hotspot; it connected immediately.

So — if the Identifying problem is due to DHCP, is there anything I can do with my laptop (in Vista Basic) to help this situation? Or is the DHCP problem all with the hotspots (and what would they need to correct their problem)?
posted by exphysicist345 at 8:35 PM on February 5

Given that you narrow it down to being related to DHCP, I'd try this next. Open a command line window (start, then type 'cmd' in that box near the start button in vista, hit enter). In the black window that pops up type:

ipconfig

You should get information showing your current IP address for your network adapters. Disconnect from the wireless network. Get ready to re-connect, but also get ready to go back to the command line and re-run the ipconfig command. Reconnect, then immediately go back and re-run IP config repeatedly until you see the IP address information filled in.

If you see this information fill in before the "Identifying" words go away, then "Identifying" may not be relevant. Vista may be doing some additional checks, like trying to connect to an internet host, before reporting that you're connected when in fact you already are.

If, however, you don't get ipconfig to show you information until Identifying goes away you'll need to dig further into why DHCP is so slow.

I'd suggest downloading Wireshark, a packet sniffer, and running it just before you attempt to connect with DHCP on your wireless interface. From that you may be able to determine why it's taking up to a minute. This process should typically take only a few seconds.

This is a good explanation f the DHCP network process. If you can use Wireshark to determine where each of these steps is occurring you can then determine, from the timestamps, where the delay is happening.

Do you have IPv6 enabled for this adapter? If so, try disabling that.
posted by odinsdream at 6:56 AM on February 6